Agent Smith was very different from other Matrix programs, and one The Matrix Revolutions, Agent Smith became one of sci-fi’s most recognizable villains – and a lot of it has to do with his unique dynamic with Neo, the hero of the story. Instead of simply wanting to destroy Neo, Agent Smith realized that The One was the key to making himself more powerful, which created an almost symbiotic relationship between Neo and the rogue program.
While the end of The Matrix is pointed as the moment Neo embraces his hero’s journey and truly becomes The One, the final fight between Neo and Agent Smith is also when the latter becomes powerful enough to free himself from his programming. Smith combining himself with Neo even if for a brief moment was enough to change the course of the machines' plans, as it created an unpredictable rogue party in the presumably 600-year-old war between humans and machines. Although combining himself with the Neo would be enough to make Smith a risk, a fan theory (via Reddit) suggests that Smith himself was a previous "The One."
Agent Smith Was Always Different From Other Agents
Agent Smith becomes much more powerful after his first fight against Neo, but the villain was already quite different from other Matrix Agents from the beginning. Whereas all of the Agents shown in The Matrix displayed no emotions and showed no unique personality traits, Agent Smith felt closer to what a “human villain” would be like. For example, Smith would engage in conversations with Neo and other characters, something that other Agents would not. Smith also seemed to have a twisted sense of humor, with even some hints of irony in his dialogues with Neo and Morpheus. In fact, Smith’s conversation with Morpheus tells a lot about the character.
Smith removed his earpiece to talk with Morpheus, which only goes to show how different from the other agents he already was at that point. Although the machines had no appreciation for humans given what happened in the First Machine War, they recognized humanity’s importance and the importance of the Matrix simulation to keep the world running. The machines needed humans, which is why the Matrix was designed to be neither paradise nor purgatory but rather a reconstruction of planet Earth as of the end of the 20th century. Agent Smith, on the other hand, had enough agency to despise humans and everything about them.
Theory: Smith Was Once A Human (& One Of “The Ones”)
As great as Agent Smith is as a character, the rules of the Matrix universe make it difficult to explain how could Smith be so different from other Agents from the beginning. While the movies featured a few programs with a higher level of agency, such as The Matrix's Oracle and the Merovingian, there is nothing to suggest that a simple Agent program could become as “self-aware” as Agent Smith. Therefore, something must have happened with Smith before the events of The Matrix to justify his personality in the first movie. According to the fan theory, Smith was a human – the first person to be given the Prime Program.
If Smith was The One, then he was also the first human to be given an ultimatum by the machines. As explained by The Architect in The Matrix Reloaded, Neo was not the second One but rather the sixth iteration of the prophecy. Neo, just like every other One before him, would have to choose between fighting the machines until humanity was extinct or giving up the fight and restarting the cycle by freeing 23 people from the Matrix to rebuild Zion. According to that theory, such a twisted choice is what broke Smith’s spirit after he realized everything he believed in was a lie constructed by machines.
In this version of the “Agent Smith was The One” theory, Smith’s resentfulness upon learning the truth is what leads him to become an intrinsic part of the Matrix simulation rather than just the avatar of a human being. Other versions of the “Agent Smith was The One” theory suggest that the machines, unable to make Smith compromise by choosing one of the two options, rebooted his mind and cut Smith’s connection with his original body. Smith would have been assimilated by the Matrix, which would have transformed the former One into an Agent. In this scenario, the machines would have repurposed Smith as a new asset — Agent Smith.
Smith Had A Unique Connection With Neo
Agent Smith had a special interest in Neo from the beginning. Not only that, but after Smith and Neo merged at the end of the Matrix, Smith survived and even absorbed part of what made Neo so special. It’s safe to assume that a regular program would have been fully assimilated (or simply destroyed) by Neo in those circumstances. Smith, however, was able to come back – now more powerful than ever. Agent Smith was unable to explain why his interaction with Neo had changed him so much, which would add up to Smith not ing he was once The One himself.
Smith was crucial for Neo to break the cycle of The One and achieve a truce between humans and machines in The Matrix Revolutions. Many consider Smith to be the exact opposite of Neo, someone who rose to counter Neo’s powers. That parallel between the hero and the villain becomes even more interesting if Smith was a previous One. In this scenario, Both Neo and Smith would have found a third answer for The Architect’s ultimatum – Smith returned to the Matrix and became part of it whereas Neo negotiated a truce to save Zion and free humanity at a certain level.
Does Smith Being A Fallen “The One” Really Work?
Agent Smith being formed from the reminiscences of a previous One would explain why he acts and sounds different from other Agents. Smith would have originated from a human, thus explaining why he is able to engage in conversations with Neo and Morpheus. Agent Smith being a former human also adds another layer to his hatred against humanity. Even if Smith could not the whole truth, something about his programming could have carried on his resentfulness from the cycle of lies established between humans and machines. Essentially, Smith as a former One explains why he is against both machines and humans.
All of that considered, there are problems with the “Smith was The One” Matrix theory. For example, if Smith really was a human that lived in the first version of Zion, then Agent Smith would not have had to find a random human, Bane, to get into the real world in The Matrix Revolutions. Instead, he would most likely have found his way back to his original body – although it can be theorized that the machines would have already eliminated it. Another major problem with Smith being a former One is that the machines would know how dangerous Smith was from the beginning – which contradicts how unpredictable Smith’s actions in Revolutions were.
