Moon Knight episode 1 begins with a mysterious figure laying a cloth on a table. He lays his hands on the cloth revealing the tattoo of a weight scale on one of his arms. He then pours a glass of water from a nearby pitcher and rubs his finger around the rim.
After finishing the drink, he places the glass on the cloth and wraps it. He then grabs his cane and smashes the cloth, shattering the glass. The glass shards are then emptied into his shoes.
The man puts the shoes on his exposed feet and steps with them, the glass crunching on his feet. The mysterious figure uses his cane to hobble out of what appears to be an old palace. The opening credits then roll.
Moon Knight Episode 1—Oscar Isaac as Steven Grant
With oddly cheerful music, Moon Knight episode 1 continues with Steven (Oscar Isaac) waking up in his bed. He pulls off the sheets to reveal he has been chained to the wall. He doesn’t fret as he was the one who chained himself.
After removing the restraints, he then takes some tape off the door, presumably to prevent him from leaving. Steven then proceeds to feed his fish while chatting on the phone with his mother in his English accent, signifying he lives in London. As he gets dressed for the day, he mentions how tired he’s been feeling lately when he wakes up.
As Steven exits his apartment, he points out a salesman selling rakes right in front of his entrance but doesn’t take issue. We also learn that Steven has been chatting with a voicemail for his mom this whole time. He proceeds down the street to his job at a museum but nearly misses the bus.
After nearly falling asleep on the bus, Steven arrives at the museum. He notices a young student in the lobby looking at one of the pyramid displays. He then leads her over to a sarcophagus to talk about the mummification process.
During the conversation, he notes how those buried with this process had their hearts removed to prevent themselves from being judged in the underworld. Those who are not judged will get to be in the field of reeds. The student then asks if it sucked for him to get kicked out of the field of reeds.
Before Steven can tell the student he’s not dead, his boss Donna interrupts him with some boxes to carry. As he helps her, she scolds Steven for trying to play archeologist in the museum. He’s reminded that his primary job in the museum is to man the gift shop.
While manning the table, he’s approached by a woman who asks if they’re still on for a date on Friday. Steven is confused, having never seen his woman before. She thinks he’s being funny and she dashes off.
Steven struggles to figure out how they met. Donna then approaches and takes note of how Stephen could go out for a steak when he’s a vegan. Steven says he’ll probably order a salad or something.
As Donna and Steven work on inventory, she brings up how Steven has always been late. Steven then brings up how the banners for the museum are not historically accurate for the depiction of Egyptian gods. Donna pays him no heed, more concerned with him being late.
Evening comes and Steven departs the museum, giving his farewell to the security guard. He grabs a bite while chatting with a living statue in a public area. The one-sided conversation about women and his issues with sleeping eventually ends, noting he’ll say the statue later for another chat.
As night falls in Moon Knight episode 1, Steven prepares his bedroom for sleep. He locks the doors, places sand on the floor, and straps himself to his bed. He then puts on an audio recording to help him stay awake all night.
As the tape repeats with instructions, Steven continues to read about Egyptian lore. He also does a Rubik’s cube. The tape continues repeating until Stephen falls asleep.
Steven awakens in a grassy field with his jaw feeling soar. He stands up to find himself just outside a village. He then hears a loud voice in his head that says “Go back to sleep, worm! You’re not supposed to be here!”
The voice asks Steven to surrender the body to Marc. Steven, unsure of what’s going on, questions what happening. As Steven finds a golden scarab in his pocket he hears the voice mutter “The idiot is in control!”
Steven turns around to find a large castle tower. He waves at the person atop the window. Another man then appears at the window and starts shooting at Steven.
Moon Knight episode 1 continues with Steven fearing for his life. He flees from the gunfire. As he is chased, the gunmen forced him down to the village streets. They radio other units that he is headed for the village.
Steven tries to hide in the crowded village streets, fearing more people may want him dead for some reason. He follows a crowd and puts his hood up to blend in. All of the villagers are headed for the same spot in the village.
The figure from the beginning, Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), enters the town square and the populace admires him as a god. Steven watches as Arthur, dressed in red and with long hair, speaks about making Earth as much like heaven as possible. He then asks for volunteers.
One steps up and Arthur says that he is brave. He takes the man’s hands and speaks of justice while swinging his cane in the man’s palm. Steven watches as the scales tip on Arthur’s tattoo.
Arthur states with emotion that he is standing before a good man. As Arthur hugs the man, Stephen takes note of the two gunmen who were chasing him. Even more gunmen arrive on the scene as well.
Arthur asks for more volunteers and an old woman approaches. Arthur performs the same ceremony and the tattoo turns red. Arthur says he’s sorry and the woman says she’s been good her whole life.
Bitterly, Arthur says he believes her. However, he remarks that the scales do not lie. He speaks with some sadness about her not living to see the world that will be created. She then falls dead.
The gunmen approach Arthur and speak of an ambush. Arthur is told the ambusher is still present. He then shouts to his followers to bow down and all of them do except for Steven.
Though Steven attempts to bow, he is too late. Arthur spots him and says he knows this man as a mercenary. An embarrassed Steven admits he’s a gift shop worker and just wants to get back to London.
Arthur then asks if Steven will return the scarab he has in his pocket. Steven, eager to get away from the danger, says he’ll give it to him. However, a force within his body prevents him from handing over the artifact.
Steven attempts to flee but the gunmen hold him down. Just as the gunmen force the scarab from his hands, Steven blacks out. He awakens on his feet with the gunmen who were previously restraining him now dead.
