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errorsharingiscaring · 2 years

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Moon Knight System Relationship Analysis + Other Notes + A Lot Of Rambling (Episode 3)

Disaster system (affectionate)

Stupid flightless pidgeon (derogatory)

Disclaimer: I do not have DID and to my knowledge have never met a system. I will fix any mistakes that people point out.

TW: A bit of Swearing.

Time to hunt for the tomb!

I love every episode but every time I start thinking about the upcoming one I just get really giddy.

Hunting time! Marc and Steven relationship time! Layla time!

<_>

JAKE TIME.

And it is Jake throughout the whole chase. It’s established that when Marc and Steven switch it’s more of a blink-and-it's-done type of thing, while Jake, being a bit more forceful, has that whole “blacking out” and vision-stuttering show he puts on. Jake is here!

Why is he here tho.

I mentioned in the last post that it might be because Marc is actually listening to Steven and hesitating, which among trained killers is quite a dangerous situation. Then I thought a bit about it and I started thinking that it’s because Jake is impatient, and that’s a characterization that we get.

But... no? Jake is probably the most patient in the entire system. He could probably take over on Marc’s missions much more often than he does already – his front isn’t an experience Marc knows well enough to be concerned about how often it happens. No, Jake took over in the Alps because Marc was knocked out – there wasn’t really a choice between “we all die” or “I front for a bit”.

So following that, Jake takes over only because it’s absolutely necessary – they're in a life-threatening situation, fighting trained killers who, besides being showy, also definitely know how to beat up a single guy in a 3v1. It wasn’t the moment-right-before-death that episode 6 Harrow-sucking-out-their-soul is, but even a second of hesitation in that situation could mean certain death.

So Jake is like the dad that takes his kid to “talk” to his bully and then when the kid just gets verbally abused again steps in and beats the shit out of the bully.

Kinda. Either way, Jake actually seems to be a bit more skilled at this mercenary work than Marc is.

When the first mid-fight switch happens, we come back to Marc in a taxi being taken to the airport. First time watching you think it’s Steven, but how convenient is it that the people they’re looking for just so happen to walk out of the building right in front of them?

Exactly how this whole sequence plays out is only for the writers and director to know, we can only guess.

So I wanna make a guess.

While Marc definitely looks like he has the upper hand in the fight, what if either another goon showed up or somehow he lost the advantage and they manage to get away? Jake switching in the moment before it happens would make sense with his “only when absolutely necessary” fronting policy (because if Marc gets knocked out the front goes to Steven – and god knows he’s no good in a fight (yet). Jake is protecting not only Marc, but also Steven, in the same way the Marc protects Steven – not letting him into this screwed up life.). So Jake takes the brunt of the hit/trickery/backstab/whatever, it doesn’t matter how, but the goons get away. Now what?

Well Khonshu could come in and actually help for once since he is a teleporting bird and COULD just fucking follow them!

But if not, why stress over where they could have gone? They are obviously not part of the dig site’s crew, so their orders aren’t to “take care of business in the city and then head out to join the main crew”, they will stay in Cairo until Harrow or one of his higher-up underlings order them elsewhere. The destination wasn’t important – Jake just needed a way to survey the streets for the goon popping up again somewhere. So a car – get a taxi. And drive around for as long as he can – airport might be the furthest thing away from their current location.

And since Jake isn’t one to take over a mission completely, only getting the system out of the immediate danger, he lets Marc back in as soon as he notices one of the goons. If we’re looking for Jack characteristics, that’s one. He doesn’t do the job for Marc or Steven, just helps out when they’re in a pickle. And in a way, not wanting to kill is a bit of a pickle – Harrow with Ammit is a terrifying force that’s capable of practically anything, heavily medicated and everything.

