In the realm of the dead, Luigi Lucheni is on trial for the assassination of Empress Elisabeth. The disembodied voice of the judge rings out, demanding to know why Lucheni killed her. Lucheni responds, in his own defense, that he was doing her a favor as Elisabeth and Death were lovers. He calls upon the ghosts of Elisabeth's family and friends to corroborate this statement. Death appears in their midst, a pale, androgynous, eternally youthful man who admits that he was in love with Elisabeth.