The second renaissance is a two-part Animatrix set of animations; each one nine minutes long. They tell the story of the rise to glory of the human race, the war and the reasons behind it, and the final resolution that left things as they are, in the Matrix films.

As before, the second part opens with Tron like kaleidoscopes. Wave after wave of colour and pattern whizzing past the camera as it delves ever deeper into the system. A golden goddess sitting on a dais lays at the end of the tunnel; the Zion Archive controller calmly reopens file 12-1, and the segment begins where part 1 left off.

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The second renaissance is a two-part Animatrix set of animations; each one nine minutes long. They tell the story of the rise to glory of the human race, the war and the reasons behind it, and the final resolution that left things as they are, in the Matrix films.

As before, the second part opens with Tron like kaleidoscopes. Wave after wave of colour and pattern whizzing past the camera as it delves ever deeper into the system. A golden goddess sitting on a dais lays at the end of the tunnel; the Zion Archive controller calmly reopens file 12-1, and the segment begins where part 1 left off.

After the military and economic blockade failed to sway the balance, and instead, cut off from their superior goods from city 01, the human world began to wither, as human made components could not match the specs, the global economic crisis deepened. Anxious to turn the pressure away from them, the human politicians looked for a scapegoat, and saw it in city 01. The answer was another war. Bomb the city into extinction and whilst the conflict rages, people will forget their troubles.

Sadly, this was even worse of an idea than it seemed. Machines were not made of flesh and bone. Radiation had no effect on them, heat had precious little. The bombs that fell only served to signal to the machines that there was no logic in trying to co-exist any longer. The humans desired a war, they were getting a war.

(Click for Larger Version)

The machines' war craft consisted initially of their own bodies, in whatever form they were. Ten thousand different war machines surged into battle, each one different, and each the equivalent of a human tank or plane. The human fleet could not hold them back, and the blockade was wiped aside. City 01, fully awake and angry, advanced in every direction. Human settlements fell like dominoes in the path of this logical army.

The humans, forced to retreat and retreat, plotted the ultimate revenge. Without a thought what it would do to them, they commissioned project Dark Storm, to cloak the planet in eternal night. An artificial storm that would rage without end, blocking out the sunlight, and ionising the atmosphere. Nothing electrical could pass through it and survive. Even if they won the war, humans would be sealed inside, permanently.

A fleet of aircraft was dispatched across the globe. Ironically to a plane, they all used the hovercraft pads that city 01 had invented, the same ones used in the films later on, that rendered the planes immune to the effects of gravity.

The clouds covered the sky, and the sun was choked off permanently. Solar power was but a memory, and an advanced society had depleted most other fuel sources. Surely now the machines would surrender. The war intensified, and larger machines were deployed on both sides, some as large as cities, raining down death from the sky.

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The humans lost. Badly. Crushed under the sheer size and power of the machine army. They had studied humanity at great length, and knew exactly where and how to inflict pain. They had just held back from doing so until they had no other choice. Still, that didn't get them a power source. So, they applied all they knew about their enemy, and discovered a possibility. They studied and experimented upon human captives, and discovered the body could be used for an energy source.

Bio-electric, thermal, kinetic. All could be harnessed. Everything about the human body was built to extrude power, and they could be grown so easily.

Part 2 ends, showing a single young boy, hooked into the matrix, as part of a giant power generation coil, billions strong. The interface goddess strokes her arm softly over her cocooning pod, as the camera pulls away. All of humanity rests inside those pods now, in the Matrix.

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< Part 1 || End of Part 2

Misc

Running time: 9:25

Written by Mahiro Maeda
Directed by Mahiro Maeda

Links

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The Animatrix

The Animatrix is a collection of nine short animations, a mix of CG and hand drawn animation, starting with this one, and moving through eight others, each with a unique point of view. Some are deeply philosophical , some wax poetic. All are filled with information on VR, on what it could and can quite easily be, beyond the matrix series itself. Ironically, Flight of the Osiris is the odd one out, as it is the most plot-canon of the nine, and has the least to offer in philosophical or technical musings about VR. That said, the CG still gives us a great deal to muse over visually, but the others too, are well worth a look. Review also links to all nine short films.

The Ultimate Matrix Collection

The 'Ultimate Matrix Collection' is actually rather less than ultimate, since it does not include the Matrix philosophy books, and other add-ons. However, what this bumper DVD collection does include, is all three films, and the Animatrix.

Other Links

Resource List: Everything Matrix

A resource list held on VWN, attempting to index everything we have, Matrix related. It continues to grow steadily over time