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Moon Knight episode 1 is heavy on mystery, asking more questions than proving answers about protagonist Steven Grant, who has Dissociative Personality Disorder and misses days of his life when his other personality, Marc Spector, takes the lead.
What is clear, though, is that Steven/Spector already has his powers, which come from the Egyptian god Khonshu. How exactly that happened – and why – could have already been revealed by a simple exchange between Grant and a young girl early in the episode.
Moon Knight theory: Steven Grant is dead
In the scene, Steven explains to a schoolgirl an Ancient Egyptian belief that people need their hearts after death so they can be judged in the afterlife to see if they're worthy of passing through the Field of Reeds (or paradise). The girl asks Steven how it felt to be rejected.
"Well that doesn't make sense because I'm not dead, am I," he replies. "Am I?"
It's an odd moment that sticks out, especially as Steven doesn't sound sure about whether he's really alive.
In Marvel comics, Spector was seriously injured in the Egyptian desert and found himself near death at a very significant location: Khonshu's tomb. The god revived Spector and gave him his superpowers, but in exchange Spector agreed to work in Khonshu's service as Moon Knight.
If the series follows the comics, it's very possible that, in the MCU, Spector has already died (or almost died) in the desert – and Khonshu has resurrected him with his Moon Knight abilities. Here, though, his consciousness has been transferred into Steven Grant's body. That would explain why the girl tells Steven that he didn't make it to the Field of Reeds – she's actually talking about his alter ego, Spector, who managed to avoid death by making a deal with Khonshu.
How the young girl in the museum would know this is a mystery. The likeliest explanation is that she's a figment of Steven's imagination, and he's remembering what happened to Spector. Or perhaps she simply has some foresight.
We'll have to wait and see if this theory proves correct, but in the meantime, check out our ultimate guide to Marvel Phase 4 for everything else the MCU has in store for us – and see our Moon Knight release schedule to find out when the next episode will release on Disney Plus in your time zone.
