Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for the first five episodes of Moon Knight.Following the twist in Moon Knight Episode 4, viewers were left with more questions, most of which are answered in the fifth episode, “Asylum.” Moon Knight is the first Disney+ series led by a brand-new protagonist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—and the creators have introduced him without providing Marc Spector (Oscar Isaac) much backstory. The mystery and enigma behind the character are finally unveiled, and it is incredibly tragic.
So far, what we’ve learned is that Marc was a mercenary who was raiding an Egyptian tomb when his boss went rogue and killed all the hostages at the site, including Dr. Abdallah El-Faouly (Usama Soliman) who was the father of Marc’s future wife, Layla (May Calamawy). Marc was left for dead, which is when Khonshu came to his rescue. Marc reveals these details to Layla just before he gets shot in the fourth episode, “The Tomb.”
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In “Asylum,” Marc and his alter, Steven Grant, discover that Marc is really dead, and they’re in the Duat: the Egyptian afterlife. To ensure Marc ends up in paradise, he and Steven must reveal all their secrets. The episode takes a somewhat classic approach to fill in the gaps of Marc’s origin story—they take a trip down memory lane. Steven is the one who navigates the memories while Marc struggles to face them, and more importantly, he struggles to handle Steven’s knowledge of their life events. We learn that, as Khonshu’s fist of vengeance, Marc killed countless evil people - there’s a literal room filled with Marc’s victims. He is less a superhero and more a vigilante, but Marc’s first murder (or so he thinks of it) was an unfortunate misjudgment in his childhood.
Young Marc (Carlos S. Sanchez) had a little brother, Randall (Claudio Fabian Contreras), and the boys would go on adventures in the nearby caves, except one time when they entered during a storm and Randall drowned. We witness through the memories that Marc and his father, Elias (Rey Lucas), had little opportunity to grieve since Marc’s mother, Wendy (Fernanda Andrade), was absolutely devastated by this loss. So much so, that she vocally blamed Marc for killing her beloved "Ro-ro." It’s apparent that Wendy never got help for her grief, instead, she channeled it into alcoholism, and shockingly, violence and abuse towards Marc.
It's Wendy’s abuse that triggered Marc’s Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). In “The Tomb,” we learn that Marc’s favorite film was an adventure story called "Tomb Busters" and the main character of the film is named Dr. Steven Grant (Joseph Millson). Marc and Randall were both fans of the film and play-acted the characters in their games. Little Marc even had action figures of Dr. Grant and his sidekick, Rosser (Bill Bekele). During one of many birthdays when Wendy turned Marc’s celebration into a guilt fest, a terrified Marc dissociates into a version of Steven Grant, a man who has no fear when danger is near. Marc’s coping mechanism was to literally "disappear" from his mother’s violent acts.
The moment Marc came of age, he bolted from home, despite his father’s pleas because Marc knew his mother would never seek help for herself (nor would his father). He joined the army but was later discharged for being found in a "fugue state." Marc doesn’t elaborate on his discharge, but it’s possible that he may have suffered PTSD or was triggered into a relapse of DID. His first job out of the military was to join a former colleague, Bushman, on the tomb raid, which led him to be fatally wounded. In this episode, we finally get to see Marc and Khonshu’s initial meeting—and unfortunately, Harrow (Ethan Hawke) was right, Khonshu is an abuser who manipulated Marc into becoming his avatar. Contrary to our understanding of Marc’s dire circumstances, it seems that Khonshu appeared to Marc not when he was on death’s door, but when Marc was planning to kill himself. It’s not exactly clear why Marc tried to take his own life; was he so mortally wounded he couldn’t stand the pain or did he finally see a way out of his life-long suffering? We may never know.
So where does Steven fit into all of this? Steven was obviously Marc’s safe space because he didn’t have to face any of Marc’s trauma and fears. Steven remembers growing up in a happy home with a mother who loved him. He was so attached to her, in fact, that Steven didn’t even know that Wendy had died. Wendy’s death is the catalyst for Marc’s mental destabilization. Two months prior to the events of Moon Knight, Elias called Marc to inform him of Wendy’s death. Marc couldn’t bring himself to attend her funeral—we see Marc’s memory of the day when he is completely drunk and unable to reconcile his complicated emotions about his mother, so much so, that Marc releases Steven who is still happily chatting with his mother. It is heartbreaking to watch but explains why Marc’s grip on reality has waned.
Throughout the episode, Marc (and later, Steven) finds himself being dragged back into Dr. Harrow’s office at the Putnam Medical Facility. Dr. Harrow insists that the facility is real, which seems far-fetched considering Taweret (Antonia Salib) explains that the psych ward is Marc’s version of the afterlife. That being said, there may be some truth to Dr. Harrow’s claims. At one point, when Steven takes over Marc’s body and meets the good doctor, Harrow mentions that Steven is the one who admitted himself to the facility, and he did so following the death of his mother. Admittedly, next to no one on Moon Knight is a reliable narrator, but the specificity of Harrow’s claim suggests that Marc/Steven may indeed have finally decided to seek professional help. Considering Marc’s role models (his parents) never bothered, it’s no wonder that he probably put off taking care of his mental health for much too long, but a cataclysmic moment could have steered him in the right direction. Why is Marc no longer in the facility? We can only assume that this was Khonshu’s doing because, in the third episode, Marc clearly states that he needs help. Marc taking control of his life and his mind would put Khonshu in a difficult spot.
The death of young Randall informs much of Marc’s personality and his later actions. He believed he was a killer and hence took on roles that required killing—from the military to being a mercenary and on to Khonshu’s avatar. Marc never forgave himself, but in “Asylum,” it’s obvious that Marc has a gentler, more protective side to him. He embraces Steven like the younger brother he lost and tries his level best to keep Steven from seeing the darker side of their family. It’s also interesting to note that Randall’s final drawing was of a single-finned fish, which is similar to Steven’s pet in Moon Knight's first episode, "The Goldfish Problem." Marc may have also tried to give Randall a second life through Steven. Even when Steven punches Marc because he realizes that he isn’t the real protagonist of his life, Marc continues to protect him from reality and the monsters in the Duat. This is seemingly the wrong move. Steven was created to protect Marc from his fears, but he is a symptom of Marc’s mental illness, an imbalance that is gone by the end of the episode.
But we know Steven isn’t Marc’s only alter. There’s a much more bloodthirsty character waiting to get out, and we have yet to learn what part he’s played in Marc’s life and the origin of Moon Knight. Could Steven have been protecting Marc not just from their mother but also from this third, more trigger-happy alter? We may find out in the finale.
The first five episodes of Moon Knight are streaming on Disney+ now.
