Line #34 Recap/MoonKnight2022S1E3TheFriendlyType


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9f108b17_a3a5_460c_aa88_f43927cb714a.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"I remember that night."]]
3
4	[-Written by Beau [=DeMayo=], Peter Cameron, and Sabir Pirzada, and directed by Mohamed Diab.-]
5
6	Steven comes to terms with discovering that he shares his body with an alter named "Marc" and learns more about the situation he finds himself in. Marc races to stop Harrow from awakening Ammit.
7
8	Released April 13, 2022.
9	----
10	!!Tropes:
11
12	* AbsurdlySharpBlade: The boy Marc dangles over a cliff has one of these. It cuts right through a strip of cloth strong enough to hold his weight.
13	* ActorAllusion: Marc's "What are we doing? Are we dancing? Are we fighting?" is said in the same tone as [[Film/StarWarsTheForceAwakens Poe Dameron]] asking "What happens now? I talk? You talk?"
14	* AfterActionPatchup: A variation. After the fight at Mogart's place, Marc [[ShirtlessScene changes his shirt]] in the van while he and Layla have a talk about their relationship.
15	* AmbiguousSituation:
16	** It's somewhat unclear if Osiris and his avatar are in league with Harrow or if they're simply sympathetic to him, given the Ennead's obvious dislike of Khonshu. It's ''possible'' that he simply thought letting Harrow have a last word with Khonshu was a kind action to a falsely accused former avatar, since he wasn't actually there for the EvilGloating.
17	** Marc's first blackout, where he wakes up in a taxi to the airport: it's easy to assume that this was Steven taking control, but then he has a second blackout where someone who was definitely ''not'' Steven takes control. Was the first blackout Steven and the second the unknown third alter? Or were they both the third alter, framing their later actions in a different light in that they initially tried to get away?
18	* AndIMustScream: Khonshu is sealed inside a stone statue, and it's suggested that he can still hear what's happening around him, something Harrow takes advantage of to gloat without any resistance.
19	* TheAtoner: Harrow, by his own admission, is a villainous version of this; he confesses to having [[{{Sadist}} enjoyed]] inflicting pain as Khonshu's avatar, something that deeply shames him and led to him joining Ammit.
20	* AudibleSharpness: Every knife movement during any fight scene in this episode is accompanied by a "shing" sound.
21	* BadassNormal: Even without transforming into Moon Knight, Marc uses his military training and experience to easily take on Harrow's disciples through sheer fighting skills and some ingenuity.
22	* BladeReflection: During the rooftop fight, Marc converses with Steven via his reflection on a knife blade.
23	* BrutalHonesty: When Layla complains that new secrets about Marc's past keep coming to light and make her feel like she doesn't know him, he just answers, "You don't."
24	* CapeSnag: Moon Knight's cape is grabbed by a mook to prevent him from moving onward. Naturally, when Marc kicks out the men in front of him, he turns around to beat up the guy literally holding him back.
25	* CassandraTruth: Khonshu calls a meeting of the Ennead to expose Harrow's plan to release Ammit, but the gods in attendance refuse to believe him because Khonshu is a renegade and Marc is clearly unwell, a fact Harrow exploits to discredit them both. Fortunately, Yatzil (Hathor's avatar) believes Marc and gives him the information he needs to find another way to Ammit's tomb.
26	* ChaseSceneObstacleCourse: When Marc chases a mook across a Cairo market.
27	* ChekhovsSkill: Khonshu shows the ability to tamper with the sky by creating a solar eclipse at the start of the episode to draw the Ennead's attention. Towards the end of the episode, he uses this power to rewind the night sky so Steve and Layla can track down the location of Ammit's tomb.
28	* CombatPragmatist: Layla gets an edge in her fight with Bek by throwing a handful of broken glass in his face.
29	* ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames: We're introduced to Anton Mogart, who, unlike his comic book counterpart, apparently doesn't go by the "Midnight Man" alias.
30	* ContinuityNod:
31	** Bek mentions that Mogart and Layla's last encounter was in [[Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier Madripoor]].
32	** While Marc is inspecting the Ennead's meeting place inside the Great Pyramid, one of the gods' portal gates for their avatars depicts the likeness of the feline deity Bast, though [[Characters/MCUBlackPanther her avatar]] doesn't join the proceedings.
33	* ContrivedCoincidence: When Marc regains consciousness in a taxi, he immediately sees the exact same thugs that he was fighting on the rooftop before he lost consciousness.
