I ended up paring this question down.  I advise you to resubmit the other part of the question as it is a good one.  I think that Roy undergoes changes in his power by having to reconcile his love of Republicanism power with being afflicted with a disease that would make relegate him to the periphery if not outright outcast of the Republican party.  The fact that Cohn contracts the virus that causes AIDS at a time when the disease was strictly viewed by many in the Republican party as "God's punishment" reflects a shift in power.  From the phone which featured multiple lines and could enable him to put about ten people on hold from all powerful walks of life, Cohn has to be transferred to a hospital with a phone that has only one line, and that is an operator assisted one at that.  While on face value that does not seems like a seismic shift in power,  Roy recognizes that it is a change in power.  At the same time, Roy experiences a shift in power in how he is perceived.  The idea that Roy's mortal capabilities can enable him to escape anything anywhere from anyone is tested once he contracts the virus that causes AIDS and then develops the full blown disease.  He has power enough to delay the inevitable, but he is stripped of his license, must endure the hauntings of Ethel Rosenberg, and cannot escape the all encompassing power of death.  In this, Roy experiences a fundamental shift in power.