Monarch: Legacy of Monsters – Season 1 Episode 8 Recap & Review

Episode 8

Shaw and Duvall get to Kazakhstan, where they’ll kill another titan. Duvall says they could go after easier targets, but Shaw angrily states that’s not true. 

In 1955, Keiko, Bill, and Shaw report to Lt. Hatch, who took over Monarch. He diminishes their work and is racist towards Keiko, which compels Bill to try to strike him. They are all banished to the basement. After looking through their stuff, Shaw concludes they must make a map with everything they know. That’ll be their last effort to get the project back.

Tim brings Cate and the others to Monarch so they can track Lee Shaw and stop him. His attempts at killing the monsters might cause another G-Day. Kentaro doesn’t believe they can be of any help, but Verdugo needs them to try. While reading Bill’s files, Cate finds one about her grandmother’s passing.

They investigate it further and see that it happened in Kazakhstan, one of the places on Hiroshi’s map. However, as they are not allowed to operate inside those borders Verdugo says they need a small team. She doesn’t want Cate and the others to go, but they say Shaw will treat them differently. When Tim offers to go too, she accepts.

Bill and Keiko start to work on their map. They need to gather compelling evidence instead of using suspicious information. As they do that, they get closer, and Bill says he knows he can trust her no matter what.

On their way to Kazakhstan, one of the agents gives Cate body armor. However, she refuses to wear it and says that, if they go there pointing guns at everyone, things won’t go the way they want. As Shaw wants them there, he’ll try to talk to them first. When they arrive, Lee and his team are already inside the building. As Tim walks down a corridor, he finds hundreds of monster shells. That means those titans grew out of their skin and are even more dangerous now.

They find an ominous hole surrounded by bombs at the center of the area, which Tim identifies as a portal. He says it’s an entry point to tinfoil hat land. Kentaro asks them if Shaw’s plan to close it is really that crazy, but no one answers. Shortly, Duvall appears threatening them and saying they need to go back. Shaw agrees to talk, but only if it’s just with Cate.

As Bill looks at the map, lost, he sees an ant using a hole to go to the back of it. That gives him an idea, and he runs off to talk with Keiko. He knocks at her door, and she seems pretty disturbed. Bill says the Titans have a realm inside and alongside Earth, existing together. Although it’s crazy, she recognizes it’s brilliant. Suddenly, 3-year-old Hiroshi interrupts their conversation, and she presents him to Bill. She explains people already disregard her as a scientist for being a Japanese woman; having a son could make things worse, so she keeps it a secret. They have a wholesome conversation about it, and Bill says he’ll help her.

Shaw wants to talk with Cate because she has looked into Godzilla’s eyes. She is aware he knows what he’s doing. Shaw says the titans have a world of their own and he has already been to it. He learned Godzilla doesn’t want to hurt them, he just wants to keep his kind in his world and the humans in theirs. Sealing off the portals is his form of atonement. 

When the young Shaw receives the map from Keiko and Bill, he goes to General Puckett, who’s about to have a meeting with the president. Initially, he doesn’t want to talk with Shaw. However, when Lee says Godzilla is alive, the general’s opinion shifts completely and he grabs the map.

Cate tries to convince Shaw to stop, but he quickly activates the bombs. The whole place starts to crumble and everyone runs away. May ends up falling in the portal. Cate is dragged by one of the creatures and falls with Shaw, who tries to save her.

The Episode Review

This is a great development and proves that the right structure for Monarch is to switch between the past and the present, making parallels and further exploring the characters and the world.

The episode goes into Keiko and Bill’s relationship and how it starts. It’s way more heartwarming than the one with Shaw, not to mention it makes a lot more sense. It was easy to see Shaw was interested in her, but her wanting to be with him wasn’t so believable.

Another relationship that still hasn’t reached its potential, but this episode gets right is the trust Shaw has in Cate. Their talk about Godzilla and Keiko is an important moment for the characters, who haven’t had many chances to talk alone. Her conflict with not knowing if he’s right and being traumatized by G-Day can be a great conflict. And, if the show decides to explore it, her brother’s doubts can make it even better.

Shaw keeps on being the deepest character in the show, but he still needs a little bit of work. While he seems scared of Godzilla in the past, believing they need to kill him, his opinions now are far different. Next episode, we’ll probably get a chance to see what happened when he first crossed the portal and how it changed him. It’s the best chance to explore that. And, frankly, one of the last ones before the season is over.