Darkness Closes In
Third Subact, 2nd half of Act II (page 87-98)

The second part of Cypher's betrayal begins (page 87), as he attacks first Tank, then Dozer, blasting each of them with a massive electrical discharge from a huge gun.

Neo, Trinity, Apoc, & Switch reach the ringing phone in the appliance store but the line is dead when they answer. Trinity calls Cypher on a cell phone, and he begins to taunt her, admitting that he killed Tank and Dozer, and betrayed them all.

At this point, the end of Act 2, our hero, and his friends, seem truly doomed. To put your characters in maximum jeopardy at this point is a standard plot device in mainstream screenplay structure, which I call:

• The Moment of Truth - Morpheus has been captured by the Agents. On the hovercraft, Cypher begins to pull the plugs of the resistance team members one by one, while in the Matrix, the team can only watch as their comrades each in turn die.

The characters' success is now in doubt. It seems as if they will be killed, and their entire struggle will have been in vain.

Compare these two films:

• "The Matrix": The Moment is preceded by the capture of Morpheus (The Mentor), and the Resistance team must fight to escape the police and agents.
• "Star Wars": the Moment of Truth is preceded by the death of Ben Kenobi (The Mentor, who still lives on in spirit form), and the Millenium Falcon must battle its way through a squadron of TIE fighters.

There follows a hilariously self-referential moment to the process of screenwriting/storytelling, when Cypher is about to pull Neo's plug. He mocks Trinity: "If he is the One, then in the next few seconds, there has to be some kind of miracle to stop me. Right?" Shortly thereafter, Tank, who has indeed survived, thanks to a "miracle" provided by godlike screenwriters, pops up with a gun in hand. Cypher blurts out, "I don't believe it!" as he is also amazed at this astonishingly convenient turn of events. Tank blasts Cypher with the lightning gun, finishing him.

Of the original team, only Neo, Trinity, and Tank are left. This situation is a perfect place to put these characters. They are now painted into a corner, and have few options. Pushed to the edge, they must act, lash out like cornered animals.

We are now on Page 92 with Agent Smith tormenting Morpheus. Smith mocks him, and goes on a long, entertaining tirade that explains the perspective of the intelligent machines that now control the world.

We switch back and forth between this "torture" scene, and the interior of the hovercraft, where Neo and Trinity debate about what to do next. This is a necessary reflection period that often precedes act transitions, during which the main character must decide to dive into the third act. This involves a re-orientation and redefinition of the main character's goal:

• A New Tactic - Neo decides to save Morpheus from the Agents.

If you recall from part one of this analysis, Neo's external goal is to find the truth, and his internal goal is to become the One. Neo now believes he knows the truth, which is the real nature of the Matrix (although he still has one important lesson left to learn). Although his decision to rescue his mentor seems like its own motivation, it is still tied to his internal goal of becoming the One, because part of achieving that state requires that he decide to take the final step of this goal by risking his life.

On page 96, Trinity and Tank have decided to kill Morpheus so that he cannot reveal the location of Zion to the Agents. As Tank grabs Morpheus' plug, Neo finally takes charge of his destiny:

		   NEO
	Stop!

They both look at him.

		   NEO
	Goddamnit!  I don't believe this
	is happening!

		   TANK
	Neo, this has to be done!

		   NEO
	Does it?  I don't know.  This
	can't be just coincidence.  It
	can't be!  Can it?

		   TANK
	What are you talking about?

		   NEO
	The Oracle.  She told me this
	would happen.  She told me...

Neo stops, his stare fixed on Morpheus.

		   NEO
	That I would have to make a 
	choice...

		   TRINITY
	What choice?

He makes his choice.  Turning, he walks to his
chair.

		   TRINITY
	What are you doing?

		   NEO
	I'm going in after him.    

At last, Neo stakes his life on what he has learned, the essential learning curve of the Hero's Journey. Act 3 now begins.

Note that all of the above subacts are each roughly ten pages long (and although the first subact is longer in this draft, is shorter in the film).

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