As the third episode of Moon Knight begins, Layla (May Calamawy) talks to someone about finding Marc (Oscar Isaac) with the scarab and going home. The woman helps her create a passport so she can get into Cairo. Layla claims the items have already been stolen so she takes them off the black market and gives them back to their rightful owners. She tells Lagaro she might keep a few to pay the bills though. Lagaro wonders what her father would think about his little scarab now. Layla says they’ll never know, but she can’t believe he let her learn how to do all this. Lagaro says he indulged you since the dig sites weren’t any place for a child. Lagaro admits it is a hard thing exhuming the pain of the past. It is easy to get stuck and fixate on what has hurt us.

Lagaro admits she misses him too before encouraging Layla to avoid her old haunts. Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) uses the scarab to find Ammit. Their celebration ends when they learn that Marc is in Cairo tracking them. Marc finds out that several people have killed the guy he needed to talk to about the dig site. He is told he will never find Harrow before they begin fighting. Marc tries not to kill the men although he nearly gets a knife in the face. When he almost cuts a guy’s throat, Steven begins talking to him in hopes of stopping him. He blacks out and finds himself in the back of a car. The taxi driver tells him he asked to go to the airport. When he sees two of the men he was fighting, he gets out to talk to them.

He eventually catches one of them, beats him up, and demands to know where Harrow is. Steven interrupts. He gets hit from behind and falls to the ground. After another blackout, he finds that he has killed several of them. Steven insists he didn’t do it. Marc asks the remaining boy where the tomb is while Khonshu (F. Murray Abraham) tells Marc to take him to the ledge. When Marc does it, he begins demanding to know where Harrow is. The boy praises Ammit before cutting the scarf and falling to his death. Khonshu says he thought the boy would talk while Marc blames Steven who says he didn’t do it. Steven tells him to stop listening to that pigeon if he has a problem with the body count.

Marc tells him to stay out of his way. Then, he asks Khonshu whether the other Gods are just going to allow somebody to unleash Ammit. Khonshu doesn’t want to risk their wrath. They could imprison him in stone if he angers them enough. He warns Marc that he won’t do well against Harrow without his healing armor. When Marc asks if he has a good idea, Khonshu says he has a bad one. He disappears and turns into a moon in the sky to send the Gods a signal they can’t ignore. As the area gets dark, it leads Harrow to believe the old bird is getting desperate. He tells his people to continue digging no matter what. Harrow says he is about to be called upon. Khonshu tells Marc to hurry.

Although their avatars are all over the world, there will be portals for quicker access to the meeting of the Ennead. Once Marc’s portal appears, Khonshu warns him he was banished the last time he spoke to the Gods. Their case against Harrow has to be undisputable. As Marc enters the portal, Steven gets excited that they’re inside the Great Pyramid of Giza. Then, Marc meets with Yatzil (Diana Bermudez) who is the Avatar of Hathor. Although Khonshu never mentioned her, it wasn’t long ago that he enjoyed Hathor’s melodies. Marc suspects the only melody Khonshu enjoys is the sound of pain. When asked, Marc admits he doesn’t know how this works. Yatzil says it will be a strange sensation.

The Gods in attendance include Horus, Isis, Tefnut, Osiris, and Hathor. They are here to hear the account of Khonshu. He is immediately told that he has been banished before and they do not like his showy masks and weapons. They threaten to imprison him in stone if he changes the sky again. Speaking through Marc, Khonshu claims he was banished for not abandoning humanity like the rest of them. They deny that and claim humanity has abandoned them. Now, they trust their avatars to carry out their purposes. Khonshu doesn’t think avatars are enough and argues they need to return from the opulence of the Overvoid before they lose the realm.

They decided long ago they don’t want to meddle so the avatars are just there to observe. Khonshu calls for judgment against Arthur Harrow for conspiracy to release Ammit. Harrow is brought in and calls this nefarious. While Khonshu accuses him of trying to release Ammit, Harrow denies it while arguing Khonshu is unhinged and his servant unwell. Harrow goes on to say the man doesn’t even know his own name since he has a marriage certificate under the name Marc Spector, yet employment records under the name Steven Grant. As Harrow continues, Khonshu gets angry and tries to attack him. The Gods intervene and stop him. Harrow says he is a deeply disturbed man and Khonshu is taking advantage of him.

He insists he is trying to abuse the court and encourages them to do something about it. The Gods ask to speak to Marc Spector. When they ask him if he is unwell, Marc says yes and he needs help. Marc warns them about Harrow who he describes as dangerous. The Gods say Harrow has committed no offense and the matter is concluded. Once the others leave, Yatzil tells Marc there is another way. Ammit was buried in secret even from the Gods. A man named Senfu was tasked with recording the location of the tomb. If he can find Senfu’s sarcophagus, he will find the tomb. It was stolen and sold on the black market. Next, Marc talks to a man selling juice about Senfu’s sarcophagus.

Layla joins him seconds later. He doesn’t think she should be there. She asks if it is because her name ticks off a few people in Cairo. Layla believes she can help him find what he needs. Later that night, they ride on a boat as Marc tries to find out what they’re going to do. She is mad he left so quickly to come to Cairo, but he thinks they should put that behind them until they get this taken care of tonight. She tells him she is here for everyone who would die if Harrow succeeds and not him. Marc apologizes before asking whether this Mogart guy is really going to have his sarcophagus. She believes so. When the people on the boat begin dancing, Marc says he hasn’t heard that sound since their wedding.

