The Firefly Villain Moon Knight Fans Can't Help But Compare To Harrow
The Marvel Cinematic Universe just wrapped up the first (and possibly only) season of "Moon Knight" on Disney+. The series follows Marc Spector (Oscar Isaac), a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder, and his mythical entanglement with the Egyptian moon god, Khonshu. It's a dark and sometimes bloody ride, with magnificent visuals, and riddled with unexplained mysteries. Seriously, what was the broken glass in the shoes scene for? What's happening in the post-credit scene? Such fascinating questions have banded the Moon Knight community together in the aftermath of the show's season finale.
In the episode, Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) — Khonshu's former human avatar — frees Ammit, the ancient Egyptian devourer of damned souls. In one pivotal moment, Harrow becomes Ammit's human avatar, but for a moment it looks as if he is going to suffer her wrath — because Ammit deems his scales unbalanced, a judgement that would seemingly make him unworthy by Ammit's previous standards. Harrow recognizes the implications of Ammit's declaration, and instead of pleading for his life, readily accepts his potential fate.
Now, as it happens, Ammit decides to work with him anyway. And yes, despite all this, Harrow still loses in the end — more than once, thanks to Jake Lockley – but his surprisingly calm reaction when faced with being obliterated by the god he worships has viewers comparing to another TV villain from the past.
Arthur Harrow reminds fans of the Operative from Firefly
In a Reddit discussion thread about the final episode of "Moon Knight," multiple fans of the series suggested that Arthur Harrow is similar to The Operative from Joss Whedon's "Firefly."
The topic of conversation was sparked when u/Lineman72T posted about how Harrow's dedication — even at the cost of himself — makes him even more terrifying, saying, "Once [Harrow] has released Ammit, he is still willing to die if Ammit believes his imbalance declares it." In response, u/FitzChivFarseer replied with, "He really reminded me of the agent guy in Serenity. Just when Mal is like 'oh and I'm sure you'll have a place in this new world?' and the way he says 'No. Of course not. People like us can never be in that world. It's not for us.' Paraphrasing of course but I always loved how devoted he was and how much he know what he is. Same with Harrow."
The Operative — played by Hawke's fellow MCU alum Chiwetel Ejiofor — is an interplanetary black ops agent in both Whedon's "Firefly" and the subsequent film, "Serenity," who dedicated his life to his government, even shirking his former name. In the series, he serves as a antagonistic figure until he realizes that his faith is misplaced, but during his time chasing the crew of the Serenity, he commits heinous acts in the name of a better future. If that sounds familiar, it's because that's Harrow's exact modus operandi.
The key difference, though, is that Harrow doubled down when Ammit changed her code, while the Operative pivoted when his understanding was deepened. Ultimately, both paid for their crimes, even if only one of them went willingly to their end.