In the “Moon Knight” finale, Marc Spector returns from the dead as he attempts to stop Arthur Harrow and his goddess Ammit…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
After six episodes of “Moon Knight,” it’s safe to say that this series was a bit hit or miss.
While there was a lot of anticipation for one of Marvel’s lesser known yet cult favorite heroes to finally debut, the show has been uneven at many points while still trying to walk a delicate balance between reality and fantasy. At the center of it all has been Marc Spector — a man who was abused as a child, which caused him to splinter his personality into pieces to offer protection from the horrific homelife that would go onto haunt him for many years to come.
Dealing with a serious mental health issue like dissociative identity disorder is no joke and there have been several moments where “Moon Knight” really put that fight center stage as Marc attempted to understand the voices inside his own head. At other times, the series has been down right goofy with an over emphasis on the Egyptian gods not to mention the disembodied voice of F. Murray Abraham booming over top of a CGI ruler of the night named Khonshu — and don’t even get me started on the talking hippopotamus.
The series also spent a lot of time teasing more than two people living inside Marc Spector’s head but it wasn’t until the final episode that it finally paid off — and even then it was still a bit strange how the show chose to make that ultimate reveal.
That said, all signs seem to point to more Moon Knight in the future — not to mention the introduction of another new hero thanks to his wife taking on her own super powers — and whether that means a second season or Oscar Isaac and/or May Calamawy popping up in a different Marvel series or film down the road.
Hopefully with this origin story and character introduction out of the way, Marc Spector can become the hero he was always meant to be from the comic books and bonus points to the series creators for transforming Layla El-Faouly into a legitimate bad ass in her own right.
With that let’s get to our full recap for the “Moon Knight” season finale…
Will the Real Marc Spector Please Stand Up?
The final episode picks up just moments after part 4 ended with Marc Spector being shot and killed by Arthur Harrow, who then has his men pull the dead body from the murky depths below. Harrow reaches into Marc’s pocket to retrieve the ushabti that contains the spirit of his goddess Ammit, who he wants to release in order for her to judge the entire world and then eliminating every evil doer across the planet even if they’ve never done anything bad quite yet.
After claiming the vessel holding Ammit, Harrow is finally able to start to feel her true power as his staff grows and expands but he’s not ready to release his goddess just yet. Instead, Harrow needs to take her to the Pyramid of Giza, which is where the other Egyptian gods reside and there he plans to unleash Ammit so she can begin judging very person on Earth.
Before leaving, Harrow lays down the golden scarab on Marc’s chest while wishing peace upon him now that all the voices have been quieted.
Once Harrow and his team exit, Layla finally emerges from the shadows after she had to hear Harrow’s grandstanding not to mention the heartbreak knowing that Marc is dead and there’s nothing she could do to save him. But thanks to the scarab that Harrow left behind, Layla can at least track him through Ammit with hopes that she can stop him even without a powerful moon god sharing the same body.
Harrow and his team board their vehicles with a trip planned to the pyramids where Ammit will finally be freed. Along the road, Harrow is stopped at a security checkpoint but when they ask to see his papers, he just slams down the cane powered by Ammit and each of them are judged on the spot.
While almost every law enforcement agent has their soul stolen, one is left alive, who receives a smile from Harrow because this man is a good person capable of doing great things in the world but more importantly he won’t commit any evil acts that would damn his soul for eternity. As this is happening, Layla emerges from the back of one of the vehicles after she stowed away with Harrow’s team so she could keep an eye on everything and seek vengeance for her murdered husband.
As she pulls a knife with plans to cut Harrow down, Layla starts receiving messages through the various dead bodies thanks to Taweret crossing over to the land of the living to pass a message to Marc’s wife that she needs to free Khonshu. That’s the only way Marc can be spared because Khonshu can grant him the gift of life again.
Taweret even offers to allow Layla to serve as her avatar, which would give her the power to fight alongside Marc in an effort to bring down Harrow. Layla passes on becoming an avatar but she does heed Taweret’s warning that Harrow is now much too powerful to face on her own.
Once the group finally arrives back at the Great Pyramid of Giza, the avatars of the other Egyptian gods realized they done messed up because everything Khonshu warned them about was coming true. Harrow really was trying to retrieve Ammit’s ushabti and he’s now looking to release the vengeful god to pass judgment on the whole world.
When the avatars resist, Harrow wipes them all out with a flick of his wrist, which makes you wonder how powerful were these gods in the first place if the one they locked away could dispatch them with relative ease. Regardless, with the gods out of commission, Harrow is able to smash down the ushabti to finally release Ammit from her captivity and the gigantic goddess that looks like a crocodile finally emerges after a 2,000 year nap.
Ammit is quick to judge Harrow first by telling her loyal servant that his scales are far from balanced, which means he should be wiped out with all the other sinful souls but because he freed her from captivity, she will bless him with new life to serve as her avatar.
While all of this is happening, Layla is desperately searching for Khonshu’s ushabti so she can free the moon god from his own imprisonment in hopes that somebody can finally put a stop to Ammit before she gains full power and unleashes it upon the world. She smashes the talisman and Khonshu is reborn but when he offers to transform her into his new avatar, Layla declines with great prejudice.
She knows firsthand how Khonshu used Marc and she has no desire to become his latest pawn. Khonshu tells her that only an avatar is capable of binding Ammit back into her prison but since she’s not willing, he has to search for another partner instead.
That’s when we return to the Field of Reeds where Marc Spector is basking in the glow of the afterlife but it doesn’t take him long to remember that Steven was left to rot in the Duat after he fell from the ship and got sucked down amongst the souls of the dead. Rather than stay in paradise, Marc decides to go back for Steven even if it means both of them are damned for eternity.