(And for a bit more proof that it wasn’t Steven switching in – there is a distinct look in people after they’ve seen Jake Lockley that you can recognize from a mile away, just like you can see the distinction between Marc and Steven. There is always a fear, a confused look at the fact that just a second ago this same body had a very different host. You can see it in these goons’ eyes, you can see it in Layla’s eyes after Jake comes out in episode 6, and it’s the same look Harrow dies with in the post-credits scene. Jake is scary, Jake is so unlike Marc or Steven that it takes a second for people to adjust. A confusion, a bafflement – and then heart-stopping fear.)

The second switch is Marc nearly passing out. He’s not quite about to lose consciousness, but he is in a compromising position and at a disadvantage against three people adamantly trying to kill him. So Jake fronts – but again, he is different from Marc in mercenary work. When people he’s chasing get away, he takes a taxi ride to find them. When people he’s chasing have him “knocked out”, he takes the free car ride to wherever they decide to take him. Wherever it is, there will be less people to witness murders and less places to run. And Jake isn’t murderous – how do we know he didn’t first question every goon just to make sure their loyalty surpassed their fear of death? Killing is still a last resort (Are the people in the Alps’s main square really dead?), and killing in this situation would be compromising the mission. They need to know the location of the dig site, not just murder people.

So after Jake fails to get the info two times, what does he do? He lets Marc switch in.

Because their ways of handling missions are so different, they’re both good for different parts of them. Jake can take the heavy blows and outsmart the goons, Marc probably has more experience in getting people to talk. So Jake lets him have a turn.

It still fails, but arguably not because of Marc (To quote myself, “[Khonshu, you] motherfucker, your only understanding of humans and their inner workings is 1. A guy you made suicidal and 2. A fledgling mess of a system, wtf do you, a stupid flightless fucking pidgeon, know about people?”). And we can only guess what the understanding between Jake and Khonshu is. The birb doesn’t mention his existence to Steven or Marc, but they seem to work well together (Episode 6 post credits). So perhaps Jake is the favorite child of Khonshu, the one willing to kill when necessary while Marc and Steven are the “lesser liked”. So the birb doesn’t interfere with Jake’s actions, but as soon as Marc pops back in, there’s almost a disappointed sigh as the “worse kid” takes the front. Marc has “disappointed” Khonshu twice now, failing to get the info his way. And even though the hyper-violence that Jake used didn’t work either, birb is so conceited he thinks his opinion on how to act is the correct one (AGAIN, SUICIDAL MANIAC AND SYSTEM IN DENIAL). But as always, it isn’t.

And is it just me or is that “I thought he’d talk” almost spitefully sarcastic? Like Marc is the “worse kid” so Khonshu is traumatizing him on purpose?

Either that or he is really sarcastically and non-chalantly admitting he was wrong, like it’s the first and only time that’ll ever happen. (AGAIN, YOU KNOW FUCK ALL ABOUT PEOPLE-)

So that’s our Jake segment for the episode (or show, more like. *sob*). He’s a scary dude, he is smart, and yet his only goal/wish is to keep the system safe. Honestly, with how little he cuts in, it’s almost like he wants Marc and Steven to learn to deal with their shit on their own, as long as it’s not a life-ending situation (yeah I don’t know how to explain their episode 4 death yet). But overall, he cares about his two disaster alters. It’s a shame they don’t want to even acknowledge his existence bUT THAT IS WHY WE NEED A SEASON 2 BEFORE A MAJOR MOVIE APPEARANCE MARVEEEEELLLLLL.

Stan Jake Lockley. He deserves some appreciation.

God trial time!

And I know the reason for Khonshu’s “banishment” was him overstepping the boundaries of the gods and “nearly revealing their existence”, but do you think Harrow’s refusal to be his Avatar had something to do with it? Like how Hathor (and I guess all of the gods) are actually concerned for Marc’s wellbeing, the way Hathor asks him if he feels he’s being exploited – they must know at least a little about the reason Harrow left Khonshu, right? Maybe it was the last nail in the coffin, and the judgement of the gods was the banishment plus him losing Harrow as an Avatar?

