| “ | You don't need to doubt her judgment. Ammit will light the path to good by eradicating the choice of evil, which brings us to the scarab. That scarab functions as a kind of compass, leading us to Ammit's tomb. She's out there, waiting, longing to be freed. While the cruel masses deserve to face her judgment. And in the wake of their screams, evil eradicated. | „ |
| ~ Arthur Harrow to Steven Grant about his righteous mission. |
Arthur Harrow is the main antagonist of the 2022 Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney+ series Moon Knight. An entity assuming his form known as Dr Harrow is the secondary antagonist of the series.
He is a religious zealot and the cult leader associated with the Egyptian goddess Ammit looking to exact justice and judgment based on future crimes. He was also Khonshu's previous Moon Knight avatar of the moon, before Marc Spector took over the title after his betrayal, making him the arch-nemesis of Marc Spector/Steven Grant/Jake Lockley/Moon Knight.
He was portrayed by Ethan Hawke, who also played Martin Asher in Taking Lives, The Fizzle Bomber in Predestination and The Grabber in The Black Phone.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Arthur Harrow was once an ordinary man who was chosen to be Khonshu's avatar and operated as the previous "Moon Knight". However, as time went on, Khonshu became abusive towards Harrow and constantly demanded him to perform more tasks, thus never letting him be free. Soon enough, Harrow had lost faith in Khonshu because he forced him to deal out punishments to criminals who already committed crimes which allowed Harrow to be persuaded by the Egyptian goddess Ammit, who encouraged him to betray Khonshu in order to be free and swear allegiance to her so that she could show him to judge a person's past to determine if they were worthy to live.
Harrow then began using the bestowed power of Ammit to judge people's morality and kill those who are deemed unworthy and later amassed a following of disciples, and crushed glass into his shoes before putting them on each morning as part of his devotion to the faith which he believed in.
Meeting Steven Grant[]
In an Austrian village, Harrow conducted a judgment ceremony where he spared a man whom he knew was a good person and then an elderly woman who he killed because he saw darkness in her future, despite her insistence that she had been good her entire life.
During the ceremony, Harrow was warned that someone had stolen the Scarab of Ammit. Thinking the thief was likely at the ceremony, Harrow chanted in ancient Egyptian for the group to kneel, and everyone did, except Steven Grant. Harrow recognized Steven as the mercenary Marc Spector and demanded the scarab back. Steven attempted to give Harrow the Scarab but could not because of Marc and Khonshu and began walking away insisting that he was not responsible for his actions, so Harrow had his disciples chase after Grant to retrieve the scarab, but he escaped with the scarab.
The next day, Harrow followed Steven to London on a bus and to his job, where he explained to Steven that he is a servant of the Egyptian goddess Ammit and that Ammit owned the scarab that Marc had stolen. Harrow also talked about her ability to see the morality of people's past, present, and future actions and explained that Ammit could have prevented history's greatest atrocities until her fellow gods and avatar betrayed her. Lastly, Harrow placed his cane in Steven's hand and judged him, realizing that there was chaos within him. Steven ran away, and Harrow ordered his disciples not to follow him.
Later that night, Harrow summoned a jackal creature that attacked Steven at his workplace. Harrow demanded that Steven give him the Scarab of Ammit in exchange for his life. When the jackal cornered Steven in the bathroom, his reflection in a mirror talked to him and asked him for control of their body. Steven agreed and transformed into a cloaked warrior who killed the jackal.
The next day, Harrow sent Bobbi Kennedy and Billy Fitzgerald to apprehend Steven, who brought him to another village populated by Harrow's followers where Harrow explained his cult's beliefs to Steven, treating him with hospitality. Over dinner, Harrow told Steven that he was Khonshu's avatar before Marc, and had left his service for Ammit as he believed that Khonshu's punishment came too late, whereas Ammit would deliver punishment before the evil deed had been committed. When Steven asked if that meant children would be killed for things they had not yet done, Harrow became agitated and demanded Steven give him the scarab, until Layla El-Faouly arrived and announced her possession of the scarab, having previously taken it from Steven. As she and Steven escaped the scene, Harrow used his cane to open a portal and summon another jackal creature to hunt them down.