34	* CreateYourOwnVillain: Harrow directly credits Khonshu's "torment" for making him what he is now, citing his experiences as Khonshu's avatar as his motives for joining Ammit.
35	* CrossingTheBurntBridge: Khonshu calls a meeting of the Ennead, even though the gods exiled him before and might seal him in stone for provoking them. It doesn't work, and the gods threaten to imprison Khonshu in an ''ushabti'' statuette if he keeps meddling in mortal affairs, and they follow through with it after he helps Steven and Layla locate Ammit's tomb by rewinding time by two thousand years in the night sky.
36	* DanceBattler: Early on, Marc battles a group of thugs who start the fight with dancing moves.
37	* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: For Khonshu, anything that might draw the attention of the gods (and, by extension, mortals) counts as this. After he causes a solar eclipse to call them into a meeting, they threaten to imprison him in stone the next time he does anything that flashy, and when he turns back the sky to help identify the location of Ammit's tomb, they make good on the threat.
38	* DarkestHour: There's a moment where both Moon Knight and Layla are seemingly defeated by Mogart's men, but then Layla has a HeroicSecondWind and turns the tables in their favor.
39	* DemonicPossession: Khonshu's possession of Marc during the trial is shown to be similar in execution, causing him enough stress and pain to drive him to tears.
40	* {{Determinator}}: Steven shows some real grit during the climactic scene of Khonshu rewinding the night sky, keeping up his efforts despite clearly being in a great deal of pain, enough so that once it's over, [[PowerStrainBlackout he passes out]].
41	* DidntThinkThisThrough:
42	** Khonshu didn't consider that, by calling for judgment against Harrow, the Ennead might be inclined to hear Harrow's side of the story, which gives Harrow the opportunity to discredit both Khonshu and Marc.
43	** He also didn't consider that such a large gesture as altering the sky would alert Harrow and give him time to prepare for the trial. By the time Harrow is called forth, he quickly discredits Khonshu and puts them on the defensive before they can bring forth any reasonable evidence.
44	* EvilGloating: Harrow doesn't see it as evil, but he takes a moment to thank Khonshu for [[CreateYourOwnVillain driving him into Ammit's service]] after the moon god is trapped in a statue.
45	* ExactWords: Harrow claims to simply be touring the desert when questioned by the Ennead, which is true, but omits the actual ''reason'' he's in the desert. Since the gods don't know where Ammit's tomb is and Marc doesn't either, they can't disprove his claim.
46	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
47	** Up until the audience was properly introduced to Marc, all of the events between Steven's blackouts were never shown, playing up the NothingIsScarier split-personality mystery. This comes back once more when violence occurs that neither Marc nor Steven can fully explain, hinting that there's a third alter in the mix.
48	** During the meeting, it is pointed out that though the Ennead are nine, only five are present. We learn where the missing four are at the end of the episode.
49	* TheGodsMustBeLazy: The Ennead are content to reside in the spirit world and act only as PowersThatBe instead of directly interacting with mortals like [[Characters/MCUAsgard the Norse gods]] do, and banished Khonshu because the missions he assigns his avatar, the Moon Knight, threatened to reveal their existence. Khonshu considers them lazy and calls them out on it during Harrow's trial.
50	* GoshDangItToHeck: During the fight with Anton's men, Mister Knight goes "Chill the F Out".
51	* HealingFactor: Khonshu's armor allows Marc/Steven to instantly recover from being impaled by spears.
52	* HeroesFightBarehanded: Having Marc fight barehanded against a group of mooks armed with knives makes him appear more heroic.
53	* HeroicSacrifice: Khonshu turns back the night sky to help locate Ammit's tomb, even though the gods will imprison him for doing so after being warned not to do something so flashy again.
54	* HighAltitudeInterrogation: Khonshu tells Marc to dangle one of Harrow's disciples, a teenage boy, off a cliff to interrogate him, saying the fear will make him talk. Instead, to Marc's dismay, the boy cuts his scarf to kill himself, with Khonshu casually saying he thought it would work.
55	* HollywoodDarkness: The scene in the desert during the solar eclipse was clearly shot in daylight with a night filter on.
