Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 episode 1 starts off right where the finale of Season 1 left off, with Cate, May, Kentaro, Tim, Keiko, Verdugo, Hiroshi, Brenada, and all the employees of Apex Cybernetics and Monarch trying to flee Skull Island because the act of opening a portal to Axis Mundi has irked Kong. The aforementioned main characters manage to make it to the two choppers that haven’t been squashed by Kong (even though he really loves to do that), and they leave the island, but Kong does squash a bunch of unnamed Apex employees because they don’t have their plot armor on. A few minutes later, Keiko wakes up in an examination room where she is surrounded by masked scientists and doctors. Even though she is still dizzy, as her body is getting accustomed to Earth’s atmosphere after being in Axis Mundi for such a long time, she rushes out to search for Hiroshi. She manages to find an exit door, and when she walks through it, we find out that Keiko is on a high-tech Monarch ship that’s parked a few miles off the coast of Skull Island. Hiroshi catches up with Keiko and tells her that this is her legacy, which is true, because if it weren’t for the work done by her, Lee, and Billy, then none of this would have existed. Well, what’s next for our heroes? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Billy, Lee, and Keiko Go to Chile
Episode 1, takes us to 1957, when Billy, Lee, and Keiko took a trip to Santa Soledad, Southern Chile, for work. We know that some time in 1955, Keiko introduced Billy to Hiroshi, and he agreed to raise him as his own son, and in 1959, Keiko went missing while looking for MUTOs in Kazakhstan. So, yeah, the showrunners are using that in-between period to show us what the trio was up to. What’s in Santa Soledad, though? Sea monsters, supposedly. Now, before getting to this MUTO, Billy, Lee, and Keiko have to pass through the one and only village in that area, and all signs point to the fact that outsiders aren’t welcome there. There’s a very cult-y vibe to the whole place, as the buildings are marked with an odd-looking sigil, and there’s a sacrificial altar smack in the middle of what I guess is the town square. Upon entering the local bar, Billy spots what looks like a giant version of a horseshoe crab (and it’s bluish) and immediately rushes in to take a picture of it as if he owns the establishment. Naturally, he is met with hostility. Thankfully, since Lee can speak Spanish, he is able to pacify Tomas, Augustin, Lucia, and everyone in the pub, and they get to walk out of there in one piece.
There’s A Kraken In Santa Soledad
Once things have cooled down, Lee, Billy, and Keiko return to the bar to socialize and get a better look at the mini MUTO. Billy spots a tattoo of a kraken consuming a brig on Tomas’ arm and assumes that it’s not just a tattoo, but a sign that a sea monster does exist in these parts. As they begin discussing if they should start exploring the island or leave, Lucia approaches Billy, and under the guise of dancing with him, she essentially confirms the theory that there’s a sea deity that the villagers idolize because it brings them food on a regular basis. Which explains why nobody is busy working during the daytime and is diligently drinking like fishes all the time. Lucia says that the village’s symbiotic relationship with this creature is a big secret, and the people over there will do anything to protect it. Since they see Billy and his friends as a threat to their god, they might go so far as to kill them; hence, Lucia urges him to leave with Lee and Keiko as soon as possible. However, Billy and Keiko convince Lucia (while Lee stays mute) that if she gives them even a glimpse of this sea deity, then they will get out of their hair, and Lucia obliges them. She takes them to a cave that is filled with crude drawings of a Kraken and those horseshoe crab-like creatures. Lucia says that the villagers call it “El Gran Dios Del Mar,” which means “The Great God of the Sea.”
Lee Is Still Alive
Verdugo is understandably miffed at the loss of personnel, and she reprimands both Brenda and Tim for not handling the Kong situation more responsibly. Tim says that they followed every protocol while extracting Cate, May, and Keiko from Axis Mundi, and, initially, Kong gave Apex and Monarch a free pass. But then he suddenly went berserk for a reason that’s not clear to anyone yet. Verdugo and Tim then proceed to the room in which they are keeping Cate, May, Keiko, Hiroshi, and Kentaro to have a discussion about, well, everything that has transpired over the past few years. But Keiko has one main query: when are they going to extract Lee from Axis Mundi? Verdugo says that they can’t do anything right now because all the equipment they need to open a portal is on Skull Island, and since Kong is throwing a hissy fit, it’s inaccessible. Even if Kong wasn’t throwing a hissy fit and the equipment was accessible, there’s a good chance that it’s all pretty damaged. That upsets Keiko a lot, because Lee dedicated most of his life to searching for Keiko, and it’s unbearable for her that she can’t do the same for him while he’s being chased around by Brambleboars and all other kinds of weird creatures. It’s truly wild that the plot armor Lee is wearing is genuinely thick. You’d expect him to be a little battered and bruised from roaming around that hellscape full of weird creatures, but yeah, nothing. Dude doesn’t even have a gun, and he’s fine.
