Review: ‘Moon Knight’ S01 Ep.6 ‘Gods And Monsters’

(+++ WARNING: This review contains spoilers for Moon Knight S01 Ep.6 ‘Gods and Monsters’ +++)

The Moon Knight season finale starts off where we left things two episodes ago. In Egypt, in Alexander the Great’s tomb and with the corpse of Mark Spector/Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac) being fished out of the water his limb body fell into. So, if you were expecting sudden overkill of Moon Knight, you would be wrong. Once more our eponymous lead is absent from his won party. Although the inclusion of yet another GCI Egyptian god, this time Ammit, may keep some viewers happy as they battle it out amongst the pyramids. You can always rely on some dazzling effects in a Marvel production. And this series has certainly had a good deal of that. Particularly last week’s episode, the stand-out instalment of the whole series.

And with Mark “dead”, Layla leads the charge against Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), albeit from the shadows while we finally catch up with Mark/Steven in the Egyptian afterlife. A manifestation of his mind, apparently. But, Mark cannot accept hs fate when he knows Steven is lost in the deserts of his mind. Mark literally turns his back on a peaceful ending to become a troubled man once more. But also the hero he once was. And finally, almost halfway through the season finale we get Moon Knight, both of them, suggesting that Mark has finally found balance between his two selves. And about time too. Especially as Ammit’s avatar, Harrow has grown in power. As has Ammit who swallows up souls to grow to Godzilla sized proportions. Who would have thought we’d have a monster movie on our hands, but we do. But with dialogue rather than the usual brutal clobbering nd large scale property damage. 

Meanwhile, almost as compensation for the lack of Moon Knight we now get two avatars as Layla (May Calamaway) embraces a destiny hinted at throughout this series. Although, the surprise is that she becomes the avatar for Tawaret (Antonia Salib). Although, why she would then have wings and fly when the god she is representing is an anthropomorphised hippo, I don’t know. 

As a finale goes, it is rather impressive and on a scale becoming an MCU production. The large scale monster battle parallels the smaller scale battle happening in the streets of Egypt. But, as a series as a whole, I found it slow to get into its groove, but when it did get going it did land well. Although that was more because of Mark’s story and episode five than any Moon Knight action.

A new status quo, of sorts, is established for Moon Knight as the story comes full circle. Oh, and there’s the obligatory post credit scene too. But, I won’t spoil everything for you. Let’s just say, it heavily suggest Mark’s troubled mind is not as mended as he thinks.

Moon Knight Season One is now streaming exclusively on Disney+ now