(Originally written Dec 14 2004)

It’s Christmas break, which means travel. Here are some thoughts on the Matrix movies that staved off the boredom of the road.

Okay, the Merovingian….

Historically, the Merovingians were a dynasty of French kings who were eventually ousted by the Carolingian line. The Merovingians were initially strong kings, but they broke up the kingdom into small inherited fiefdoms, occasionally bringing the kingdom back under one ruler. They lost power when Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer) who was essentially the right hand man for the king, led the troops to battle instead of the king. (An interesting commentary upon war then versus war now, since it is nearly impossible to imagine a modern world leader actually leading the troops.) A persistent rumor about the Merovingian line was that they were descended from Mary Magdalene and Jesus, although another theory traced their lineage back to the tribes of Israel, while another theory traces the lineage back to ancient Romans. All three lineage lines are fascinating, but historical truth of any is debatable.

So how does the character of the Merovingian fit into this? Fitting him into the Christian mythos as the child of Mary Magdalene and Jesus would support the theory that the Merovingian was either a previous One, or descended from a previous One. This could be seen as supported by the comment by Persephone that the Merovingian was once like Neo. I am not, however, convinced of this theory.

The actions of the Merovingian are very interesting to consider. He comes across as a bad or evil character, and is quite definitely self-absorbed. But is it not possible that his actions in bringing rogue programs—more importantly “innocent” rogue programs—into the Matrix are more than a simple, selfish “what’s in it for me?” The Merovingian, regardless of his history, may have as reason to keep Neo from resetting or upsetting the system, since that would interfere with his world. Who knows what havoc the system reset would play upon his kingdom—his haven for programs that were to be terminated by the system. Or it could be that the Merovingian simply doesn’t like change and doesn’t like to relinquish control. Hard to say however, since his character, despite the long speech in ‘Reloaded’, is hard to understand (besides his current self-absorption). But he can’t be all bad, can he? Persephone claims he was once like Neo, and that the love that Trinity and Neo share is the reason she will help them. (Well, revenge plays a small part) Doesn’t that mean that he was not always so bad and self-absorbed? After all, Persephone remains with him, and keeping the heart of the queen of Hell is no small feat.

The history of the Merovingians would seem to reflect the weakness of the Merovingian, in that despite his façade of control and power, he does not in fact have complete power over his kingdom. Persephone’s betrayal (in response to the Merovingian’s blatant personal betrayal) allows Neo to escape with the Keymaker. I also believe it was Persephone who allowed Trinity to rescue Neo from Limbo. If the Trainman had absolute power in the train station, then Persephone should have had absolute power in Hell. I am reminded briefly of Valerie in the Princess Bride, talking Miracle Max into reviving Wesley “True Love! He said true love!” Perhaps it was true love, and her memories of it, that made her decided to help Neo and Trinity. Regardless of the why, I don’t think that they would have succeeded without her help.

Where does the Merovingian fit into this? I’m still not sure. I think that the history of the Merovingian line tells us something about why he failed, twice, to keep Neo and Trinity from their goals, for the Merovingians were weak kings who, towards the end, were kept in power by those who theoretically served them.