‘Moon Knight’ Episode 6 Recap & Season 1 Review
The story concludes with a battle of the gods in Moon Knight Episode 6.
At the end of Episode 5 (read the recap here) Marc has gone through memories of a painful childhood in order to balance the scales, but it takes the loss of Steven to the sands of Duat to accomplish this. He awakens in A’Aru, the Field of Reeds – paradise. We don’t stay there long.
Major Spoilers Below the Poster
Moon Knight Episode 6 – The Dead Rises Again
Up in the land of the living, Harrow retrieves the statue of Ammit from Marc’s body. His cane transforms from a double-headed crocodile to a single crocodile with an ax blade on one side as he connects more with the goddess. The tool has become much more powerful – able to judge the souls of multiple people at once without Harrow having to touch them. I’m assuming these are the souls we saw fall into the Duat the last episode.
via Marvel
Layla plans to go after Harrow – but a familiar voice starts to come from the dead he’s left behind. Taweret gives direction from the underworld. It is clear that Khoshu must be freed and that he will need a living avatar.
We return to the hall of the gods where other avatars have been gathered. After dispatching other avatars (who excel at talking but suck at fighting), Harrow is able to bring Ammit to the chamber and become her avatar. After releasing the moon god, Layla will not agree to his terms so he attempts to stop Ammit without an avatar. A god with no followers against a god with a cult behind her.
via Marvel
Marc leaves A’Aru and heads to the gates of Osiris to find Steven (with his sacrificed heart), to save him. He gives him, encrusted in sand, back his heart. Combining the two and balancing the scales in a new way. A way that convinces Osiris to open the gates and allows them to re-connect with Khonshu. The moon god brings them back to life to fight. Together.
The two manage to cut a new deal that will allow their release if they stop Harrow and Ammit.
via Marvel
Small Fights & Gods Fight
The thing that a lot of comic book fans have been waiting for this season happens – Moon Knight and Mr. Knight fight. Alongside Layla, who has accepted Taweret’s offer to help. As her ‘temporary’ avatar Layla adds golden wings with swords to her fighting ability. Layla goes after Harrow’s cult members as they collect souls for Ammit. The goddess grows as tall as the pyramids with every one she consumes.
Moon Knight and Mr. Knight fight Harrow on the city streets while the gods they are connected to fight amidst the pyramids. Layla joins the boys against Harrow and holds her own. Here moment comes with she saves a van full of women, which is totally on-brand for Taweret. And just as it looks like the trio has lost, Marc blacks out and wakes up to a bloodied Harrow in his arms. The third alt.
via Marvel
Moon Knight Episode 6 – Open Ended
Marc and Layla drag Harrow into the hall of gods and force Ammit into his body, trapping her inside of him. Marc refuses to outright kill Harrow, but they have done what they’ve promised. Ammit is captured. Khonshu must let Steven and Marc go.
They awaken in a psych ward again, with Harrow. They’ve trapped him there and are able to escape back to the apartment. Where they fall on their collective face.
In the post-credit we finally meet Jake Lockley, who is now Italian and drives a limo instead of a cab. The assumption is that Khonshu has a deal with Jake, and he will continue to act as Moon Knight while Marc and Steven have refused to. The moon god proves once and for all that he cannot be trusted. And that as long as hyper-violent Jake wants to work, they are all stuck.
The only one that wins in this story is Khonshu.
Moon Knight Season 1 Review
This is not the strongest or best effort Marvel has put out in their shows. Comic fans are likely feeling let down because of the lack of actual Moon Knight (I’m annoyed by this, too), but folks looking for a deeper redemption story have gotten a decent one over the last six weeks. The show successfully stands on its own as an encapsulated story – which is something Marvel hasn’t done before.
It also had the weakest villain that we’ve seen so far. Neither Arthur Harrow nor Ammit really had an impact – but I’m not really sure they were meant to. This was the Khonshu and Marc/Steven show from the get-go. Everything else was just a side quest.
via Marvel
I enjoyed most of the performances. Oscar Isaac was one of the few that could pull this off – and he did. I’ve seen Ethan Hawke be very successful at being threatening and I’m sad we didn’t get to see it here. Harrow was a more subdued and almost worn down baddie. It was a lot of fun to see May Calamawy’s Layla evolve and I’m hoping to see more of her in international projects.
Director Mohamed Diab produced a great show for his first time out and I am looking forward to what he does next.
The world they created was great overall. As was the character design – Taweret (and her ears) was especially delightful.
via Marvel
The folks that claimed to be taking care of the mental health aspect of this story did a so-so job at it. They made Marc’s Dissociative Identity Disorder a superpower (in those exact words). I am thankful that they didn’t vilify DID, but they reduced a complex disorder to a gimmick. That is disappointing, but not really surprising. The comic has dealt with this on and off for over thirty years. It’s not easy to tackle in a totally accurate way.
To wrap it up: like Marc’s scales, the show didn’t balance. It was a decent story with heartfelt, comedic, and action filled moments – even though it was wobbly at times.
