Issue 151 - Moon Knight 2 - Capes on the Couch

It’s our first ever sequel episode, and we’re taking another crack at MOON KNIGHT! Four years after our first look at Marc Spector, how has he changed? How have we?

Intro
- Podchaser Reviews4Good
- Thanks to new Patron – Local Official Nicole!
Background (4:20)
- Moon Knight created by Doug Moench and Don Perlin in Werewolf by Night #32 (Aug. 1975)
- Go back to episode 4 for the full rundown
- “Killed” Khonshu inside his head and reconciled all his identities
- Discovered he had an unknown daughter fathered by Jake Lockley with Marlene, who opted not to tell Marc/Steven – said daughter was kidnapped by Bushman and the Sun King to lure Moon Knight out to kill him – Moon Knight defeats Sun King with Khonshu’s help
- Age of Khonshu – Under the influence of Khonshu, battled the Avengers to take over the world in order to protect it, and at one point became a host for the Phoenix Force – gave up the power in order to help the Avengers overthrow Khonshu and imprison him
- Even though no longer under the influence of Khonshu, decides to resume protecting travelers of the night
- Discovered he is not the only Fist of Khonshu, and after some initial confrontations, came to an uneasy alliance with the Hunter’s Moon, who considers Marc to have gone rogue and hopes to still bring him back under the formal fold of Khonshu worshippers

