Kurt Russell returns to Apple TV+ on February 27 with season two of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, the 86% Rotten Tomatoes-rated series, which was set in the aftermath of Godzilla’s cataclysmic emergence in San Francisco, which fans of the MonsterVerse saw play out in 2014’s Godzilla.
Season one followed Cate Randa (played by Anna Sawai), who discovers her father has an entire secret family in Japan that is part of a global conspiracy involving Titans like Godzilla. In Japan, Cate meets her half-brother Kentaro Randa (Ren Watanabe), and her father’s former associate Lee Shaw (Kurt Russell and played by Wyatt Russell in flashback), and together they attempt to decipher her father’s files to learn what other secrets he kept from them – only to find themselves being tracked by Monarch, a clandestine organization that also tracks the Titans.
As the 2015 narrative plays out, viewers are also transported to the 1950s, where they learn about military officer Shaw’s history in the years after World War II when he is assigned to protect scientists Bill Randa and Keiko Miura, who have been trying to prove the existence of the Titans.
Season one concluded in mid-January 2024, so it’s been over two years since we joined the world of Lee Shaw, Cate Randa, and the Monarch organization. I’ve seen the first episodes of season two, which picks up immediately where season one left viewers, but with two years have passed, I’ve rewatched season one for the below recap….
What happened at the end of Monarch season one?
The flashback narrative:
By the late 1950s, Monarch’s existence was under jeopardy, and as Bill realizes that Titans evade detection through the Hollow Earth, Shaw reveals Godzilla had survived a nuclear bomb they detonated the prior year. But in 1959, Keiko – with whom Shaw said he was in love – falls into Hollow Earth while on assignment in Kazakhstan, and is presumed lost, with her husband Bill officially adopting her young son Hiroshi.
© Apple TV+Three years later, in 1962, Shaw volunteers to lead Operation Hourglass, an expedition into the Hollow Earth. But during the operation, the rift destabilizes and closes, and Shaw’s team is lost with Monarch’s funding is cut by the government.
Two decades later, Shaw – the same age as he was in 1962 – awakens in a Monarch medical facility, discovering that 30 years have passed, and that Bill had died, his son was an adult, and that Monarch had abandoned their mission.
Shaw, unable to accept the news, is placed under house arrest after multiple escape attempts.
2015 narrative:
Back in 2015, Cate, along with friends May and Shaw, returns to the power plant where Keiko was lost decades prior, and Shaw tells Cate that he has decided to help Godzilla maintain order by separating the Hollow Earth from the surface world.
However, as they place the explosive charges, an adult Endoswarmer emerges, and May, Cate, and Shaw fall back into the rift before its destruction. Shaw and May awaken in an intermediate realm between the surface and the Hollow Earth, known as Axis Mundi, and search for Cate, who discovers an unaged Keiko.
As the group attempts to return to Earth, they accidentally lure an Ion Dragon to their location. Godzilla emerges and battles the Dragon, throwing it back through the rift and activating the vehicle – but it is too late, and Shaw sacrifices himself to allow their escape.
The episode ends with Cate, May, and Keiko escaping the Axis Mundi dimension, discovering two years have passed and it is now 2017, and that they had been rescued on Skull Island where Keiko meets her son Hiroshi, now a man older than her.
However, as the credits roll, the group discovers they have been rescued by the allied forces of Monarch and Apex Cybernetics – a huge shock to fans of the MonsterVerse, because Apex Cybernetics were the villains of the 2024 film Godzilla vs. Kong – before they encounter a hostile King Kong, readying viewers for the second season.
What will happen in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2?
Season two will continue to follow two timelines, with Cate, May, and Keiko handling the fallout of Axis Mundi, putting their focus on the rescue of Shaw and the emergence of a new, powerful “Titan X,” an aquatic Titan created by Legendary Pictures that will become the primary antagonist of the second season.
© Apple TV+There will be another 10 episodes, and the flashback episodes will continue to focus on the evolution of Monarch as an organization, and the creation of Kong’s Skull Island and Apex Cybernetics.
Will Kurt Russell return for season 2?
Even though Shaw appeared to have sacrificed himself for Cate, Keiko, and May at the end of season one, Kurt has been confirmed to return for season two.
© Apple TV+Is there a spin-off planned?
Apple T+ has confirmed a prequel series focusing on Shaw’s actions during the Cold War is in development. Wyatt Russell will reprise his role as young Lee Shaw and serve as an executive producer.
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