Summary
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters follows two simultaneous timelines. The first timeline is set in 2015, and the second one is set in the 1950s.
- The first timeline is set after the event of the 2014 Godzilla movie, while the 1950s timeline takes place before the events of Kong: Skull Island.
- The two timelines are closely connected to each other through Lee Shaw.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters has been on everyone’s radar for a while for its convoluted, non-linear timeline.
While it is common for shows to have two simultaneous timelines, it could sometimes get confusing. Monarch deals with the origins of the eponymous organization, Monarch, back in the 1950s and how it developed into what it is today.
The series has two simultaneous timelines dealing with two different generations. The constant back and forth might confuse us initially, but there’s a clear connection between the two periods.
It’s crucial to understand the events of both timelines to get a clear understanding of the story. For your convenience, we’ve tried to explain both the timelines and how they connect in detail.
So, if you’re in the middle of a Monarch episode, desperately hoping for some explanation, you’re at the right place!
1. The Present Timeline: Set after Godzilla
The main timeline of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is set after the events of the 2014 Godzilla film. It begins in 2015, a year after Godzilla’s fight with the MUTOs in the 2014 film. It follows the Randa siblings as they discover more about their ancestors.
In the series, Cate Randa, who survived G-Day in San Francisco, travels to Tokyo to settle her father’s estate, assuming that he is dead. The memories of G-Day still haunt her, and she’s tormented by the mysterious “M” agents who show up afterward.
Cate has PTSD after seeing the measures Japan has taken to prevent another G-Day. The preventive measure reminds her of the incident and triggers her trauma.
Moreover, she finds out that her father, Hiroshi Randa, had another family in Tokyo. She meets her half-brother, Kentaro Randa, who is also shocked to see her. The two do not want to accept each other as siblings but have to get along anyway.
Kentaro unwillingly shows Cate their father’s office. He believes Hitoshi was working on satellites, but Cate is apprehensive. Later, Cate finds a wall safe in the office and unlocks it.
Cate finds the same bag that Bill Randa threw in the ocean in 1973. She also finds the Monarch logo on the bag. At this point, the present-day timeline converges into the 1950s timeline.
Kentaro gets the help of a friend named May to learn more about the bag’s contents. The three find a picture of Cate and Kentaro’s grandmother, Keiko, with an enormous monster footprint, which further establishes Hitoshi’s hidden connection to Monarch.
We continue to follow the trio as they discover more about their father and Monarch’s exploits in this timeline, while we have a simultaneous timeline dealing with another trio.
2. The 1950s Timeline: Set Before Kong: Skull Island
The second timeline in the show is set in the 1950s, before the events of Kong: Skull Island. The events in the 1950s are crucial to understand the happenings of the present-day timeline. It follows the adventures of Billy and Keiko Randa in the early days of Monarch.
In the 1950s, we meet Leland Lafayette Shaw III or Lee, an army officer responsible for protecting a teenager named Keiko. Keiko connects the two timelines, as she’s the girl in the picture that Kentaro and Cate find in 2015.
Keiko is a young, independent teenager on an expedition to Kazakhstan and uninterested in Lee’s army. On their way, Lee and Keiko meet another young man in search of monsters.
The man is the younger version of Bill Randa, Kentaro, and Cate’s future grandfather. However, he does not appear in the present timeline as we know he died in 1973, during the events of Skull Island.
Lee, Keiko, and Bill work together as a trio in 1959, but they discover that their environment contains no radiation at all. Since radiation is the root cause of the rise of monsters, they initially seem disappointed.
However, the trio later discovers monster eggs. As a curious scientist, Keiko decides to swab a sample. Unfortunately, the idea does not turn out to be good, as the eggs begin to hatch the moment she approaches them.
Soon, there is a swarm of monsters around them. Although Lee tries his best to save Keiko, she likely dies in the swarm of monster new-borns. But Keiko’s story does not end, as we keep seeing flashbacks depicting the trio’s previous adventures and discoveries.
3. How Monarch Connects Its Two Timelines
Monarch tells the story of two trios. The first trio comprises Lee, Keiko, and Bill. Their timeline is set in the 1950s when humanity did not know about the existence of the Titans.
The second timeline is vastly different from the 1950s and features the trio of Kentaro, Cate, and May. In their timeline, humanity is in shock after discovering Godzilla and recovering from the aftermath of his fight with the MUTOs.
In the 1950s, Monarch was in its early days, while in 2015, it is an established organization. The first two episodes establish that Kentaro and Cate are Bill and Keiko Randa’s grandchildren.
Another person who connects the two timelines is Lee Shaw. Back in 1959, we never see what happens to Lee after Keiko’s death. In the present day, Kentaro finds a black and white photo of Lee in his father’s old albums.
He tracks his father’s Uncle Lee, Cate, and May. The trio finds him at a retirement home. We meet an older version of Lee Shaw, who is being held captive by Monarch.
However, the Randas cannot do without Lee’s help as he is the closest connection to their grandparents and father. Lee is a source of vital information that cannot be found from any other source.
Lee also tells the Randa siblings that they will need his help to find out about their father’s exploits. Lee Shaw connects the two timelines intimately, as he’s the only one who can tell the Randas about their father.
Through Lee, we also learn more about Monarch and its work. The plot shifts between the two timelines throughout the series as we discover more about the Titans and the politics of Monarch.
4. About Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is an American monster television series created by Chris Black and developed by Black and Matt Fraction for the streaming service Apple TV+ based on Godzilla by Toho Co., Ltd. It is the sixth installment and the second television series in the MonsterVerse franchise.
The series follows members of the organization Monarch as they encounter Godzilla and other monsters, known as “Titans,” over a half-century, following the events of Godzilla (2014). Black serves as a showrunner.
The series stars Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Joe Tippett, and Elisa Lasowski, alongside Wyatt Russell and Kurt Russell in the shared role of Lee Shaw. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters premiered on Apple TV+ on November 17, 2023, to positive reviews from critics.
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