Asylum
Episode 5 of Moon Knight starts with Steven (as Marc) sitting in the psych ward office, unsure what’s happening. It turns out that the hippo god was all a hallucination. The reality according to the good doctor is that he’s a patient at Putnam Medical Facility. ..
Marc starts to spiral and Arthur has him injected with a sedative. In doing so, Marc is whisked back to the inside of the asylum with the Hippo god, Taweret. She’s the Egyptian Goddess of women and children.
After being shot in the tomb, Taweret confirms that they’re dead. Her goal is to guide them through the afterlife. Or, the Duat, as she calls it.
The asylum is actually on a boat, which is sailing to A’aru. This is the Field of the Reeds; an eternity of paradise.
The Scales of Justice weigh heavily on the heart of each person before they reach the other side. On one side is the truth, which can be a relief. On the other is a feather that represents justice, which can be a challenge.
The scales continue to sway up and down. It appears that the hearts of the two sides are incomplete, so the only way to settle this is to discover more about their lives and become “complete,” uncovering whatever secrets they may be hiding. ..
As Marc confronts his past, the scales start to slow down. He begins to see the people he killed as mere pawns in a larger game, and he begins to question why he did what he did. The journey through Marc and Steven’s mind is a journey into the dark recesses of their minds, where the answers to questions that have been nagging at them for years are waiting to be revealed.
Steven follows Marc through a doorway into the past, where he leads his brother through the forest with Dr. Grant, the pet name he’s given to his sibling.
Steven follows the kids into a cave, where the water continues to rise. Now, Marc’s brother drowned in this cave and he’s blamed for his death by his grief-stricken mother, Wendy. She begins to resent Marc, not showing up to his birthday and eventually isolating herself.
As Marc and Steven explore different parts of the tomb, they find themselves in a pivotal moment in their lives. Marc was once tasked with raiding an Egyptian tomb, but changed the plan and called for no witnesses. This led to him being alone in the tomb and struggling to survive. Now, Marc is determined to take everyone away with him, but it doesn’t work out.
Marc was badly injured and crawled inside the tomb. As one final act of mercy, under the statue of Khonshu, he looks set to shoot himself… until Khonshu speaks up. The God manipulates him and encourages Marc to choose life and serve as his candidate.
These flashbacks continue, diving back to see Marc and Steven both sharing each other’s mind. A big reveal then ensues as we find out that Steven Grant isn’t the true occupier of this body – it’s Marc.
Steven was created as a way of combating the abuse he endured from his mother. His simple life was all a facade, and even believed that his mother was still alive. She’s not, as it turns out, leading Steven to begin spiraling out of control. ..
Steven ends up with Dr Grant in his office again, and he even phones home to show the harsh truth that Wendy is dead. The truth is, this all happened a while back and Marc never attended her funeral. Instead, he stood outside and eventually walked away.
Marc regressed back to Steven as a way of dealing with his emotions after being choked by grief, anger, and a whole cocktail of different emotions. Steven speaks plainly to Marc, telling him it’s not his fault and he shouldn’t blame himself for what happened to his brother. ..
As they finally make it back to the boat, given it’s come close to the Gates of Osiris, Taweret apologizes to Marc and Steven. The unbalanced souls of the Duat are coming for them now.
As the souls begin coming aboard, a big scuffle ensues before Steven tumbles off the boat in a bid to save Marc. Unfortunately, he turns to stone and is lost. In doing so, Marc’s soul is balanced and he finds himself in the Field of Reeds.
The Episode Review
The episode begins with a flashback to the early days of Moon Knight, as he and his partner, Marc, work on a project to save the world from an alien threat. The two are soon joined by Steven, who is also working on a similar project. Together, they come up with a plan to take out the aliens and save the world. However, things quickly go wrong and they are forced to fight for their lives. In the end, they are successful in taking out the aliens and saving the world.
There are some nods to Legion here, but the film is more its own thing. The psych ward and various doorways leading to different parts of Marc’s life are a strong influence, but the film is more focused on the story. There are some light touches of humour (like Tawaret flicking the notes all over the floor) alongside exposition dumps that help set the scene.
The show has a lot of action, but it can be difficult to follow the plot. ..
The best episode of the show so far has been one in which Moon Knight finally answers some questions about his past. This visual spectacle is dazzling and provides much-needed clarity about Steven/Marc’s past.
