it took me a bit after the movie to wrap my head around it, but yeah, i think the clone always lived on. cuz they show the first time he does it, and he kills the clone. as for why the clone doesn't show up, i was under the assumption that all of his memory stays with the clone, so the clone knew about the frame up. and at the end, when he's talking about how he does know sacrifice, and he alluded to how he had to kill himself over and over again. what i wonder is what he must have felt knowing he was going to die each time, but knowing that he would live on in the clone. do he and the clone share one consciousness? and i thought it was interesting how he always mentioned that no one cares about the man in the box, and he finally gets to be the man in the box and the one who gets the applause.