When he arrives, Marc is able to use his heart to wake Steven from his slumber and they both spot a golden door opening that will allow them to return to the land of the living. The only problem is the Duat isn’t ready to let them go quite yet but thanks to some late interference from Taweret, Marc and Steven are able to escape the land of the dead and wake up very much alive again.
When he arises from the pool inside Ammit’s former tomb, Marc feels the bullets push out of his skin and fall back to the ground as Khonshu’s words echo through his head as he becomes Moon Knight once again. After he emerges outside again, Marc — now in complete unison with Steven — decide it’s time to bargain with Khonshu for their shared future.
They agree to do whatever it takes to stop Harrow and Ammit but when the mission is complete, Khonshu has to agree to release them from his service. Khonshu begrudgingly accepts the bargain before using his powers to fly mark to Cairo so he can battle the unleashed god and her avatar.
Back at the Great Pyramid of Giza, Ammit and her avatar Harrow are beginning to pass judgment through their followers starting with the people of Cairo as souls begin feeding back into the goddess, giving her even more strength and power. Inside, Layla runs into Osiris’ avatar who tells her that the only way to stop Ammit now is by trapping her inside her avatar and then he can be contained.
With options and time running out, Layla calls out to Taweret to return so she can merge with the goddess of women and children and become her avatar. Taweret accepts and passes along her powers to Layla, who transforms into a new hero — the Scarlet Scarab.
Now incredibly savvy comic book fans might remember the Scarlet Scarab as a hero from the 1970 after a man named Abdul Faoul was transformed into Egypt’s first superhero after he gained powers from a magical scarab. If you’ve never heard of the Scarlet Scarab, trust me, you’re not alone.
The name was so obscure that nobody seemed to connect the dots between Layla’s last name of El-Faouly and the original Scarlet Scarab as Abdul Faoul. Regardless, Layla takes on the name but under a much different set of circumstances after merging with Taweret.
Once she emerges from the pyramid, Layla has her own superpowered costume, which actually does grant her the gift of flight. It’s around this same time that Khonshu and Marc return from the desert to do battle with Harrow and Ammit.
In a world of CGI battles, Marvel goes one step further this time around by actually staging an all out graphics war between Khonshu and Ammit, which looks like something typically reserved for a Godzilla movie. The Egyptian gods taunt each other while fighting it out in gigantic form over the Great Pyramid of Giza while Marc takes aim at Harrow back down on the ground.
It seems Harrow is very powerful now and even Marc with his powers as Moon Knight appears to be no match until Layal arrives to lend a helping hand. Marc and Steven are both stunned to see Layla has become an avatar herself but their reunion is cut short as they begin fighting with Harrow to prevent him from taking any more souls.
The dynamic duo are holding their own until Harrow threatens a busload of people, which forces Layla to help them and that leaves Marc all alone in the fight. Once again, Harrow seems to overwhelm Marc until he suddenly blacks out.
When he wakes up, Harrow is bloody and beaten and Marc is holding onto the cane that wields so much of Ammit’s power. Layla is stunned at the carnage left in Marc’s wake as all of Harrow’s followers are subdued or dead and she wonders what the hell just happened.
There’s no time to contemplate what led to this situation because Ammit has finally overpowered Khonshu and that means time is running out to bind her to Harrow to stop her once and for all. Marc and Layla drag Harrow back inside the pyramid where they cast a spell that drags Ammit back inside her own avatar, trapping her there fully merged with Harrow.
When Khonshu realizes that Ammit has been captured, he orders Marc to kill Harrow to put an end to the vengeful god once and for all but he refuses. Marc is finally standing up for himself and he tells Khonshu that he won’t kill for him again.
He wants to be released per their prior agreement and Khonshu lives up to his word as the Moon Knight suit disappears from his body. When Marc wakes up this time, he’s back in that psychiatric ward talking to “Dr. Harrow” but this time around he’s actually in control of the session.
There’s no more confusion because Marc understands the body he shares with Steven and they have come to understand and embrace each other. This time it’s Harrow whose fragile psyche is shattering under the weight of the situation.
When Marc wakes up, he’s back in Steven’s flat in London and they are now taking care of two fishes — a sign of the symbiosis they now share inside the same body. Marc even manages to rise from the bed before falling flat on his face because his leg is still very much tied down so they don’t go sleepwalking.
That’s when the series seemingly ends but then we get our one and only post credits scene.
Arthur Harrow is now living out his days in a real psychiatric facility where he’s been treated for mental illness. An orderly arrives to wheel him to his next appointment but rather than visiting a doctor’s office, Harrow is taken outside to a waiting limousine.
Inside, Harrow is greeted by Khonshu, who has arrived to exact his final revenge but his former avatar isn’t scared because he already knows Marc won’t kill him. That’s when Khonshu reveals that Marc Spector is far more damaged that even he realizes.
In fact, Marc Spector never stopped being Khonshu’s avatar.
A knock on the window and a slide rolls down as Khonshu introduces Harrow to Marc’s third personality — a man named Jake Lockley, who is more than happy to carry out the moon god’s orders with vicious precision. This time there will be no reprieve as Jake points a gun at Harrow and pulls the trigger repeatedly until Ammit and her avatar are very much dead.
It’s been teased since very early in the series that Marc Spector had another personality living inside his mind but the final revelation didn’t come until the post credits scene. In the comics, Jake Lockley is a cab driver in New York City so it makes sense that this version is driving as a chauffeur when we first meet him.
The biggest difference here is that Jake Lockley in this version of “Moon Knight” is a willing avatar to Khonshu and capable of murderous deeds in service of his true purpose. It’s hard to tell when Marc Spector will return to the Marvel Universe — perhaps another season or an appearance in a different movie — but this definitely isn’t the last we’ve seen of Marc, Steven or Jake.
