Sir Block wakes up on the beach and is interrupted in his packing not by Death, as in the Seventh Seal, but in an act of ROB by Frank, the rabbit from Donnie Darko. Something has gone terribly awry, which is the only reason Frank ever pesters anyone, and in this case, a Tangent Universe has been created (yeah dont ask how or why) that needs correcting by him, chosen as the Living Receiver. He must locate the metal Artifact Vessel, whether he immediately understands this or not, and send it back to the Primary Universe; in this case, the Artifact Vessel is the metal bracelet that the divinity student Raval recovers from the body of the dead plague victim, and is later stolen by the actor Jof; presumably, something has happened that has prevented the Artifact from ending up where it ought to as per the events of the original film, and Block must find some way to sort out what he must do as the empowered Receiver to restore the Primary Universe and send Frank back to where he is intended to be; guiding Donnie.
Meanwhile, Donnie wakes up as he did in the movie and finds Death, as per the Seventh Seal, towering over him with the abrupt news that he is here to take him away. Like a lot of people meeting Death, he questions and protests this, and for once Death heeds him because although he is "unknowing", he senses something is amiss and that he is not intended to be here or to take Donnie away. Although he is bound to his task by his nature, he strikes a deal with Donnie that allows him to put off the inevitable long enough for... something, anything to self-correct; in this case, for Block to restore his Primary Universe, return Frank to Donnie, and send Death back to Block. While Donnie is a bright young man, he doesn't sense he is especially well-practiced at chess for him to be able to delay Death for very long, so instead he suggests Donnie occupy him in another way; by amusing him with his pursuit of Gretchen without the aid of any of the powers he would normally have as the Living Receiver, and without her willing cooperation as the Manipulated Dead. He must be successful in talking to Gretchen each and every time he forces him to, becoming closer with each encounter and without so much as a single encounter ending with a net negative impression of him in her eyes.
This is a Tangent Universe within a Tangent Universe, if Inception comparisons help any, so if Donnie fails and Death takes him then nothing Block does will matter, since Donnie will not be alive to carry out any of the events of the film and the Primary Universe that Block inhabits will be destroyed by the first Tangent Universe. I realize that to a non-trivial extent that this scenario may not be evaluated easily or readily, but fuck that. It's too fun to pass over.
