"Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" Season One Talkback Thread

[Yojimbo]

When monsters emerge, secrets follow

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
Premiere Date: November 17, 2023
Starring: Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell, Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Joe Tippett and Elisa Lasowski
Directors: Matt Shakman,
Executive Produced By: Chris Black, Matt Fraction, Matt Shakman, Safehouse Pictures' Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell, and Hiro Matsuoka and Takemasa Arita of Toho Co. Ltd.

Plot Summary: Following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco and the shocking revelation that monsters are real, “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” tracks two siblings following in their father’s footsteps to uncover their family’s connection to the secretive organization known as Monarch. Clues lead them into the world of monsters and ultimately down the rabbit hole to Army officer Lee Shaw (played by Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell), taking place in the 1950s and half a century later where Monarch is threatened by what Shaw knows. The dramatic saga — spanning three generations — reveals buried secrets and the ways that epic, earth-shattering events can reverberate through our lives.

Episode 1 "Aftermath" - November 17, 2023

Cate travels to Japan to get answers about her father and uncovers a shocking secret. Keiko, Lee, and Billy pursue a theory about Titans.

Episode 2 "Departure" - November 17, 2023

Monarch closes in on Cate, Kentaro, and May as they try to track down a key individual. Keiko Lee, and Billy stumble on a major find.

Related Threads:
-Godzilla (2014) News & Discussion
-Godzilla (2014) Talkback
-Kong: Skull Island News & Discussion
-Kong: Skull Island Talkback
-Godzilla: King of the Monsters News & Discussion
-Godzilla: King of the Monsters Talkback
-Godzilla vs. Kong News & Discussion
-Godzilla vs. Kong Talkback
-Skull Island (Netflix Animation) Season One Talkback
-Monarch: Legacy of Monsters News & Discussion
-Godzilla x Kong: New Empire News & Discussion

External Links:
-Apple+ Site
-Apple Site
-Monarch-Unlocked
-@MonarchSciences

Comments?

 

[Yojimbo]

Intriguing first 2 episodes, definitely hooked into the mystery. The jumping back and forth between different points in the 50s, first in 1959 in ep. 1 then in 1952 in ep. 2 and to 2015 was a bit jarring though. But like the cast, we the audience have to put things into order to solve the mystery, too, I guess. I am glad they are exploring this post-first movie era again with Monarch going back to being a cloak and dagger operation and addressing PTSD from San Francisco as well as how the world reacted e.g. the taxi driver thinks it was a CGI stunt and the Japanese government setting up gunner stations and evacuation procedures.I did chuckle at Shaw looking at May expecting her to say she's a Randa, too.

 

[Yojimbo]

Episode 3 "Secrets & Lies" - November 22, 2023

Shaw leads the team on a dangerous mission to Alaska to search for Hiroshi. Keiko, Lee, and Billy present their findings to General Puckett.

 

[Yojimbo]

They were there when the Army bombed Godzilla! Great expansion on the footage briefly seen in the 1st movie. And it led to Monarch getting a big boost of assets and funding. Makes sense.

Do you know what Google is? Digging Kurt in this.

Ok, that certainly explains why Hiroshi went missing. He was stranded. Like they are now. Frost Vark reminded me of the pangolin. Freeze breath! Ho ho ho. Must have thermolocation, too.

 

[Yojimbo]

Episode 4 "Parallels & Interiors" - December 1, 2023

The team is left stranded in the frozen tundra after a narrow escape. Kentaro reflects on his relationships.

 

[Yojimbo]

Eventually we were going to have flashbacks for the kids. But have nothing to do with Titans like the 50s flashbacks. On the fence, on one hand it was needed to flesh out Kentaro and May. On the other hand, didn't really endear me to them. Though it made perfect sense Kentaro had a similar issue with Hiroshi that Cate did.

Hm, so is that emergence + the pulsar-like data, they saying that's Godzilla making the rounds? Or is something worse going to come out of that hole and the Frost Vark was just the tip of the iceberg? Could it be a Hollow Earth vortex?

I was right there with Shaw when he realized the laptop was frozen.

Ugh... of course Tim would be waiting for them to land.

