Moon Knight: Why Arthur Harrow Puts Broken Glass In His Shoes
Warning: This piece contains spoilers for Moon Knight episode 1.
Here's why Ethan Hawke's villain Arthur Harrow puts broken glass in his shoes in Marvel's Moon Knight episode 1. The newest MCU villain is a different prospect to the franchise's previous bad guys, building on some of the issues of moral complexity and dark charisma. Hawke himself likened Harrow to cult leader David Koresh and his zealous followers in Moon Knight episode 1 fit that image. But unlike Koresh, Arthur Harrow introduces a new type of magic to the MCU.
For good reason, Moon Knight has been called the MCU's Batman: he is more brutal, more morally grey, and more fearsome than any of the other Marvel heroes in his stead. Oscar Isaac's antihero is the MCU's fist of vengeance, working for Khonshu, the god of the moon, to enact judgement on deserving villains. Arthur Harrow is his most formidable foe, himself gifted with powers by rival god Ammit, the devourer of the dead in ancient Egyptian mythology. He is also very different from the Arthur Harrow from Marvel's comics, and though Moon Knight is incredibly violent, Harrow's villainy is less direct and less furious. His cunning and his charm are among his deadliest weapons.
Arthur Harrow’s ritual of putting glass in his shoes is a form of self-sacrifice and a blood payment to Ammit on face value. It fits with the traditions in some religions for zealous followers to mutilate themselves as a sign of solidarity with their god (in Christianity) or as a more general sign of spiritual discipline. Arthur Harrow putting broken glass in his shoes is a sign of his commitment to his righteous cause and his fundamental belief in the spirit beyond the body. That fits with his plan to establish a perfect future world out of the wreckage of the old one.
The reason why Arthur Harrow puts broken glass in his shoes in Moon Knight episode 1 is deeper than it may seem. Clearly, there is an element of religious fanaticism and zealously around him, similar to how the albino monk, Silas (Paul Bettany) self-flagellates and mutilates himself in The Da Vinci Code as a sign of his commitment to Opus Dei. But in that character parallel is the hint that there is more to Arthur Harrow than just a sign of commitment. He has something dark in his past.
The broken glass is not a sign of worship to Ammit, but rather a punishment that owes more to Catholicism. Ammit was not a worshipped god in Egyptian mythology at all, she was a symbol of fear and death, so no loyalty to her in conventional terms makes sense. Instead, the broken glass seems to be Arthur’s own penance, a punishment for his own dark past perhaps. No other followers of Ammit are shown to do it, and Harrow’s origin remains mysterious in Moon Knight episode 1. He is atoning for something by punishing himself. But what?
New episodes of Moon Knight release every Wednesday on Disney+.