Monarch: Legacy of Monsters – Season 1 Episode 3 Recap & Review

Episode 3

Monarch spies on Cate and the others as episode 3 of Monarch begins. Lee knows this, so he pretends they are just casually talking. However, that doesn’t work, and they run to the van to escape. As it’s a modern car, Lee doesn’t know how to start it, but he gets the hang of it and runs. 

As the guards block the path they are trying to use, Lee has to do some risky manoeuvres to escape. They return and hit the main entrance, leaving the Monarch officers behind. 

After Lee, Keiko, and Bill find the dragon and establish Monarch, they try to get the government’s backing. General Puckett arrives, doubting their potential. However, However, the general is interested when Keiko shows a giant footprint of an unknown monster. They say they need a lot of uranium, an idea the General doesn’t like but soon sees the importance after Lee says the monster might be a global threat.

After the army goes away and Monarch gets what they want, Lee and Bill discuss. They obviously aren’t comfortable working together yet, but Keiko smooths things over.

Back to the present, Lee explains Bill used to scribble down everything he saw. Kentaro and Cate say their father was the same. May says she already digitalized the files, so they don’t have to go back to her apartment. Now they only need to search there for anything about Alaska. With that, they’ll understand what Hiroshi was trying to do.

Lee says they wanted Monarch to be about hopes and ambitions. But the organization lost its way. Now it’s going after them instead of chasing monsters over the globe. Angry, Cate says Monarch is the family’s curse and leaves the car.

Keiko, Bill, and Lee arrive at the point where they’ll use uranium to attract the monster. However, things aren’t progressing as they expected. General Puckett and many soldiers are there preparing a radioactive bomb. They plan on killing the creature, not studying it. Lee tries to argue with him, but it doesn’t work.

May talks with someone, telling them she might be back soon. After that, she ditches her phone in the ocean. Kentaro is angry, as he doesn’t understand what she’s doing nor why they are going to South Korea. Lee says they’ll meet a good friend of his, and the kids need him if they want to escape Monarch.

In South Korea, Lee tries to enter the country, but the guards don’t trust him. They get him and the kids, wanting to put them in a van. But they are only pretending, as one of the guards pushes the other into the van and locks it up. He is Lee’s friend, Du-Ho. He’ll get them to Alaska to find out what happened to Hiroshi.

At the same time, a woman from Monarch talks with Tim and Duvall, his partner. She is probably the organization’s new leader, or at least someone important there. She wants Tim out of the mission, making it seem he has personal matters in it. Even so, when Duvall finds out Lee and the others are in South Korea, she says she needs Tim.

Back in the test to kill the mysterious monster, General Puckett is almost giving up. Suddenly, the sonar spots something. Godzilla appears from below the water and walks to where the uranium is. Keiko runs, trying to stop the bomb from being activated, but Lee stops her. The giant is nuked, and the army rejoices, thinking they killed him.

Keiko is furious, but Bill tries to calm her down. He says that Lee did the right thing as if she stopped the bomb, the general could’ve had her deported or killed. Lee says now they have a bigger backing than they planned, with the right to great equipment, a team, and more. Also, he says he will only tell Puckett what Keiko and Bill tell him, meaning he can turn a blind eye to some things.

In the present, Lee talks with Cate and May, and they find out where to go. Hiroshi was headed to Barrow, so that’s their new destination. Cate has a talk with Du-Ho about her father and what she’s feeling, the confusion, the anger, all of it. After that, he switches out with Lee as they need to land, and Cate acts as his co-pilot.

In Alaska, they find parts of Hiroshi’s airplane and signs of life in a residence nearby. Kentaro and Cate hug after finding out their father is alive. However, there’s bad news too. Du-Ho finds claw marks in the airplane, so he warns everyone and rushes to their plane to help the group escape. Unfortunately, it’s too late. A mole-like monster appears and uses its breath to freeze the transport and Du-Ho to death. 

The Episode Review

This episode has a problem many shows with a lot of flash-backs have: one part is way better than the other. Not to mention, you have less time to develop the one that isn’t so interesting. And weak link in Monarch appears to be the present.

It isn’t exciting to see the plot moving and you don’t feel anything seeing the characters. The biggest obstacle in this aspect is Cate, who for the past two episodes has only been angry and nothing more. Sometimes it seems her and Kentaro’s roles are only to disagree with each other.

However, it isn’t all bad. By the end of the episode, we have her conversation with Du-Ho, which explains her feelings and turns her into someone more relatable. Her personality also seems to change a little for the better after that.

The best thing about the episode (and something that needs to receive even more attention throughout the show) is the monsters. Seeing Godzilla so soon is incredible. When Keiko, Bill, and Lee find out he’s still alive, it’ll be another great moment. Also, what will they decide to do when that happens? It can’t come soon enough.

If the mole-like monster by the end indicates they’ll be dealing with a few threats in the present too, then the series might reach its full potential. As they have less firepower and other threats to face, they’ll probably approach the problem more creatively.

Also, props to the effects team, they are doing an awesome job. Even when they are trying to cut some costs, they improve other aspects of the experience. For example, when they film Godzilla from afar instead of showing its whole body, the scene makes you feel like you’re one of the army people seeing something incomprehensible and incredible at the same time.