History WMG / ThePrestige

He was ruthless enough, and cared enough about his magic. One of her last lines were, "I know what you are" and he didn't want the secret to be revealed. He was also willing to kill animals and maim innocent lady's fingers throughout the film.

* It took me looking this page's history to make sure that ''I'' hadn't made this entry. I'm convinced this is true. It also adds new subtext to Borden's line:

Sarah told Olivia she needed to share something about Borden before killing herself, but Olivia never met with her to learn what it was. Sarah had deduced she was living with two men (which wouldn't be too hard, if she paid attention to small clues), and she wanted to let Olivia in on the secret before it tore her apart, too. Sarah hung herself not because her marraige had fallen apart, or because her husband had a mistress, but because she realized the man she loved had been playing an extremely cruel trick on her, with no end in sight.

* It adds an additional level of heartbreak even. Right before there's a scene where Borden tells "Fallon" (aka the twin that loves Sarah) that Sarah suspects something, and asks him to try and convince her that he (the twin that actually loves Olivia) loves her, that "Borden" (the singular person both twins trade being) always loves her and not only sometimes as she suspects. But when the proper twin talks with her, Sarah instead reveals she knows their secret, something Borden refuses to even discuss. So she demands the utter truth, and asks if Borden loves her. Borden (the twin that in the past has said he loves her and meant it) simply says "Not today". He values his secret more than their love...

[[WMG: Owens (Lord Caldlow's manservant) is Angier.]]

* With Creator/HughJackman playing Angier, it's a ComicBook/{{Elseworlds}} - ComicBook/WhatIf Batman/Wolverine crossover.

* One of Sarah's lines mentioned that she "knows" when Borden means it when he says he loves her. One twin really does love her and the other loves Olivia. Even one of the scenes with Olivia and Borden shows Borden indifferent when Olivia wants affection. He'd much rather be with his wife but he's on the wrong "shift".

** Because, as Angier explains in his WorldOfCardboardSpeech, the whole reason he performs is to see the audience's moment of wonder at prestige. The reason he could never work with a double (and the reason he ended up cloning at all) is because he wouldn't be able to see it. Both clones would have this motivation, so neither would be willing to do what the Bordens do and take it in turns.

[[WMG: The Borden who loved Oliva killed Sarah.]]

[[WMG: The film depicts the turn of the 20th century in the StarTrek universe]]

** The tought of "not being the real one" started to slowly drive Cloned!Borden insane. You know right away you're the copy due to you being outside the machine and seeing the other you inside. Had he not been hanged, we could expect him to become a full-fledged psychotic with age. No wonder Tesla considers his creation an evil thing.