Moon Knight episode 5 lands big emotional punches

Moon Knight episode 5 grips its viewers with a compelling look into Marc and Steven’s past. The fifth chapter in a 6-part season, “Asylum,” gives fans some answers to the questions surrounding the multiple identities being perfectly captured by Oscar Isaac. Is it two people living in one body? Is one identity the dominant personality? What about that third sarcophagus they left unopened in the last episode? Okay, so they didn’t address the potential third identity yet.

Maybe they didn’t answer every question, but Moon Knight episode 5 gives us the most emotionally charged Marvel moment since WandaVision. The building blocks leading to this episode have firmly planted its “we adore you” hooks into viewers as Marc and Steven try to understand their lives. As they wander through a mazed psychiatric ward, they soon realize they’re in the Egyptian underworld. As they face the giant hippopotamus, which they met at the end of episode 4, Steven proves why he’s the “smart one.”

She’s “Tawaret, goddess of women and children, and she’s guiding us through our journey to the afterlife.” Although this role is currently a small one, Antonia Salib’s voiceover of Tawaret is delightfully fun and charming. The hippo goddess explains their predicament in such a friendly manner, it helps to keep the focus on Marc and Steven as they struggle to figure things out.

Although it takes a minute for Marc to realize he’s not crazy and trapped in an actual psychiatric hospital, it’s very clear their journey will be brief if they cannot find answers. Tawaret is taking them on a boat sailing through a desert to be judged. Their inner beings are out of balance, and if they do not become balanced, the dead will pull them overboard and they will be trapped forever in said desert.

Moon Knight episode 5 lands emotional punches and it hurts

Moon Knight episode 5 is dedicated to Marc Spector and Steven Grant. Through each windowed door in the asylum, they look back at memories from their lives and if they open those doors, they will relive those moments. The brilliance behind these scenes as a viewer is discovering alongside Steven what’s happened in Marc’s life, because he doesn’t know the meaning behind each door. From images of Marc standing on a city street to a room full of dead bodies, things quickly unravel as bottled emotions reveal themselves to everyone.

This is especially true with the room full of dead bodies as it opens the past in a way where it can’t be undone. Steven appropriately asks, “Marc, why is there a child in a room filled with people that you’ve killed?” Steven discovers the point in Marc’s life where all things changed. It’s tragic, heartbreaking and the aftermath of this boy’s death spirals Marc’s life in a way where fans will now understand what led Marc and Steven to this point.

Throughout all of these sequences, Oscar Isaac also plays both parts in front of Ethan Hawke’s Dr. Harrow, who plays the role of Marc and Steven’s psychiatrist. Despite not having much screen time, Harrow’s pointed questions help to guide both characters to realize certain truths about themselves. Watching Isaac masterfully switch back and forth, his expressions of anger, confusion or genuine sorrow tug at my heart and tear ducts as we finally begin to understand the depths of this character.

I was not prepared for such an emotional connection to both characters, but Moon Knight episode 5 made me realize it must’ve happened much sooner than this. Steven is such a loveable quirky character, while Marc seems hardened and overly protective in a way we could not fully understand until now. The tragic childhood experiences from Marc’s past lead fans down a path where both characters are equally significant and losing either one of them would be devastating.

The final moments of this episode sees both Steven and Marc struggling against the dead, because their scales did not balance. With one of them falling overboard, it’s difficult to see an appropriate conclusion happening with only one episode left, because the end of Moon Knight episode 5 leaves you feeling a bit hopeless. It’s shocking and I felt pained, much like Marc and Steven reliving their past together. There is only one more episode, and for the love of everything, one more episode cannot be it.

There has to be more, please! This is the only appropriate response when facing an all-time great series in Moon Knight. The bonds formed between characters, while realizing their fates might not be intermingled forever is gut-wrenching. But, much like the ending of WandaVision, there’s always hope these two will see each other again. Marc and Steven, we’re rooting for you both!

What did you think of Marc and Steven searching their past memories in Moon Knight episode 5? Were you equally saddened by their journey through the Egyptian underworld? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Don’t forget to follow Hidden Remote for coverage of more Moon Knight and other Disney+ series.