Ok so Moon Knight Episode 4 had an ending that potentially pulled back the curtain on
Marc Spectors life to show him in an asylum surrounded by things we'd seen earlier in
the season. It was like finding out your favourite Shield agent had been hydra the entire time
and it's arguably the best Disney plus MCU show episode we've ever had.
Marc finds himself in the mess hall at a psychiatric hospital and it's not too long before he's
taken before Doctor Harrow who tells him everything we've witnessed so far has been a fantasy
that he's cooked up in his head due to his mental illness.
Though we get a reveal of Steven and Tawaret later on and we know from the trailers on
the show that things will likely be returning back to normal, well normalish...I wanna play
Mephisto's advocate and go through the entire season pointing out every clue that shows
why Marc has been in the asylum the entire time.
I think you'll be surprised at how many shocking details there are in this video and by the
time we get to episode 2 you might even start to suspect that Marc is still just imagining
the entire thing. There's so many minor things that influence what happens later on that
there's such a strong argument for it that really makes me think the episode 4 ending
might all be true.
If the creative team are smart I think that they'll even close out the series by leaving
it ambiguous so we get an inception-esque ending that makes us really question if what
happened happened or if it's all still part of the illusion.
Now the first bit of evidence begins all the way back to the trailers for the show when
Steven said the following.
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This very much set him up as an unreliable narrator and from the off it kinda makes you
question everything that he sees. Steven is apparently a sleepwalker and he says that
he ties himself to the bed so that he can't run away. This is through an ankle restraint
that we later see mirrored when he tries to get up from the wheelchair and he's chained
to it. He also apparently recieves postcards from his mother which he pins up and these
later appear on the white board that Layla stands in front of.
When Steven exits his flat he sees someone outside selling Brooms and a trolley full
of them is something that's common place at a psychiatric hospital.
Notice that Steven also sleeps in the clothes that he has on in the asylum. He has not only
the white jumper that Marc has on but he also has a darker one which Steven later wears
when Marc comes across him.
Upon arriving at work a staff member called Dylan comes up to him and brings up their
date which Steven has no recollection of. In the Hospital we can catch her sitting there
along with our next character Donna who's hugging one of the cuddly scarab toys from
the gift shop.
Now Donna and Steven even talk about Tawaret who pops up at the end of episode 4.
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This is a pretty big indicator that the things
appearing in the fantasy could be influenced by what's happening to him in the mental health
facility and in this conversation Donna says a pretty interesting line.
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Now this is quite a big one because when Marc escapes Harrow's office he comes across Steven
stuck inside a sarcophagus which is such an amazing callback to this moment in episode
1. The Steven Grant persona is of course very important in the show and our first forth
wall breaking moment comes when we cut to the film Tomb Buster which has a hero called
the same thing.
If we are taking everything in the asylum at face value then this actually makes a lot
of sense. We learn that it's Marc's VHS tape and if he's carried this around for his entire
life then he'd be completely obsessed with the character. In the comics we learn that
Steven was somewhat of an imaginary friend to Marc that he invented when he was a kid.
In his room there were indiana jones posters and the guy was obssessed with archaeology.
Therefore it makes sense that if he was going to invent a persona that he'd bring in elements
of what his interest are and if we're saying this is all real, the tape explains why he'd
create Steven. Hell he even has the same accent as Steven does.
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Harrow also quotes the villain from this video tape.
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This Carl Jung quote being used by him and the villain shows that he sees himself as
being reflected in that character which explains why he'd be the antagonist in the fantasy.
Now another detail that Harrow has is that he has quite similar hair to Steven Grant
in Tomb Buster whereas in the office environment it's slicked back. Grant also uses a compass
much like how the Golden Scarab is used in the series. This leads him to a statue of
a lunar God and Khonshu is of course one in egyptian culture.
The woman that he later encounters in the lift also makes an appearance in the mess
hall and though we only see her from behind, you can tell by the haircut that it's definitely
her.
Now I wanna get into more of a breakdown of this scene later in the video but I've promised
you Episode 2 stuff so, so we're bloody doing the episode 2 stuff.
We're doing it.
Ok so Episode 2 opens with Steven getting caught for smashing up the bathroom in the
prior entry. This was because he fought a jackal that couldn't be seen on camera, again
further hinting to us that he's actually just imagining the entire thing. He's taken into
an HR office and here we find the staff member with lots of the items on his desk that Harrow
later has. The table is also made of glass and this is the exact same one that Harrow
later sits on.
