We all knew for a while that there was a third personality (the fight with Harrow followers in Kairo, the red sarcophagus, the glimpses here and there). But the moment Khonsu said he will release them both I knew he knew too. And that he had no plans to release Jake Lockley.
I’ve been travelling a lot recently (work and holidays) and I’m swamped at work so I took a hiatus from here (I was watching things but I was to tired to write about them) but the Moon Knight ended and I have thoughts.
I suspected it for a while but it became clear last episode that just like WandaVision was about love and grief this show was about forgiveness and self-worth.
The whole story was framed by two deities who judge people for their sins and judge them harshly. They represent justice and retribution - in Khonsu’s case for the past deeds only but in Ammit’s both for sins past and future. And this leads to a pretty cool dual confrontation between both the gods and their avatars. I think it was one of better final showdowns of MCU (especially for the TV side), especially the Kaiju god version but that part was really a fun distraction from the main thing.
After all the real judgment that matter was that on Marc Spector and the judging wasn’t done by any god (not even Taweret using Anubis’ scales) - it was by Marc himself. The same abuse that lead to his DID is one that left him feeling unworthy.
His mother blamed him for the death of his brother and his father was not really stopping any of it - just explaining her behaviour and so justifying it. Marc would’ve blamed himself in the best circumstances but in these he could never think of himself as anything but worthless. So he made Steven Grant - based on his childhood hero and connection to his brother and better life - to be worthy. The kind of person he would want to be - dutiful, nice and therefore loved - and retreated to him when things got too hard. And when his mother died and he realised he will never receive forgiveness he just let Steven be the one living the real life since he had one free of the guilt.
But he couldn’t just retreat completely. The weight of guilt has already trapped him in servitude to Khonsu. It was another case of failure to save people - he couldn’t stop the archaeologists get murdered - and this time the guilt almost made him commit suicide. And at this low moment he was taken advantage of under a guise of being saved. Still, even being injected with someone else’s purpose could only last so long.
Because his mother dies and Steven judges him and finally Layla learns about this failure and she blames him. She’s sad and angry because he lied about her father’s death and she feels used and she is right but it only confirms Mark’s belief about being unworthy - both of love and life. And then he just doesn’t have the strength to fight any more. He just stands there and lets Harrow shoot him and it’s not that different from suicide.
And then he’s ready to let his ghosts drag him to Duat because he feels he deserves it. Deep down it feels like he deserved it all - his mother’s abuse, Khonsu using him, and now being judged unworthy. This what he has been taught for so long. This was Harrow was using to break him by turning people around him against him. It’s clearly his heart that’s dragging them all down. It’s all his own fault.
It takes Steven to show him different by fighting for him. Steven who judged him unworthy since he learnt about Marc. Who is the normal, moral person and can’t justify the violence that Marc commits even for justice. The worthy part of their system.
Because Steven is also compassion and understanding. Justice is not be all end all. At least not the revenge based one. This is the lesson that made Malazan Books of the Fallen so cathartic and this show is not that - six episodes of a TV show cannot measure to 10 pretty big books - but it’s the same message.
Steven can look at the abuse, at the bargain with Khonsu and even at RoRo’s death and see them for what they really are. He sees what Marc’s guilt cannot let him to see. He was used and abused - but he still matters. And he is worth fighting for. And Steven tells him that but words can barely make a difference when you’ve believed in lies for so long. It takes action and sacrifice. And it takes actually getting to paradise for Marc to believe it.
Marc gets to the Field of Reeds because Steven believed he was worth fighting for. That he was worthy of getting there. And then Marc can show Steven was right when he goes back to him.
I wrote multiple time in The Good Place threads how I think people in Paradise can never bee truly good when they let others being condemned to hell because knowingly leaving others to suffer is evil so I’ll skip the details now as this is already too long. But it felt so good when Marc went back for Steven. This is true redemption - because Steven might’ve been another one Marc failed to save but he didn’t stop trying and that what matters. Humans are fallible and all we can do is try our best and Marc has shown to us, gods and Steven but most importantly to himself that he tries to do his best.
And with his best and the people who love and support him he can save the world. And find freedom form the guilt that was destroying him. He can finally forgive himself.
But then there is Jake. Of course Steven wasn’t the only defence mechanism. Steven was what Marc wanted to be but Jake was what kept them alive. When the abuse got to hard for even Marc to handle Jake would take care of it. And whoever stood in Jake’s way clearly deserved what they got. Because justice must be served and anyone standing in the way is guilty by association.
The three personalities represent the three ways of justice - Steven is compassion, Marc is redemption but Jake, Jake is retribution. The old gods’ kind of justice. No wonder he and Khonsu are friends.
• The scene where Marc goes back to save Steven from the Duat is incredibly sweet. I loved it.
• Yes, most of us called Jake Lockley being revealed at the end. That being said, I’m interested if only he still has access to the suit, or if Steven or Marc can still summon it.
• What exactly triggers Jake taking over? Is it when Marc/Steven are in the most physical danger and need his help? Is it something to do with their heartbeat? Marc/Steven’s heart was beating super hard when Jake emerged this episode. I think I recall it doing the same before they regained consciousness to find they had stabbed all the guys who abducted them from the marketplace in Egypt.
• Is Layla going to change her mind about wanting to be an avatar only temporarily? I’d love her to continue in the role. That interaction with her and the little girl was adorable.
• Will the other gods choose new avatars, or did what Harrow did to their current ones harm them as well somehow?
• Did Osiris only save Steven and Marc, or did he release all the people Ammit prematurely condemned back to their bodies? Did he at least stop those people from being trapped in the Duat, thereby giving them a chance to earn the field of reeds for themselves? If Osiris only made an exception for Marc and Steven, that feels pretty shitty.
• Will we get an über wealthy alter like Marc is in the comics? The license plate on the car at the end kind of leads me to believe so. Or was that just me?
I’m praying that the show gets a 2nd season, because I still have so many lingering questions that I don’t think could be addressed well with Moon Knight only being a side character in a big ensemble film.
How can they not continue after this ending? I think the one and done was a lie to make us believe Khonsu really released them from being his avatar but I knew he would keep Jake the moment he said “release both of you” and now we know it’s not the end.
