The Witches Show Macbeth Apparitions and Future Kings — Macbeth

Macbeth demands to know whether Banquo's descendants will rule Scotland, and despite the witches' warnings to "seek to know no more," he threatens them with an eternal curse. The witches conjure a procession of eight kings who pass across the stage, all resembling Banquo, with the last king holding a mirror that reflects even more future monarchs bearing "twofold balls and treble sceptres." Banquo's ghost follows the procession, smiling and gesturing to claim these kings as his descendants. Macbeth reacts with horror, his eyeballs seared by the sight of the crowns, and he curses the "pernicious hour" after the witches vanish, then immediately learns from Lennox that Macduff has fled to England and vows to murder Macduff's wife, children, and entire household.

This vision confirms Macbeth's deepest fear that his crimes have been futile—he has damned his soul and murdered Duncan and Banquo only to secure the throne for Banquo's lineage, not his own. The apparitions provide false security through equivocal prophecies ("none of woman born" and Birnam Wood moving), which will lead Macbeth to his overconfident destruction. His immediate decision to slaughter Macduff's innocent family marks his complete moral degradation into a tyrant who acts on impulse without hesitation, transforming from a conflicted murderer into a ruthless killer of women and children.