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'Moon Knight' finale explained: The cliffhanger, Jake Lockley (?!) & that post-credit scene
Khonshu gets what he wants, one way or another.
Rise and live again! The finale of Moon Knight is here, and Marc Spector (Oscar Isaac) has achieved balance. Everything is beautiful and nothing hurt, except that’s not true at all. The latest Disney+ streaming series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe culminates with at least two important reveals, and there are enough dangling threads to suggest that this is a “season” finale and not the end of the series itself.
How did it all play out? Episode 5 left Marc in the serenity of the Field of Reeds, while the comfort character for both Marc and the audience, Steven Grant (also Isaac), got frozen in the sands of the Duat. Was that truly the end of Steven with a V? Did Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke) succeed in freeing Ammit? Did Mephisto finally (finally) appear? The answer to the last question is, once again, no. As to the rest…
***WARNING: Spoilers lie ahead for Episode 6 of Moon Knight. If you have not watched yet, then laters gators.***
Harrow fulfills his mission and frees Ammit (voiced by Sara Mubarak), receiving a cane-to-staff upgrade in the process. Must be nice. After wasting the other Avatars, he commits to becoming Avatar to Ammit. We can just hear Prince Zuko going on and on about hunting him down. Ammit promises Harrow that through her, he will find peace. Their mission is still to rip evil out from the root before any wrongs can be done. Mass judgement commences.
While this goes on, Layla El-Faouly (May Calamawy) is made wise to Marc’s plan to free Khonshu (F Murray Abraham). Taweret herself tells her, and Layla does as requested. Her bond with Taweret deepens as Marc’s spirit makes an important choice. Though he has finally achieved peace, he can’t leave Steven behind. He goes back to the frozen sand body and tells him, “You saved me. I survived because I knew I wasn’t alone.”
“You were the only real superpower I ever had,” he adds, before Steven comes back to life. They hug as a set of gates open before them. The newly freed Khonshu, fighting the newly freed Ammit, senses Marc’s return. We see Marc’s dead body rise and heal as the suit is summoned and bullets drop out of him.
Marc/Steven are a “package deal” now, and they tell Khonshu this before they fly over to where the action is. As this happens, Layla is busy cementing her own superhero status.
She becomes Avatar to Taweret, who says that Layla’s father will be “over the moon” when he hears and that she has a “fabulous costume in mind.” When Layla emerges once again, she’s in the guise of the MCU’s version of Scarlet Scarab, another hero direct from Marvel Comics. On the page, Abdul Faoul took on that mantle, followed by his son, Mehemet Faoul.
Fans guessed that this would come to pass from the start, as the name “Faoul” is close to “El-Faouly.” The show also dropped that the name of Layla’s father was Abdullah El-Faouly. The MCU took a different path to get here, but Scarlet Scarab has arrived. The posters don't lie, she's terrific!
After Moon Knight makes a grand moonlit entrance (fighting Harrow on the side of the Great Pyramid), the fight moves inside as a giant Khonshu fights a giant Ammit. Layla emerges in costume, and easily deflects an attack from Harrow. Everything transitions to the streets of Cairo, where souls are being sucked up left and right. Marc, Steven, Layla, and Khonshu have chosen to fight.
Layla uses her new Scarlet Scarab power to take out countless goons as Moon Knight and Mr. Knight switch places in perfect harmony. Harrow gets Marc on the ground with his staff to his chest, but then Marc blacks out. He suddenly has Harrow at his mercy, and Layla has no clue as to what just happened. It wasn’t Marc, and it wasn’t Steven. It wasn't Kang. It wasn't Darcy. Who was responsible?
Let’s not dwell on it! They imprison Ammit within Harrow, because they think that this is better than placing her within a statue. Khonshu wants Moon Knight to go for the kill and be free, but Layla says that he’s free already. Moon Knight declines the kill and orders that they be released.
Khonshu obliges, and after Marc/Steven give a “laters gators” to “Dr. Harrow” in the asylum, they wake up strapped to Steven’s bed yet again. “Man Without Love” is playing, and there are two goldfish now. End of show!
This is the MCU, so no, that’s not the end. There’s still the matter of Marc/Steven’s blackout, which is addressed in a mid-credits scene. Harrow is taken out of a psychiatric hospital and put in a limo, where Khonshu waits for him. He never needed Layla to be his Avatar, because Marc has no idea how troubled he truly is.
The dividing glass lowers, and the driver turns around. It is Jake Lockley (Isaac), who is Marc’s cab driver personality from Marvel Comics. It’s Harrow/Ammit’s day to lose, because Jake draws a gun and plugs him twice as the limo pulls away.
With both Scarlet Scarab and Jake Lockley in the mix, we truly hope that this is not the end of Moon Knight.
Field of Reeds
-Layla saves a van full of people from Harrow during the street battle. A young girl asks her if she is an Egyptian superhero. With a smile, Layla tells her that she is.
-Mr. Knight proved just how formidable his new moves are in the this fight. There’s an extended beatdown that tracks him down the street and it may be the best action moment of the series.
-There is no real connection to the larger MCU in the episode. Aside from a couple of fleeting references, this season did not connect at all. Marc never says anything like, “Layla and I had to catch up after the five years we spent being snapped out of existence.”
-It doesn’t need to connect to be a fantastic series, but now that this section of the MCU is set, we can’t help but be curious as to how some of these characters would interact with other MCU denizens. Steven Grant would be in heaven talking to one of the Eternals. Moon Knight and Daredevil beating up criminals side by side would be a welcome sight.
-Favorite line/delivery of the episode goes to Steven Grant telling off “Dr. Harrow” in the final asylum scene: “Yeah, I don’t think you know as much as you think you do.”
-The score from Hesham Nazih is wonderful in this episode, and it has been every week.
-So ends, for now, what is likely the weirdest streaming MCU series yet. It wasn’t the comics, and it was never going to be. Critics and fans will likely give these six episodes all kinds of s**t. Who cares? We had a great time and we hope that you did too. At the very least, we hope that everyone can agree that Oscar Isaac’s performances were utterly brilliant. Laters, gators.
All six episodes Moon Knight are streaming on Disney+ right now. Ethan Hawke is always streaming in your heart.
Other upcoming horror thrills include Firestarter in theaters and streaming on Peacock on May 13, The Black Phone in theaters on June 24 and Jordan Peele's NOPE in theaters July 22.