56	* IdiotBall: Every single time Marc gets into a fight in this episode, Steven insists, against all reason, that he stop attacking and surrender control. In one scene, he is trying to peacefully settle a fight against black market criminals well into said fight, when everyone is out for blood. Later, Steven forcibly takes control during the fight with Mogart's forces to try and order a time-out, which only succeeds in getting him repeatedly impaled.
57	* ImmuneToBullets: Moon Knight's cape is, which comes in handy when defending Layla from a hail of gunfire. Spears, on the other hand, go right through.
58	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: When Steven takes over while Marc is fighting Anton Mogart's thugs, Mr. Knight ends up getting skewered by numerous spears while trying to de-escalate the confrontation. Steven promptly hands control back over to Marc, but Moon Knight is still impaled several more times before seeing Layla in danger provides him with the determination to break free.
59	* InternalizedCategorism: This is implied to be what's happening with Harrow, which also colors his own KnightTemplar tendencies. Despite trying to espouse a BlackAndWhiteMorality (and planning to force it on the rest of the world by judging them with Ammit's power), he confesses to the stone statuette of the imprisoned Khonshu that he in fact once enjoyed the kind of brutal violence and justice Khonshu tasked of him. However, he seeks to move away from this, which likely also explains his turn to Ammit.
60	* {{Irony}}: The Ennead claims that Harrow "has committed no offense". While this isn't actually true, Marc and Khonshu are trying to stop him primarily for something [[PreCrimeArrest he]] ''[[PreCrimeArrest will]]'' [[PreCrimeArrest do]] but hasn't done yet, which is the M.O. of Ammit herself.
61	* ItBelongsInAMuseum: Layla explains that this is what drives her career as an AdventureArchaeologist: she steals antiquities to return them to their rightful owners.
62	* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Marc uses physical violence against a mook to press information from him about Harrow's location. He doesn't succeed, because a TapOnTheHead from another baddie behind him knocks him out.
63	* JekyllAndHyde: Marc and Steven are both horrified by the acts of violence the other seems to have committed while they were blacked out, but it soon becomes clear that the perpetrator was neither of them, but a third alter who's clearly more bloodthirsty than Steven or Marc.
64	* KangarooCourt: Inverted; Harrow, the person on trial, has to do next to nothing to argue for his (non-existent) innocence, while Khonshu is barely allowed to present his case and is quickly dismissed by the Ennead, who aren't inclined to believe him (and one of whom is implied to be in league with Harrow to begin with).
65	* KnowWhenToFoldEm: During the fight with Mogart's men, Steven takes over to try to settle the situation peacefully. After being skewered a couple of times, he gives up and gives control back to Marc.
66	* LandmarkingTheHiddenBase: The gods have their PlaceOfPower inside the Great Pyramid of Giza.
67	* LargeHam: While speaking through Marc, Khonshu delivers his lines in such a forceful and dramatic fashion that it seems to cause Marc physical pain.
68	* LickingTheBlade: One of the goons fighting Marc stops to lick his knife, taunting Marc. [[TalkToTheFist Marc just takes the opening to punch the mook in the face as he's doing it.]]
69	* LovesMyAlterEgo: A few admiring glances from Layla suggest that she's developing feelings for Steven, even as she grows tired of Marc keeping secrets from her.
70	* ManipulativeBastard: When summoned before the Ennead, Arthur Harrow claims that Khonshu is a vindictive, abusive god who has been using Marc Spector for his own petty agenda. The fact that Marc himself cannot deny any of his words, and Khonshu's response is to claim that Harrow is telling BlatantLies, does little to dissuade the Ennead.
71	* MobstacleCourse: Marc has to chase a couple goons through the crowded streets of Cairo, including the traditional bazaar/street market scene.
72	* MouthOfSauron: At the meeting of the Ennead, the gods speak through their avatars, since they're imperceptible to everyone who isn't their specific avatar.
73	* MythologyGag:
74	** At the exact moment Moon Knight hits Mogart with a crescent blade, a clock can be heard sounding midnight. In the comics, his character was known as "Midnight Man".
75	** Harrow implies that Marc was party to the death of Layla's father. Marc's love interest in the comics, Marlene Alraune, was the daughter of noted archeologist Doctor Peter Alraune Sr., who met his end at the hands of Marc's treacherous partner Raoul Bushman during the expedition that ultimately led to Marc becoming Moon Knight.
76	* NoIndoorVoice: Khonshu speaks very loudly when he speaks through Marc's body in front of the Ennead.
