The Ending Of Moon Knight Episode 2 Explained

Contains spoilers for "Moon Knight" Episode 2

Life is not great for Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac). Episode 1 of "Moon Knight" ended with a big, honking string of horrors that included (but were by no means limited to) alternate personalities, supernatural monsters, various near-death experiences, and a creepy lunar deity speaking in the voice of F. Murray Abraham. Episode 2 begins with poor Steven shouldering the blame for the messy British Museum fight, and losing his beloved job. It only gets worse from there, as he discovers the mysterious scarab from the Marc Spector personality's hiding place, and creepy cult leader Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) is still on his tail. Oh, and Marc and Khonshu have no intention of leaving poor Steven alone, since it turns out that Marc — and, by proxy, Steven — is indebted to the moon god, and has to act as its vengeful avatar until he's paid back in full. 

However, it's not all doom and gloom for poor Steven. Though he once again ends the episode in a worse place than he started it, he also gains a new ally, some pretty neat superpowers, and one of the coolest costumes in the MCU. As was the case with last week's episode, there's plenty to unpack by the time the credits start rolling. Here's the ending of "Moon Knight" Episode 2 explained.

After Steven grabs the scarab and flees Marc's storage container crib, he once again gets to experience Khonshu's unhealthy obsession with creepy hallway entrances. However, this one ends in a fortunate fashion, as Steven almost literally bumps into Layla (May Calamawy), the woman who'd been trying to reach Marc Spector numerous times and remains angry about his disappearing act. She also turns out to be Marc's wife, which pretty much confirms that Layla is the MCU version of Marlene Alraune. 

Though Steven faces some very understandable difficulties when he tries to convince Layla that he and Marc are separate personalities, the pair seems to warm up to each other as the episode goes along. From the moment he notes that he wishes he'd remember their times together, it's clear that the former museum gift shop worker has taken a liking to his alternate personality's wife. Could "Moon Knight" be setting up one of the strangest love triangles out there?

Of course, it's not like Layla needs a romance angle to be an interesting character. She's a skilled fighter and extremely capable on the field, especially compared to her comic book counterpart, who's often stuck in the damsel in distress role. In fact, Layla is so good that Khonshu's planning to turn her into its next avatar, which is a fate Marc is trying to protect her from ... and which Khonshu gleefully holds over him, should he wish to leave its service. 

Many fans were no doubt delighted to see Moon Knight's slick Mr. Knight persona pop up in the marketing material. The character's stylish secondary super-suit finally turns up in this episode, and the show has taken a pretty fun approach with it. Instead of being a separate personality or an alternate costume for Moon Knight proper, Mr. Knight is a custom version of the Moon Knight armor that manifests when the Steven personality uses it. Mr. Knight seems to have the same super strength the Moon Knight costume grants, though its signature weapons are two kali sticks instead of moon blades, and it lacks the cool cape. 

The comic book version of Mr. Knight's costume is a rather more grounded affair than this mystical version, being little more than a white suit and a full-face mask that the character wears when he doesn't need to go full Moon Knight, but still wishes to obscure his identity for various investigations and social interactions. As such, it's interesting to see where "Moon Knight" plans to take this version of Mr. Knight. Besides, no one can say that the suit doesn't look good on Steven ... except for Marc, who immediately dubs it "Psycho Colonel Sanders."

The nebulous Arthur Harrow continues to present himself as a well-meaning spiritual leader, but his lentil soup antics do little to mask the sinister undertones he constantly sprinkles in the conversation ... especially because said conversation starts with two of his cop minions abducting poor Steven.

Harrow is much more closely connected to Steven and Marc's predicament than anyone could have thought. The reason he's so familiar with the voice Steven is hearing is because the cult leader, too, has been an avatar of Khonshu. At some point before Marc took over, Harrow left the moon god's service for undisclosed reasons, but remains familiar enough with the deity's ways to accurately guess what it's saying to Steven at any given time. 

Harrow hasn't left the whole "fighting evil" thing behind after leaving Khonshu, but his methods have become far more extreme. The reason he serves Ammit is that he believes the goddess can destroy evildoers wholesale before they even commit their crimes. Harrow believes this method will "light the path for good by eradicating the choice of evil." However, Steven's not too happy about the countless fatalities this "Minority Report" approach would cause, despite Harrow's insistence that it would create a paradise.

Disturbing as Harrow's plan is, the reveal that the antagonist used to be affiliated with Khonshu is arguably even more momentous. Since he specifically mentions the "fist of vengeance" title, this implies that Harrow has either donned the Moon Knight mantle, or been a version of another "fist of Khonshu" type character from the comics, like Hunter's Moon. Perhaps he'll eventually even don the cowl once more. Should that happen, the Khonshu-hating villain could potentially battle Moon Knight as a version of Shadow Knight, a corrupted, murderous version of Moon Knight. Interesting times!

The ending of "Moon Knight" Episode 2 might feature a cool fight against jackal monsters, but the victorious battle does little to end the protagonists' troubles. Steven has discovered a whole bunch of terrifying things Marc has done as Khonshu's avatar, and is hesitant to relinquish control to the dangerous mercenary personality. Unfortunately, when he actually does, Marc says he intends to stay as the dominant personality until the Ammit thing is over. 

For his part, Marc's genuinely sorry for his actions, and explains that his entire motivation for doing what he does is to pay his debt to Khonshu. This might be easier said than done, though. Earlier in the episode, Harrow opens a whole can of worms when he invites Steven to think about Khonshu's motivations to choose a man struggling with mental health issues as his avatar ... as well as whether the moon god could be the cause of said issues. He also outright tells the Marc personality that Khonshu is a liar through and through.

Indeed, Khonshu devotes roughly 100 percent of his screen time to act as unpleasantly as possible, throwing tantrums and lording over its avatar at every turn. For people who are familiar with the source material, this is a pretty bad sign, as is the moon god's apparent refusal to let go of Marc. After all, Khonshu has spent a large portion of his comic book appearances as something of an antagonist who isn't above subjecting its avatar to prolonged mental torture in an effort to take over Marc's body itself. Sure, the lunar deity might technically fight the good fight right now — but if Marc manages to defeat Harrow in Egypt, what happens next?