Last week left us with Marc Spector set to live an eternity in the field of reeds and Steven Grant frozen in the sands of the underworld. With only one episode of Marvel’s Moon Knight remaining, fans were left to wonder how the series would wrap things up. The answer, it turns out, was “very quickly.”
The finale opens with Marc’s lifeless body still lying in the water in the tomb. Harrow’s men pull him out of the water and retrieve the ushabti of Ammit, handing it over to Harrow, who leaves the scarab on his chest and leaves him. Meanwhile, Layla gets the drop on one of Harrow’s goons and watches as the rest of them head off to “heal the world.” She rushes to Marc to finally see that he is dead and she finds the scarab.
Harrow, who now has even more power in his staff, comes to a stop at a security checkpoint where he and his goons ambush some Egyptian police. He uses the staff to judge their souls and only one officer survived the judgment. Layla, who snuck into one of their trucks disguised as one of Harrow’s followers, tries to sneak up on Harrow with a knife. She is stopped though when Taweret begins to speak to her through the dead bodies on the ground. Taweret tells her Marc needs her to release Khonshu and that she can be her avatar. Layla refuses though and gets back in a truck in her disguise.
Harrow reaches the temple of the gods and uses his staff to bring all of his follower inside. The avatars of the other gods assemble because they’ve sense a disturbance. They try to stop Harrow from releasing Ammit but he makes short work of them in a fight we never actually get to see. Layla, now realizing she can’t fight Harrow herself, sneaks off to find the ushabti of Khonshu.
Harrow breaks the ushabti of Ammit and releases the crocodilian goddess, who we now see as a towering CGI monster, mirroring Khonshu. She accepts Harrow as her avatar. Meanwhile, Layla releases Khonshu, who immediately realizes Marc is dead. He tries to convince Layla to take his place as his avatar but she refuses, opting instead for them to work together to stop Harrow and Ammit. Khonshu heads off to stop them, which tips Harrow off to the fact that someone else must be in the temple.
In the field of reeds, Taweret tries to explain to Marc that he is to spend his afterlife here, in peace. Marc refuses to let Steven remain frozen in sand though and he goes back for him. He finds the sand sculpture of his other identity and goes to it .In the real world, Ammit and Khonshu argue over their methodology while Marc and Steven reunite in the afterlife. Marc freezes, becoming a statue matching Steven’s, but after a moment, Osiris opens his door and they become human again. Khonshu attacks Ammit and it becomes clear he is not a match for her. With some help from Taweret, Marc and Steven rush to the door and find themselves back in their dying body.
Khonshu senses Marc’s return and reunites with his avatar, once again saving Marc’s life. Now in full Moon Knight costume, Marc finds Khonshu, who tells him they need to stop Ammit. Steven takes over the body to negotiate before they head off into action. He gets Khonshu to agree to release them “both,” language that will come into play later on. Khonshu gives Moon Knight the power to fly from the tomb to Cairo to stop Harrow and Ammit.
Layla finds the one surviving avatar and asks how they can trap Ammit again. He tells her about a ritual that could imprison her in a mortal form but he also tells her they need more avatars before he dies in front of her. Layla calls out for Taweret, who speaks to her again, alerting Harrow and his followers of her location. Harrow begins to fire his purple god-like energy around the tomb, collapsing some of it around her.
Layla scrambles for an escape before Taweret takes over her body and the two converse through her. Taweret tells Layla she has met her father when she took him to the field of reeds. As the hall finally collapses around her, Taweret asks if they’re doing this or what, and tells her she has a “fabulous costume.”
Moon Knight flies toward Cairo, where Harrow stands atop a pyramid, preparing to judge all of the souls in the city. His followers begin judging people in the city themselves, leaving the streets littered with bodies. Ammit feeds on the unbalanced souls and grows to become the size of the pyramid herself.
Back in the tomb, we see Layla emerge form rubble in a new costume, fully embracing the role of Taweret’s avatar. She reveals metal wings as part of her costume and it is clear she is ready for battle. While this isn’t and exact representation of any character from the comics, it appears Layla is the MCU’s Scarlet Scarab, an Egyptian superhero.
Moon Knight arrives in Cairo and immediately attacks Harrow, kicking off the epic final battle. Khonshu simultaneously attacks Ammit and the two begin a massive CGI god fight. Harrow is about to take out Moon Knight before he is saved by Layla. Marc embrace her before Steven takes over the body briefly. Together, they make their way through Harrows followers in route to fighting him. This series has always been at its best when it embraces the more real-world nature of the character and watching this fight unfold only furthers that point.
As they fight, Layla saves a van of civilians. An onlooker asks her if she’s an Egyptian superhero. Layla tells her she is, which puts a smile on the young woman’s face. It’s a very cool moment for an MCU that continues to expand and become more and more inclusive.
Harrow gets the better of Moon Knight and stands over him, ready to cast his judgment. Layla, who is literally pinned down can’t come to his rescue this time. Harrow prepares to strike the final blow when Marc blacks out and awakens holding Harrow’s staff his unconscious body in his other hand. He asks Steven if that was him, which of course Steven answers in the negative. Layla asks Marc what that was, but he has no answer. They turn to see Ammit dragging Khonshu to the pyramid and Layla tells Marc she knows how to stop her.
In the pyramid, they begin the ritual to imprison Ammit in Harrow’s body. Khonshu tries to command Marc to kill Harrow, but Layla tells him he has a choice. Marc chooses to let Harrow live and demands Khonshu release him and Steven as he promised. Khonshu reluctantly agrees.
Steven wakes up in the asylum, once again questioning reality, only this time, he and Marc are balanced, shiting back and forth seamlessly. They see that Dr. Harrow’s feet are bleeding, which the doctor eventually notices himself. Reality is now coming into question for Harrow, rather than Marc and Steven. Steven drops out of the asylum and wakes up in his bed, as Marc. He checks for Steven and learns that they are now living in unison. He stands to walk away from their bed and falls when he is tripped by the ankle restraint, which is once again secured to his leg. Then, the episode simply comes to an abrupt end. It’s an interesting finish that leaves us wondering what exactly has really happened.
That is, until we get our mid-credits scene. Harrow wakes up in an asylum as a man tells a nurse he will take him. We don’t see the man’s face but we watch as he wheels him out of the asylum and into a car. Harrows sees several dead guards on the way out, letting him know that something horrible awaits him. In the car, Harrow sees Khonshu who informs him that he never really wanted Layla as his avatar because Marc had no idea “how troubled he truly is.” He knocks on the window and the driver rolls his down. Khonshu introduces him to Jake Lockely, whom we see is that third personality for Marc and Steven. Jake shoots Harrow and drives off as the episode comes to a close with a much more satisfying ending.
It turns out that third personality was, in fact, the one we knew from the comics. Lockley is a cab driver who serves more as the information-gathering personality in the comics, while Marc is the more ruthless killer. That is clearly not the case here though as Jake has been saving Marc and Steven throughout this show and is now serving as Khonshu’s avatar. Remember, Khonshu agreed to release them “both,” meaning Marc and Steven. Jake is still in his command.
Had this episode ended without that finals scene, it would have been a big disappointment. It felt as though it came to a very abrupt ending and didn’t leave us with any next step for this character. At least now we know there is still a Moon Knight for the MCU and a door for Khonshu to come back into the lives of Marc and Steven. Plus, we got an interesting take on the Scarlet Scarab for the MCU, which means we will hopefully get to see more of May Calamawy’s Layla. It will certainly be interesting to see where these characters pop up next.
You can watch Marvel’s Moon Knight on Disney+ now.