He has kill’d me, mother:
Run away, I pray you!
– William Shakespeare
Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 2. This is the moment when any vestige of humanity and semblance of a conscience the now godless Macbeth has ever had is gone. As the innocent child of Lady Macduff dies from a knife attack by Macbeth’s thugs, he bravely cries out to his mother to save herself. She doesn’t. With the murder of Macduff’s family, Macbeth’s transition into darkness is complete.