St George beating Agent Smith through semantics

“I couldn’t beat him. I was sure of it. I knew if I tried anything a lot of people would get killed and I still wouldn’t stop him.”
“Yet you resisted,” she said. “You tried to stop him.”
“Nope. I told you, I knew I couldn’t stop him. It’s like he hardwired it into my brain. I know it was some kind of mind control and I still can’t make myself believe I could’ve stopped him.”
…
“Then how were you able to fight back?”
“That soldier hit you with his rifle. The second he did that, I realized I didn’t want to beat the bad guy. I just wanted to save the girl.”
“You defeated Smith’s powers through a semantic argument.”

Excerpt From Ex-Patriots, pg 583-584
Peter Clines
https://books.apple.com/us/book/ex-patriots/id585738393