Moon Knight thoughts: ep 1 &2, spoilery

[butterflykiki]

Fast thoughts. Or, well, I'll try to keep them fast. We know how this usually ends.

1. Oscar Isaac. Zomg. *gulp*

2. I love DID stories. Always have, since I read about Christine Costner Sizemore in one of my mom's magazines at age 8. So of course I'm enjoying this. Because they're getting it right, as far as I can tell, even if they haven't at all explored where or when Steven/Marc/whoever's condition started.

3. Egyptian Mythology! My fave since I was 10! (Do Bast and Khonshu ever get brunch in the MCU?)

4. Steven Grant is Marc Spector's way of committing suicide, basically. Everything about Steven is calibrated to be good, innocent of bloodshed, harmless, and also.... to appeal to Layla. Her fave poet is his favorite poet; he's sincere, earnest and honest where apparently Marc did a lot of identity theft (as well as whatever else he's guilty of); he's a good son who calls his mom (who may or may not be around, even). And he keeps telling Steven that he "won't be around" /"won't ever bother you again" after he pays back Khonshu.

5. I do love both of our lead guys, Marc and Steven both. I wanted to hug Steven for his lonely life through episode one, and then losing his job, and being in fear for his life-- and then he faced down Arthur Harrow and said "are you okay with child murder?" to an entire cult, even knowing how much trouble he was about to be in. Not because he wasn't scared, but because no, he wasn't going to pretend that was okay. Loved him for that. Love Marc, even though I suspect he did some Very Bad Things at some point; because he's trying to make up for it, and protect Layla and Steven. I do wonder if a third or fourth alter will show up at some point, and if they do, I wonder if I'll love them as much as the first two.

Oscar. Frakking. Isaac. Everyone.

6. Best line about Ammit I've read previously was in a Hercules fanfic by Martha Wilson & Kimberly Rector:

Kheper's lip twitched, and he couldn't help adding, "There's someone I'm dying for you to meet."

And suddenly it was there, roaring up out of the abyss, a creature of indescribable horror, limitless hunger, and no sense of humor at all. Drawn by death, searching for the condemned soul, its jaws opened around the astonished demon.

"Fragment of the creature formerly known as Dahak, meet the Devourer of Souls," Kheper said, as he stepped back into the house and the lamplight.
 - Home is Where the Heart Is

Ethan Hawke is doing a great job of being the bad guy, but I do wonder if Arthur Harrow has any real idea of what he's risking.


I may burble again at some point.

Comments

[diannelamerc]

> Steven Grant is Marc Spector's way of committing suicide, basically

I hadn't thought about it quite like that, but you're right. I was thinking the reassurance was more of the "I'll get the wall up nice and tight then", but yours makes more sense. He's even made a point of trying to "release" Layla before he does it.

And I love the description of the Devourer of Souls you've got there. Yikes!

[butterflykiki]

Yup. Marc's only way out of the deal is to 'die', since Steven didn't make that deal, and, well. I don't know if their DID condition pre-dates their encounter with Khonshu or is a side-effect of becoming his avatar, but it does look like it's a deal you can't walk away from easily. I do wonder how the heck Harrow got out of it, or if Khonshu rejected him at some point. That seems more likely, now that I type it out.

That description of Ammit has stuck with me for *years*. Do you remember that stupid storyline from Hercules/Xena, with Dahak and too many doubles and Gabrielle's demon daughter? It was so dumb. That fic does a great job of fixing it. Kheper the Egyptian sorcerer and his way of dealing with wayward horrible would-be gods just made me both very happy and utterly creeped out.

Ammit the Crocodile Goddess, Devourer of Souls, is not interested in your justice. Maat hears your life story, Anubis weighs your heart against Maat's feather of truth, Thoth writes down the result, Osiris admits you to the afterlife (at least according to what I just looked up). Ammit? Ammit shows up to eat the unworthy, no parole no reprieves no plea bargains no amendments no appeals. CHOMP. Good-bye!

[diannelamerc]

I figured Harrow turned to Ammit and devoted himself to her, getting out of Khonshu's service that way.

And the DID seems to have pre-dated the contract, because Khonshu says something about "you said this wouldn't be a problem". (Although I'm not sure Steven's specific existence necessarily did. He may have been cultivated as Marc's eventual escape/replacement.)

And yeah, Ammit is horrifying in her sheer lack-of-fucks-given mindset. If you're designated as hers, she will destroy you. No arguments, no begging, no consideration. Just Chomp! and you're gone.

[kirbyfest]

I am so looking forward to watching this! Waiting till it's all out, though, so I'm not worrying about spoilers.

[butterflykiki]

Oooo, that does sound plausible, Harrow ditching Khonshu for Ammit. Although Khonshu sounds very disgusted with Arthur, so maybe the break-up was mutual? :D

Also ooo! I hadn't picked up on that, that Khonshu's deal with Marc was contingent on Steven not interfering. Or that as Steven developed (if he came to 'life' after the deal) that Marc guaranteed to Khonshu that Steven wasn't going to be a factor. The whole thing is fascinating. And I am nearly dying with anticipation for this week's ep, because it looks like we get the backstory, yay!

And yeah, how the hell Harrow thinks he's not going to get eaten at some point, I have no clue. The number of cults showing up in the MCU after the Blip is probably huge, so that part makes sense. If you saw the Dr. Strange movie, there were cultists in there too, making deals with extra-dimensional entities that were doomed to fail-- but at least those guys were poorly informed about the entity in question. Harrow seems to have the hubris to think his 'good' intentions are going to protect him from Ammit, which just... Wow, dude. Overly optimistic, much?

[butterflykiki]

Oh, it is a blast. Sort of The Mummy meets The Bourne Identity with bits of some British rom-com thrown in. Oscar Isaac is killing it, the effects are killing it, and the storyline is completely new to me, so I'm enjoying the heck out of it. Do come back to chat when you've seen the whole thing.

[diannelamerc]

I don't know if the break-up was mutual, but it seems clear Khonshu wasn't in agreement with this plan. If my avatar ditched me for the frickin' I-Chomp-You-Dead Crocodile Goddess I'd be pretty peeved too.

I don't think Harrow's counting on his good intentions to save him (after all, he's seen nice, well intentioned people judged unworthy and killed them himself). I think it's more "being the dedicated and very useful avatar of the Goddess" that I think he sees as putting him safely above the fray.

That's actually an even bigger hubris than "I'm good so I'm safe", though, so....