 

[Yojimbo]

Episode 5 "The Way Out" - December 8, 2023

Cate's painful memories of G-Day come flooding back as she treks through the ruins of San Francisco with Kentaro and May.

 

[Yojimbo]

Glad they took an episode to address Cate's PTSD, her mom, and San Francisco. It didn't just get fixed with a magic wand between movies, it going to be a no man's land for awhile. But eesh, guess cheating runs in the family.

Word games between Shaw and the Deputy Director. Hm, wonder what Shaw was alluding to saying Monarch was wrong for a long time. Literally, yeah, for becoming a black ops bag man group. Also loved Shaw dunking on Monarch's dumb idea of 'let them fight' ROFL. Figuratively, guess we'll find out in the flashbacks to come. I mean, by 1973 Monarch was almost bankrupt. And between 1959 and 1973 is a big ??? in the franchise so knock wood this series fills in the gaps -- feels like it's about to. I think the only other known event was a containment facility was erected in Siberia in '59.

I was relieved someone finally quested why Shaw looks way younger than 90. Guessing working around irradiated monsters stunted his aging?

Hmm, it would seem Hiroshi is trying to prove his father's Hollow Earth theory with quantifiable data and thus tracking what appears to be all the Hollow Earth vortices around the planet. May does mention Africa as one of the other spots Hiroshi pinpointed on the map and going off of King of the Monsters, there are outposts in Cairo and Sudan by 2019.

 

[Yojimbo]

Episode 6 "Terrifying Miracles" - December 15, 2023

Shaw finds an unlikely ally within Monarch as the team has a harrowing run-in. Keiko and Lee grow closer while at a military ball.

 

[Yojimbo]

Hmm, a G-Day x 1000, definitely seems to be alluding to Ghidorah and the mass awakening from KoM. I can see Hiroshi using the 50s Titans Phone design to rebuild his version in 2015 and using the satellite data of vortices his father charted in his Hollow Earth theory to find and summon Godzilla to fight to the coming tide of Titans when the time comes BUT then Emma Russell and the perfected ORCA comes along in 2019.

Was Duvall alluding to her sister being Sandra Brody?

Oof. So it was a love triangle. And Lee makes a crucial bad choice following his hear that puts Monarch under the thumb of the Navy and seems to be sowing the seeds of them being on the verge of bankruptcy in 1973.

Ah, Duvall's sister was in Janjiro during the MUTO's awakening. I suppose it's interesting there is a growing group of dissenters within Monarch but idk, the series runs the risk of having too many plots going on with very little to do with the Titans.

RIP Tim. Columbo wouldn't have been in the helicopter.

I'm kinda done with the three millennials... but next week will probably focus on May's past. Sigh.

Well, down to Central Asia and Vietnam and 4 episodes to go.

 

[Yojimbo]

Episode 7 "Will the Real May Please Stand Up?" - December 22, 2023

May finally faces her past. Duvall and Show follow traces of Godzilla and Hiroshi.

 

[Yojimbo]

Once they said May/Corah's code got used for a neuro-interface unit it was obvious the company was Apex from the Godzilla vs. Kong movie.

Tim actually survived! The follow my lead/sidewalk trip was hilarious. Intriguing he played a part in Monarch revealing themselves to the public.

Ah, so the Shaw sect wants to seal all the Hollow Earth vortices around the world. At this point, sure. We know that won't do a whole lot of good.

Eh... so Cate and May are hooking up... yeesh. Gimme a break. Hope next week is back to the 50s.

 

[Frontier]

These shows always seem to struggle making the "young generation" actually feel likeable and compelling.

 

[Yojimbo]

Episode 8 "Birthright" - December 29, 2023

The team goes back to where things all began to confront Shaw. On the brink of collapse, Monarch takes drastic measures.

 

[Frontier]

I feel for Kentaro .

 

[Yojimbo]

That was unexpected. Neither Shaw or Bill are Hiroshi's biological father. Just some unnamed guy that presumably died during WW2.

Ugh, McCarthyism is taking over.

lmao, Verdugo is like no other ideas, send the kids. Goonies mention was funny and when she looked at Tim, I guess he's their Sloth. heh heh.

