Act 5, Part 2 Summary

Three officers come in, each bearing flags of the armies they represent - one from the nobility, one from the peasants and one from the Tartars. Sigismund greets them, saying he's been waiting for the chance to receive their homage. The Noble Officer speaks poetically about how pleasant it is to be greeted in such a generous way after having suffered the horrors of war. He refers to the pain of seeing the country pulled apart, father fighting against son and power against power, saying it was like living through the Last Judgment. He says that Sigismund caused all the suffering by rebelling against the "sacred authority" of his father. Sigismund says the old ways represented by the nobility are dead, leading the Noble Officer to say true power and true kingship are now apparent in Sigismund. Sigismund says he wants...