Layla says he could’ve told her about Steven and everything else. Marc claims he had it under control until recently. She believes they could’ve handled it together although Marc admits that isn’t what he does. He confesses he has never been able to talk about anything real. They agree it doesn’t mean that they should have talked about it. Then, Marc changes the subject by saying they need to get their story straight. Once they arrive, they quickly realize that Mogart has a lot of guys with a lot of guns. They’re worried that Harrow’s men might be keeping tabs on them. Marc needs to remember that his name is Rufino Strada and they just got back from their honeymoon in the Maldives.

Layla approaches Bek (Loic Mabanza) who says he is looking forward to seeing her and they have a lot of talking to do. Bek leaves to get Anton Mogart (Gaspard Ulliel) while Marc asks if the joker puts on El-Mermah games in his backyard. She says he gets private lessons from the best in his backyard. Anton gets off the horse and tells Layla he needs no excuse to stop by. After he is introduced to Marc, he tells them that this is more than a collection to him. He takes the responsibility of preserving history very seriously. Anton asks why Marc has a particular interest in Senfu. Marc says he would just love to take a look. Anton calls him a funny man before giving him permission to look.

Once they look at it, Layla says the burial practices are in line with the Studenwachen texts. She only sees literature to guide the dead. Marc asks her to keep Anton occupied so he can talk to Steven for a minute. Steven tells him to give him the body and piss off. Steven eventually relents and tells him to check the cartonnage. Marc follows his instructions until Bek approaches him with a gun. Marc quickly takes the gun, but finds himself and Layla at gunpoint. Marc gets on his knees before telling Anton to look into the sarcophagus because there is something big in there.

Harrow shows up and tries to negotiate with Anton. Layla warns Anton that Harrow is going to kill a lot of people. Harrow says they’re more common than they know. He alleges Layla believes distance will prevent the wounds from her father’s murder from reopening, but something stands in her way. Marc won’t tell her something because he is worried she’ll see him exactly as he sees himself. He shows Anton the cane and says the lore surrounding the relics can prove that this is real. Harrow says the sarcophagus doesn’t belong to anyone. Khonshu encourages Marc to summon the suit. Anton tells Arthur he’d like to see it for himself. Arthur finishes the ritual, blows up the sarcophagus, and tells Anton this is just a piece of the power he has.

Then, Marc turns into Moon Knight. He keeps Layla shielded from bullets while she asks for time. He says he can do that. Layla grabs the cartonnage before she is confronted by Bek. She begins fighting with him while Moon Knight continues fighting with the group outside. Steven tries to stop Marc. He eventually takes over the body and tries to end the fighting, but he is stabbed with spears. Marc quickly reclaims the body. Layla takes care of Bek, grabs the gun, and helps Marc who is struggling. Eventually, Marc saves Layla and takes care of Anton. As they leave, Layla asks Marc what Harrow was talking about when he said she had a right to know. Layla says nobody knew why she moved, but Harrow somehow did. Marc believes he is just messing with them.

Marc promises Arthur is lying and only trying to divide them. When Layla learns something new about Marc, she believes that is the last one and can’t possibly be any secret left between them. Marc confesses that she doesn’t know him at all. When they try to figure out the key, they can’t. Layla believes they need Steven since he knows all of this. As Steven works on it, he tells Layla that the Egyptians came up with a way to get around using the sun and stars. Once Steven puts it together, he says the pinpricks make a constellation. He explains that Senfu marked the tomb like 2,000 years ago. Stars drift over time and it could mean them searching miles and miles away from where they’re supposed to be.

Unless they know what the sky looked like on that day, they’d have difficulty finding it. Khonshu believes he can help since he remembers that night. He can turn back the night sky, but it will come at a cost and he cannot do it alone. Khonshu tells Steven to instruct Marc to free him when the Gods imprison him. Layla watches as Steven and Khonshu change the sky back to that particular day. Arthur tells Khonshu he brought this on himself. The other avatars begin working to imprison Khonshu. Layla gets the coordinates on her tablet. The avatars say he left them no choice so he is tethered to this place now. Arthur is told they believe he can hear them.

Arthur walks over to him and says he enjoyed dealing out pain on his behalf. That is the greatest sin he carries. If he hadn’t broken him so completely, he may have never known the value of healing. Arthur is going to do what he could not. His torment forged him so he owes his victory to Khonshu.

 

Moon Knight Review

Moon Knight is a typical Marvel series with some fun fight scenes and cool special effects. Since we’re midway through the series, things are really starting to pick up in terms of action. I am not a big fan of the shaky camera scenes, but they’re not overwhelming. The episode was a bit weird considering the scarab should’ve taken Arthur straight to Ammit, yet he still came for Senfu.

I would’ve figured the scarab was everything he needed. Another odd thing is the fact that the Gods weren’t godly enough to tell that Arthur was lying. In some ways, it feels like the series is trying to be too smart when it could just focus on the action. The scenery is nice and Oscar Isaac is starting to get comfortable with the role. I’ve probably enjoyed this more than I have Halo so far.

The episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of Moon Knight can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support Reel Mockery by following this link.