Macbeth: An Unknown Third Murderer

In the play Macbeth during act 3 there’s a scene in which an unknown third murderer appears. This is confusing to the audience and therefore has been a long subject of debate due to the fact that in the previous scene, Macbeth seemingly only hires two murderers. There are multiple explanations for this but the most reasonable is the third murderer being an unknown servant. An unknown servant would have the motivation and information needed, along with the ability to be there and make it back to the party at a reasonable time without being noticed as missing. The unknown servant had the motivation due to the fact that they would want to stay loyal to Macbeth and serve him to their best ability. Prior to Macbeth's soliloquy, the servant informs him that the 2 murderers he hired are there to speak to him. The servant exits and Macbeth tells the audience that he hates Banquo because his sons are prophesied to be the successors to his throne and in general he sees Banquo as a threat. This is the reason Macbeth hires murderers to kill Banquo in the first place. The unknown servant could have easily stayed within listening range prior to “exiting”, heard about where Banquo would be, what time, and what exactly the murderers needed to do. The servant could then use this as a way to climb to the top of Macbeth's list,

Thus telling us that he knows the normal routine of the castle goers, including Banquo. This just gives us more evidence that the unknown servant is the third murderer. If he’s serving Macbeth he would obviously know his routine, another part of his job is to meet the people who need to speak to Macbeth at the gate and bring them up to meet Macbeth. If said servant is so devoted to Macbeth to meet up with the other murderers to supervise, we can’t put it past them to also be so inclined to be observant of not only Macbeth but the other people who frequent the