Can Ammit’s resurrection be prevented?

After the highs of episode 5 it was always going to be hard to land the show – there were enemies and fights to be had which were more staple Marvel than anything which had come before.

However. It lands and it lands well even if certain secondary characters give up their agency just a little too easily (I’m looking at you here, Osiris).

What we do have though is the outcome of Steven and Marc’s journey – not just the reconciliation and peace but the new beginning promised for them both. There’s also a really super resolution for Layla.

I don’t want to say too much here and I don’t want to reiterate the themes which I’ve covered in earlier reviews but there was a moment when someone asks Layla if she’s an Egyptian superhero and she says yes. I honestly don’t know how big this will be in Egypt and the rest of the Middle East and Northern Africa but I can say it was delightful to have that scene for me even if no one else cares.

I think this is my favourite Marvel Television series so far. It was expertly plotted and wonderfully wrapped up. I can even forgive an ending which relied almost literally on a Deus ex Machina for its resolution. That outcome was foreshadowed quite neatly and although it’s not the route I would have chosen it was nevertheless not out of place with what had come before.

Moreover, it resolved its central question without ducking the issues. Marc and Steven were central to this story – their lives, their crisis of identity and the literal fight to be the person you believe yourself to be. The series could have soft balled them and, sure, it’s not Mike Leigh but it is much more than anything Marvel have done previously gave us the right to hope for.

Was mental health used here for entertainment? Yes. Was it also examined? Yes. I think that narrow path between the two was trodden carefully and with respect. It’s muddy waters for sure but I much prefer what Moon Knight has accomplished compared to other efforts which have put people’s suffering as entertainment with no real thought as to what that actually means.

Yes, we might question whether ‘free will’ is really a great concern in Egyptian mythology but that’s an out of place subtext I can live with.

In the final analysis I loved the writing. I think Oscar Isaac is phenomenal and the story, the secondary characters and the world building were all second to none. The show treated its locations and cultures with respect and told an interesting story focussed heavily on the characters and not their powers. There was less slap, bang, wallop than there was fighting existential crises. That might not work for everyone but it worked for me.

Rating? 8 avatars out of 10

Stewart Hotston