Christopher Nolan’s movies are often filled with small details for audiences to notice when they rewatch them, and The Prestige has more than usual. Although it isn’t quite as popular as some of Nolan’s best movies, The Prestige is a fascinating drama that bears many of the director’s hallmarks. There are shocking twists, a non-linear narrative, and some cerebral concepts for audiences to grapple with. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play two magicians locked in an increasingly dangerous feud in Victorian-era London.

Angier and Borden prove that they’re willing to do anything in their pursuit of perfection on stage. Their dangerous obsessions drive them to increasingly desperate lengths, but The Prestige doesn’t reveal the true depths of their twisted games until the finale. Once all the twists have been revealed, many people want to go back and watch The Prestige from the beginning to see how Nolan pulled off his own trick. Doing so will reveal all the intelligent little details that Nolan peppers throughout the film, acting as clue for first-time viewers or taunts to those who are trying to figure out how they didn’t see the ending coming.

Angier Removes His Wedding Ring Before The Prestige’s Duplication Trick For A Specific Reason

Angier Sacrifices His Life For His Art

The ending of The Prestige reveals how both Angier and Borden performed their version of the “Transported Man” trick. While Borden’s approach is always shrouded in mystery, Angier clearly operates at the cutting edge of new technologies. By working with Nikola Tesla, he gets hold of a machine that can create an exact clone of himself, which he uses to fool his audience into thinking that he’s able to teleport across the theater. Angier’s supreme showmanship means that he usually has the edge over Borden, but he only gets a trick which can rival Borden’s talent when he bends the rules of space and time.

Before he performs his Transported Man trick, Angier removes his wedding ring, since he knows that he won’t survive the show. As the jaw-dropping final sH๏τ of The Prestige reveals, Angier dies each night he performs the trick, with the newly-synthesized double emerging from Tesla’s machine to take the plaudits. This clone then continues the cycle, dying the next night. Angier saves his wedding ring so that the survivor can continue to wear it, even if he sacrifices his life repeatedly to amaze his audience.

Angier Keeping His Original Wedding Ring Makes His Story In The Prestige Even More Tragic

Angier’s Feud With Borden Is Driven By Revenge

Angier could easily remove his wedding ring and keep it some place safe, but it says a lot about his motivations that he preserves it for each subsequent clone to wear. Even if they only wear it for a short while before it’s their turn to die, the different versions of Angier hold on to the wedding ring because they’re really holding on to the memory of Julia, his deceased wife. This reveals what really motivates Angier to go to such extreme lengths, giving his life many times over to ensure that he’s remembered as a legendary magician.

Angier’s long-standing feud with Borden escalates to absurd levels, but it all starts because Angier blames his former friend for the death of his wife. After all, it was Borden who tied the knot that Julia was unable to escape from in her act, and he can’t recall what type of knot it was when Angier accosts him. Of course, the ending to Borden’s story reveals a clue as to why this might be. Since Borden is one life being shared by two identical twins, the man who tied the knot probably isn’t the one who attends Julia’s funeral service.

The fact that Angier removes his wedding ring before performing the Transported Man trick is such a small detail that many fans of The Prestige could easily miss it. However, it seems vitally important once the audience do pick up on it. This character detail reveals a lot about Angier, and it’s a reminder that his acts of violence are driven by his inconsolable grief. Just like Borden, he wants to be the best magician in the world, but the significance of the wedding ring highlights the differences between the two men. The Borden twins put their art above all else, to the detriment of their relationships, whereas Angier values his love, and this spurs him on during his career.