"Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters" Season 2 Part Two (Review)

Welcome to part two of my review. Where we left off from part one, I was finding the story for this second season a hit-or-miss experience. There were slight improvements with the present day characters (Cate, May, and Kentaro), but I was still intrigued by the past timeline story (Bill, Lee, and Keiko). I was enjoying the expansion of Titan X, especially how it affected this small fishing village. It was very Lovecraftian in execution with the ceremony and the zealots that were protecting their village's secret from Bill, Lee, and Keiko. After watching the second half of the season, I don't know if I want to invest time into this show.

What I liked about the show was the spectacle. The monsters and the monster fights were fun to watch. The fight with Godzilla did reveal a side of Godzilla that you don't normally see in the movies. He doesn't kill Titan X in this show. Rather, he chases her until Titan X is back on her migratory course, which was Skull Island. Back when Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was released, not many fans were too pleased seeing Godzilla kill a serpent Titan called Tiamat after chasing her out of her nest in the arctic. So seeing Godzilla spare Titan X after getting her back on her route shows that Godzilla does not always need to kill to restore balance.

This especially goes for Kong when he sees Titan X calming down after retrieving her egg back from the people that broke away from APEX. At that point, Kong understood the situation and allowed Titan X to proceed back to Axis Mundi peacefully. So these fights are not always about who is more dominant. It is about territory and making sure the monsters are put in their place. With that in mind, it adds an extra layer to Godzilla's and Kong's first confrontation in Godzilla vs Kong that is more than just ancient rivalry. I could explain how, but maybe that is a discussion for another time.

Another aspect I liked about the show was Keiko's out of place (or time) moments. In the finale of season one, Keiko was rescued Cate, May, and old Lee Shaw from Axis Mundi and learning that years had passed by, despite spending a couple of weeks. Learning she has grandchildren and missing out on Hiroshi's childhood absolutely devastated her. To add salt to the pain, Keiko learns from Lee that he saw her in Axis Mundi and deliberately left her there. In episode six, there is a whole interaction between young Lee and old Lee through radio. Young Lee was still in Axis Mundi and during their talks he runs into Keiko, but she doesn't spot him. Old Lee convinces his younger-self to leave her there out of necessity. The show doesn't exactly explain it, but if you watch movies about time-travel you know that changing one moment in history could change history entirely. So Keiko learning that she was left there on purpose was a huge blow that did make me feel for her.

For the things I didn't like, the characters did not improve by much. The main cast of characters are not as insufferable as they were in the first season, but the show still didn't warrant enough for me to care about them.

Cate, May, and Kentaro feel like they exist to move the plot forward rather than drive it. There are moments where the show tries to give them importance, but it rarely feels earned. Let's take Kentaro, for example. The show insists that he is important, especially through his connection with Isabel Simmons, but never fully commits to explaining why. Even in episode nine, when Isabel tries to justify his significance, the explanation feels underdeveloped and half-baked. She explains, using NASA and Neil Armstrong as an example in her explanation, "It is never about choosing the best person. It is about choosing the right person." That was it. Still no explanation by how he contributes to her plan. By the time we reach the finale and Kentaro makes a pivotal decision, it doesn’t land the way it should. Instead of feeling like a tragic or conflicted choice, it feels like a narrative requirement. He remains a third wheel in a story that occasionally pretends he’s the centerpiece.

This becomes even more noticeable when compared to the past timeline. Bill, Lee, and Keiko consistently carry more emotional weight, and their decisions feel grounded in established motivations. Keiko’s story in particular is one of the strongest aspects of the entire show. Episodes six through nine build her arc beautifully, especially with the time displacement element and her gradual realization of everything she has lost. Her grief feels real, and her anger toward Lee is justified.

The last issue I have, is not the biggest issue, but it is a concern I have in terms of consistency.

In the last few minutes of episode ten, Lee heads to Thailand to meet with a suspicious character who leads him across the jungle to an active volcano. There, Rodan appears from the volcano, which had me excited, at first. It suggests a larger world and teases what could come in a third season. However, once you start thinking about it, it creates an inconsistency with what has already been established in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. In that film, Monarch had a containment facility on Isla de Mara as early as 1991, monitoring Rodan while he remained dormant. They even had satellites tracking his vitals to detect any movement.

Rodan in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season two

So how does Rodan end up in Thailand before the events of that movie without Monarch noticing?

It may seem like a small detail, but it directly contradicts Monarch’s established capabilities. If they can monitor a Titan’s heartbeat from space, then a Titan traveling across the globe should not go undetected. It also undermines the idea that Rodan’s awakening in 2019 was a major, unexpected event triggered by King Ghidorah. If Rodan was already active years earlier, then that moment loses its impact.

Season two shows little improvements. The Titan storytelling is stronger. The themes are more focused. There are moments, especially involving Keiko, that genuinely work. But the same core problems are still present. The character writing is inconsistent, major plot decisions don’t always feel earned, and now even the continuity is starting to show cracks.

At the end of the day, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters feels like a show that is constantly on the verge of being great, but never fully commits to the discipline required to get there. It has the ideas. It has the scale. It even has the emotional foundation in certain storylines. What it lacks is consistency. And until that changes, it becomes difficult to fully invest in what comes next.

My overall thoughts on this season is the same as last season. I wish the show focused more on Bill Randa, Lee Shaw, and Keiko Miura rather than Cate, May, and Kentaro. So I leave with this question. If the show can't fully invest in the characters it pushes then why should I care about the show in the first place?