Moon Knight theory reveals Arthur Harrow’s terrifying true identity
Could there be a rogue god in the mix?
Arthur Harrow is a Marvel villain unlike any other. In Moon Knight, he’s part cult leader, part mouthpiece for an Egyptian god, and all kinds of creepy. But can he be trusted? He says he’s working for Ammit to create a better world, but is that the truth? This fan theory suggests that Arthur is actually working for someone far scarier.
Redditor TheMediocreCritic suggests Harrow isn’t working for Ammit, but Anubis. In Egyptian mythology, Ammit is the god who devours the souls deemed unworthy, but it’s Anubis who actually weighed the souls against a feather. Harrow (and his mystical tattoo) is seen judging people who fail, but he doesn’t devour them. He just apologizes before he makes them drop dead.
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There’s also a huge difference between Harrow and Marc Spector/Steven Grant. As far as we can tell, Harrow can’t hear the voice of Ammit the way Marc and Steven hear Khonshu. Maybe that’s because Ammit is dead, but it could be because he’s serving someone else entirely.
Could Arthur Harrow’s scale tattoo be a reference to Anubis?
Futhermore, Steven’s first supernatural encounter occurred when he was chased by a jackal. Why would Ammit send jackals when she’s an amalgam of a crocodile, a lion, and a hippopotamus? It would make more sense for the jackal to be sent by Anubis, as he takes the form of a man with a jackal’s head.
But why would Arthur Harrow hide this information? The theory suggests Harrow can still hear Khonshu from his time as his avatar, and is using Steven and Khonshu to open the tomb and free Ammit, who together with Anubis will overthrow the gods.
A fresco of Anubis in the Valley of Kings in Egypt.
This theory would not only reconcile the composite character of Arthur Harrow and his powers that don’t quite fit Ammit, but it would bring more credibility to the mythology of the MCU. This is a franchise that did all sorts of research to at least partially show Norse mythology correctly, so this could be our first indication that the same care was secretly taken with Egyptian mythology.
The Inverse Analysis — Even if this isn’t the official canon explanation, it may be a comfort to fans of both Egyptology and MCU-ology. And how cool would it be to see a dude with a jackal’s head in Moon Knight?
Moon Knight is now streaming on Disney+.
