Moon Knight: Gods and Monsters

By Liam Chavez

Sitting a notch above a few Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Disney+ finales, Moon Knight ended with

Photo credit PIxabay.com

an epic battle between gods and avatars duking it out for the fate of the world as Ammit, the Egyptian goddess of divine retribution, in full crocodile form, was freed and Marc and Steven, Marc’s alter, returned from beyond working seamlessly to stop her and Arthur Harrow, the main antagonist of Moon Knight.

It’s become something of a pattern now for these phase 4 MCU shows to get emotionally heavy and introspective in the episodes leading up to the finale and then slightly stumble in the endzone turning everything into action and nullifying some of what came before.

Moon Knight’s season finale has some of this but the action was more exciting than usual, the element of fun was present, and the crescendo of visuals felt earn. That’s not to say there weren't a few finale shortcuts here and there but Gods and Monsters, episo six, made upfor some of this by utilizing the characters we’ve grown to adore over the past five episodes.

The cast is more or less a three-person and four personality game so there weren’t any lingering arcs out there to fumble. Honestly Moon Knight’s action, that is to say, Marc or Steven being Moon Knight, has been the least interesting part of the show up until now.

Gods and Monsters unleashed it at the top of its lungs giving hero vs villain, Layla, Marc’s wife, is the newly hippo goddess-infused butt-kicker, and a stunning kaiju brawl between Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon, and Ammit.

Sure it’s a bit of whiplash when you consider the rest of the show, but Marc and Steven, now joined as one, nicely flipping back and forth during the melee kept it grounded, fun, and meaningful. The new love and appreciation that Marc and Steven have for each other gave us a fully formed crusader, with even Steven pulling his weight as Mr. Knight, Steven’s version of Moon Knight.

Likewise, Harrow was no slouch. We’ve been waiting to see what this guy could do all season, having been Khonsu’s former avatar. He’s been mostly retrained in both voice and violence for five episodes and now his chains were off.

Who knew allowing a lovably, loopy goddess like Taweret, the Egyptian goddess of fertility and childbirth, would change you into a full-fledged badass. It seems like Layla, heading out of this episode, is the hero to watch. Although she said that she would be Taweret’s temporary avatar, who’s to say she wouldn’t change her mind?

This whole element of the finale was excellent allowing May Calamawy to join the supernatural fray in a way that fit the show’s format. As for Khonshu, he got the further straddle that line between ally and jerk. As a cosmic being truly devoted to stopping Ammit and one who does keep his word he’s still sneaky as ever.

It’s cool to have a character like Khonshu as it spices up this supernatural saga with someone who’s both honorable and crafty. Now digging into the Jake Lockley of it all, we finally got the full reveal of this shadowy, more violent third persona.

Slipping Jake in there during the end fight with Harrow could be seen as a cheat, but let’s be real it’s vastly more interesting to tease Jake as a powerful can of whoop-ass force off-screen than it would’ve been to just see Marc, Steven, and Layla best Harrow in a normal super fashion. This way Jake Lockley gets to take us out of the episode as the big lead-in for a potential season two.

Thanks to the character work done up until now, Moon Knight’s finale was able to go full-tilt action without totally losing its humanity and fun. The season finale gave us a true spectacle and more importantly a Moon Knight who was enjoyable and thrilling to watch.

New heroes were born, new secrets were revealed and two gods grew to a colossal size and punched the crap out of each other. Marvel finales always feel rushed in a certain regard and this one didn’t escape that completely, but with only one storyline to wrap up and the dynamic between Marc Steven still feeling special and silly, this episode, Gods and Monsters, was both stylish and satisfying.

Liam Chavez is a writer for the Voice.