Matrix Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Matrix Wiki
Mobil Ave

Rama Kandra, Sati, Kamala, and Neo in Mobil Avenue

Mobil Avenue station (or Mobil Ave) is a separate virtual world controlled by the the Trainman as a smuggling portal for exile programs to get into the Matrix, and for programs inside the Matrix to be smuggled into the machine world. The Trainman works for the Merovingian.

This construct takes the form of a subway train station. Travel into and out of it is only possible on subway trains, representing the connection to the Matrix or the Machine City's mainframe. Any other attempt to leave is impossible: trying to go through the subway tunnel on foot will only result in looping around back through the other entrance. Like the Matrix, Mobil Ave follows certain basic rules, such as gravity. However, because it exists outside of the Matrix and is a separate virtually generated world altogether, the powers of The One do not extend there, allowing the Trainman to easily overpower Neo.

After discovering his powers outside the Matrix, Neo falls in a coma. The Merovingian seizes on this moment to take his revenge on Neo for taking The Keymaker from him, by ordering the Trainman to trap his mind and RSI in Mobile Ave while still jacked in.

While trapped in Mobil Ave, Neo meets Sati and her parents, who are smuggling the young Program out of the Machine mainframe. Her father explains to Neo that Machines and programs are as self-aware and capable of emotions as humans, and he created his daughter Sati as an act of love. The tyrannical order of the Machine empire, however, has no place for anything without a purpose, ultimately a purpose perpetuating the digital prison of the Matrix. Because Sati was made without this inherent purpose, her fate would have been deletion. This gives Neo a newfound appreciation that artificial intelligence deserves to live as much as humans do.

The Trainman eventually arrives and lets the family board his train, but forces Neo to stay. Morpheus, Trinity and Seraph threaten the Merovingian and he orders the Trainman to release Neo.

Trivia[]

  • Mobil is an anagram for "limbo", which is fitting since it can be seen as a parallel of Purgatory.
  • Neo being trapped in Mobil Ave ("limbo") seems to follow the classic mythical trope of the hero being trapped in the underworld, and in the process gaining newfound wisdom or knowledge, before being rescued from without.
  • When Neo is trying to board the train, the Trainman punches him into a wall which breaks. Later when Trinity, Morpheus, and Seraph come to take him back, the wall is repaired.
    • This is either a mistake overlooked by the movie makers, or the construct repaired itself or the Trainman repaired it after leaving Neo there.
    • The title of the train that passes in the "Mobil" sequence is "Loop". This may refer to a computer programming 'loop' sequence (while); or that Limbo is a looping of time; or an homage to Chicago, The Wachowskis' hometown.
    • A clue to this is the name of the station, Mobil Ave. This is an anagram of “Limbo”, and “ave” is Latin for both “welcome” and “farewell”. Symbolically, The One tries to escape by literally running down the avenue, but the avenue has an aspect of both leaving and arriving, as it is topologically circular. [1]

References[]

Advertisement