Issues (7:58)
- Still coping with influence from Khonshu, even though he no longer has actual control over him
- Struggling with empathy for those who would do him harm (18:21)
Break (26:45)
- Plugs for BetterHelp, Legends: A Superhero Story, and Erica Schultz
Treatment (28:45)
- In-universe –
- Out of universe – Create a velvet rope/red carpet situation (32:07)
Skit (40:51)
- Hello again Marc. – Bet you didn’t think you’d see me again, huh?
- At this point I don’t try to predict the future. Open-mindedness has led me to a healthier headspace, so I don’t see a reason to change now. I will say, however, thatI hope this session is less…dramatic. – That makes two of us. Understand though, it’s not like that was my fault. Too many chefs in the kitchen…man it’s tough to say that out loud.
- The good news is that I have a new perspective. I’m not trying to infringe on another professional’s case. I’ve talked to Dr. Sterman, and I’m impressed with how she’s been able to help you so far. – That’s why I’m surprised she told me to see you. What gives?
- All of us take breaks when necessary, even psychiatrists. We can cover for each other. – I…get it, conceptually, but there’s a problem then. You don’t swap out partners in a marriage, right? And why is that? Because unless you’re reallllllly open, it screws up the relationship you already had. Now how am I supposed to recreate that type of rapport with you?
- All fair points. I’m not replacing her. I’m a second opinion, if that makes you feel better about it. A consultant. – Considering this conversation is already smoother than the entire first session, I’ll consider it a win for now.
- So what have you been working on most recently? It sounds like you’ve had a consolidation. That’s incredibly rare! – As if you thought we’re all separate anyway? I did some searching myself…you don’t really buy all of this, do you? You probably just tag me as “crazy” and throw my chart in a pile with schizophrenics.
- Please give me more credit than that! I’m not saying that your way of dealing with stress hasn’t led to dissociation, I’m saying that the DESCRIPTIONS that have been given don’t necessarily have to be their own person…Is this type of conversation going to actually help you, or are you testing me? – A little from column A, a little from column B.
- Are you satisfied with your reactions to potential situations that have led you to split before? – I’ll never be satisfied, because I never WANT it to happen. It’s not like we’re a happy-go-lucky sewing circle. But there’s mutual respect.
- How did you get to that point? -By not arguing with the likes of you *small laugh* but seriously, I had some baggage I had to drop. You ever had a mentor?
- Of course; no doctor has been trained without multiple mentors, even if we don’t identify them that way in the moment. – Well what if one of them leads you down a path you didn’t want to go? What if they’re responsible for your success, but then they’re manipulating you…maybe even tearing you down. You understand?
- I’m following…keep going – So what’s the right answer? I know you enough that you’re probably thinking “find your own path.” Still, this guy has THE path. Do things his way, and you are guaranteed some great results. Anything else kinda looks like failure.
- So you don’t want to fail him, or yourself? -Easy answer is both.
- But how…oh this is cliche “How does it make me feel?”- You want MY answer?
- *sigh* I get it…what are ALL of the answers? – Jake doesn’t care as long as I keep the ones close to me safe. Steven thinks it’s beneath us to pander to outdated nonsense, and I’m…I’m talking to you about it because I basically already made a decision for all of us, and I don’t want remorse over doing whatever the hell I want because I think I have all of this under control. And I don’t want a guilt trip from you telling me that this is what you wanted to talk about in the first session because I couldn’t handle it directly and let the other guys take the lead too much. Plus I
- HOLD ON! There’s no need to get defensive. I’m thankful for your candor. I’ll take what you’re saying at face value. – Even if it’s an ancient god that is partly responsible for the fact that I have this condition in the first place?
- All I’m saying is that…whatever your descriptions are, relationships change. Some better, some worse. There’s no point in placing blame. It sounds like you decided to move on. – That’s not entirely accurate. I still do a ton under his auspices. I want to. Just not HIS way. There’s bound to be some situations that piss him off. I’m well past the point of caring. Yes he gave me these gifts, and yes those gifts came with strings attached. But the hand operating the strings also became a ceiling, and if I wanted to grow I was going to have to break the string, the ceiling, the hands, the whole damn thing.
- I guess the question is, is it worth it to you? Growth and destruction can look a lot alike. Recognize that your own actions can create more trauma for yourself. – Are you TRYING to get me riled up? I’m not going to throw away everything I’ve built for some false sense of freedom. I’m willing to talk to you because I want to be smart about this. My mind’s made up. I don’t need hand holding.
- So you’re not Khonshu’s lackey…but you’re willing to wear the uniform. You maintain the moniker. You have a long way to go before anybody looks at you another way. – I can tell I’ve matured, because there’s a part of me that would want to punch you in the face for that…and NO I don’t mean it the way you’re thinking.
- OK, so what do you mean then? – I mean… you have no idea what I struggle with on a regular basis. Hell, even sitting in this chair talking to you is using up all of my mental faculties just to maintain a conversation. But I’m not the guy anymore who’s going to use that as an excuse to lash out, or sit here and think you’re making assumptions about me so I might as well live up to them. I’m trying to be a better man, gods dammit, but these things take time and energy. So I’m not going to work on reinventing the wheel just so I can say it’s mine. I’ll do what I can with what I can, and opinions be damned.
- Don’t be a reboot, be a remix. I like it. I apologize if I’m pushing buttons, but that’s because I won’t know exactly what clicks until you answer like that. I have enough trust in you that I can challenge your base assumptions, and vice versa. So, where do we go with your plan? – Well, you may have trust in me, but all cards on the table, I’m still not fully on board with you. No offense, but I’ve been stabbed in the back too many times at this point to go headfirst into someone else’s idea of what they think will help me be better. Even if they’re letting me have one hand on the wheel. I was there before, and it was all an illusion. So we can keep talking, and maybe eventually we’ll get there. But that’s all I can promise you for right now. From what I gather of you, though, I think that’s enough for you to work with.
- Can I level with you? When you first met me, you were all over the place. Your sentences bordered on senseless, and you continued to split so many times that it made my head spin. I knew that this was through no fault of your own, and I could have very easily considered you a danger. But I still want to work with you. You know why? Because even with all of the alters, all of the violence, all of the chaos, I saw a man that was determined to find a way to do what he considers to be the right thing when he could have shunned the world for what it has done to him. Take that for what you will, but I think that means we’re about equal in the contribution to the gap between our trust. – I can work with that. Guess we’ll be seeing you around, then.
Ending (49:52)
- Recommended reading: Jeff Lemire run, current Jed McKay run
- Next episodes: Elsa Bloodstone, Holding Out for a Hero, Wanda Maximoff
- Plugs for social