Purpose
Zion was initially built for the purpose of saving the last of the human race following the war against the armies of Zero One. However, a Machine program named the Architect, the creator and manipulator of the Matrix, manipulated the situation so Zion served as a control for the survival of the program in two ways. Firstly, the Machines could allow any humans who did not, or could not, accept the Matrix for what it was to live in the physical world without having to recapture them (this reduced dissent within the Matrix's population and prevented an exponentially-growing rejection rate from its population from causing entire "crops" of humans to die out, reducing power output). Essentially, Zion was allowed to exist by the Machines as a giant pressure-release valve on the entire system, allowing the humans that realized the Matrix wasn't real (statistically, only a fraction of 1% of the whole human population) to be conveniently removed and isolated. Secondly, the Architect would periodically destroy Zion and its inhabitants as part of a deal coercing the One into reinserting the "Prime Program", a program code required to maintain the Matrix, allowing the Matrix to continue and Zion to be rebuilt by chosen survivors without memory of the destruction. The Machines usually timed this to occur when Zion's population grew in size to the point that it was just beginning to pose a significant threat to them, which was roughly when its population reached about 250,000. This cycle was broken when the sixth installment of the One refused to re-enter the program, and instead brokered the truce with the Machines.
Read more about this topic: Zion (The Matrix)
Famous quotes containing the word purpose:
“It is not the purpose of literature to purvey news. For news consult the Almanac de Gotha.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“The moment a mere numerical superiority by either states or voters in this country proceeds to ignore the needs and desires of the minority, and for their own selfish purpose or advancement, hamper or oppress that minority, or debar them in any way from equal privileges and equal rights—that moment will mark the failure of our constitutional system.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“During the cattle drives, Texas cowboy music came into national significance. Its practical purpose is well known—it was used primarily to keep the herds quiet at night, for often a ballad sung loudly and continuously enough might prevent a stampede. However, the cowboy also sang because he liked to sing.... In this music of the range and trail is “the grayness of the prairies, the mournful minor note of a Texas norther, and a rhythm that fits the gait of the cowboy’s pony.””
—Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)