During the ensuing fight, Layla and Steven lost the scarab and it was picked up by a homeless man. After finding the man, Harrow asked for the scarab in return for food and shelter, which the man readily accepted, but Harrow killed him once he had the scarab.
Searching for Ammit's tomb[]
Now in possession of the scarab, Harrow and a team of his followers traveled to Egypt where the scarab led them to a place in the desert where Ammit was entombed. As they approached, Bobbi Kennedy notified Harrow that Marc Spector had arrived in Cairo. After some work in the desert, Harrow witnessed an unnatural solar eclipse which he recognized as the doing of Khonshu trying to signal the Ennead and realized that Khonshu intended to put him on trial before the other gods.
Harrow was soon thereafter summoned by the gods to the Great Pyramid of Giza, where he told them that he was simply touring the Egyptian desert and explained how Khonshu's avatar was afflicted with mental unwellness. Khonshu, currently controlling Marc's body for the trial, tried to assault Harrow but was stopped by Osiris, who insisted that violence would not be tolerated during the trial. The Ennead then found Harrow innocent and he was allowed to leave.
Later in the day, Harrow was informed that Marc and Layla were seeking Senfu's sarcophagus, which could aid them in finding the location of Ammit's tomb. He went to intercept them at the estate of Anton Mogart, who possessed the sarcophagus. After implying to Layla that Marc was still keeping secrets from her, he demonstrated Ammit's power to Mogart and destroyed the sarcophagus. Harrow left the scene as Mogart and his men began to fight with Marc and Layla.
In the night, Khonshu used his powers to temporarily turn back the night sky to help Steven and Layla use a star chart to find Ammit's tomb, but as a result, the Ennead imprisoned him within an ushabti. Harrow returned to the pyramid soon thereafter, where Osiris allowed him to see the ushabti. Knowing Khonshu could hear him, Harrow told him that he had enjoyed hurting people on Khonshu's orders, which he was trying to atone for under Ammit, and that it was Khonshu's cruelty that caused him to turn to Ammit in the first place.
Inside Ammit's tomb[]
The following day, Harrow and his followers gained entry to Ammit's tomb, where undead mummy-like creatures attacked and killed some of them, including Billy Fitzgerald, by removing their organs to put in canopic jars and presumably mummify them alive. Eventually Steven and Layla entered the tomb but were separated when one of the creatures attacked. Harrow met Layla in a chamber where a deep chasm separated them, and he implied to her that Marc had killed her archeologist father. After Layla left to find Steven/Marc, Harrow and his men made their way through the tomb, and found Marc at the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great, a previous avatar of Ammit whose mummy contained Ammit's ushabti. Although Marc briefly fought them using an adze, Harrow ended the fight by shooting Marc twice through the chest, telling him that he can't save anyone who won't save themselves before Marc fell into the water by the sarcophagus.
Harrow's men pulled Marc's body from the water and collected Ammit's ushabti from it, with Harrow apologizing to the deceased and leaving the scarab they had previously fought over with him as a sign of respect. With more of Ammit's power, Harrow's cane transformed into a full-length staff with a bladed head before they departed for the Great Pyramid of Giza to release Ammit.
Unleashing Ammit[]
Along the way, Harrow's caravan was stopped by a blockade of Egyptian law enforcement, however Harrow used the new power of the staff to judge them all at once, leaving all but one dead. At the Pyramid, Harrow encountered the avatars of the other gods who were preparing to stop him, but he was able to annihilate them with the staff before breaking Ammit's ushabti, releasing the godess.
Harrow and his followers knelt before Ammit, who told Harrow that his scales were unbalanced, yet he was worthy enough to become her avatar. Harrow ascended to the top of the pyramid where he released the power of Ammit to all his followers, who began judging everyone in Cairo.
