Headscratchers / The Seventh Seal

• Of what, exactly, do the party die at the end of the film? I understand the story is highly symbolic and not to be taken literally, but every other character whose death we witness dies for a tangible reason (the plague, being burned at the stake etc.) Even Skat doesn't simply drop dead upon encountering Death but Death actually takes the time to saw down his tree, which can be read as a metaphorical way of telling he died in a tree-related accident. The fact that Block was able to let Jof and his family escape (& that Jof sees a vision of the remaining party dancing with Death soon afterwards) suggests that this isn't an "everybody meets death eventually" type of situation either: The remaining six really must have died all together shortly after parting ways with Jof and the family, otherwise Block "saving" the family from death wouldn't mean anything. So what, in real physical terms, killed them? Was it the plague? Then why didn't they show any signs & and how did they all die at the same time? Or was it food poisoning? Was the castle bombed?
  • Considering how the film portrayed previously the plague (Raval looked fine, then he suddenly start agonizing, and literally dropped dead not much after), I would say they are implied to die of it. Probably one or several of them were infected and unaware.

---