Moon Knight, Ep. 2: We Don’t Talk About Khonshu

SPOILERS for Moon Knight Episode 2, “Summon the Suit.”

We don’t talk about Khonshu-u-u-u!!! WE DON’T TALK ABOUT KHONSHU!!!!!

(Thirteen-foot frame, moonlight on his back, when he calls your name, it all fades to black…)

Okay, I didn’t think I was going to do another reaction post about Moon Knight, but here we are. I have more reactions and thoughts. So let’s get into them!

• Khonshu is a less funny version of Hades from Hercules: My sister and I realized that the way Khonshu interacts with Marc Spector is very similar to how Hades talks to Megara in Hercules. (Go to 3:43 to 4:03 in that video for the scene where Hades sounds the most like Khonshu.) Think about it: Khonshu keeps reminding Marc that they have a deal and holds someone he cares about over his head so he does everything this particular deity wants. But this is less hilarious and more terrifying than Hades’ and Meg’s interactions. And honestly, it makes sense that Khonshu isn’t a very sympathetic figure. Gods in ancient mythologies aren’t always very nice and will do crazy things to people just because they can. (This is most true in Greek and Roman mythologies, but I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibly for Egyptian, Norse, or other deities, either.)
• Those police officers’ names contain a possible American history reference: The police officers who visit Steven introduce themselves as DC Fitzgerald and DC Kennedy. Okay, this is probably trivia that only I care about, but those are two very Irish names, and they belong to one American president: John Fitzgerald Kennedy, once known as Jack Kennedy and now better known as JFK (he got his middle name from his mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, who lived to be a whopping 104 years old). JFK’s assassination is plagued by conspiracy theories to this day (for example, my mom swears that then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was involved in planning the assassination, but that’s never been confirmed). So I think choosing those last names for these officers is an implication that they’re involved with the Ammit cult, which is conspiring to punish innocent people for bad things they haven’t done yet.

(It’s a heavy lift with a gift so humbling, always left Marc and his alters stumbling, grappling with missions that they didn’t understand! Do you understand?)

• We learn some stuff about Marc in this episode, but we also learn about Steven, too: When we rewatched this episode, my sister pointed out that we mainly see Steven concerned with himself in the first episode, but in this episode, we learn more about his concern for other people. We see this firsthand when he meets Layla, but we also see it in the abstract sense when he talks with Arthur Harrow about how Ammit wants to punish people before they commit evil deeds. He asks if Ammit would punish a child for something s/he/they would do decades later and if the cult is okay with that. Steven says that he’s definitely against child murder. Between the two of them, Steven seems to have a stronger moral compass than Marc does.
• “Spector” is a very meaningful last name: Spector can be a real last name (as in music producer Phil Spector or singer Regina Spektor), but it’s also similar to “specter,” which is another word for “ghost.” Khonshu says Marc was “just a corpse” before he became Khonshu’s avatar, and Moon Knight does have a ghostly appearance. I just like that Marc’s last name ties in with the themes of death and resurrection that this show has going on.

(He told me that the job of my dreams was near and would one day be mine! He told me that vengeance was ours and my presence would tingle all spines!)

• Did Layla really not know that Marc was struggling with mental illness?: How long has Marc been dealing with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and keeping two different identities going? And why does his wife not seem to know about that? Is he really that good at keeping his identities separate from one another? …We need more context and backstory about this.
• Layla’s American accent slides around a lot: Okay, people on the internet have been mocking Steven’s British accent, but it’s at least strong and consistent, if not 100% accurate. Layla’s American accent, on the other hand, is much shakier. No offense meant to her actress, but her short “a” sounds (like in “hat” and “cat” and the first syllable of “scarab”) are very British. It’s very distracting. Sorry, but I had to mention that.

(Marc, your wife came back! TIME FOR SOUP!!! …Thirteen-foot frame, moonlight on his back…)

• Mr. Knight is adorable: He’s just so cute and fun! I know Moon Knight is the true badass who serves Khonshu and everything, but Mr. Knight is adorable. He needs to meet Deadpool so they can become BEST FRIENDS.
• Marc Spector seems kind of awful, but he looked good at the end of the episode: That’s shallow, but it must be said. Like, damn. Also, props to Steven for sitting on the bed in the mirror with a blanket over his shoulders, because that’s a whole MOOD.

Those are all my thoughts for now. See you soon!

…WE DON’T TALK ABOUT KHONSHU!!!!!