Moon Knight Explained: Who Is That Hippo from Episode 4

In the latest installment in the Moon Knight television series, things took an unexpected turn. During the exploration of the tomb of Alexander the Great, Marc Spector/Steven Grant, and Layla encountered Arthur Harrow once again. Without spoiling too much — for now — about their latest meeting, let’s just say that things didn’t go according to Spector’s plans. The protagonist was more vulnerable than ever since he lost all his powers following Khonshu’s imprisonment by the other Egyptian gods. After some frantic action and a dreamy sequence took place, the episode ended with a surprising cliffhanger that introduced a new character in the story: a beautiful hippo goddess.

And no, it’s not Gloria from Madagascar, although the description fits.

ComingSoon spoiler alert

Who Is That Hippo?

The Marvel Cinematic Universe took some liberty from the comic book source and introduced a brand-new character in Spector’s story. The talking hippo from Moon Knight episode 4 is Taweret, the Egyptian goddess of childbirth and fertility. Taweret made her first live-action appearance when Spector and Grant (now two different entities) attempted to escape from the Putnam Psychiatric Hospital. The giant hippo, voiced by Antonia Salib, just said a warm “Hi” to the terrified unusual team. The images faded to black before she could say anything else or explain why she was there.

Taweret is part of the Ennead, the ensemble of Ancient Egypt gods who have watched over humanity since the beginning of time. Much like their cosmical counterpart, the Eternals, the Ennead had decided to hide after humankind stopped believing in them. Their choice implied that they didn’t interfere when Thanos wiped out half of the living creatures in the universe.

Who Is Abdallah El-Faouly?

Inside Alexander the Great’s tomb, Layla and Harrow talked about the woman’s dead father, Abdallah El-Faouly. He was a very famous archaeologist who used to wear a red scarf. Abdallah really loved his job so much that he even gave his life for it. The circumstances of Abdallah’s death involved Spector, who witnessed the assassination of his wife’s father at the hands of his business partner, Raul Bushman. The motivation behind Bushman’s radical gesture is that he wanted all the treasures to himself. The name of Layla’s father vaguely resembles the one of Abdul Faoul. Marvel fans already know that he is a sort of Egyptian Captain America who fought to liberate his country from British colonization during World War II. Faoul was better known as the Scarlet Scarab and wore a red scarf.

How Did Marc Spector Die?

During the conversation about the death of Layla’s father, Spector revealed how he died the first time. Not only did Bushman kill Abdallah, but he also shot at his business partner at the time. That’s also when Spector became the avatar of Khonshu, who found the mercenary’s corpse. The Egyptian god hinted at what happened on that occasion in the second episode when he recalled Spector about his duty. The fact that Spector is still alive is proof that some characters can bind even death’s boundaries in the MCU. Spector’s power might come in handy to escape his apparent second death. Shortly after their talk, Harrow shot Spector in the heart, and the mercenary woke up in the Putnam Psychiatric Hospital.

What do you think about Moon Knight Episode 4? Did you enjoy the series so far? Let us know in the comments.

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