Oracle: Baking Noodles

Morpheus clearly knows that the Oracle is not about telling the future - she is about making it, as this conversation reveals:

There is a difference between knowing the future and being able to manipulate it. "Finding the path" indicates that the guide is taking an active role in shaping the outcome of the future. Another conversation that hints at this idea is the following:

Walking the path without knowing the path is exactly what Neo is doing - it is a path the Oracle has crafted for Neo. Ironically, the section of the path that Neo is on right now requires that Neo believe he is not walking on it. Confusing? More on this below.

Oracle's Baked Noodles

When Neo first sees the Oracle in M1, she tells him not to worry about the vase. Neo asks, "What vase?" and proceeds to knock over and break her vase. Neo apologizes and asks how she knew. The Oracle says, "Oh, what's really going to bake your noodle later on is, would you still have broken it if I hadn't said anything?" This quote summarizes the Oracle's power throughout the entire trilogy.

Other noodles I believe the Oracle baked:

• Neo wouldn't have considered saving Morpheus's life in M1 if the Oracle hadn't told Neo that he would have to choose between saving Morpheus's life and saving his own. Combine that with her statement, "Without him [Morpheus], we're lost," and the decision to sacrifice his own life for Morpheus becomes a no-brainer. Neo later said, "This can't be just coincidence. It can't be. [...] The Oracle. She told me this would happen. She told me that I would have to make a choice." [Thank you to Vincent Krebs for pointing this out.]
• Trinity would not have fallen in love with Neo if the Oracle hadn't told her she would fall in love with the One. Neo wouldn't have fallen in love with Trinity if the Oracle hadn't dropped the hint. ("I can see why she likes you," and "Not too bright though [grin].") Neo wouldn't have chosen the left door if he had not been in love with Trinity. Also, Neo may not have chosen the left door if the Oracle hadn't given Neo hope that he could save her by asking if he sees her die in his dream.
• The Oracle tells Neo he has the gift [of being the One] but it looks like he's waiting for something. Notice she does not actually say that Neo is not the One, so she isn't lying. Neo wouldn't have gone back into the Matrix to save Morpheus if Neo had believed he was the One at that point. If Neo had believed he was the One, he and Trinity would have trusted Morpheus's judgement and decided that Neo is too important to risk, even for Morpheus. By ensuring that Neo meets Smith in the hallway in order to get killed by Smith, the Oracle causes Neo to realize he is the One, and she also causes Neo to set the Smith virus in motion that will later be used as a bargaining chip against the machines. This means that the very existence of the Smith virus is one of the Oracle's baked noodles.
• Spoon boy wouldn't have saved Neo's life by having the Kid deliver a spoon to Neo if the Oracle hadn't made Neo wait for a few seconds in her living room before seeing her in M1. The spoon idea also served as a constant reminder for Neo that nothing in the Matrix was real.
• The Smith virus wouldn't have grown as fast as it did if Smith did not meet Neo at the park for the burly brawl. Smith very clearly fed off of every second of that fight. (Smith: "More.") The time and place of that meeting was chosen by the Oracle - Smith literally appeared at the exact moment Seraph and the Oracle disappeared behind the door.
• If the Oracle hadn't given Neo the vision of Trinity falling from the building (see Oracle: Baking Cookies), Neo wouldn't have asked Trinity to stay out of the Matrix. If Trinity hadn't stayed out of the Matrix, she wouldn't have been available to jack in later to save Morpheus, Neo and the Keymaker from certain death due to the building bomb that would have gone off.
• Trinity wouldn't have entered the Matrix if the sentinel bomb hadn't gone off precisely when it did to kill the crew of the Vigilant. This probably means that the Oracle somehow facilitated the locating of the Vigilant by sentinels.
• Neo would not have chosen to give himself up at the end of M3 (which enabled Smith to be deleted by the Source) if the Oracle had not caused Oracle-Smith to say, "Everything that has a beginning also has an end, Neo." For more on this, see Smith: Smith's Defeat.
• In Mobil Avenue, when Neo talks to Rama-Kandra about love that programs can "feel," Neo learns that there is more to the machines than just human enslavement in the Matrix, which is a significant factor for Neo in his decision to go to Machine City (he will fight Smith not just for humans but also for Machines). Is it coincidence that Sati was being transferred to the Matrix at the exact time Neo showed up there? Probably not. The Oracle probably met with Rama-Kandra right after the Oracle met with Neo in the park. See Conversations: Neo & Rama-Kandra (explanation for second-to-last quote) for a full explanation of this.
• Niobe would not have given her ship to Neo in M3 if the Oracle had not made Niobe realize that she still loves Morpheus and not Commander Locke (we learn the Oracle did this from the Enter the Matrix game). Remember that Morpheus is the one who has the greatest faith in the Oracle's prophecy, while Commander Locke has the least faith in it. It makes it difficult for Niobe to help Neo if her personal loyalties still lie with Commander Locke. The Oracle also told Niobe that she would have to make a choice to either help Neo or not. Everything the Oracle told Niobe was aimed at getting Niobe to give Neo her ship, which is definitely one of the most irrational human choices seen throughout all three movies.

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Oracle: True Prophecy

Oracle: Baking Cookies