This review contains minor spoilers for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 5.
Anna Sawai as Cate in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. © Apple TV
In the last episode of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, we saw Apex made a mess of themselves as they somehow confused a whale for Titan X on their new sonar tracking systems, which instantly proved that we can never be trusting of Apex. We get a mini heist as they infiltrate Apex’s HQ, discovering that they’ve been smuggling creatures off of Skull Island. They free them to help them with distractions, replicating any moment from a Jurassic World film as they roam free in the headquarters. The biggest revelation is that Bill’s (Anders Holm) files that were thought missing were revealed to have been stolen by Apex, which Shaw (Kurt Russell), Kentaro (Ren Watabe), Hiroshi (Takehiro Hira) and Keiko (Mari Yamamoto) learn.
Discovering that Bill created a map of Titan X’s migratory route sends them back to Santa Soledad, its next destination. May (Kiersey Clemons) stays with Apex after learning from Brenda (Dominque Tipper) that they’ve developed neural implants that they plan to use to pacify titans, including Titan X. While they’ve all escaped, Hiroshi has found Keiko’s letter to Shaw, with the truth finally being revealed to him.
Episode 5 is Andrew Colville’s first episode of the season, and he eases his way in to bring one of the most emotional episodes yet. With the last episode ending on Hiroshi finding Keiko’s letter to Shaw, which revealed that she had relations with him, Hiroshi ends up admittedly in a horrible mood. What makes Hiroshi’s anger at Keiko such an intriguing moment for the entire episode is that we’ve seen that he has his own problems with his own kids, Cate and Kentaro, and their individual mothers.
At the very start of this episode, we get a flashback to Tokyo, Japan, 1990, where we see Hiroshi at the hospital, on the phone with a young Cate, helping her go to sleep by singing her a Japanese song called “Furusato,” which also happens to be the title of this very episode. It was a song that Keiko sang to him when he was younger when she missed Japan. We find out that the reason for him being in Japan is because Kentaro is about to be born. As we know from the previous season, this was a secret that was kept from Cate.
Returning back to the present day, Hiroshi begins to blame Keiko for why Bill left, saying that her betrayal drove him away from their family. This is heartbreaking to hear for Keiko, as for her, it was only two months ago when they were driving and Bill mentioned that he would never be away from Hiroshi for too long. Hiroshi, who’s clearly currently caught in his feelings, tries to throw some digs at Keiko by saying she still has her other great love, but here’s where the plot begins to thicken.
Anna Sawai and Ren Watabe in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. © Apple TV
Hiroshi has every reason to be upset with Keiko when it comes to the letter and believing it was the reason that Bill abandoned him, but his life has also followed a similar path. Hiroshi bumps into Shaw and has a conversation that’s eye-opening for the viewers who haven’t maybe been able to put two and two together yet. In short, Shaw is asking for Hiroshi to forgive his mother, not for his sake but for his own, Keiko’s and his children. Hiroshi himself has had two lovers and two different children from both of them. That decision led to his estranged relationship with Cate, and Shaw makes a valid point that if anyone should be understanding of the situation, it would be him out of all people for knowing exactly how Keiko felt.
Back at Monarch’s base of operations, Tim is trying to spread the information that Apex can’t be trusted, questioning why they would hide such vital information regarding where Titan X will be heading. He lets Director Barris become aware that Titan X is heading to South America, but the only issue is that his classified source is coming from Shaw, whom Barris still doesn’t trust and considers a fugitive. Barris trusts in Apex despite Tim’s wariness and warnings of them and needs more than Shaw’s word before he can risk his job on trusting the information.
The festival that we saw take place on Santa Soledad is called Co-Cai, and it’s where the people celebrate Titan X’s return. Bill’s writing showcases that he had a theory that it would return to this island every 15 years, but unfortunately he didn’t live long enough to see if it was true. If he was right, it wouldn’t appear until 2023, still making them six years too early, but the activation of the Suzuki device on Skull Island awakened Titan X, bringing it out of Axis Mundi ahead of its schedule.
Brenda believes that Corah is somewhat aware of her friends making it to the island, and although she isn’t surprised, she hasn’t got any part in what they’re doing. Corah believes in what Apex is doing and that it will work but also believes that it’s incredibly dangerous, irresponsible and stupid.
Hiroshi has yet another moment alone with his mother, Keiko and reveals that reading that letter did fill him with rage at everyone involved and what they did to Bill, but he also felt relief for knowing that it was never because of him that he left. As I write this, I even begin to almost cry, knowing that Hiroshi has been keeping this pain hidden in him for all these years, thinking Bill never liked him and left for not being his blood. Seeing this moment between Hiroshi and Keiko, as truths are revealed, is such a healing moment for the character and one of the best character moments from him.
Takehiro Hira and Mari Yamamoto in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. © Apple TV
The team finally comes across May, who reveals that she’s helping Apex because she believes that the work they’re doing could prevent another G-day from happening by being able to control them. Cate doesn’t agree with what they’re doing. Shaw, on the other hand, believes being able to control them is the answer because whoever can control them can prevent and start their own G-day, wherever they choose, weaponising the titans and making them a load of profit.
As if the ideas of nuclear weapons weren’t enough, we’ll soon have wars that involve titans being used to decimate civilisations.
Titan X finally arrives, and we see that Cate seems to have somewhat of a connection with the Titan, but Apex’s involvement with trying to control it angers it, causing mayhem as Shaw finds himself getting injured by a scarab and Hiroshi rescuing Cate from getting killed in the mayhem as she was also being injured by the synaptic link Apex was trying to connect.
Unfortunately, as Hiroshi tried escaping, with all the buildings getting destroyed in the process, we find him mortally wounded. If the show hasn’t made you cry up until this point, then seeing three generations of Randa as Hiroshi succumbs to his wound, apologising to Cate, will for sure rip your heart a new one. Keiko begins singing Furusato to help calm him down in his final moments, with Cate also joining in, making this a heartwrenching moment to watch as we lose a vital character to the show. Kentaro arrives not soon after, seeing his father’s lifeless body, and this leads into next week’s episode where we’ll get more of an insight on how this death has not only affected him but the Randa family as a whole.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 5 is the best yet of the season as it runs us through the ups and downs of family drama. Andrew Coville, as a writer, knows how to bring the mood right back up after an emotional scene and then have us crashing back down once again into the treacherous depths of the abyss. This episode lends us Takehiro Hira’s best performance yet from his entire run in the series, and while he might’ve not had the best relationship with his kids, getting to see him mend his relationship with his mother and discover the truth that Bill leaving had nothing to do with him makes his death a bittersweet moment, knowing his mind is somewhat at peace.