Keep up with our reviews for the entire series of Moon Knight here.
The conversation between Steven and Arthur in “Summon the Suit” is essential for a couple of reasons. If you had the power to stop evil before as a preemptive measure, would you — even if that means interrupting free will? Thanos had the same warped, murderous mission expressed in Infinity War and Endgame, wiping out half of life in the universe because of a lack of resources. Stephen/Marc, and Arthur are avatars for two gods on two different spectrums. But like Peter Parker in No Way Home, with the villains coming over to the world through the multiverse portal, he believes everybody should have a chance. Who is anybody to choose to take that away from them? It brings about another layer that I hope Moon Knight dives into more—humans being conduits for the message of ancient Gods.
From what Arthur tells us, he used to be a totem of Khonshu, but no longer. Where Arthur can tune out Khonshu’s brashness, Steven cannot. Khonshu’s purpose is to be a heavy hand of justice—something that he is criticized for acting late upon. It’s only after a person has committed an injustice that Khonshu springs into action. However, are Khonshu’s intentions with Steven/Marc more sinister than that? This is where Layla’s (May Calamawy) character is introduced, having a storied past with Marc through marriage and estrangement.
Steven is overwhelmed with all the new information he finds in the storage locker and all the allusions to Marc’s past with Layla. (wouldn’t you be?) Outside the beginning that chronicles the aftermath of the fight in the museum, Steven is the audience’s perspective. “Summon the Suit” presents an answer, here and there, but many more questions. The story’s task of solving everything may seem a little daunting, with four episodes remaining. We have to learn a lot about Marc’s life, regarding how he met Khonshu and how deep his relationship with Layla goes. We know Marc is claiming to protect Layla from eventually being at the mercy of an Egyptian god—what would constitute Khonshu making the switch? That’s not as clear-cut.
“Summon the Suit” has some Indiana Jones-like elements in the fight for the scarab, which seems done now that it’s in the hands of Arthur. The fight for control between Arthur and Steven presents us with the “Mr. Knight” character, Steven’s version of what Moon Night would be. It was funny for him to get a punch in, but control is turned over to Marc’s more vengeful side. The next episode foreshadows being more Marc-centric in Egypt as he tracks down Arthur before he reaches Ammit’s tomb, and that’s good. We need to spend more time with the former mercenary to understand why he’s so hardened and anxious. The fight between consciousnesses has been presented as a central conflict in Moon Knight, and one hopes that Steven/Marc’s dissociative identity disorder is explained in further detail.
There may be some threads left in the wind for further projects in Marvel fashion, but with a contained story (so far) such as this, not operating in the dark would benefit the landing.
Photo Credit: Disney+