The Mental Hospital[]
After Marc died in the tomb, he woke up as a sedated patient in a strange mental hospital, later revealed to be his interpreation of the Duat, where people from his adventure appeared as the hospital's patients and staff, Marc had meeting with the Duat's incarnation of Harrow who was a psychiatrist in this reality. As the sedatives began to wear off, Marc panicked upon seeing Harrow's cane and shoes, recognizing him as the man who shot him before. Marc escaped Harrow's office and fled through the halls as Harrow commanded the orderlies to detain him.
Marc (and later Steven) would later snap back and forth between their journey through the Duat and the appointment with Dr. Harrow, who talked with Marc about the things he believed to have seen, like the "talking hippopotamus".
Final battle and defeat[]
It is revealed later that after Harrow killed Marc, he reclaimed Ammit's Ushabti and used it to further empower his staff, before going to the Great Pyramid of Giza and murdering all the avatars of the gods and releasing Ammit, killing a few border guards along the way. With Ammit released, they work together to harvest the souls of Cairo, with Harrow's followers being granted power to bring judgement as well. However, Layla, who sneaked in, breaks the ushabti containing Khonshu, who tells her that an avatar is needed to seal away Harrow and offers the title to her, which she refuses so Khonshu goes to fight Ammit himself. However, Ammit proves too strong for Khonshu so Harrow is able to continue the process of harvesting the souls. However, Marc escapes the Duat and accepts to become Khonshu's avatar once again, and with Layla becoming Taweret's avatar as well, the two face off Harrow. They manage to hold off Harrow but he begins overpowering Marc and Layla. Suddenly, Marc switches to an unknown alter and awakens with Harrow badly beaten and unconscious. Following the instructions of Selim, Osiris's avatar, Marc, Layla and the other gods bind Ammit into Harrow, stopping her rampage. Khonshu orders Marc and Steven to kill the two or Ammit would find a way, but they refuse, remarking that Khonshu is beginning to sound like Ammit and tell him to do it himself. Honouring his word, Khonshu sets the two free of his servitude.
Captivity and death[]
After his defeat in Cairo, Harrow is sent to Sienkiewciz Psychiatric Hospital for treatment where he stays for a period of time on a wheelchair until a mysterious man walks in and wheels him out of the hospital. Along the way, Harrow realises something is wrong after seeing several hospital staff lying dead or unconscious. The man hoists him out of the wheelchair and into a limo, where Harrow sees Khonshu sitting opposite him. He tells Khonshu that he can't hurt him and Ammit, so Khonshu tells them that he and Marc were never fully separated and introduces the driver: Marc's third and dangerous alter Jake Lockley, who is still his avatar and also the one who did the brutal murders. Jake shoots Harrow in the head before driving off, killing Ammit once and for all, sending them to the Duat.
Personality[]
Harrow is very devoted to the Egyptian goddess Ammit as he believed that the best way to stop villains was to kill them before they become villains, making him very delusional and passionate. While his goals are not the most moral and he himself admits he is not the best person, Arthur is kind and genuine to his followers and even his enemies, trying to convince Steven to join him and displaying remorse after killing Marc, stating he can't save those who don't wish to be.
However, Arthur is still not above killing innocents who haven't committed crimes yet including children. He is also shown to briefly shed his kindly and affable nature, guilt-tripping Marc for his role in Randall's death, stating if Ammit had killed him, Randall would still be alive as well as attempting to shake Layla's faith in Marc by implying he was the one who killed her father.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Arthur Harrow is named after a Moon Knight villain who appeared in only a single comic issue. However, his characterization and appearance as a cult leader following a deity trying to bring twisted reckoning upon mankind's sins is similar to another villain, Sun King, only Harrow follows Ammit instead of Ra. His appearance in the Duat is also similar to Dr. Emmet, Moon Knight's psychiatrist who briefly served as an avatar of Ammit and was tied to Sun King's origin.
- Harrow puts broken glass in his shoes is a sign of commitment to his cause and his fundamental belief in the spirit beyond the body. This shows a reason for the Staff of Ammit besides for judgment as he seemingly requires it to walk due to instability.
External Links[]
- Arthur Harrow on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki
- Arthur Harrow on the Marvel Wiki
- Arthur Harrow on the Marvel Movies Wiki
- Arthur Harrow on the Disney Wiki
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