The Moon Knight Theory That Will Make You Look Twice At Arthur Harrow
This article contains spoilers for "Moon Knight" Episode 2.
A lot of questions remained up in the air following the premiere episode of "Moon Knight." What's going on with Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac)? What's the deal with Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) and his cult? How exactly does Steven transform into Moon Knight?
Fortunately, many questions were answered in the second episode, moving the plot along nicely, which is always a benefit seeing how the season only contains six episodes. Namely, audiences received a better look at Arthur Harrow's grand machinations, which involve him judging people's souls and casting punishment on them even if they haven't done anything wrong but will only do so in the future. This sort of preemptive retribution doesn't sit well with Steven, who goes on the run with his alter-ego to come out unscathed.
While we know what Arthur's motivation entails, he's still shrouded in mystery. What was it about him exactly that made Khonshu want to latch onto him initially? Why does he have the power to cast judgment onto others? One fan of the show has come up with a theory that would explain quite a lot about Arthur and why he does what he does.
One Redditor believes Arthur Harrow is really Anubis
Redditor u/TheMediocreCritic offers a compelling explanation that would involve Arthur Harrow not being who he says he is. After all, he's a relatively minor character from the comics who's been changed a great deal for the Disney+ series, so it's entirely possible the show's creators made alterations to make him a more menacing foe. The short version of the Redditor's theory goes, "Arthur Harrow is the Egyptian god Anubis who is working to free Ammit and take back control of the underworld. Anubis is god of the dead and the protector of the scales in mythology. He is collecting 'followers' that he intends to offer to Ammit as a sacrifice when he finds her."
There are a couple of pieces of evidence straight out of Egyptian mythology to support this. For starters, Anubis holds the power of the scales to judge people's souls while Ammit merely devours them. Additionally, in the first two episodes, Steven Grant fights monsters with the heads of jackals, which is how Anubis looks. Another "Moon Knight" fan, u/hwikzu, expands upon this theory, "There might be another clue to add to your theory. Harrow is collecting unworthy souls to sacrifice to Ammit which means he has no need of pure souls and that is why he kills the old lady [in Episode 1]. I feel like we were made to sympathize with her especially since she talks about not being a bad person her whole life."
Marvel does enjoy keeping the true villain secret in its Disney+ series, so "Moon Knight" could follow in those same footsteps. We'll just have to wait and see how everything with Arthur Harrow pans out.