The Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters Season 2 Finale May Have Teased A Familiar Titan's Return
by Jeremy Mathai · /FilmTitan Alert! This article contains major spoilers for the Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 finale, "Where We Belong."
For those of us who may have spent most of Season 2 wondering if and when the actual kaiju would show up in "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters," the finale sure felt like it was making up for lost time. The Titan X threat (er, make that the peaceful Cai Cai Vilu, who was only ever trying to mind her own damn business) wraps up as she's ushered back into the Axis Mundi rift on Skull Island without any further tragedy. Meanwhile, our characters narrowly avoid getting flattened by Kong, who similarly opts to take the path of nonviolence once he realizes Cai Cai Vilu's biggest "crime" was simply being a protective mom. But just as things seem to be ending on a satisfying note, the final minutes of the episode hit us with quite the twist.
When the main storyline concludes, our group of human-sized heroes end up going their separate ways. While most end up spearheading a newer and more idealized version of Monarch, others splinter off on their own unique paths. Kentaro (Ren Watabe) runs off with Amber Midthunder's Isabel to pursue their time-travel scheme and prevent the deaths of countless victims from rampaging MUTOs. In the very last scene, however, we discover that Lee Shaw (Kurt Russell) is dead-set on tracking them down. He reappears in Thailand, encounters an associate of his who claims to know where they're headed, and follows him to a volcano ... one that currently houses the fiery pterodactyl we know as Rodan.
Based on that thrilling final shot, it looks like all those "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" connections might not be finished just yet.
Is Monarch: Legacy of Monsters teasing a Rodan-centric Season 3?
There's nothing quite like bumping into an old friend where you least expect them, right? After Seasons 1 and 2 of "Monarch" mostly told their stories in between and around the ongoing Monster-Verse movies, it appears that the third season (should it be officially greenlit) may be taking its most ambitious leap yet. This time, we're left on the tease that arguably the most explosive of the three major titan villains in 2019's "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" could be returning for more in this prequel series.
For argument's sake, let's assume that really is meant to be the one and only Rodan, and not just another creature of the same species. This raises the question of how "Monarch" intends to line up with the beginning of "King of the Monsters," which establishes that Rodan has been contained within a Monarch outpost on the fictional Mexican island of Isla de Mara. Thailand is obviously a long way off, and it'll take some nifty retconning to smoothly bridge the gap between the two Monster-Verse installments. (Granted, there's a two-year time jump between "Monarch" Season 2 and "King of the Monsters," leaving some wiggle room to get from Point A to Point B.) More importantly, however, is this teeing up what Season 3 could be about? The implication is that Kentaro and Isabel need Rodan to further their own agenda, though it's unclear how or why. As for Lee, he certainly seems to know Rodan by sight. Cue some more flashbacks with younger Lee (Wyatt Russell) tangling with our favorite volcanic monster decades prior?
Yeah, sign us up. As far as we're concerned, more Rodan can only be a good thing. "Monarch" Season 2 is now streaming in its entirety on Apple TV.