scene better where one of the brothers hangs and the next one appears before Angier. I assume the audience was supposed to believe that Alfred did the "transported man" one last time, but since Angier is hearing someone in the room with him it's obvious that it can't be Alfred (who is still getting ready to hang).

of Albert Borden having done the transported man at that moment despite the fact that we already saw someone enter the room and, as you mentioned, Angier heard them while Borden was preparing to be hanged elsewhere, it plays on the subconscious desire for something more.

Nolan then repeats this trick one last time by not giving you a good look at what Frederick Borden is looking at during John Cutter's final narration and then that particular cut-to-black. You wouldn't believe how many conversations I've had with people insisting that the final shot signifies that Robert Angier is still alive.

Much like how Cutter explained that the transported man was not a complex illusion but Robert Angier wanted it to be, the final outcome of the movie is no great mystery but the audience wants it to be.

Look at the way it plays out. "Do you have any last words?"

"Abracadabra." We're supposed to think that he says a magic word, as simple and cliche as can be, has some sort of power to work his magic one last time. Yes, we do want to be fooled because 1) we don't want him to die, and 2) we know that there's no such thing as magic in the real world, but we want to believe that this works. But it's not like the clues are obvious but we're trying to ignore them. I really do think it was a mistake of Nolan's because even the "abracadabra" is near inaudible, only sounding clear in the trailer. I had to go back on the dvd to hear what Alfred said.

By the time I saw that someone was with Angier BEFORE Borden is hanged, I knew that it couldn't be him. I didn't gasp at the possibility that maybe he really did have the ability to transport. I knew at this point he couldn't, I just had to wait for the explanation. However, up to that point, I really was expecting his trick to be even more amazing than Angiers. When Borden's wife yells, "I know what you are!" I was thinking, damn, what the hell is he?

BUT maybe it's done to help us to arrive at the same conclusion, at the same time Angier does. I thought that maybe that's why Nolan timed it the way he did. Because if not, we're thinking he really did transport and we're one step behind the thought process of Angier. Is that what you mean? I can't really think to clearly right now because I haven't had any sleep.

I've never heard anyone put out the possibility that Angier was still alive. That would be an interesting and awesome tidbit that Nolan put in for the audience's interpretation, something that continues the theme of deception