Folks, this is it. We’ve reached the end of the line. We’re finally to the finale of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. We’ve discovered new revelations, new titans, and learned history previously unknown in the MonsterVerse. To say it’s been one hell of a ride has been an understatement. I’m proud to have been your guide during all of it. While Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 has not been confirmed, I have a feeling there’s a lot more to uncover in the future. After all, there’s about half of a century still left to explore fully.
But where are we now at this moment? Cate, Shaw, and May found themselves trapped in the Hollow Earth, which takes the form of a twisted forest with dangerous creatures where time and space stand still. Still with me? Good. While Cate is separated from the group, she stumbles upon a startling discovery: her grandmother Keiko is still alive and doesn’t look a day older than when she disappeared from that Kazakhstan expedition all those years ago.
Meanwhile, back in our realm, Kentaro tries to discover what exactly happened to the people he loves and encounters his father, Hiroshi, who breaks down when he learns Cate is presumed dead. Hiroshi’s motives throughout the entire series are still unknown, and Monarch is detecting a disaster the size of 2014’s G-Day, so now it’s a race to prevent humanity’s extinction (or escape the Hollow Earth if you’re one of our heroes). Things are a little different in this episode. There are no multiple storylines this time, just one singular timeline.
The Final Act:
Cate realizes that her own grandmother, Keiko Randa, has saved her. Keiko begins questioning who she is and if she’s with Billy and Lee Shaw. To Keiko, not much time has passed since that fateful day in Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, back in Tokyo, Kentaro starts interrogating his father, Hiroshi, about his motives for his actions the entire season. He reveals he’s been trying to draw a Titan out of the Hollow Earth to open a rift, proving his parents’ theories right. He has hope that doing so will prevent another G-Day from ever happening through means of coexistence. Kentaro agrees to help him but asks him why he felt the need to have a secret family in Japan away from his family in San Francisco. Hiroshi brushes him off by reminding him the world is at stake.
Keiko assumes Cate is part of a search party sent inside the Hollow Earth to find her. Lee and Keiko reunite, and what has only felt like fifty-seven days to her has been half a century back on Earth. She and Lee have a tearful reunion, and he reveals that Bill Randa has passed. Cate then reveals to Keiko that Hiroshi is still alive and that she’s her granddaughter, the future of the Randa bloodline.
Deputy Verdugo and Tim are back at Monarch headquarters, preparing for another possible Titan emergence. Tim is convinced the group survived their trek into the Hollow Earth and that their knowledge could help their research. Verdugo shoots him down, saying that Monarch’s only priority is to prevent the Titan’s emergence, and refuses to send a search party.
Keiko reveals to the group that she repurposed a Gamma transmitter as a beacon to her location in hopes that Monarch would be able to find her. Pleased to learn that Monarch made it to 1962, Cate reveals that Monarch exists to this very day and that Hiroshi joined the family business of Titan studies. Realizing she’s not seen him since he was a little boy, she asks Cate what he’s like. Shaw realizes they can use the Gamma transmitter to attract Titans and force one of them to open a rift for all of them to return home.
Hiroshi packs his things from Kentaro’s house and informs him and his mother that he’ll return to San Francisco and divorce her. Kentaro’s mother tells Hiroshi that no matter what happened between them, Kentaro deserves a relationship with his father. Down on the events that transpired, Kentaro heads to a bar to reminisce when he’s joined by Tim, who tells him that Monarch has detected a consistent Gamma signal from inside the Hollow Earth. Something… or someone is trying to send them a message.
Lee tells Keiko that Billy died on an expedition to prove their theory about the Titans. Viewers who have been paying attention will know this last expedition is the one depicted in Kong: Skull Island. Keiko is in disbelief at how much time has passed, almost refusing to believe that the year is 2015.
Tim and Kentaro head to Hiroshi’s Tokyo office, where they catch him watching Bill Randa’s final message. We now have the full context of him apologizing to Hiroshi for the loss of his mother and eventually him; as he asks for forgiveness, he hopes that the work they’ve accomplished will make the hardship worth it. Tim brings up that there’s a coherent signal coming from inside the Hollow Earth, which could be a sign that the group is inside and still alive. Hiroshi refuses to believe it and refuses to help until Kentaro steps in and pleads with his father to help and go behind Monarch’s back. Tim shows his commitment to helping and reveals he resigned from Monarch.
The group inside the Hollow Earth transports the Gamma transmitter to the site where Lee abandoned his ship from his doomed 1962 expedition. Surprised to see everything inside still works, Keiko reminds him that it’s only been there for a few weeks. While making the final preparations for their return home, Keiko reveals she’s staying behind. With Bill’s death and Hiroshi an adult, she feels there’s nothing in the world for her. Cate objects, saying that the Titans have taken everything from her and her family, and she refuses to let her stay behind.
Lee’s plan works, and the device attracts the massive flying Titan he encountered in 1962. After losing power for their ship, Lee jumps out and attempts to reconnect the power before the rift closes. When all hope seems lost, the group hears a familiar roar, and the one and only Godzilla emerges and beats down the flying Titan using his trademark atomic breath in the process. As the rift begins to suck everything up in sight, Lee attempts to get back into the ship but sacrifices himself so that the rest of the group can make it home.
Cate, May, and Keiko emerge on the other side back in the realm of man. Unsure where they are, they’re soon greeted by Kentaro, who reveals Hiroshi did the calculations to estimate when and where they would emerge. Hiroshi is surprised to learn that Cate and May have also brought back his mother, and the two embrace after so many years (and an entire childhood) apart. Cate introduces Kentaro to their grandmother, and the group soon learns that they’re in the year 2017, and not only are Kentaro, Tim, and Hiroshi working with APEX cybernetics, but they’re actually on the research station that they found on the one and only Skull Island.
That’s where Monarch: Legacy of Monsters decides to end its first season. Not only did we learn a lot about the namesake organization, but we also learned the MonsterVerse films are more connected than previously thought. There are numerous stories a potential Season 2 could explore as well. Did Lee actually die or is he still somehow in the Hollow Earth? With the year being 2017, the worldwide apocalyptic events of Godzilla: King of the Monsters have yet to happen. Just why exactly are Kentaro, Hiroshi, and Tim working with APEX cybernetics when Godzilla vs. Kong led us to believe they might not be the good guys? The first season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters answered a lot of questions, but so many more are arising; I can only hope a Season 2 is already on the way so we can declassify some more Monarch files.
Recommended Kaiju Film of the Week: Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
The kitchen sink of Kaiju films! The one to end them all (for the Millennium series, at least). Godzilla: Final Wars tells the story of an all-out war between every Kaiju caused by an invading alien force. When all hope seems lost, the Earth Defense Force recruits Godzilla in hopes that he can save humanity from the final days. Godzilla: Final Wars is what you get if you take Destroy All Monsters and cranked up the insanity meter to eleven. Toho went all out with this “final” entry and used monsters that the audience hadn’t seen for years; chances are your favorite is in this movie. If nothing else, at least you get to see Godzilla destroy the awful 1998 American “Godzilla” by throwing him into the Sydney Opera House. That’s a 10/10 in my book.