The trial would absolutely make sense with this. How they seem more trusting of Harrow than Khonshu, sounding more concerned with how the system must feel under his wing than the fact that Harrow might be doing something catastrophic to the world.

Huh. No wonder they imprison him in stone.

And good grief, how Marc probably for the first time admits that he is struggling. He’s always putting himself last, putting everyone else above him, the one time someone actually directly asks him if he’s okay he nearly has a breakdown on the spot. Layla doesn’t know this, he never opened up to her like this, he’s so not used to the feeling that overwhelms him as his sentence gets cut off, he doesn’t stay that vulnerable for long. Immediately he’s back to what he knows best – angry, shouting, taking the focus off of himself, forgetting about himself.

The more I watch this the more I realize how impactful Steven’s “It’s not your fault” in episode 5 is. Like who else has actually been kind to Marc? Who else has he trusted enough to open up to them even a little bit? Who else knows Marc is struggling?

No one. Absolutely no one!

I know Layla is his wife and that sentence in itself implies at least a little knowledge of each other’s inner worlds, but... Marc hid his DID, he hid a lot of himself, the only thing Layla knew for sure was that Khonshu made his life infinitely worse and the rest she had to figure out on her own. I’m not sure how that can lead to a marriage, I’m not sure how or why Layla still cares about him so deeply, but...

No one’s been kind to Marc. And that’s why his attempts at being kind to others are often taken as him being evil. How the hell can he know what being kind is? How can he properly explain to Steven that making him live in denial and confusion was the better option? How can he explain to Layla that him getting as far away from her as possible is protecting her?

He can’t. He doesn’t know the words, he doesn’t know the emotion. Marc is a tragedy.

“What happened?”

“Doesn’t matter-”

THAT VOICE CRACK.

Just how much Marc is holding back at any given moment, how much he hasn’t said out loud, even one simple question and he’s already biting back tears.

But of course he has to protect Layla. He has to say “Let’s just give our shit a rest for a moment”, even if that obviously stings for her. The only bad thing he’s actually done is just leave her in the dark for months and then for that he doesn’t even offer an explanation, just dismisses it as an issue that they have and doesn’t try to fix anything or say anything, keeping the secret of Khonshu as if it protects her more.

It can be taken as a lie. An omission of the truth is still a refusal to disclose the truth. And that’s the way Marc protects those he cares about – by lying, by keeping secrets, by not speaking. The same way he can’t express how much he loves them – he can’t find the words, his only hope is that his look and his actions explain why he does what he does, why he hurts the people he cares for, why he keeps his heart locked behind a steel padlock. That him speaking is worse for them, that the more you know about him the more in danger you are, that it’s better this way and “It’s too late” to fix what he’s messed up.

“We could have handled it together” - Layla takes his hands, she is looking right into his eyes, she is vocally and silently asking the question “Why? Can you please explain?” and Marc is doing everything he can to be able to push her away – he's not looking at her, he’s dismissing his issues, “It doesn’t matter why, it doesn’t matter that I can’t talk to you, nothing about me matters”.

Miscommunication. Inability to communicate, inability to express what he feels – that all results in lies and disappearances and refusals to explain. It’s Marc’s perpetual cycle, and it’s a never-ending one.