Steven doesn’t connect what just happened and then finds blood on his hands. He attempts to flee again, pleading for everyone to leave him alone. The deep voice in his head shouts “Don’t you dare drop the scarab!”
Steven swipes a cupcake truck in town and attempts to drive away on the cliffside roads. A chase ensues as the gunmen catch up with him. Steven continues having blackouts during the chase, awakening each time to kill more of the pursuing gunmen.
The voice tells Steven “If you lose the scarab, I’ll kill you both!” Steven is still unsure what’s going on, narrowly avoiding trucks on the road. At one point, he is driving backward and gunmen are killed by falling lumber from the truck that ran off the road earlier.
Steven then awakens in his bed in a cold sweat. He gives a bit of a laugh at being back in his own bed. He goes about his morning routine until he notices something about his fish.
There’s another tail on his fish that wasn’t there before. He takes it to the pet store to figure out why a new fin grew. It is then that Steven notes the time and that he’s late for the date he agreed to for Friday.
After getting dressed as best as he can for the occasion, Steven goes to the restaurant to wait for his date. She hasn’t shown up yet. It’s only once he calls her that he learns the truth: It’s actually Sunday.
Unsure if she was truthful, he asks the waiter and he also says it’s Sunday. Bitter and confused, he orders a steak. Nothing makes sense to him anymore.
Walking home, Steven speaks to his mother again about his date. He enters his apartment and decides to eat the box of chocolates he bought for the date. When some of the chocolates fall on the floor, he takes note of how the wood on the floor seems scuffed.
He then positions the table at a certain angle that he can reach the wood panels in the ceiling. He opens the panels to discover a phone and keys. Intrigued, he looks through the phones and finds messages from someone called Layla.
Curious, Steven calls Layla. She answers “Oh my god, you’re alive!” She then tells him that she’s been trying to reach him for months, irritated that he didn’t make contact.
Steven, confused, says he just found this phone in his apartment. She then asks what is up with the accent. Unsure of what’s going on, Steven asks who Layla thinks he is.
She angrily replies “What’s wrong with you, Marc?” Steven then asks why she called him Marc. She hangs up.
Steven attempts to call back but is interrupted by another voice calling his name. The voice sounds like his own but without an English accent. The voice warns Stephen that he shouldn’t pry into this.
Steven searches his apartment for the voice and goes to the bathroom. In the mirror, Steven’s reflection speaks back to him with an American accent. He grits his teeth and tells Steven “Stop looking!”
The apartment begins to shake. Steven flees to the apartment elevator as the lights in the hallway flicker. He turns around to check his reflection in the glass of the elevator.
The elevator door stops on a dark floor and opens to reveal a spooky figure heading towards him. The figure has a bone mask and wields a giant weapon that has a moon crescent blade. Steven nearly panics until the vision transforms into an old woman seeking to get on the elevator.
Steven tries to play off his fear of having lost a contact lens. The fearful woman gets out of the elevator on the fifth floor. Steven then turns around to see the bone-masked figure once more.
As Steven screams out, he finds himself now on the bus during the day. He looks out the window and briefly sees the figure again. Steven gets off the bus and looks back at the window, finding Arthur has been tailing him.
Steven rushes into the museum and tells the security guard he’s being followed. Though Steven begs to let nobody in, the security guard can’t commit. Donna interrupts with work again but Steven is distracted by Arthur’s appearance.
Shrugging off Donna, Steven follows Arthur to a secluded part fo the museum where they have a chat. Steven tries to tell another security guard but the guard merely shows his wrist and states “Praise Ammit.” Steven then tries to say he doesn’t have Arthur’s scarab.
Arthur then states that the scarab does not belong to him but to Ammit. He asks Steven if he knows about such a god and Steven divulges everything he knows about the figure. Arthur takes issue with how Steven refers to her as the boogeyman.
Trying to educate Steven on his philosophy, Arthur speaks of how she would punish those for crimes before they would be committed. Though Steven tries to leave, he is cornered by Ammit’s followers. Arthur continues to stress his point that so many atrocities of the world could be prevented if Ammit would finally come to power.
Steven asks if Arthur will kill him. The lights then flicker. Arthur speaks of how there is a voice in Steven’s head that is never satisfied.
Arthur takes Steven’s arms and attempts the act of judgment. Steven brings up how this act killed a woman and he reiterates that she was not worthy. Arthur performs the ritual and the scales on his tattoo go back and forth wildly.
Unsure what that means, Steven looks up at Arthur. Arthur states “There is chaos in you.” A tour group enters and Arthur decides to let Steven go.
As Steven does inventory for the night on his own and prepares to leave, he hears a strange noise in the darkness. He asks who is there and assumes it’s a dog loose in the building. It is not a dog but a bloodthirsty monster trying to kill him.
Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector
Arthur comes over the PA system, demanding that he return the scarab or be torn apart. Steven tries to hide but fails and flees from the beast. He seeks protection in a bathroom and that’s when Marc contacts him.
In the mirrors of the bathroom, Marc says he can help Steven if he is granted control of his body. Steven doesn’t believe this is real and tries to snap out of it. Marc says that Steven doesn’t have to die and that he can save him if he takes hold of Steven’s body.
Oscar Isaac as Moon Knight
Moon Knight episode 1 ends with Steven finally letting himself lose control of his body, he transforms into the white-hooded Moon Knight. Marc then beats the monster to death. He then walks off, his eyes glowing.
Moon Knight episode 1 is now streaming on Disney+.
