When we first met Layla (played by May Calamawy) on Moon Knight, she was introduced as Marc’s wife who he was getting a divorce from—but it was clear that something passionate still existed between the two, despite what we saw as a failing relationship.
The more we saw the two of them together, the more that mutual love for each other became obvious, but it took until episode four to really see the conflict between them. And also, learn exactly what is happening with Marc, Layla, and now, Steven.
What we learned previously was that Marc was keeping a lot of things from Layla, including his DID. Layla is learning about Steven around the same time we are, as an audience. But in this episode, we get to see their history in a different light. Learning about Marc’s connection to Layla’s father—and hearing Harrow’s reveal to her—definitely have changed our perspective.
Marc and Layla
Layla was clearly close to her father. We learned about her history with him in the third episode when she got her new passport. But in the fourth episode, Harrow brings up her father’s death, and how Marc had a hand in it. I don’t think Layla believes that Marc killed her father, but she does know that there’s some kind of truth in what Harrow is telling her.
Going to Steven, she angrily asks if Marc can hear her, and when Marc is fronting, she asks him about her father. He confirms what Layla thought, that he wasn’t the one who killed her father, but he also admits that he was there and that he brought a killer to him. Marc wasn’t supposed to survive the encounter so it wasn’t necessarily his fault, but it’s something that he kept from Layla for their entire relationship.
Before they can really get any sort of resolution or talk about it further, Harrow catches up to them in Alexander the Great’s tomb, and their conversation quickly gets cut short. But their relationship isn’t just linked to the two of them. Steven also played a part in it this week.
Steven and Layla
This episode showed off a bit of Steven’s more reckless side. Reckless in that, he kissed Layla and Marc definitely had some feelings about it. But Steven also took the time to explain to Layla something else that Marc had been keeping from her: his plan for after Khonshu’s mission.
Marc promised Steven that once they’re done with this job, he’ll vanish and let Steven front, for the rest of time, without him intervening. But it’s something he didn’t talk to Layla about and something that he kept from her—so, Steven told her, even though Marc was fighting him about it as he did so.
And then, of course, there’s Steven kissing Layla—which may throw a bit of a wrench into his relationship with Marc.
Marc and Steven
Up to this point, we’ve seen both Marc and Steven getting to understand how to work together to take on Harrow with Khonshu. They’ve used the other’s skill to their advantage, and it seemed like they were finally getting to a point where they could co-exist (and not be at wits’ end with each other the entire time).
But now, Steven has kissed Layla, and Marc was not happy about it. He fought Steven, yelled at him, and clearly, was mad about what he did, but it made the two have an honest conversation with each other and forced them both to open up. Their bickering ended by the end of the episode—when we see them hug each other at the asylum, but I don’t think their conversation about Layla is over.
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What’s going to happen between Steven/Marc/Layla? Who knows, but it seems like, right now at least, they have some more important things on their plate.
(featured image: Marvel Entertainment)
