Act 5, Scene 6 of Macbeth is one of the shortest scenes in Shakespeare's entire canon, spanning just ten lines, yet it marks a pivotal turning point as the final assault on Macbeth's stronghold begins. The scene takes place before the gates of Dunsinane Castle, where Malcolm's rebel forces have arrived after marching through Birnam Wood disguised behind branches cut from its trees.
Malcolm gives the order for his soldiers to throw down their "leavy screens" and reveal themselves for who they truly are: an army poised to overthrow a tyrant. This moment represents the literal fulfillment of the witches' apparition prophecy that Macbeth would not be vanquished until Birnam Wood came to Dunsinane. What Macbeth dismissed as impossible has now come to pass through simple military ingenuity rather than supernatural forces.
Malcolm then organizes the attack with decisive authority, assigning his uncle, old Siward, and Siward's son to lead the first wave of battle. Malcolm himself will fight alongside Macduff in a second battalion to finish whatever remains. The careful division of command stands in stark contrast to Macbeth's increasingly isolated and erratic rule inside the castle walls. Malcolm's language of order and propriety—"According to our order"—signals the restoration of legitimate governance that his victory will bring.
Old Siward responds with grim determination, expressing confidence that if they can find the tyrant's forces that night, they deserve defeat only if they cannot fight. Macduff delivers the scene's final, stirring command: "Make all our trumpets speak, give them all breath, / Those clamorous harbingers of blood and death." With that, the trumpets sound and the battle for Scotland's future begins. The brevity of the scene mirrors the swift, decisive action of an army that has moved beyond planning into the violence of war.