Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters Season 2 Episode 3 Beats The MCU At Its Own Game
Warning: Here be monsters ... and spoilers for "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" season 2, episode 3.
"Monarch" has it all: giant kaiju, split timelines allowing the elder and younger Russell actors to play the exact same character, and all the love triangles you could possibly want. There's a little of something for every type of viewer, even if season 2 leans a little too hard on the melodrama of it all. But, despite those misgivings, there are some positive side effects from focusing so much on the human side of the equation at times. There's no denying that most of the core cast feel like fully-dimensional human beings, carrying plenty of wants and needs that are almost always at odds with one another. As such, this creates a perfect breeding ground for conflict and drama — some of which take a turn into quite surprising territory.
As season 2, episode 3, aka "Secrets," begins, the ensemble begins to split up and figure out their own paths forward. Keiko (Mari Yamamoto), Lee (Kurt Russell), Kentaro (Ren Watabe), and Hiroshi (Takehiro Hira) decide to head into Tokyo and retrieve plans for Hiroshi's "Titan dog whistle" device to lure Titan X out to sea and away from population centers. Meanwhile, May (Kiersey Clemons) considers Tim's (Joe Tippett) request to become a mole for Monarch while positioned at the heart of the rival tech company Apex Cybernetics. That leaves Anna Sawai's Cate Randa to return home, where two long years have passed while she was trapped in Axis Mundi during the season 1 finale.
That time jump turns out to be the episode's strongest idea. This may remind viewers of how the Marvel Cinematic Universe dealt with something similar in "Avengers: Endgame." If you ask us, however, "Monarch" beats Marvel at its own game.
Monarch doesn't brush past the consequences of its version of the MCU's time jump
Time dilation can be a real nuisance, can't it? "Monarch" already introduced this Marvel-like concept through Keiko's experiences in Axis Mundi, the secret Titan world only accessible by special portals strewn around the globe. Presumed dead after those harrowing flashbacks way back in the season 1 premiere, Keiko has actually remained trapped in this Titan network all along — only months in her perception of time, but lasting decades for everyone else. Now, it's Cate's turn to grapple with the weight of everything she's missed, and she's not handling it very well.
If you thought her "Jurassic World"-like decision that unleashed Titan X in the season 2 premiere was bad enough, well, that's nothing compared to the guilt and trauma that Cate herself feels. Her long-delayed return to her quiet family in San Francisco feels akin to a traumatized veteran returning from deployment overseas, seemingly appearing normal on the outside but struggling with a flood of emotions within. Of course, this was touched upon throughout "Avengers: Endgame," when heroes like Paul Rudd's Scott Lang return to a world ravaged by Thanos' snap and encounter family members who've grown up in the interim. But where that subplot largely comes and goes in the MCU, "Monarch" makes us feel the weight of this crushing blow. Cate can no longer talk to her mom and stepdad, socialize with her friends, or even reconnect with an old flame at a bar without coming apart at the seams.
Consequences remain king in "Monarch," and Cate's arc is living proof of this. This is the "new normal" and our characters have no choice but to reckon with it.
New episodes of "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" premiere Fridays on Apple TV.