Questions about the film.

Skat is dead, because Death decided it was his time to die. It might have been the tree falling over that killed him. As for the so-called witch, she herself claimed to be in league with the devil, or at least in touch with the devil, which is why they burnt her. They don't know she had sex with Satan, but that's the Middle Ages for you. As for Block believing in God, he is still conflicted at the end when he asks Death to reveal his secrets. But his praying at the time of death seems to indicate at least part of him still believes.

I just finished watching this, and I felt you might just be over-analyzing things.

I think the bar fight was just a reflection of the mentality of the people at the time, that in the face of death, people would often resort to savagery and cruelty to escape fear. It was also ironic because earlier on people were talking about how the plague was seen as punishment, and then they turn to cruelty and savagery as if they forgot the whole sin and punishment business.

Skat is dead, I felt Death killed him because he made a mockery of death, but that is just me.

Did Death say he was not going to show up? I must have missed it.

It was the medieval age during the plague, it was easy to blame someone as the source of all evils, all the death. Heck, people were burnt and tortured routinely by the Church for no good reason, it was a normal thing.

I felt Block, in his desperation, turned to God as a way to final salvation, thus he said "God that might exist somewhere, have mercy on us". It is an usual attitude that a lot of people take; people who were not religious often turn to God as they grow older and death drew near, it is a natural reactions in the face of Death.

Hopefully I am of some help to you here. Like I said, just enjoy the movie and have some thought on it, but no need to over-analyze. This movie was more about symbolism and figurative thinking more than actual plots or plausibility.

The film was an expression of Bergman's crisis of faith. Like many other films, westerns for example, it takes place in the past, but deals with the present. The crusades can be seen as the 20th century holocaust, while the plague, and the fear it caused, is clearly the Cold War era possibility of nuclear destruction. Bergman, who was raised in a religious atmosphere, could reconcile modern reality with an existence of God.

As for the questions:

The scene in the inn has nothing to do with religion, but with how people are happy to enjoy another's pain and humiliation, especially when it gives them a few moments of relief from the fears. The scene also strengthens the side of Jöns character, that with all his cynicism, he's the one to acts, when it is necessary.

Skat is dead, because, as noted above, Death made it so. It's also a moment for some humor, as are other scenes with Skat.

I don't understand the next question.

It was common during periods of plague, or other traumatic eras, to find scape-goats, usually women, Jews, Gypsies, or others. She might have been an eccentric young girl, which made it easy to single her out. When Blok asks about the devil, and mentions the horror in her eyes, she says, more or less, that that is the devil, and she sees nothing but emptiness.

While we can't KNOW what a character felt, I think that Bergman allowed him to die without finding the grace he looked for. The only moment of grace he had in the film was partaking in the milk and wild berries with the (holy) family. There's nothing more than that. God can not exist in the same universe in which a holocaust exists. This is the crisis in faith that Bergman was expressing.

I want to shake every limb in the Garden of Eden
and make every lover the love of my life