But hey on a little bit of a lighter note, Marc and Steven. Their relationship is what you would call... complicated. I’ve described it before – Marc cares for Steven but Steven has no clue, he only sees Marc Mercenary Spector, and that being a touchy topic for him, Marc retaliates in a snappy tone. Since they both don’t understand that Jake is responsible for the blackouts at the beginning of the episode, Marc can only assume that Steven has been getting in his way and Steven assumes that Marc is once again being overtly violent. This difference in ideologies is their latest bickering topic – they both think the other is not fit for the job. Marc’s “Not a chance [to giving Steven the front]” is him thinking that Steven will mess something up and then not let Marc fix it (which has happened before, so now Marc is a bit more firm with that, especially since now Layla is a variable he has to factor in). So they both bite at each other – “Sorry, if you [the bloodthirsty mercenary that’s been killing people left and right], expect my help, it’s not gonna be while I’m imprisoned!”, “Do you want a bloodbath? Huh? [The thing you’re reprimanding me for?] Fine. Have it your way.” (Which is also Marc’s way to get Steven to cooperate. Marc knows he dislikes the killing and the violence, Marc himself hates it, but there really is no other choice, so if Steven is offering a way out, it’s something that they both desperately want. It could have been a bonding moment for them, if not for the tense situation (And the fact that they’d rather snark at each other than admit the other’s skillset is useful.).)

It’s pure sibling love. If you ever wanna write real siblings – this is how.

(And Steven implying he understands what needs to be done to unlock the map they’re looking for but then refusing to actually divulge the code is a sneaky way to try to claim the front. Like oh you can’t do it without me! Better let me handle this! Again, classic siblings (And not something you expect out of shy little gift-shopist Steven Grant, do you?).)

And if I can just admire the villain for a moment, what a way to split Layla and Marc up. He knows that Marc was on the mercenary team that hit the dig site that her father was killed at – he doesn’t know if Marc was the one that killed her father, he doesn’t even know if she loved her father, if she’s broken up about his death. But he knew that Steven Grant and Marc Spector were alters before Layla – he clearly saw that in how she spoke to Steven as if he was Marc. Taking that information, he can make some assumptions – if Marc hasn’t explained the DID, there’s a high chance he didn’t trust her with the details of that operation, and if he assumes Layla did love her father and is broken up about his death – overall, not that far a leap or a risk to imply that Marc is lying to her, a thought he repeats several times until it eventually garners him Ammit’s ushabti.

(Basically, he figured out Marc’s/Steven’s weakness – Layla. Because she took the risk of walking into the lion’s den that was his little community, he can assume she cares about him deeply. And love like that doesn’t just come from nowhere – it's not a stretch to think it’s mutual.)

Harrow smort. He’s a shitty guy, he is absolutely wrong in believing Ammit will solve his issues, he needs some serious therapy, but...

He smort.

Ok me appreciating the villain hour is over.

Why doesn’t Marc just summon the suit and stop Harrow from destroying the sarcophagus? I actually couldn’t quite put it into words but first time watching it seemed obvious and I didn’t even question it.

Stuff about his secret identity, sure. That can be a part of it.

Marc wanting to avoid a bloodbath that donning the suit would inevitably bring? Eeh, there wasn’t really another way for him and Layla to get out of the situation. There’s a group of armed men all just waiting to kill them as soon as their boss gives them the go-ahead, and there’s plenty more in every direction they may decide to run to, I don’t think Marc was waiting for Harrow’s magic power display to change things much (Literally as soon as Harrow disappeared he suited up).

He can’t really fight that staff. If he does try to, Harrow will just summon another jackal and it will wreak havoc on (mostly) innocent people (and he and Layla would probably get shot on sight. You know, the thing that happens as soon as he actually dons the suit.). And he would still get away – and even if he didn’t, if Marc managed to wound him somehow, what would change? His disciples are at the tomb, they’re not gonna stop digging or exploring it just because Harrow is gone. They might even create a search party just to try and free him from Marc’s grasp – and he knows how devoted they are. Avoiding a bloodbath of actually innocent, just misguided people.

So he waits for Harrow to be gone. And then it’s all about getting him and Layla out.

(Moon Knight coooool :)

(And the more I watch the more I find proof of my “Marc relinquishes control to people he cares about as a way of expressing how much he loves them” theory! Steven helped with the map, and for that moment, they were working quite well together. There wasn’t snark or insults, they were actually being a team. So Marc lets up enough for Steven to switch in (however badly Steven midjudged the situation). Slowly but surely getting to that “seamless transition” level!)