At one point the HR head passes forward a pamphlet to a mental health hospital much
like what we see Marc in in Episode 4. On the front of this is a man who's face is completely
blurred and though it's difficult to make out who this is it looks a lot like Harrow
later on. Hell when we cut to Harrow in the office for the first time he's completely
blurred out much like what we have here.
Now if we take everything as being part of the asylum then it's from here out that things
line up exactly with how a patient is treated.
Policemen Bobby and Billy come to pick Steven up and they handcuff him much in the same
way that Orderlies coming to pick up a patient would. They are later revealed to both be
Orderlies at the hospital and they even give the fake surnames Fitzgerald and Kennedy which
are riffing on JFK's full name.
Once a patient is picked up by orderlies like this they'll normally be taken to the hospital
which is where they're uncuffed and they meet their doctor for the first time who comes
to them as a friend, much like how Harrow does.
Now I wanna give a huge shoutout to David Lee who sent me an emailing which talked about
how he'd spent time as an in and out patient at hospitals like this and how Harrows approach
in episode 2 is exactly the kind of thing that he'd experienced when being dropped off
at one.
He then says -
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Now lets take this lines meaning if it was being delivered by a doctor who had just come
to meet their patient. Harrow is trying to understand Steven's situation, i.e. his mental
illness so that he knows how best to treat him. Up next I'm gonna play a clip but I want
you to listen to it in the context that this is a doctor talking to his patient.
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It's also at this point in the series that we learn Khonshu can't actually effect the
world around him that much, further alluding to this all being a fantasy.
Now it's at this point that Harrow walks him through the community but if we are taking
him as actually being a doctor then this is exactly how a person would walk a new patient
through the facility. There is a group sitting in the background discussing things on meditation
pillows and we also have an area where there are people who are watching a relaxing nature
film. This is commonly used to calm a patient and show them that it's a gentlre and easy
going environment where they'll be cared for.
Next is one of the most common practices that psychiatrists use when bringing a patient
into somewhere new. Harrow takes Steven to the get some food from the same line that
others are eating from. This is done to show that the food is safe to eat because others
are Khonshuming it and therefore this is a safe space.
Konshuming yeah look, I hadn't done a s**t pun for a while yeah, video was getting too
serious.
Anyway all of Harrows tactics here are clearly put in place to make Steven feel safe and
welcome and they're all applied by psychiatrists whenever a new patient is brought in.
Things seem to cement that this is all the asylum when things take a turn for the worse
and Steven makes a break for it with Layla. The pair escape the main hall and run up to
what appears to be a storage room filled with creeeepy bodies.
Now the next reveal is pretty mindblowing and this room itself is actually the exact
same one that is later used as Harrows office. The two collums are there and the recessess
in the wall also appear in his room confirming that these are indeed one in the same.
Moon Knight of course also has a white costume which we see the patients all wearing and
this is reflected in the little figure that Marc makes of the character.
Now if we continue this idea into episode 3 then there's a really interesting scene
in the pyramid of Gisa.
Marc is taken before the Ennead and at this point they summon Harrow to come forth. Marc
accuses him of trying to ressurect Ammit but it falls on deaf ears which does seem a bit
suspicious. They take it less seriously than my dad took my mother's pregnancy and just
brush him to the side as soon as Harrow brings up his DID.
You'd think that they'd at least investigate it but this is something that we also see
in mental health facilities.
If we keep up the idea that this is all in a hospital it not only explains how Marc is
able to travel great distance in seconds but it also explains what the Ennead themselves
are. This entire situation is exactly what would happen if a patient accused a doctor
of abuse or neglect. A hearing would be held with the doctor's peers and superviors where
both would give their case. David told me about what normally happens in situations
like this and he said that the doctor is pretty much always believed above the patient which
is exactly what happens here.
Now if we take Layla being trapped in the fantasy too then there's quite an interesting
bit that happens at the start of the episode. She meets with a passport forger who creates
her a new one. This is the same woman that we see drawing a picture of Khonshu later
on. Marc never meets this person in the series so it doesn't really make much sense as to
why she'd be in there unless Layla is a part of it too. Layla also eats Marshmallows off
her desk and these are what she later snacks on in the hospital.
Now at this point Marc or...well Jake, I think this is Jake, he and Layla meet and then she
and Marc travel to meet Anton Mogart aka Midnight Man.
They're greeted by his bodyguard who makes a big appearance at the hospital. This is
the guy who can be seen pushing the cupcake car.
These cupcakes of course tie back to the chase in Germany which itself shows up as a painting
in Harrows office. There's lots of weird things that happen in this scene such as Steven just
randomly waking up in the hills, the guards then pop out of the window in a castle which
is revealed to be miles away and Harrows followers all look to him as someone in authority.
