When we pick back up in The Matrix Reloaded, our protagonist/savior Neo is fully realized and can easily fight off sentient programs sent out to kill him. The humans are pressed with an imitate threat of extinction. While some search for military solutions, others like Neo look for a prophesied way of ending the war. Neo is shortly told what his path must be to end the war. To unlock his path, he must find the key maker. A powerful program, the Merovingian, is holding the key maker prisoner. Once obtained, the key maker initiates the sequence to opening the path for Neo. After all has been achieved, Neo is brought to the architect. He explains to Neo the path ends with a choice. However, the choice is actually an illusion fabricated to establish control. The architect explains that this holds true for every choice he has made.

The philosopher Hume tackles the subject of free will and determinism. Building on his philosophy of causation, Hume explains that one way things could be determined is by causation: what will happen is subject to what has happened. (Hume)

In The Matrix Reloaded, the Merovingian eagerly explains his knowledge of cause and effect. In his world choice is an illusion created by men with power and that every action is a reaction. Case and point, Neo was there because the Oracle told him to go there. In the architect’s world, choice is his creation created to bring balance to the system. Given the views of the Merovingian, we would see that the architect is a man in power and therefore indeed created the choice himself. However, you could also argue that it was an act of causation. The architect is a rational, logical thinking entity, faced with a problem (the cause) and created a solution (the effect). So in other words, the creation of choice is the effect of the problem in the matrix.