Who Is Arthur Harrow From Moon Knight, & Why Does He Want That Scarab?

Spoilers ahead for Moon Knight Episode 1. Ever since Ethan Hawke joined the cast of Moon Knight, Disney+’s newest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans have wondered about his mysterious new role. After Episode 1, there are even more questions. What’s with the walking on crushed glass, sir? And why do you need that gold scarab beetle so bad, anyway?

In the Marvel Comics, Arthur Harrow appears a total of, uh, one time, so there’s not too much backstory to pull from. In 1985’s Moon Knight No. 2, Harrow doesn’t look much like Hawke’s long-haired, cult-y character. Rather, he’s a scientist with partial face paralysis due to trigeminal neuralgia who conducts Nazi-era experiments (which he considers “brilliant work”) on unwilling subjects in an old Mayan temple.

Like the Marvel Comics’ Harrow, the MCU Moon Knight iteration also has ties to ancient religion and mythology (his particular obsession seems to be Egypt) and has no qualms about sacrificing people for his own ends. While you watch and wait to learn more, here’s everything we know about Arthur Harrow in Moon Knight so far.

Arthur Harrow’s Powers

In the Marvel Comics, Arthur Harrow’s power is pretty much just his scientific mind, which he puts to cruel use. But on Moon Knight, he seems to derive power from the mysterious scale tattoo on his arm — a sort of moral test than turns green if you’re good or red if you’re bad, in which case Harrow acts as executioner, too.

This particular ability ties back to what Harrow tells Steven at the end of Episode 1, where he reveals he’s a follower of the Egyptian deity Ammit — a “bogeyman for evildoers,” as he puts it. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “souls whose hearts did not balance in the scale of truth were devoured” by the creature in mythology. As Hawke put it to ComicBook.com, Harrow “views himself as a real apostle of the goddess Ammit and that he's here to heal the world and rid it of sinners.” He added that “it's gonna be a violent time, but the peace and the beauty that will come when all these sinners are gone– it's gonna be worth it.”

The Gold Scarab Beetle, Explained

To that end, Harrow clearly wants to continue the mission of Ammit. So what does the gold scarab beetle have to do with it? As he tells Steven during their meeting in London, it belongs to Ammit herself — and, like the goddess’ scales, it has some serious ties to death. According to the BBC, scarab amulets would even be buried with people to protect their hearts in the afterlife.

Now, this is the MCU — so it’s very possible that there’s another layer to the scarab in Moon Knight. In fact, as Screen Rant points out, a recent Moon Knight comics storyline introduced a gold scarab with time-altering powers that belonged to none other than Kang the Conqueror.

Given the villain’s looming presence in the MCU, it definitely could be a significant tie-in. Of course, it could just as easily be another Ralph Bohner or Mephisto situation, too. We’ll have to file this one under maybe meaningful Easter eggs for now.