WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Matrix Resurrections, now in theaters and currently available to stream on HBO Max.
After eighteen years, Neo and Trinity's adventures continue in The Matrix Resurrections, a follow-up to the original Matrix trilogy that concluded with 2003's The Matrix Revolutions. The sequel takes place in a Matrix rebooted by the machines decades after the events of the original trilogy, utilizing Neo and Trinity as a new energy source to keep themselves alive while presenting them with new identities in the digital world.
Resurrections is the first new piece of Matrix media since the closing of the 2005 MMO The Matrix Online. When The Matrix Online was launched, it was billed as a canonical continuation of the film franchise's story as players from around the world explored the rebooted Matrix during the fragile peace achieved between humanity and the machines at the end of The Matrix Revolutions. While Resurrections doesn't outright ignore some major narrative concepts introduced by the game, one key remains glaringly absent from Resurrections' story: the female reincarnation of Neo.
To underscore this seal of legitimacy, franchise creators and filmmakers the Wachowskis gave the game their public approval and even served as story consultants for the first nine chapters of the online game's overarching narrative. One of the biggest developments The Matrix Online introduced to the mythos was that Neo and Trinity's friend and commanding officer Morpheus was killed by a new program, the Assassin, when attempting to recover Neo's remains from the machines.
The death of Morpheus is the most noticeable narrative element from The Matrix Online retained in The Matrix Resurrections, though the exact circumstances of Morpheus' demise in the film are not elaborated. One element that is dismissed entirely is any mention of Sarah Edmontons, the widely rumored reincarnation of Neo. Sarah is mentioned early in in-game materials for The Matrix Online as a woman who recently emerged from a coma coinciding with the death of Neo and reboot of the Matrix. The Matrix Online focused on Morpheus' belief that Neo was alive in some capacity, fueling his campaign to recover his friend's remains. Fans were quick to note that "Sarah Edmontons" is an anagram for "Thomas Anderson," leading many players to believe Neo may have been reborn as Sarah after dying.
The Sarah Edmontons subplot was largely abandoned by the time The Matrix Online was shut down in 2009, a little over four years since its initial launch, due to steadily decreasing subscriber numbers. Instead, The Matrix Resurrections reveals that the machines discovered that Neo and Trinity's romance is so powerful it could solve an emergency crisis affecting the rebooted Matrix. This led to the machines resurrecting both Neo and Trinity, albeit in variations of their old civilian identities, with Neo as a reimagined Thomas Anderson who turned his suppressed memories of the Matrix and his role saving humanity into an enormously successful video game trilogy.
While The Matrix Resurrections' omission of Sarah Edmontons seemingly disproves Morpheus' beliefs that Neo lived on beyond his sacrifice, it is an allegory that falls right in with the wider Matrix franchise. The Matrix Online itself remains a curious experiment to continue a franchise's narrative in the hands of an online gaming community, albeit an ultimately unsuccessful one. Though certain elements are carried over into Resurrections, the film has quietly forged its own narrative path that remains indebted to what came before rather than be beholden to every piece of lore that was written along the way.
Produced, directed and co-written by Lana Wachowski, The Matrix Resurrections is in theaters now and currently available to stream on HBO Max.