The following contains major spoilers for Moon Knight, Episode 2 “Summon the Suit,” streaming now on Disney+.
Moon Knight Episode 1 introduced audience members to Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac), one of Marc Spector’s identities. Throughout the episode, Steven displayed the three common symptoms of dissociative identity disorder (D.I.D.) such as the presence of two or more distinct identities, gaps in memory, time, life events and relationships, and dissociation, which is the brief period in which the different identities take over control. Though Steven is not aware he has D.I.D., he does know he has some type of disorder that "kicks in" whenever he falls asleep. At the end of the episode, Steven meets Marc Spector, who is strongly implied to be the original identity.
Though Marc does not appear for very long in Episode 1, in the few seconds of screen time that he gets, the differences between him and Steven are established right away. As an individual, Steven identifies as a shy Englishman who is vegan and is implied to be on the autism spectrum. He follows a strict daily routine, is known to be socially awkward and works in the gift shop of The British Museum. Marc, on the other hand, identifies as an American and is a ruthless mercenary with deadly combat skills. Unlike Steven, Marc has no difficulty making hard decisions in dangerous situations and is the alter ego of Moon Knight, the current avatar of the Egyptian god Khonshu.
With Steven now aware of Marc, Moon Knight Episode 2 explores the impact of D.I.D. symptoms on everyday life, especially relationships. More specifically, the episode looks at how the actions of one identity can impact the lives of the other identities residing within the same body and how those same symptoms can impact the loved ones of the D.I.D. individual. The episode also explores how individuals with ill intentions like the villainous Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) can attempt to exploit the disorder as a vulnerability to gain an advantage.
The first theme of how the actions of one identity can impact the life of another identity is explored very early in Episode 2. After Steven briefly relinquished control to Marc to let him deal with the supernatural jackal Arthur unleashed on him at the end of Episode 1, Marc's handling of the situation resulted in property damage at The British Museum. The following day, Steven is left to deal with the consequences of Marc's actions.
Despite Steven's best efforts to explain the events of the night before to his employer, evidence of the supernatural jackal attacking him never materializes on CCTV footage. This alone puts Steven in a compromising position with his employer. To further damage his credibility, all CCTV footage depicts Steven seemingly having a fight with himself inside the museum and destroying property along the way. After Marc took over his body, the violent behavior that was caught by CCTV cameras made Steven look like he had anger management issues.
Without any knowledge of Steven's D.I.D., his employer is left with no choice but to terminate his employment and give him a psychiatric referral. This is the first major ramification Steven experiences as a result of his disorder. Knowing that Marc could further compromise his future, Steven decides to learn more about who he is, which brings him to Marc's storage unit in London. Not only does Steven confirm for himself that Marc is a mercenary who has made dangerous enemies, but he also formally meets Khonshu for the first time and learns that Marc is his avatar. This leads into the second theme explored in Episode 2 of how D.I.D. impacts loved ones.
Prior to the events of the series, Marc had married a woman named Layla -- an archeologist -- and had been avoiding contact with her for months. In Episode 2, Layla tracks Marc to London to finalize their divorce, only to encounter Steven instead. Since Steven has no recollection of marrying Layla due to his memory gaps, much of his interaction with her is confusing for him. Since Layla is similarly unaware that her husband has D.I.D., she too experiences confusion over her husband's behavior, leading her to believe Marc is playing a cruel prank on her.
It's not until Arthur abducts Steven later in the episode that Layla becomes convinced there is something off about her husband and that Steven is in fact a separate identity from Marc. This leads us to the third theme of Episode 2, which is how Marc's enemies can exploit his condition as a vulnerability. As previously established in Episode 1, Steven had never encountered Arthur in this identity and had only met him briefly as the leader of a sinister cult committed to the Egyptian goddess Ammit. Like the goddess herself, Steven witnessed Arthur judge people's goodness -- both past and future -- and murdered anyone the goddess judged guilty of a crime, including a future one. Steven already knew Arthur couldn't be trusted, but this didn't stop Arthur from trying to manipulate him after catching on to the fact he has D.I.D.
After confirming Steven is a separate identity from Marc, Arthur sees an opportunity to keep Marc subdued and out of the way of his goals by exploiting Steven's ignorance. He starts by gaslighting Steven into thinking the voice of Khonshu is an evil entity that must be ignored. He then attempts to rationalize his murders as similar to amputating diseased limbs to preserve the overall health of the world. Steven, however, doesn't see any justification in murdering innocent people -- especially children -- for the sake of preventing future Hitlers. Steven sees Arthur for the monster he truly is and his plan to exploit his D.I.D. fails.
Overall, Moon Knight Episode 2 succinctly depicts some of the challenges D.I.D. can pose to everyday life and relationships. The behavior of one of the identities can easily impact the life of another and risk unemployment. D.I.D. symptoms can be equally challenging for loved ones who are unaware of the disorder. In the worst-case scenario, the disorder can be exploited by others for ill purposes.
New episodes of Moon Knight air every Wednesday on Disney+. Episodes 1-3 are available now.