77	* NonAnswer: Harrow deflects questions about his own guilt by pointing out that his accuser, Marc Spector, is clearly mentally ill.
78	* NotHelpingYourCase: During Harrow's trial with the other gods, he says Khonshu is jealous and abusive, which he demonstrates by trying to inflict violence against Harrow. Then Harrow says that Marc is not well, which he admits to the other gods.
79	* NotMeThisTime: Steven denies any responsibility for Marc's blackouts, a fact made apparent when the second time has Marc awaken in the immediate aftermath of killing two people, a feat Steven surely could not be responsible for.
80	* OldFlame: Khonshu used to be close to Hathor, going by comments from the latter's avatar.
81	* OneWomanWail: The leitmotif of the pyramid of Giza.
82	* PerspectiveFlip: Now Marc is the one having his body hijacked, causing him to wake up elsewhere with no recollection of events. More broadly speaking, Marc is now the one in control and Steven is the one in the mirror being difficult.
83	* PetTheDog:
84	** Harrow exploits this trope to make himself more believable to the gods at his hearing, assuring them that he feels sorry for Spector, who is clearly a very ill man who has been taken so much advantage of by that awful moon god and conned into believing that Harrow would ''ever'' try to free someone like Ammit.
85	** While the other gods are clearly pissed off at Khonshu, they are far more sympathetic to Marc, and give him the opportunity to speak for himself when Harrow claims that Marc is unwell. One of them even outright says that the meeting is a safe space for Marc to tell them if he's been exploited or abused by Khonshu.
86	** While he condescendingly refers to Steven as a worm again, Khonshu is less harsh towards Steven than he was in prior episodes, walking him through how to perform the ritual to turn back the night sky and asking to get Marc to help free him, even using Steven's name for the first time.
87	* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Harrow presents Marc's Dissociative Identity Disorder as something that makes him an unreliable witness, easily manipulated by Khonshu, though he also expresses pity for Marc (though his sincerity is dubious at best).
88	* PortalDoor: When Khonshu calls a meeting of the Ennead, doors magically appear the world over to bring their avatars to the meeting.
89	* PowerStrainBlackout: Steven collapses in the desert after turning back the night sky with Khonshu's help.
90	* ProperlyParanoid: Yatzil remains behind after the meeting of the Ennead to speak with Marc and quietly tell him another way he could find Ammit's tomb, saying that she isn't sure who to trust, as Ammit has followers everywhere. Sure enough, we learn that Osiris' avatar (and by extension possibly Osiris himself) is possibly in league with Harrow.
91	* PsychoKnifeNut: The trio of goons show shades of this, being members of Harrow's cult and all that. One licks the blade to try and intimidate Marc while the youngest kills himself with no hesitation just so Marc can't interrogate him.
92	* PullYourselfDownTheSpear: Moon Knight performs this move during his fight with one of Mogart's men.
93	* TheReveal:
94	** Harrow all but outright states that Marc was the one who killed Layla's father, though Marc denies this when she asks if it's true.
95	** Khonshu was exiled for his extreme actions threatening to reveal the Ennead's existence to mortals, with the gods preferring to sit back in the spirit world and let their avatars handle things in a way that won't risk revealing their existence.
96	** At the very end, after Khonshu has been sealed in stone, Harrow reappears inside the pyramid, revealed to be in league with (at least) Osiris's avatar. This helps explain why the Ennead chose not to listen to Khonshu's case. Furthermore, this implies Osiris himself is of the same mind as Harrow in releasing Ammit, because he surely wouldn't allow his avatar to act against his will.
97	** It appears that there's a third, even more violent alter besides Marc and Steven, as Marc wakes up after blacking out to find he has slaughtered a bunch of Ammit's cultists, which Steven also denies being responsible for.
98	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: At one point during the fight with the thugs, Marc blacks out, only to wake up in a cab with the driver saying he wanted to go to the airport, apparently in an attempt to get out of the fight and Cairo in general.
99	* SealedGoodInACan: Khonshu is sealed in a stone statuette for crossing the Ennead one too many times.
100	* ShakyCam: When Marc gets out of his cab and chases after a target, the handheld camera following him shakes heavily.
101	* ShirtlessScene: Anton is introduced riding his horse shirtless, although he puts a robe on later for the fight.
102	* SpitefulSuicide: When Marc tries to do a HighAltitudeInterrogation (which is Khonshu's idea) on the teen member of the goons, the teen almost immediately cuts his own scarf to fall to his death rather than tell Marc anything.
