One of the most emotional installments of Moon Knight’s first season was its fifth episode. In that hour, all of Marc’s past emotional trauma was revealed to the audience, giving some valuable insight as to why his situation is the way it is. The biggest element was shown to be his abusive mom. After the death of one of her sons, she blamed Marc for his passing.
The fatal incident happened when the two went to explored a cave, one which happened to be prone to flooding. While audiences didn’t spend any time in that fated cave, there was a very intriguing moment on display right before they entered.
As the two boys are about to enter the cavern, Marc steps on the skeleton of a small bird—one with a striking resemblance to Khonshu himself.
But what did the creatives behind the series want audiences to gain from this foreboding imagery? The Direct was able to sit down with the show’s head writer to ask just that.
That Confusing Khonshu Moment
In an exclusive interview with The Direct's Russ Milheim, Moon Knight head writer and executive producer Jeremy Slater commented on the foreboding bird skull seen in Episode 5 just before Marc Spector steps into the cave where his brother would never come out of.
According to Slater, "that wasn't in the script," and he noted how they may have "found that on the day... [or] was sort of added at some point [later on]:"
“That wasn’t in the script. I don’t know if they found that on the day or if that was sort of added at some point, but for me that’s one of those details where I’m like, I didn’t come up with that, so I can’t say what it was supposed to mean. But as a storyteller, I see that and my mind starts immediately spinning, and I start asking a lot of questions..."
Among the many theoretical questions the writer posed were ones regarding "how early... Khonshu [came] into their lives," and "is [that a sign that] this is just happening inside of Marc's head:"
"... How early did Khonshu come into their lives? Has he been manipulating things from the start? Or is it just fun foreshadowing? Is it one of those things to make you question if all of this is just happening inside of Marc’s head, and none of it's real? Or is it actually a bread crumb that leads to something bigger and more interesting down the road. I don’t know, but I think those theories are really fun.”
Did Khonshu Play a Role From the Beginning?
It’s always intriguing when a writer reveals a detail of which fans have theorized over consistently was actually something added late in the game without too much thought behind it. One wouldn’t have been chastised for thinking that the bird skull was very clearly put there to hint at sinister elements afoot.
Instead, it would seem it’s a fairly open-ended tease that might end up amounting to nothing. In fact, it’s a skull the crew could have simply found on the day and went, ‘this is too great not to include in some way.’
Obviously, one of the first thoughts to pop into someone’s head is almost certainly the idea that Khonshu has been there from the beginning. It’s a scary idea, no doubt, and could make for some interesting developments down the line.
Hopefully, the show gets a second season. After all, audiences still need to spend some more time with Jake Lockley.
Moon Knight is now streaming on Disney+.
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