- This scene starts with the Renaissance equivalent of the quick plot summary montage. This is the part where the movie doesn't want to spend a lot of time on a scene, but the audience still needs to know what happened. What happened is that Lussurioso became duke, everybody had a banquet, and a blazing star or comet appeared.
- Lussurioso is wasting no time. Even during the banquet, he's plotting to himself—he's already banished the Duchess, and now he's planning to kill off Spurio, Ambitioso, and Supervacuo.
- The masque or entertainment and dance party is about to start. Lussurioso is worried about the comet, which he fears is a sign of something bad about to happen.
- The nobles try to calm him down and start flattering him. Lussurioso honors the one who flatters him most extravagantly and rebukes the others (5.3.37-45).
- The entertainment shows up, and it's called The Masque of Revengers. Sounds a little suspect, like booking One Direction for your prom and then discovering they've suddenly gone all Alice Cooper death metal. The band in this case is Vindice, Hippolito, and two lords.
- Apparently they've got some good dance moves, because they perform, and then they kill the Duke and the nobles sitting with him. Wait, what? Yep, you heard it right: They stab Lussurioso and a few of his pals, apparently without missing a dance step.
- There's even a thunder special effect that comes out of nowhere. Is it a mark of divine approval? An ominous reminder that revenge is dangerous? Something else completely? Hard to say for sure.
- Impressively, no one has noticed that the Duke is murdered. In fact, the next dance act starts up. This time the boy band is Spurio, Ambitioso, Supervacuo and a fourth pal. Surprise: They're planning to murder the Duke, too. They've actually begun their number before anyone figures out that he's already stabbed.
- The Duke recovers enough to groan and cry out about treason. The would-be murderers are surprised, but conclude it will save them trouble (5.2.65-66).
- Now the action really picks up. Supervacuo declares himself Duke, but Ambitioso stabs him—then Spurio stabs Ambitioso, and then an angry noble stabs Spurio. Vindice, Hippolito, and Antonio (the husband of the woman Junior raped) come in. They blame the death of the Duke on his brothers, hiding their own actions and pretending to help organize everything on behalf of the Duke.
- The Duke is still gasping in his death throes. He manages to choke out that those in the masque murdered him, but he doesn't say which masque, so Vindice and Co. blame it all on the one remaining member of the second masque, a.k.a. the fourth noble. They send him off for execution even though he truthfully insists that he killed only Spurio.
- As Lussurioso is dying, Vindice secretly stabs him a few more times, telling him that it's Vindice who killed him and his father. Lussurioso dies, unable to tell those around him who actually did it.
- Hippolito says that Antonio will now be duke, and he accepts the title with a wish that heaven will help him to rule well. We hope this is like Simba coming back and defeating Scar, but it's hard to say since we don't know Antonio that well.
- Antonio gets curious, wanting to know how the old Duke was actually murdered. Vindice admits to having done it, says it was for the good of Antonio, and says with false modesty that it was actually done pretty cleverly.
- Antonio is not impressed. He calls the guards to imprison Hippolito and Vindice, and says they will be executed. They argue that they did it for his good, and he says if they would murder an old man like the Duke they would also murder him.
- Hippolito and Vindice are surprised at first, but Vindice gives a long speech about how they've done what they wanted to do and he doesn't care if he dies.
- Antonio ends the whole play with a short speech of sorrow and hope for a better future. Not your standard happy ending… but then again, it is called The Revenger's Tragedy.