103	* SplitPersonalityTakeover: Much like Steven did in the first episode, Marc blacks out only to awaken in the middle of wanton violence. He assumes Steven is doing it, while Steven denies this and accuses Marc of being the one responsible.
104	* StealingFromThieves: Layla insists she only steals relics that have already been stolen by others and returns them to their rightful owners, though she keeps a few to pay the bills.
105	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
106	** Layla is a total ActionGirl, but when up against a trained opponent that's bigger than her, she finds herself outmatched and has to rely on some inventive [[CombatPragmatist pragmatism]] to beat him, such as throwing glass in his face and stabbing him after he had initially turned his back.
107	** Steven successfully assembles a star map that would lead him and Layla to Ammit's tomb... but then points out that the night sky doesn't look the same as it did thousands of years ago, because stars drift over time. If they didn't have a moon god on their side, the map would've been useless.
108	* TeethClenchedTeamwork:
109	** Marc and Steven finally start acknowledging that they need to work together.
110	** Also, between Marc and Layla, given the ongoing friction between them. Interestingly, Layla seems to get along better with Steven.
111	* TotalEclipseOfThePlot: Invoked by Khonshu, who moves the moon and creates a solar eclipse in an attempt to cause enough commotion to summon the other gods in order to present his case against Harrow.
112	* UncertainDoom: Mogart is last seen riding off after having been hit in the back by one of Marc's crescent blades, though it's unclear whether he survived his wound. Creator/GaspardUlliel passing away before the series premiered means Mogart's fate will likely remain unclear.
113	* UndercoverAsLovers: Fittingly, Layla and Marc pose as a couple when approaching Anton Mogart.
114	* {{Unperson}}: In a sense. When the gods sealed Ammit away, they hid the location of her tomb from themselves, trusting its location to a mortal. This way, none of them would be tempted to free her without consensus.
115	* VillainHasAPoint: Harrow's comments about Khonshu's abusive nature and Marc being unwell both ring true, with Marc himself even admitting that he needs help when the Ennead ask him about it.
116	* VillainRevealsTheSecret: Harrow gets under Layla's skin by revealing to her that Marc is not all that he seems to be.
117	* VillainsNeverLie: Played with.
118	** Harrow is certainly dishonest with the Ennead, even if he doesn't actually lie (he claims to simply be seeing the desert without admitting to searching for Ammit's tomb). The fact that he technically has an inside man amongst the Ennead (Osiris's avatar, if not Osiris himself) [[ExploitedTrope helps with this]].
119	** At hearing Harrow comment on her father's murder as the reason she left Egypt, Layla is unsettled, as she hadn't told anyone her reasons for leaving and wonders if what Harrow said about Marc is also true.
120	* WhamShot: At the end, we are shown that the missing gods have been trapped in ushabti in a chamber in the pyramid of Giza.
121	* WillingChanneler: All the avatars at the gathering inside the Great Pyramid allow their gods to speak through them. Marc, not so much, which causes him a fair bit of discomfort.
122	* WorkplaceAcquiredAbilities: Steven helps out with his knowledge about Ancient Egypt.
123	* WouldntHurtAChild: Marc is reluctant to hurt the teenager that is fighting on Harrow's side, choosing to slap him rather than outright punch the teen, and is left deeply unsettled when the teenager chooses to kill himself rather than give away Harrow's location.
124	* ZeroApprovalGambit: Twice over.
125	** At the start of the episode, Marc suggests calling on the other gods to stop Harrow, but Khonshu points out that he has little leeway with the other gods, and they might punish him further for even daring to call them. He then immediately organizes a meeting of the Ennead anyway, as he is ''that'' desperate to stop Harrow and they're out of options, doing so by pissing them all off with a grand display of power. Unfortunately, Harrow takes advantage of the gods' dislike of Khonshu and Marc's own instability to discredit them before they can even make any tangible claims towards him.
126	** Khonshu was already unpopular with the other gods, but in this episode, he gives up the last bit of leeway he has with them. When Steven and Layla technically find the map to the place they're looking for, they can't use it because it's based on the position of the stars -- which, over two thousand years, have drifted from where they were on the night when it was hidden. Khonshu decides to help out by rewinding the skies to that night, knowing it's an offense punishable by imprisonment in an ushabti statue.

Context Recap / MoonKnight2022S1E3TheFriendlyType