Steven has weird conversations with him that only makes sense if his present version was
in the past and there's also this idea of dreams and waking up laced throughout.
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Wham that's a good one.
Now episode 4 could very much be seen as an allegory for Steven and Marc working together
to get into certain parts of the hospital that they really shouldn't be in. They go
through the long corridors and abandoned passages in an attempt to get to the centre of the
mystery, Alexander's tomb. This is littered with Ancient artifacts that later show up
in Harrows office.
It's also during this time that Harrow somewhat snaps Layla out of the fantasy by talking
about her father. This is done in a very similar manner to the reveal in Shutter Island to
snap Teddy out of what's going on. In many ways Shutter Island and the scenario here
could be very similar with doctors in a psychiatric hospital allowing one of the patients there
to live out a fantasy in order to discover a truth about themselves. This could be used
much in the same way to reveal that Marc killed Layla's father...or well...rather Jake did.
Now I know it's Bushman in the comics and that they'll probably end up teasing that
but there are fan theories that Jake was the one who did it so ey, might as well drop them
in whilst we're doing Theory time...theory time...theory time.
He also shouts this at her.
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Now huge shoutout to Ryan Arey from screen crush for pointing that out and he also brought
up the nightsky being turned back in his reality.
Episode 4 itself starts off with Steven being knocked out after the whole situation in which
they rewound time so potentially this could be further carrying on the dream.
If you think about it, turning back the night sky would completely break all time and space
within the MCU so they're either gonna have to say its all a fantasy or retcon it before
the end of the show.
Anyway the way that Marc transitions from the tomb to the hospital could also hint at
what's really going on. He is shot by Harrow and he then falls backwards. If this was happening
in a hospital then this whole thing could be a metaphor for sedation and the shot could
actually be a needle that's sending him under after he and Layla have run amok.
Layla doesn't need one of these because Harrow has already explained the truth to her and
she's accepted it without the need for drugs to calm her down.
Now we're gonna go to the hospital but before that I wanna hear your thoughts. If you enjoy
the breakdown then please hit the thumbs up button but if you think it's all a bunch of
mephisto then the thumbs down is there fore you. If you've enjoyed the breakdown so far
we'd really appreciate the thumbs up now lets get into the rest of the video.
First off we have Crawley who was the living Statue that Steven would bear his soul to.
This is very similar to what he'd do to a patient in a hospital.
There's also a man playing with a rubix cube which has one side that's all white much in
the same what that Steven's did when he was trying to solve it in episode 1. As we scan
the room we also catch a clock with moon crescents on the hands, possibly influencing Moon Knight.
Clocks have appeared throughout the series and if you've been following them they've
actually been counting up to something that we'll talk about in our upcoming videos on
the show.
There's a man tending to a some plants much like what there was at Harrows facility and
The Goldfish. The bowl for this sits on top of several books which all appeared in Steven's
apartment.
There's Harrow's cane, his sandals and of course all the links to Ammit. Hell, Harrow
pretty much judges all the patients like he judges people with the scales.
Now that's all the evidence that we could unearth and I'm sure that there's a lot more.
The series is really detailed and like I said earlier in the video I think that Disney will
probably continue down the path that's the most obvious with Marc escaping the hospital
and it getting revealed that it's a fantasy.
This is something that happened in the comics and the entire twist in the episode is based
on the Jeff Lemire run. This saw Marc being part of an institution overseen by a psychiatrist
named Doctor Emmit. She had two orderlies named Bobby and Billy who were later revealed
to be Jackals much like the two Jackals that we've had in the series so far. Now this entire
thing was an illusion located in a place known as The Othervoid. There Marc had a pscyhological
trip through his past which is seems like the next episode will be doing due to what
we've seen in the trailers. He did manage to break out of it and I think the season
will wrap up with him escaping this place and then stopping Harrow from shooting purples
lasers into the sky and ressurecting Ammit. However as I mentioned I do think that they'll
leave it ambiguous come the end of the show.
Much in the same way we had the spinning top in Inception I think we'll close out with
either something like the Moon Knight figure or the B-22 bingo ball.
So you'll always have this thing where you can see the events as being real but there'll
be a strong case that it's all in Marc's imagination.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed the breakdown as it took a lot of time and effort to go back
through the series and point this all out. Let us know your thoughts in the comments
below and I hope you join us for our episode 5 breakdown later on in the week.
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If you want something else to watch then make sure you check out our breakdown of perfect
scene in Spider-Man Homecoming. We break down the entire thing so it's definitely worth
checking out if you wanna know more.
With that out the way thank you for sitting through the video, I’ve been Paul and I’ll
see you next time. Take care, Peace