(And also I like to think that Steven is the one that buys all of their clothes. You know, since weird new attire appearing in his apartment would probably be as bad as Gus suddenly existing with two fins, it would break the illusion. So both Marc and Jake trust Steven to dress them (And at least Marc approves of his fashion sense! “I really liked that jacket :(".)

“He’s got this idea that he can see the true nature of people” - and again I’m admiring Harrow a little. That comment about “She will see you as you see yourself – as unworthy of love” was SO SPOT ON that Marc straight up admitted he was right about it. And perhaps Harrow was talking a little from experience – maybe after he realized the sins he committed in Khonshu’s name that’s exactly how he felt – but he couldn’t know that Marc had the same experience. He could only guess, and with a little luck and a lot of smort, he was right. So I guess...

I’d say good for him, but... it’s a really shitty thing to do, taking advantage of someone’s trauma to discredit/use/hurt them. He’s already done it once to convince the gods he’s innocent, now he’s doing it again to make Layla, Marc’s one weakness and, as far as Harrow knows, only loved one, hate and distrust him.

Screw Harrow. He’s a great villain and he is super compelling to watch and try to figure out, but... Screw him.

Especially screw him for making Layla and Marc relive an argument they must have had often. Marc has secrets, Layla doesn’t know them – and yet she hopes that this newest one is the last. But it never is.

(And yet she still married him. And yet the good moments outweighed the horrible distrust that she felt every time she learned something new about him. They’ve been together for years now, surely, and that’s still an emotion she has to go through.

I’d say that’s true love, to still care for someone after all of that.

…

No wait actually it is.

Actually it is, because what Marc hides from her most of the time is how much he’s struggling. Other secrets are about his exploits, the worst of him that he wishes she didn’t know. But she broke through his walls, she learned about Khonshu, she learned how he made Marc’s life a hell, in Marc’s eyes she in an equal partner he can put his trust in and forfeit his life to because he loves her. Because however much he hides his issues and how he feels, Layla knows that he’s prone to do that. She knows he has issues and that he hides and that he has bad habits but she still stayed. Even after so many secrets, after so many horrible feelings of never knowing the man she married, she still stayed. With every sentence and every step she took next to him she proved that she loved him, that she wasn’t leaving and that he wasn’t alone. She was patient, she stuck with him even when Marc’s own self-deprecation and insecurities said that no one loves him and he isn’t worthy of anything good. She tried to prove that wrong, she did everything in her power to prove that wrong.

And then Khonshu decided she was a worthy Avatar.

Imagine that, imagine that Layla set Marc on a path to healing by just being there for him and assuring him and loving him and then Khonshu ruins everything by hitting Marc where it hurts – saying that his existence is a danger to others. That because of him, Layla is in danger of going through the worst shit imagineable as Khonshu’s Avatar, that it is his fault the only good thing that ever happened to him is going to be traumatized and ruined by a god that used him as it saw fit.

Fuck. Khonshu.

He used Marc’s insecurities and his trauma, his “pain” to keep him tethered to his eternal servitude, threatening him with Layla, his one weakness, the person he loves, just so Khonshu can have an effective, unwell, eternal servant that he can manipulate to do whatever he wishes as long as he pressed the right buttons.

Fuck Khonshu. Fuck Harrow.

Layla has the patience of an angel. Khonshu thinking he can get her in his service is the most ridiculous shit that stupid fucking bird ever believed. The audacity to throw away Marc in favor of the person he kept as an assurance that he can always have a reliable servant.

How fucking dare he.

Strip him of his power and bound his useless hollow shell to stone.)