Cate Leads A Mission To Rescue Lee
Kentaro informs Cate that she’ll be taken back to Tokyo, where she’ll be tested and debriefed by Monarch regarding her tryst with Axis Mundi. After that, she’ll be sent home. Meanwhile, Kentaro is going to continue working with Hiroshi at Monarch. Cate isn’t okay with going home without Lee, and although Kentaro says that Lee is probably dead, Cate can’t give up on him until she’s sure; well, she’s right, because Lee is alive and well (relatively speaking) in Axis Mundi. She approaches Hiroshi with her plan to extract Lee, and he cites the rules and regulations that state that Skull Island is out of bounds. Cate knows that Hiroshi cares about Keiko, and she tells him that she’s going to rescue Lee for Keiko. Hiroshi is unable to deflect that emotional manipulation, and agrees to assist Cate on this mission. Meanwhile, Brenda pays May a visit to tell her that if she wants to work with her on preventing future G-days, she’s more than welcome to. Once Brenda has left the ship, Cate goes to May with her plan to get Lee out of Axis Mundi, and, of course, May is more than willing to help Cate do whatever she wants to do. So, May takes on the job of keeping Tim away from the monitors displaying the CCTV footage, while Cate, Hiroshi, and Kentaro access one of the speedboats, open the stern door, and make their escape. May eventually catches up to them, and all four of them get to Skull Island.
Keiko knows why Kong is angry
After setting foot on the beach, Kentaro assesses that they have around 6 hours to get in and get out before the storm wall around Skull Island closes in and makes it impossible for them to leave. On their way to the destroyed Apex-Monarch facility, they encounter a pterosaur-like creature that can shoot electricity out of its mouth and avoid getting attacked by it by simply hiding in the bushes. When they get closer to their destination, they find a sleeping Kong, who almost (accidentally) crushes Cate. Once the rescue party is sure that Kong has no awareness that intruders have entered his domain, they resume their journey. In the meantime, Keiko wakes up and, after checking the Monarch tech, which allows them to spot where Kong is, she comes up with the idea of using it to avoid him and get to the Apex-Monarch facility and bring back Lee. Verdugo can’t sign off on that, because she has already lost so many employees, and just to prove her point, she shows Keiko the footage of the damage that Kong has done. While looking at those videos, Keiko spots a creature that looks similar to that mutated horseshoe crab that she had spotted in that pub in Santa Soledad, which brings her to the conclusion that the reason Kong is so agitated is because he thinks that opening the portal is probably going to bring the Kraken into Skull Island. That’s not enough for Verdugo to sanction a mission to go to Kong’s home ground, but as soon as she learns that Cate, May, Hiroshi, and Kentaro are gone, she assembles a team, which includes Keiko, Tim, and herself; and then they board a chopper and head to Skull Island.
Lee Is Back, And So Is The Kraken
Hiroshi and Cate work on the interdimensional pod and the orb that activates the portal, while May and Kentaro try to activate the backup generators, which’ll power the orb. With May and Kentaro gone, Cate confronts Hiroshi about his decision to have two families in two different countries. You know what? I was truly expecting Hiroshi to say that Emiko isn’t actually his wife and Kentaro isn’t his biological son; kind of like Billy, he is just supporting Emiko and Kentaro, financially or otherwise, because he had seen them go through some tough times while working at Monarch together. But no, Hiroshi more or less admits that he actually fell in love with Emiko and then raised Kentaro, while still having feelings for Caroline and Cate, which is just such a load of nonsense. Hiroshi might be a great scientist, but he’s probably one of the worst dads in all of fiction (because I just can’t tolerate cheating). Anyway, while they are busy with their family drama, May and Kentaro are in the Apex-Monarch facility battling this rat-lizard-like beast. They manage to kill the creature, turn on the backup generators, and reunite with Cate and Hiroshi. While they are wondering if they should go ahead with their plan, Verdugo, Keiko, and Tim arrive at the facility.
In the ending of episode 1, Cate activates the orb and sends the interdimensional pod into the Axis Mundi. Lee boards it and reaches Skull Island. However, as expected, he isn’t the only one that comes through the portal; the Kraken enters the surface of the planet as well, and it seemingly kills Verdugo. Nobody stops to check if she’s alive or dead because they get busy boarding the choppers and getting back to the ship. On their way out of Skull Island, they spot Kong going after the Kraken. When Kong fails to catch him, he screams at the humans, because now he has to fight with the kraken to establish his dominance, which’ll ruin the downtime that he was enjoying. Well, I hope bringing back Lee was worth the trouble that’s going to be caused by the fight between Kong and the Kraken.
