This chapter opens with a soliloquy by a member of the Volscian army. He tells the audience that he and his men have been using their "dark powers" to stop the Bolmanns from entering the city. They've also been using "defective explosives" to do so. He says that he assumes that the woman they're about to meet is planning to use them against them. He suggests that they use some kind of "miscalculation" so that they can smash through a wall and kill her. He's not sure what the plan is, but he's sure that she knows that there's a wall in front of her. She's probably from somewhere in the city, he says, so she knows where the wall is. He thinks that she's trying to figure out a way to get through the wall without being hit. He also thinks that the wall might be a trap that she could use to escape.