“ You do not truly know someone until you fight them.
”― Seraph[src]
Seraph[1] is an Exile acting as The Oracle's guardian.
Personality[]
Very little is known about Seraph's personal life. What is known is that he believes that the best way to get to know a person is engaging in a fight with them, to test their power, skill, determination, and character, issuing challenges to anyone wishing access to see The Oracle.
When not fighting, guarding, or escorting people during important missions, Seraph seems to spend his time drinking tea and meditating. Seraph might also like cookies as, when Neo arrives in his final meeting with The Oracle, she dismisses Sati with the bowl of cookie dough telling her to let Seraph taste test them.
History[]
Seraph's code as it appears before Neo
Seraph initially worked for The Merovingian during the earliest iterations of the Matrix. Being a skilled and powerful Exile, Seraph has access to restricted paths within the Matrix and was also capable of defeating Agents, personally defeating Agent Smith in the past.
At some point in time however, Seraph becomes indebted to The Oracle and chooses to become her bodyguard instead. Ever since, he has been considered a traitor by The Merovingian.
Rendezvous[]
Needing to speak with Neo, The Oracle calls in a favor from Seraph to arrange a meet-up between her and Neo. To fulfill this request, Seraph tries to find some means of contacting Neo and ends up tracking down Ballard of the Caduceus, one of the few remaining Resistance operatives who had remained at Matrix broadcast-depth that chose not to return to Zion following the destruction of the Osiris.
With Ballard himself attempting to find The Oracle for Morpheus and Neo, Seraph approaches the operative and introduces himself as The Oracle's guardian. Not believing him, the hovercraft captain instead keeps him at bay with a handgun. Bowing and apologizing beforehand, Seraph suddenly launches an attack that disarms Ballard, but the formidable captain is quick to retaliate and the two end up sufficiently exchanging hits one after the other. After pushing each other back into a quick lull, Seraph just as suddenly gestures an end to the fight and re-initiates a conversation with Ballard, asking the captain to follow him now that they "truly know" each other. Ballard relaxes and follows Seraph, receiving a package from The Oracle meant for Neo.
The Tea House Test[]
- Main article: Tea House Test
Seraph fights Neo to test his character
Somewhere in Chinatown, meditating patiently and alone across the only entrance of a tea house, Seraph awaits the arrival of Neo, trusting that Ballard delivered the package pinpointing the very tea house he sat in.
At the appointed time, Seraph observes Neo enter through the doors and he stands up to introduce himself. After getting sufficiently close to Neo, and much like his engagement with Ballard, Seraph once again bows and apologizes in advance before springing a furious series of attacks aimed at testing and gauging Neo.
Seraph guards The Oracle as she speaks with Neo
Neo, proving his own skill and character, skillfully guards against Seraph's attacks and is able to land a pair of blows that pushes back the guardian. Convinced of Neo's authenticity as The One, Seraph stops the fight and proceeds to guide Neo to The Oracle's actual location, making use of a backdoor to access a programmer's maintenance tunnel which they use to avoid getting followed.
After going through another backdoor, they arrive at a tenement park where they find The Oracle sitting alone on a bench while feeding doves in the center of the Playground. After escorting Neo and bringing him right in front of The Oracle, Seraph goes back to stand by the backdoor exit, guarding and watching over both his ward and the exit as The Oracle begins his discussion with Neo.
After a few quick minutes, Seraph hastily fetches The Oracle noting how it was time to leave. Guiding The Oracle through the exit, he alertly steps in after her and gives Neo a quick glance, bowing to Neo before closing the door. As soon as they leave, Smith arrives at the playground.
Encouraging the Resistance[]
While Neo was trapped within Mobil Avenue, Seraph contacts the Logos and lets them know that The Oracle has a message that they need to hear. After the Logos operative[2] passes his challenge, he then guides them through the secret tunnel and lets them meet The Oracle. However, with Smith approaching near, Seraph only allows the Logos operative a brief conversation with The Oracle before guiding them back out. Wishing the operative luck and courage, he then severs the backdoor access to keep The Oracle safe. Once again, Smith arrives at the location of the backdoor a mere second after access is closed.
Battle for Restoration[]
Seraph later contacts Morpheus directly through the Nebuchadnezzar and states that The Oracle would like to personally speak with both Morpheus and Trinity. And after sharing news of Neo being trapped by The Trainman.
Once reaching the subway, the three of them manage to find The Trainman but he escapes to Club Hel and tells The Merovingian about the situation. Once Seraph, Trinity, and Morpheus realize that they must find The Merovingian, the three of them go to Club Hel.
Before entering the underground club, the three of them battle against exile guards and some of The Merovingian's henchmen. After the battle, they enter the club and move across the dance floor while wielding their guns and looking for The Merovingian. The Merovingian appears from the upper level and tells them that the three of them must give up their weapons in order for them to talk. Seraph, Trinity, and Morpheus do so and go upstairs.
Once on the second level, the three of them find The Trainman, Persephone, and more of The Merovingian's guards. The Merovingian makes a proposition that he will allow The Trainman to release Neo if they give him the eyes of The Oracle. Trinity, outraged by the offer, attacks the guards around her and Seraph and Morpheus join in with the struggle. The fight ends with Trinity holding a pistol to The Merovingian's head while Seraph held a Luger P08 at The Trainman, saying that all of them will die at that moment if Neo is not released. After Persephone persuades The Merovingian to listen to Trinity, he agrees and Neo is set free.
Ambushed by Smith[]
Smith speaking to Seraph before he assimilates him.
