The Prisoner: Science: Cloning

Clones appear throughout the Village in different areas, from general laborers to special-case Prisoners and even as a Number 2. It is unclear what the procedure is for clone design. As the clones sometimes have different personalities than their outer twins, it is possible that the cloning procedure also could involve the Saltzman Machine, a mind-swap device the effects of which are irreversible without intervention from its creator.

In most cases one can assume a clone is an Infiltrator, after all, people cannot simply clone themselves. It is possible in some cases that clones may merely be twins, but project Schizoid Man makes it unlikely this is so. Number 6 never once suspected his clone of being his brother. Later on he doesn’t suspect a new Number 2 of being his former superior, Thorpe.

The very existence of successful cloning makes it nearly impossible to trust people one may have known outside the Village. After all, how can any Villager truly know if someone is who he says he is?

Speculative scientific aspects of The Prisoner have come from a combination of the television episodes, related comics and novels, and unrelated scientific resources. This article is copyright Pet Serrano 2003. Carlton International owns all rights to The Prisoner.

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