From the Antagonist POV
The Machines must maintain their human battery farm and shut down a disruptive Mesiah before he achieves superiority over them.
More computer humor…
Hmm. Those examples are why I’m not sold on that as the Limit because there doesn’t seem to be anything in the film communicating that limit to the audience.
I think it needs to be something that is shown to the audience as running out, or running down, or getting closer. Like the Empire (& Death Star) getting closer to the rebel base in Star Wars, the wedding getting closer in The Princess Bride, or time running out (deadline approaching) in any Timelock.
Still, I think your “before the One achieves superiority over the machines” is actually close to what I see as the Limit. Read this quote carefully:
MORPHEUS: That means that anyone we haven’t unplugged is potentially an agent. Inside the Matrix, they are everyone and they are no one. We have survived by hiding from them…and by running from them. But they are the gatekeepers. They are guarding all the doors, they are holding all the keys, which means that sooner or later… someone is going to have to fight them.
So it is about Neo getting closer and closer to having the ability to stand up to them – achieving superiority, if you want. But the true Story Limit Options are enumerated by Morpheus in that quote (hiding, running, fighting). Throughout the story they are getting closer and closer to that last stand. Which is why you get such a chill when Neo doesn’t run away at the subway station – you know “this is it” just like when the Death Star approaches firing range on Yavin.
I feel the distinction is important for me and other authors struggling to communicate the Story Limit to the audience. We can’t just communicate something vague like “Neo seems to be getting more powerful over time” or even “Neo is getting closer to believing” (though related, that’s the MC Throughline). We need to communicate the “distance to showdown” even if that showdown is a vague thing like Morpheus’s “sooner or later someone is going to have to fight them.”
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The Limit is objective and can be looked at as the thing that triggers the drivers from a holistic point of view. So, how it is shown is different from what it is. I think we have to look objectively before subjectively. Like Mike W pointed out, pedals aren’t the limit. They are the clock of the limit. So, just like a map is seperate from territory, the clock is seperate from the lock. The clock can be off as a storytelling device. So, I think we beed to be clear about the option lock before we discuss what the optionlock clock is. This is epecially true with soft edge optionlocks.
If doesn’t matter whether we focus on agents, sentinels or the AI as they are all agents of the Machines. The Real World is a critical part of the OS as the Zionists are the stakes characters for the action occurring within the Matrix. The limit starts the climax, but also tells us when it will be over.
So, I think the biggest issue we have left is to look at things from the Audience POV vs the Author’s POV.
In this case, I can still argue that the dramtic tension of will Neo embrace being the one is completed, but will Neo be the one (survive and lead/save the zionists) is not done until he exits. And, this allows him to complete the RS with a kiss too.
We aren’t debating over what the climax is or when i starts, just when it ends.
But, I think that is critical here. In Star Wars, it isn’t over just because Luke turns of his computer and trusts the force. He still has to make the shot.
In the Matrix, if it were about the agents, Neo would go after them once he recycles Smith. But, instead he must leave to survive and lead his people. Even in the coda, Neo isn’t focused on the agents. What good would Neo’s superiority do if he died? How would the Zionists have superiority over the Matrix without him? If he could inspire them to be like him enough to save themselves, they wouldn’t need him to be alive. But, they don’t have his capacity. So, if he dies, they lose. This why the limit has to be super clear and definies all that dramatic tension. Will Neo beat the agents and survive? Not just “will he beat the agents?”
In star wars, they wrestle over the operation of the death star. —sure, we can tell the accounts from both sides. But, it isn’t over until it blows up.
Also, the option clock starts with Neo trapped in the Matrix and stands his ground. It ends when he recycles Smith, the agents run and he exits. —this works for both subjective and objective POVs.
As a subjective author you can sort this out with the above tension questions as long as both condtions are met to define success.
Here is a way to look at this through the lens of running:
To Do : complete a Marathon
To Be : be a marathon runner (multiple marathons)
To Have: Get the T-shirt at the end
People run marathons for different reasons. This climax is about being The One.
Objectively, the limit of The One dominating the matrix includes surviving it. Like It is a “to be” goal over a “to do” goal. To be The One, he has to live. The whole story is about being The One so he can deliver them from death or slavery.
I can’t imagine Christianity would be as popular if Jesus’ spirit was stuck in Sheol (The Grave) or if he ressurected and didn’t return to show his scars to his disciples or if he was in a coma for eternity. —because the tension wouldn’t be resolved consistent with the storyform and the tension would be different. All though Sleeping Beauty Jesus does sound like a cools script idea
Interesting, I think I see where you’re going, and why I didn’t understand. You’re talking about the Limit as more than just this clock/map/option-list off to the side, but as something integrated into all the Drivers (including the final Driver that ends the story).
I’ll think about that a bit more. I was more interested in the part where we communicate the Limit to the Audience, but this does sound interesting.
How would you describe this “objective Limit” in Star Wars?
Exatly! It sets up the climax, but triggers the driver.
The tension can be setup for the audience with anything that communicates the tension to the audience using a monitor (my term for the clocks) and also, posing the dramatic question. Would it help to pull these from The Matrix? I could do that as an exercise to see if we can see how they did it.
For Star Wars: (A New Hope)
Rebels fight with the Empire over the death machine’s operation before all hope of defeating it is lost.
I’ve been thinking about this more. It’s a bit intangible for me, but I’m trying!
First, would you say this proto-Limit you’re talking about is sort of in between the “communicated Limit” (what you are calling monitor, I think) and the Story Drivers, while connected to them both?
I’m actually more interested in the monitor itself, for two reasons. First, it’s the piece you have to make sure to communicate to the audience, which I don’t think I tend to do without focusing on it. Second, I feel like this proto-Limit you’re talking about sort of takes care of it self in a story that has a Goal and a clear Outcome.
I can see the proto-Limit could be useful for the theory of course, and that maybe you can use it to help understand the Drivers better? Is that what you’re going for or am I way off base?
The Petals falling are the Forewarnings of the Consequence according to the Theory Book 
“Forewarnings show how close things are to making the Consequence permanent. We find an example of this kind of Forewarning in Walt Disney’s production of Beauty And The Beast. Here, petals falling off a rose forebode the point at which the prince must remain a beast forever.”
Excerpt From
Dramatica®: A New Theory of Story
Melanie Anne Phillips & Chris Huntley
https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=651251249
This material may be protected by copyright.
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Though the petals may be used to signal Forewarning, I think they appear to be used as an Optionlock Story Limit as well in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. The limit is established at the beginning of the story and the climax occurs as the last petal falls.
Thanks, Chris! So, they are used for both right? And, this would be common like The Roses on the Bachelor (this season excluded since it had extra innings) or chef’s jackets in Hell’s Kitchen.
Yes, those are clear examples of optionlocks, though I be hard-pressed to say the season is a “story”, though I believe they try to make it follow that format as much as possible to get maximum buy in from their audience.