Marc Spector had to do something he clearly hates this week, in episode 5 of Moon Knight: open up. Forced to go through his past with Steven to try to balance their scales, Marc reluctantly shared with Steven everything that led to him becoming the mercenary we’ve seen working with Khonshu.
Their history isn’t one that is easy to unpack or something that either really enjoyed exploring, but it is important to understanding Marc as a character and why he’s become closed off from even those he loves. So, let’s talk about what made Marc Spector the man he is today.
**Spoilers for Moon Knight episode 5 “Asylum” lie within.**
Steven and Marc have to go on a journey together in order to enter A’Aru (the Field of Reeds) with the god Taweret. Despite their desire to return to the world of the living, they have to prove to her that they need to get there and why (which is helped by Harrow sending souls to the afterlife before their time). But in order to be successful, Marc and Steven have to balance their scales. With that comes Marc reliving his own traumatic experiences so that Steven can understand.
And that journey helps us understand what exactly happened to Marc and when he created Steven in the first place.
Losing his brother
The biggest catalyst in Marc Spector’s life was losing his brother Randall as a child. There was a cave the two would go to while they were growing up in Chicago, and on a fateful day, the two run there despite it raining. Randall tells Marc that they’re not supposed to go in, but Marc says it’s fine, and the rising water results in Randall drowning and Marc living with that guilt for the rest of his life. Not only did Marc blame himself, but his mother blamed him, too. Wendy Spector would beat him and constantly remind him that he’s the reason her son is dead, and it resulted in the switch in control of their body for Marc and Steven.
She is screaming at Marc, as a child, to let her into the room, demanding that he listen to her, and so, to protect himself, Marc lets Steven take over, and he begins cleaning the room and takes the brunt of the beating so that Marc doesn’t have to. When Marc learns his mother has died and goes to stand outside of her shiva, the pain he’s feeling forces him to lean on Steven, but it ushers in the time of their life when Steven and Marc’s lives began bleeding together.
A lost soul
Marc needs Steven just as much as Steven needs him, and in “Asylum,” Steven has to prove to Marc that this isn’t his doing. He was a child who didn’t know any better and has been forced to believe that the death of his brother was his fault. Steven was there to help him cope when Marc didn’t want to be there, and so it is only fitting that it is Steven who tells Marc that this wasn’t his doing and that the guilt he feels for Randall isn’t his fault.
At the end of the episode, Steven physically saves Marc when they’re fighting the Duat, and Steven realizes that whatever strength Marc has, he also possesses, but it also seems like Steven sacrifices himself to protect Marc. If this is the end for Steven Grant (which I hope it’s not), his journey with Marc in this episode shows just how much Marc needed Steven and the power that Steven had to comfort him when no one else would.
(image: Marvel Entertainment)