After the conflict in Mobil Avenue, Sati was released and was left in The Oracle's care. Seraph continued to guard The Oracle and Sati. After Neo was released from Mobil Avenue, Seraph was told to watch Sati. While they were leaving The Oracle's apartment, the apartment hallway lights started to turn off. Agent Smith, who is now a virus in the Matrix, revealed himself to be the cause of this event and Seraph grabbed Sati and tried to escape from Smith. They entered an apartment room and hid there hoping Smith would not find them. Smith eventually enters into the room and after a brief talk with Seraph, he assimilated both Seraph and Sati.
The New Day[]
Seraph and Sati approaching The Oracle as a new dawn awaits.
Seraph, as the new day shines upon him
When Neo's Machine City quest to bring peace between the people of Zion and the Machines is successful and the Matrix is reloaded. All programs that were possessed by Smith were then free. Seraph found Sati and both of them approached The Oracle, who was sitting on a park bench. After Sati asked if Neo will return, Seraph asked if The Oracle knew that this new day of peace would come. The Oracle told Seraph that she did not know but believed it would and the three of them stare into the sun shining down within the Matrix.
The Matrix Online[]
Seraph returns in The Matrix Online, originally continuing to protect The Oracle.
Interpretation[]
Seraphim[]
In The Matrix Online, Seraph was speculated to have been originally a Seraphim, Agents of one of the Matrix Beta Versions. Possibly because of his skills, he was favored by The Merovingian and was smuggled into the Matrix following the failure of its earlier prototypes, thus explaining how Seraph ended up working for The Merovingian.
It is further speculated that The Merovingian tore out his wings following his decision to serve The Oracle instead. Regardless, he is often referred to as a wingless angel:
- The Merovingian, upon seeing Seraph in Club Hel remarks, "L'ange sans ses ailes". This translates from French as "the angel without his wings."
- Also in Club Hel, one of the guards recognize Seraph and refers to him while saying, "it's wingless."
A Previous Incarnation of The One[]
An existing theory on the origins of Seraph is that he was, at one time, one of the 5 original The Ones, this based on the observation that he appears to be nearly equal in combat ability to Neo.
Seraph's name has its origins in the Judeo-Christian Seraphim. These are angels that, in the Christian angelarchy, are of the highest rank. An observation made by some fans is that, through the eyes of Deus Ex Machina, Neo appears angelic and fiery. This ties back into the religious angelarchy as the Seraphim, being angels, are synonymous with fire, their title literally translated as "burning ones".
Seraph was of the same fiery golden color, this color being symbolic of spirit in the Matrix, which is a further indicator that he may have once been a human or one of The Ones. Also, as God's guardians, the Seraphim were said to have 6 wings upon them, 2 guarding their feet, 2 their face and 2 they used to fly. This is important to note, in that there were 6 incarnations of The One in total, Neo being the sixth and final.
Also important is that the Smith that assimilated The Oracle was likely the recently assimilated Seraph, noting the final exchange of words between this Smith and The Oracle, which were as follows:
“ Oracle: "What did you do with Sati?"
”
Smith: "Cookies need love like everything does."
Oracle: "You are a bastard."
Smith: "You would know, Mom."― The Oracle[src]
Assuming that the Smith in question was once Seraph, and that Seraph, himself, was once The One, the use of the word Mom is important when considering The Oracle's role in the creation of the current model of the Matrix, which was running through its 6th time. The Oracle was literally the creator, or mother, of the Prime Program (The Path of The One). She created it in order to suppress the anomaly, the rejection of the Matrix program by 1% of the population, that existed in The Architect's current incarnations of the Matrix.
So, in considering the above, assuming that Smith was Seraph, a previous incarnation of The One, it would be entirely proper for him to call her Mom (A side note, a comparative example of an assimilated programming speaking through Smith was in Smith's and Neo's final fight. Smith, being the assimilated Oracle, tells Neo, "Everything that has a beginning, has an end, Neo." It was only ever then that Smith called Neo by his preferred name, implying that it was, in fact, The Oracle directly speaking).
Also interesting is the Smith-assimilated Seraph's exclamation, "Cookies need love like everything does" (Although this is quoting Sati, she has learned of cookies through The Oracle) (Perhaps that phrase is pronounced by Smith-assimilated Sati, instead, it's more logical). This is of interest in that cookies were believed to be important in the relationship between The Oracle and Neo, or The One. Food is known for its transfer of information in the Matrix and it is believed that The Oracle's cookies were used for transferring important information to Neo, possibly the programming which makes Neo 'The One'.
Furthermore, in support of Seraph's possible previous incarnation as The One, it is known that particular humans can be rebirthed in the Matrix after their physical bodies have ceased. An example of this would be Trinity's rebirth in the Matrix (Also composed of golden code), as it was revealed in The Matrix Online that both she and Neo (and discernibly all other The Ones) were an accumulation of decades of Machine research into translating human DNA perfectly into Machine code, allowing them to interface directly with technology without the need for simulated interfaces. This program was called The Biological Interface Program and was created by The Oracle (Further solidifying The Oracle as mother to The Ones).
In compliance with the above information, it is implied that Seraph once worked for The Merovingian, which would be fitting if he was reborn in the Matrix. It is likely that, just as Neo did when he first entered the Matrix through TBI, Seraph would have 're-materialized' at Mobil Avenue (the train station), the departing from which reaching was only possible by riding the train. The train was run by the train master and the train master was under the control of The Merovingian. Ultimately, Seraph would have been led to The Merovingian, leading to his working for The Merovingian.
References[]
- ↑ The word Seraph is based on the biblical term Seraphim the name of the highest choir of angels.
- ↑ The Logos operative The Oracle meets with is either Niobe, Ghost, or both; following the events of Enter the Matrix.