In the second episode of Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight, Steven pays a price for his fight with the jackal in the museum. After he loses his job, Layla finds him, which is an incredibly confusing situation for both of them. And much to the dismay of Khonshu, Arthur Harrow finally gets his hands on the scarab.
The mysterious case of the invisible jackal
Chaining yourself to the bed for your own safety is all fun and games until you wake up from a nightmare in a panic and end up tripping out of bed face first. Oh, to be Steven Grant. Before heading to work, Steven quickly checks in the mirror to see if Marc is still there, but he doesn’t get a response. Noticing that the bathrooms at the museum are blocked off, he asks the security guard if he can take a look at the security footage. He tries to prepare the other man for the madness that he’s about to see on film, but unfortunately the rabid jackal doesn’t show up on the cameras … so it just looks like Steven was crying by himself and wildly running through the building. The museum doesn’t press charges, but Steven is let go from his job nonetheless.
The storage locker
Steven visits a handful of self storage businesses to try and track down where the mysterious storage locker key that was hidden in his apartment leads to. He finally finds the right place and discovers that the locker is where Marc, the mercenary, keeps his own personal belongings, including the golden scarab. He’s transfixed by the item, which begins to float in his palm, and this finally beckons the return of Marc Spector. Steven becomes somewhat frantic as he tries to parse out what exactly is going on — is he a secret agent, is he possessed, is Marc a demon!? No, Marc is Khonshu’s avatar, protecting the vulnerable and delivering justice to those who hurt them on behalf of the Egyptian god of the moon. He made a deal with Khonshu, and it’s contingent on Steven not interfering. Marc tries to convince Steven to let him take “the body” over so that he can finish this, but Steven begins to flip out and takes Marc’s duffel bag with the intent of turning it over to the authorities and finding help for whatever is happening to his brain. Khonshu chases Steven through the hallways of the storage building, and when he comes running out of the building, he runs into none other than … Layla.
Layla finds Steven
Awkwardly riding on the back of Layla’s moped, Steven fields questions from the woman as she asks him if this is his latest fake identity. She tracked his phone when he turned it on, because she thought he was in danger. We (and Steven) learn that she’s his wife. Their conversation is strained as Steven struggles to figure out who and what she’s talking about, and Layla continuously tells him to drop whatever cover he’s put on, because it doesn’t look like they’re being followed. They return to his apartment, where Marc immediately tells him that he needs to get Layla out of there. Steven and Layla struggle through a conversation, because she’s still convinced he’s putting on a front, and she pulls out divorce papers for him to sign. Despite Marc’s warnings to Steven, Layla ends up pulling the scarab (which points to Ammit’s ushabti) out of the duffel bag. She’s furious, because they fought side by side for it.
Arthur, the former avatar of Khonshu
They’re interrupted by a knock at the door. Two officers let themselves into his apartment, poking around and asking him questions, and Layla sneaks out the window. The officers tell Steven that he needs to come with them. They begin looking into Marc Spector’s past in the car, and we find out that he’s an international fugitive who’s wanted for killing a team of archeologists at a dig site. When they arrive at their destination, they leave Steven alone in the car for a little while, and Marc tries to convince him to let him take control again. Unfortunately, after learning about what Marc did, Steven is even less trusting of him now.
After listening in on Steven’s conversation with himself/Marc to better understand what’s going on in his mind, Arthur reveals his presence. This was all a set up so that he could get to Steven. Arthur questions if Khonshu chose him as his avatar because his mind was so easy to break or because it was broken already. Khonshu stands off in the distance, demanding that Steven kill Arthur. Calmly, Arthur convinces him to come sit down and talk with him instead, and he walks him through the oddly peaceful little community that he’s built. Steven eventually learns that Arthur was Khonshu’s former avatar before him. Arthur explains to him that he and his followers want to resurrect Ammit in order to cast judgement before evil deeds are actually carried out, versus Khonshu’s style of seeking vengeance after the fact. The reason that he wants to scarab is because it leads to Ammit’s tomb, where she’s waiting to be freed.
As Arthur’s followers stand up, waiting to be called to action, Steven begins to debate the merits of Ammit’s approach to judgement. Arthur continuously asks Arthur where the scarab is, and eventually Layla walks in holding it. As Khonshu eggs Steven on from behind, Layla hurriedly tells him to “summon the suit.” Unfortunately for Steven, he has no idea what she’s saying and why she’s telling him to summon soup. Arthur uses his cane, which is imbued with Ammit’s power, to call forth a jackal as Steven and Layla try to escape. Steven begins to blubber about the fact that he’s going to die in an evil magician’s man cave, still refusing to let Marc take over.
Meet Mr. Knight
The jackal tackles him out of a window, and at the request of Khonshu, Steven does finally manage to summon … a suit … of sorts. Meet Mr. Knight, Steven’s version of what Moon Knight is to Marc. Marc is less than impressed by the fact that the ceremonial armor from Khonshu’s temple has now been replaced with psycho Colonel Sanders. Armed with abilities that he hasn’t the slightest clue how to use, Steven tries his best to fight off the jackal with some help from Layla. Once the fight moves from the alleyway to the main road, Steven finally relents and lets Marc bring Moon Knight out to play. He manages to impale the jackal. Unfortunately, the scarab was lost in the scuffle, and Arthur gets his hands on it.
Afterward, Marc stands in front of a mirror arguing with Steven over the nature of their split existence. Steven is miserable over how this has affected his life, and Marc explains that Khonshu is the reason he’s alive, so his servitude is the price that he pays. Steven accuses Marc of leaving Layla stranded, but Marc angrily tells him that he’s trying to protect her, because Khonshu wants Layla as his replacement. Khonshu tells Marc that Arthur has the scarab, so they’ll just have to find the tomb first. Marc heads to Egypt.
Catch the next episode of Moon Knight exclusively on Disney+ next Wednesday, April 13. Stay tuned for all of our coverage on the series, including episodic recaps and more.
