Ambition in Macbeth leads to his eventual downfall. This is not unique to the play. Ambition through many works is seen as something that leads to the downfall of man. This recurring motif exists also in Scythe, from my independent reading. In Scythe, the character to suffer a downfall from ambition is Scythe Goddard. His ambition to create a world where Scythes are truly above all law, and can do as they please to whomever they please is what leads to his destruction in the final moments of the book. As in Macbeth, Goddard is corrupted by the power given to him, to the point where his ambition takes him over and becomes his downfall.
Goddard is also like Macbeth in that he is seen by others to be tyrannical in his use of his power. Whereas other scythes glean person by person, Goddard gleans en masse in a way that is seen by other scythes as cruel and unusual to the people who have to suffer through it. The power he has been given is used to his personal gain and to the detriment of those who are unable to step up against him, in the same way that Macbeth uses his post as king to kill any that might try to step up to take the power away from him.
Overall, the character Goddard from Scythe and Thunderhead is unique in that he is very similar in action to Macbeth. He uses his powers to preside over those who are weaker than him, and people are powerless to stop the bloodshed caused by him and those who work in his name. Also like Macbeth, eventually his lifestyle of bending the rules and ceaseless murder and chaos leads to his eventual downfall at the end of the first book.