And it hurts Marc to push Layla away, he doesn’t want to do it but he feels that he has to. That’s all Marc’s life is, just pushing people away from him. When he realizes that he needs Steven he smacks the car, knowing that now he’s not gonna be able to reason with Steven that he should just suck it up and help. Knowing that, he still has to listen to Layla pressuring him to give Steven the front while Khonshu, again, misunderstanding HUMANS, thinks that Steven should just help from a reflection. Quite understandably, he lashes out by breaking the rearview mirror off – his typical response to stress, something violent. It’s a mirror to the scene in episode 2 where Layla is begging Steven to become Marc – it’s a bunch of voices all screaming at you to disappear. And both Steven and Marc react with their stress responses because it’s already a struggle to be in control. Steven wasn’t letting Marc in because he is a killer, Marc now doesn’t want to let Steven in because he knows he’s going to muck something up. He is still pushing Steven from this life, he knows he’s not made for this and he knows he will be much worse off having to deal with whatever comes after they put the map together. And yet.

He walks away before switching. He doesn’t show it off to Layla, or Khonshu, he walks away to say just one sentence privately. “Alright, go ahead. You’re in.” Not trying to reason with Steven, or convince him to help otherwise, just an “I’m putting my faith in you. I hope you understand how much I trust you to do this.”

Not saying it in words, but in actions. A “Sorry” for underestimating him before, a “You got this” to give him confidence, and Steven in response doesn’t snark or sarcastically bite back. Just a cheerful “Thanks a lot!”

It’s a lot easier to learn someone’s language when you spend so much time in one head.

Layla and Steven are cute though. There’s more to say about them in the next episode, when they actually talk.

I’m kinda curious about Khonshu and the other gods now. Specifically, Ammit, what the hell happened there? Cause... The things Khonshu does just to prevent her from reaching her ultimate goal, it kinda rivals Ammit’s followers’ zeal. He would accept being bound in stone for gods know how long if only it meant that Marc Spector and Steven Grant have a chance at stopping her. And how Khonshu and Ammit talk later on, it kinda seems like they’re exes? That’s the backstory I want to hear – how did it happen, who did what to piss off the other, how did Ammit end up being bound and Khonshu is just allowed to continue his work, if they do have the same ideals and the same wishes for the world, how did it end up that they became opposites?

There’s definitely more to learn about both Khonshu and Ammit. Sadly, it probably won’t be official show canon.

“Your torment forged me.

I owe my victory to you.”

Fuckin raw line.

And it’s why we can’t write off Harrow as just “insane guy that wants to kill the world”. The abuse he suffered at Khonshu’s hand is very real and it is equally traumatizing to face it as adult as it is to experience it as a child. Harrow and the Moon Knight system are similar – they are not the same, and their reactions to the events thrust upon them are different.

So while I can’t villainize Harrow completely, I also... Can’t really say he’s right? Just feels like... there’s a lot more steps one can take before deciding that the world needs a cleanse?

Like maybe... therapy? Just... just try therapy, yeah? Maybe you won’t commit to it, or it won’t help but... At least you’ll hear a different opinion.

And maybe killing millions of people won’t seem so reasonable?

Anyway, that’s the end of the episode!

So just for this post’s end, some disclaimers.

I am not a simp for Arthur Harrow.

I see you simps, I understand why, but I don’t think I can ever go there. Harrow will always be the antagonist who I admire and who’s motivations I can understand, but can’t romanticize.

Same thing goes for Khonshu simps. I can’t get past the fact that he manipulated and abused and hurt the system, but go off I guess.

And I do not ship Marc and Steven. I keep calling it their relationship cause I don’t want to say friendship, at least not yet. Brotherhood sounds wrong. And I don’t particularly see why people would ship them romantically? Like some people just have that tension and canon just wastes it, but Marc and Steven? Yeah... no. No, I don’t see it.

So have fun with your xreaders, I’m gonna be here sobbing over the tragedy of Marc’s story and episode 5’s culmination.

Which I get to talk about pretty soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#moon knight #marc spector #steven grant #jake lockley #MKSRA #episode 3 #moon knight episode 3 #mk episode 3 #moon knight spoilers #mk spoilers

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