Act 3, Not-Yet-Conscious, Forward Dawning, Scenes 1-2 Summary

Scene 1 takes place three days later. Prior is in bed, asleep, home from the hospital. He wakes from a nightmare. A man dressed as a 13th-century British squire is by his bedside and introduces himself as Prior Walter, one of Prior's ancestors of the same name. He is the fifth Prior Walter, and Prior is the thirty-fourth, but only if two bastards are counted. Prior 1, the ancestor, compares AIDS to the Black Plague of his time. He asks Prior why he has no children, saying he had twelve.

A 17th-century Prior Walter also appears, Prior 2. He says they are heralds and tells Prior again to prepare the way. Prior asks if he's going to die, but his ancestors are not allowed to discuss it. Prior 1 says that, even with children, you die alone...