Moon Knight episode 3 ended on a huge cliffhanger, potentially hinting at Marc’s, and Steven’s, powers being lost. Moon Knight tells the story of Marc Spector, a mercenary imbued with the power of Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon. The first 3 episodes of the show have also chronicled Marc’s disassociative identity disorder, showing Marc and his alternate identity Steven struggling for control over their shared body.
Moon Knight is a fairly obscure character for Marvel Studios to adapt. Given the overwhelming popularity of characters such as Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor, the MCU’s newest superhero, Moon Knight, is presenting audiences with a lesser-known character. Through this, Marvel Studios are delving into an equally unknown facet of the MCU’s deep lore, the world of Moon Knight’s Egyptian Gods.
Moon Knight episode 3 further explored this world, through both Marc and other avatars of the Ennead, the ancient Egyptian pantheon. At a point during the episode, Marc — and through him, Khonshu — tried to appeal to the other active gods of Egypt that Arthur Harrow was trying to unleash Ammit to judge mankind. The other gods rebuked this appeal, however, stating that they don’t want to get involved in the affairs of humans, and revealing this is the reason Khonshu had been previously banished from the Ennead. The other gods then warned Khonshu, that if he meddles with the human world again, he would be imprisoned.
Why Moon Knight Loses His Powers In Episode 3
The cliffhanger in Moon Knight episode 3 saw Khonshu do exactly that when he reversed the sky above the world to show constellations from ancient Egypt. As Khonshu and Steven committed such an act that blatantly affected humans around the world, potentially exposing the Ennead, the other gods saw fit to imprison Khonshu in stone inside the Pyramids of Giza. It is because of Khonshu’s imprisonment that the powers of Moon Knight abandoned Marc and Steven.
Both the rituals of reversing the sky, and imprisoning Khonshu were happening simultaneously in Moon Knight episode 3. During this, Steven, who was in control of the body at the time, began slowly losing his powers. As Khonshu’s strength began to deteriorate, so did Steven’s, with the latter stating that his energy was leaving him as Steven’s Moon Knight suit, Mr. Knight, slowly faded away.
As the powers of Moon Knight come directly from Khonshu, the god’s imprisonment means he cannot have an avatar and therefore Marc and Steven’s powers will be lost to them. How this will fully affect the two identities remains to be seen throughout the remainder of the show, but it is clear by Steven/Marc fainting at the end of Moon Knight episode 3 that it will have an impact on their overall strength, at least for now.
How Powerful Is Marc Without The Armor?
This begs the question: how effective will Marc be without the powers of Moon Knight? Moon Knight episode 3 also answered this question in several ways. Firstly, Moon Knight episode 3 gave the first real look at Marc’s abilities without his version of the Moon Knight costume. The first time Marc was shown in the episode was in a sequence in which he chased a group of Arthur’s mercenaries across the rooftops of Cairo. In this sequence, Marc’s training truly shined through. Not only did Marc prove to be great at parkour, showing real athletic ability with his training, but the scene evolved into Marc fighting off 3 armed assailants.
Moon Knight episode 3 showed Marc is more than capable of fending off several enemies, showing how truly well-trained he is when it comes to hand-to-hand combat without the suit. This indicates that Marc will still be effective without the armor and the powers of Moon Knight. But what does Moon Knight episode 3 say about how powerful he is without it?
In that regard, the episode showed Marc may not be particularly well-suited to carry out his mission without Khonshu’s powers. After all, Marc is still only a human. It is only the Moon Knight suit and abilities that give him near invulnerability. Khonshu himself stated in Moon Knight episode 3 that Marc would have a difficult time faring against Arthur without his healing armor. This was enforced throughout the episode, with Moon Knight being repeatedly shot and stabbed throughout the episode’s action sequences with no harm to Marc given the suit’s protection.
Despite Marc’s obvious training, he would have been killed if he had fought without the armor in Moon Knight episode 3. While he is well-trained enough to deal with situations in which he is prepared, Marc going up against the powers of Arthur Harrow and his men without the protection of the suit greatly diminished his power and abilities, hinting at a much more dangerous journey ahead for Marc and Steven.
Will Moon Knight’s Powers Return?
Whether Marc and Steven will regain their powers remains a mystery, though Moon Knight episode 3 offered an insight into whether this will be the case going forward. During Moon Knight’s climactic sequence where Steven and Khonshu were reversing the skies above the world, Khonshu hinted at the potential return of Moon Knight’s powers in future episodes. Just before Khonshu began the ritual, he told Steven that, when the gods imprison him, Marc will need to free him. This hints at the storyline of Moon Knight episode 4 and potentially beyond. With Khonshu gone, Steven will need to pass on his message. This will prompt Marc to search for a way to free Khonshu from his prison, likely leading to a confrontation with the other avatars of the Ennead.
It is safe to assume that once Khonshu is freed from his prison, if indeed he is at all, the powers of Moon Knight will return to Marc and Steven. Given how their powers slowly began deteriorating with Khonshu’s imprisonment, the powers could return slowly if the process of freeing Khonshu is the same. With the show thus far building to a major showdown between Arthur Harrow and Moon Knight, though, Moon Knight’s powers will likely return. But just how this will happen is the major question the show will have to answer after Moon Knight episode 3.
While Marvel Studios is certainly delving deeper into the mythology of ancient Egypt, the concepts and deep-rooted rules of the Ennead have only been hinted at in Moon Knight. This could mean that both freeing Khonshu, and the idea of Marc’s powers being lost, are explored in unforeseen ways in the coming weeks. With three episodes of the show still left to come, the exploration of Marc and Steven’s powers from Moon Knight episode 3 and onwards will be a focal point of, not only the show’s overall story but Marc, Steven, and Moon Knight’s godly patron Khonshu as well. Only time will tell what comes of episode 3’s cliffhanger, but answers will hopefully be delivered quickly going into the latter half of Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight.
Moon Knight releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.
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