[FS]

Cool, thanks Rog.

Vibe's suggestion that the Architect is a former One brought something to my mind that might further support the theory that Zion is another layer of the Matrix.

In the first movie, Morpheus says that humanity believes that the year is somewhere around 2200 (roughly pulled from memory). The Architect says there's been five previous versions of the Matrix which all failed. I would think that each version lasts at the very least one or two centuries before a new One rises. So, either humanity made a gross miscalculation in guessing the year they woke up in, or the real world is closer to the year of 3000.

But if the Architect were a former One in that case, that would have to mean either the One does not exist in the real world, because he is purely a program written in the Matrix - how could the Architect still be alive after all these years, otherwise? - or the Architect, as the One, managed to digitalise his mind to live beyond his human body. Still, it might be interesting. As the former One, he could have reshaped the Matrix the way he saw fit, and probably would not want Neo to destroy his hard work. He might've lied to him.