When Keiko said "Gojira"

lol, scrambling to save Monarch from being shuttered in the 50s was the origin of Bill's Hollow Earth vortex theory. At least the map appears to be how they got rid of Hatch and restored status quo.

Oof, the roach Titans got way way bigger in 56 years.

Nice touch that Shaw figured out Godzilla's gatekeeper role. I loved the joke about Cate thinking Lee was gonna tell her he was her grandfather. They knew we were going to think that! And Shaw's been to Hollow Earth before?! That explains why he doesn't match his age. Time dilation from Hollow Earth. Guess he's going on a return trip while May and Cate get their first. I wonder if this means they will meet Keiko there. No, she wouldn't survive the radiation. But wait, if Hiroshi was born in the 40s -- he had Cate in the 80s/90s and Kentaro in the 90s?... well, I guess that's still feasible...

Hm, I wonder the vortices used to be safe to just walk into and emerge in Hollow Earth unharmed but the detonations on this show makes the vortices more unstable and thus, the reason for Apex needing a Titan guide and the airships to traverse them in GvK.

 

[Yojimbo]

Episode 9 "Axis Mundi" - January 5, 2024

Shaw and May search for Cate and make a startling discovery. Kentaro struggles with his loss.

 

[Yojimbo]

Shuttered in '62 after a recon mission to Hollow Earth. Huhn. Neat to set that against the backdrop of the space race. But obviously a Titan appeared in the interim if Monarch was operating in 1973 in the Kong movie. I would guess with Bill being the only one of the trio left, he ran Monarch into the ground trying to prove his Hollow Earth theories. Even more tragic, that Bill died not knowing both Shaw and Keiko were alive.

I wonder if that Ion Dragon from the Philippines is the real culprit causing time dilation, just some by product of its abilities. Pretty sure that was the same Titan they lured to the Kansas vortex. Or maybe because Shaw didn't have a real Titan nor the gamma device with him upon exit, that's why he jumped 20 years by accident? I'm guessing in the season finale, they piggyback on Godzilla and they return to the present with no time jump consequences. That is if they escape. Or for that matter, it could end with them arriving in the 2040s. Lightning shooting up from the ground. Terrifying version of that game you play as a kid with certain tiles on the floor being lava and some not.

Higashiizumo. Clever. In Japanese myth, Susanoo killed the eight-headed serpent Orochi. And in King of the Monsters, Yamata no Orochi was one of the dormant Titans that Monarch was keeping tabs on. Further back than that, Toho made a movie in 1959 called The Birth of Japan that featured Orochi.

Wow, so what looked like 2 hours in Hollow Earth was 20 years on the surface. He gets back in 20 years later in 1982 then they let him rot in that nursing home for over 30 years? Cruel.

So Kentaro's mom was a Monarch nurse...

Hiroshi puzzles me. He gives Shaw the cold shoulder with his "madness" speech then in the present still goes awol... and you know, has two families at the same time. Glad Kentaro railed on him and he broke down. But I guess we'll get some more answers about his plan next week when he and Kentaro try to look for Shaw, Cate, and May presumably.

And of course, Keiko was alive this whole time.

 

[Yojimbo]

Episode 10 "Beyond Logic" - January 12, 2024 (Season Finale)

The team struggles to find a way out of Axis Mundi. Kentaro and Tim make an unexpected alliance.

 

[Yojimbo]

Ok, so not Hollow Earth but a world between worlds. Shrug. Was waiting for someone to tell Keiko about Godzilla in 2014 but eh.

No shock the Ion Dragon only had a brief fight with Godzilla. When you spit in Godzilla's face, your days are numbered.

Tim quit. Good on him.

RIP Lee Shaw. At least it came full circle and he died protecting Keiko like his mission from day one back in the 50s.

Oof, 2 year time jump. And Kentaro, Tim, and Hiroshi had to team up with Apex. Ending just in time for a Kong cameo. So 2017, they end up right before the events of King of the Monsters. So is season 2 going to be retitled Apex? lol.

EDIT: Showrunners unpack the season finale.