This review contains spoilers for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 6.
In last week’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters we were left with the unexpected death of Hiroshi Randa (Takehiro Hira), who was struck by debris after Titan X escaped during a failed Apex control attempt. Hiroshi passes away in the arms of his mother, Keiko (Mari Yamamoto), and his daughter, Cate (Anna Sawai), who serenade him with a beloved childhood song in Japanese.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 6, “Requiem,” explores the Randa family as the navigate their grief. It starts off with Kentaro Randa (Ren Watabe) on Skull Island two weeks prior to the attempt to rescue his estranged half-sister Cate Randa (Anna Sawai) as he observes Skull Island’s Titan resident, Kong. As Kentaro is sketching the supreme beast, Kong gives a reminder to Kentaro of his place amongst the world of Titans.
Kentaro sneaks back onto the Monarch Outpost, his attempt is thwarted by his father, Hiroshi Randa (Takehiro Hira) like a son trying to sneak back into the house. Hiroshi reveals to Kentaro that after G-Day when he had abruptly left for Alaska for a year to prove his parents’ theories, he had discovered a rift. With a Kampai and a beer, he tells his son Kentaro that time does not work the same in Axis Mundi the way it works on Earth, that a day in Axis Mundi is ultimately a year on Earth, that after spending a day in Axis Mundi he found out that once he exited Mundi, time had significantly passed.
Back to present day where we find the Randa family and Lee Shaw (Wyatt Rusell) mourning the loss of Hiroshi. For Dr. Keiko Randa (Mari Yamamoto) her life has been turned upside down again. After reuniting with her son Hiroshi since being stuck in Axis Mundi for roughly 56 days her time, is now putting her son Hiroshi to rest while still coming to the reality that her son was 56 years older than her, not to mention processing all the time loss with her son. Emotions for Keiko are now at an all-time high to say the least.
For the Randa siblings, things are at an all-time low. Cate is absolutely distraught with guilt over the death of her Father while being burdened by question of if what she had done that led to his passing was justifiable. Kentaro, who had just begun to reconnect with his father and find common ground, deems his sister’s actions absolutely unacceptable. As for Lee Shaw, Lee wants what he has always wanted, retribution, and he cannot seem to look past the costs of it takes to get it.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 6 is an amazing follow up from last week in the most emotional way with the most emotional weight. It does an amazing job of reminding us how well the series can carry itself without the ever so dominating presence of a Titan in every episode. What “Requiem” reminds us of is that there are emotional monsters of our past and present on a human level that some of us have been dealing with for a long time or still dealing with today. Without diving too deep into spoiler territories, all I can say is I felt this episode.
There is a particular moment in this episode that shows Wyatt Rusell’s Lee Shaw coming to terms and accepting that Keiko and Lee will never be a thing, at least not in this reality and lifetime. He finds himself dealing with that in the most Lee Shaw way he knows, resigning from his Monarch assignment and abandoning his mission with Keiko and Bill Randa (Anders Holm). Lee finds himself paying a visit to his father Colonel Leland Shaw II (Bill Sage) who entices him with drinks as they discuss relationship woes, but beneath the surface is a look at a monster we found Russell’s character dealing with throughout, alcoholism and using it as a coping mechanism.
After these moments play out, we see present day Lee Shaw pouring wine down the drain after dinner with Dr. Suzuki aka Zook (Leo Ashizawa) who reveals that he is dealing with the monster in his past where he miscalculations with time flow and dilation works in Axis Mundi, led to its catastrophic failure. However, Hiroshi had been seeing him over the years to develop the “Titan Phone.”
“Without that piece of information, all the equations were off.”
The Randa family finds themselves dealing with their own personal monsters. Cate and Keiko are dealing with repercussions of their decisions but hold on to the grasps of hope and purpose. Kentaro now finds himself lost, looking for reminders of a simpler time but dismayed after finding out that even Sota has sold his favorite watering hole and bar, in disbelief at a what may consider a normal change in life, compared to his life which is now anything but normal.
After an attempt to get a drink with May (Kiersey Clemons) at what was once Sota’s bar, discussions gets heated and Kentaro, still oblivious to other’s feelings but his own, ends with his only friend May, leaving with their friendship at an impasse. Kentaro now utterly alone, sees Isabel Simmons (Amber Midthunder) side step in revealing to Kentaro that she is Apex’s Walter Simmons’ (Demián Bichir) daughter, and she has a proposition for him.
In a quiet, emotionally resonant beat on the pier, Cate and Keiko share a poignant exchange regarding the ever-complicated Hiroshi. But the familial drama is quickly upstaged by tentpole-level stakes when Cate spots ominous, Titan-signature ripples fracturing the water’s surface. In a major mythological pivot for the series, Keiko deduces the unthinkable: Cate has forged a tether to the elusive Titan X.
The revelation kicks the narrative into high gear as the duo races to track the behemoth, only to cross paths with Lee and Zook, who are packing Zook’s highly experimental, bespoke tech. The tension is immediately dialed up when Keiko susses out Lee’s audacious endgame: a meticulously orchestrated, heavyweight clash between Godzilla and Titan X. While Keiko vehemently pushes back against the hubristic notion of micromanaging a kaiju, a desperate Lee and Zook stand firm, arguing that orchestrating this alpha-Titan smackdown is their only remaining play to save the board.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 6 puts us a ride of an absolute emotional rollercoaster that once again proves that the series is not only about the Monsters and the characters that are chasing them, but also about our personal monsters and how they continue to chase us. Also, without spoiling it too much, the most legendary of them all makes an appearance at the end of this episode.
