Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 2 Recap With Spoilers

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters' second episode has made landfall and brought some new monsters along with it.

By Evan Valentine

In a one-two punch, Apple TV+ has released the first two episodes of Monarch: King of the Monsters on their streaming service. The premiere once again had viewers enter the MonsterVerse, jumping to different time periods in the opening episode. as Monarch's initial outing brought back Godzilla and introduced plenty of new kaiju that are now roaming the Earth, the second episode is looking to build on this fact and further explore the mysteries surrounding the enigmatic organization.

What Happens in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 2

Warning. If you have yet to see the second episode of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, our recap will be exploring serious spoiler territory. Our episode begins by taking viewers into the past once again, specifically in Manila, 1952, as we see a beaten and bruised Lee Shaw reporting for duty. Shaw had gotten into a fight with his fellow military members as he "couldn't abide bullies" who were harassing the locals. Lee Shaw is tasked with escorting a Japanese scientist named Dr. Mira, who turns out to be none other than Keiko. As you might recall from episode one, Keiko is doomed as she was shown dragged down by a gaggle of newly born MUTOs. The pair drive into the Manila jungles, as Keiko explains that they will be checking out some radioactive isotopes that were discovered. 

We careen back to the year 2015, as Kentaro struggles with the recent revelations regarding his father and heads off to work. Before heading to the office, he swings back to his father's office only to throw documents around in frustration. Discovering a file on Shaw from the 1950s, along with a film reel from the Philippines, said file hints at a retirement home that might house the soldier played by both Wyatt and Kurt Russell.

Back in the past, Lee and Keiko reach their destination as the former believes the two are on a wild goose chase. Lo and behold, Anders Holm's Billy stumbles across the pair, receiving a gun pointed at the back of his head for his trouble. Billy reveals that he is a cryptozoologist, aka "a profession that studies animals that don't exist". 

Car Crashes And MUTOs

We flashback to Cate wandering the streets of Japan in 2015, trailed by a mysterious woman. While entering a subway station, Cate is confronted by Tim, an employee of Monarch who wants to learn more about the files that both Cate and Kentaro unearthed. Cate asks to make a phone call, using the opportunity to hurl her phone at Tim, only to be grabbed by the mysterious woman from earlier who is also of Monarch's employ. Tim places a bag over Cate's head to retain the secret location of Monarch, causing her to flashback to her previous encounter with Godzilla and causing their car to crash and flip over. Cate makes her getaway, running from the scene of the crash.

Kentaro once again takes the spotlight, meeting his ex-girlfriend May with the film reel of the Philippines from 1952. May begins the decrypting process, only for viewers to jump back to Cate's unfortunate meeting with the police. Attempting to explain to the authorities what took place, the police officer believes she was simply intoxicated and imagined the proceeding event. Kentaro returns to his home, looking over the old pictures of Lee Shaw while being consoled by his mother.

Back to 1952, as Billy explains that the locals have legends regarding dragons flying in the sky, wondering if the fire coming from the dragon's mouth is actually an ionized energy source (aka atomic breath). Frustrated by Billy's arrival, Lee leaves both the cryptozoologist and Keiko to explore the jungle. Billy proceeds to explain how the creatures that have been talked about by the locals are called MUTOs, aka "Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms". The two are able to discover that their tracks for the mysterious creature match up, leading them further into the jungle. The pair stumble across a massive ship in the middle of the jungle, who Billy reveals to be the "Lawton".

A Mysterious Ship Emerges

In the "present", Cate stopped from returning to her father's office by May, as the two discover that agents of Monarch are searching the locale. Tim and his partner find their way to Kentaro's home, threatening both Kentaro and his mother that there will be trouble if they don't have the files returned. Kentaro's mother slips him an important item and proceeds to stall the Monarch agents as Kentaro makes his escape. Making a clean getaway, Kentaro is contacted by May for a meet-up.

In 1952, Keiko and Billy discuss the Lawton, noting that it was a part of Pearl Harbor and was initially five-thousand miles from their current location. Exploring the bowels of the mysterious ship, Billy expresses his love of stories that helped make him a cryptozoologist. Keiko discovers that Billy had been on the ship in his younger years and is in fact the same character as John Goodman from Kong: Skull Island. Billy reveals that the Lawton went down and he was the only survivor. 

In 2015, May reveals that she is always ready for an emergency, revealing that she has oodles of cash and fake passports, causing Cate to call her "Jason Bourne". Thanks to the item that Kentaro's mother handed him earlier, he states that he knows where to go. The three leave in a hurry rather than taking a plane out of Japan.

Billy and Keiko continue to explore the ship, finding some rather nasty goo-like material that is covering certain parts of the ship. Disturbingly said material has a number of dead people trapped within it, who are mostly frozen in a state of terror. Looking to leave the vessel as soon as possible, the pair comes across even more fluid, but fluid that is far fresher. 

A New Kaiju Arrives

Kentaro, Cate, and May reach their destination, a mysterious retirement home that is housing a much older Lee Shaw, played by Wyatt Russell's father Kurt. Lee recognizes Kentaro as "Hiroshi's boy", stunned to learn that Cate is his daughter. The three leave the premises as the trio explains what they found in Hiroshi's office from Monarch. As they continue their conversation, May discovers cameras in the trees nearby as Lee reveals that he has an anklet tracking him and keeping him prisoner. Lee offers the three a choice as he cuts off his ankle and hurls it into a pond, whether they can believe Monarch or search for the truth.

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The characters of 1952 run into a kaiju-sized problem on the Lawton as they find themselves pinned thanks to a giant kaiju's claws breaking through the ship and pinning Billy Randa. Luckily, Lee arrives at the nick of time as the ship's walls buckle thanks to the kaiju's assault. Freeing Billy from the material pinning him down, the three make a beeline out of the ship as it topples to its side and a giant flying kaiju emerges from the wreckage. Looking like a pterodactyl mixed with a goblin, the "dragon" kaiju lets out a blowing roar as the episode ends. 

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is currently streaming on Apple TV+. 

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