As an interconnected franchise, Legendary’s MonsterVerse is going to complete a decade in the pop culture landscape by next year, with a humble collection of five movies and two series, and the major connecting thread in its world-building, obviously aside from the primeval Titans, is the organization ‘Monarch’ itself. Despite being the central overseer of all Titan-related affairs, the role of the organization was largely undermined, and without a definitive direction, it was reduced to a generic plot device. Things took a better turn after Monarch: Legacy of Monsters added a strong foundation to the origin and gradual transformation of the titular organization, rooted in the human-monster relationship, which acts as a brilliant contemporary political commentary at the same time.
So far, through the course of six episodes, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters has established a number of in-universe links and acknowledged its indebtedness to the existing Kaiju lore of Toho by teasing through several Easter eggs, and the sixth episode, titled “Terrifying Miracles,” is the best example of that. Aside from continuity-related hints, an interesting connection to the 60’s Godzilla movies has also been mentioned in the episode, which might have bigger implications for the future of MonsterVerse. We would like to highlight as many of those aforementioned connections and teases as possible to let viewers attain a thorough appreciation of the series itself.
Spoilers Ahead
Monster Island: A Call-Back To Showa Era Godzilla Movies
One of the major highlights of the episode was the appearance of Godzilla throughout the past and present timeline of the series, emphasizing the creature’s timeless quality. As we have already learned, during the initial years since its foundation, Monarch as an organization was much more research and exploration-driven, thanks to the combined enthusiasm and curiosity of Dr. Keiko Miura and Bill Randa. In the past timeline of 1955, Bill and Keiko learned about a possible Titan sighting in the Hateruma Islands, and as they visited the location, Dr. Suzuki, a fellow cryptid enthusiast, welcomed them by mentioning the term ‘Monster Island’. Given how the following events transpired, i.e., Godzilla’s emergence triggered by a gamma-ray mimicking device, the term might indicate a nod to the king of the monsters’ presence, but in reality, it was a direct reference to the Monster Island of Showa era Godzilla movies.
Toho’s Godzilla movies during the mid-Showa era, like Son of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Gigan, and Godzilla vs. Megalon, featured the eponymous island, which acted as a dwelling place and battleground for Kaijus. In Toho continuity, two major Kaiju inhabitants of the island are Godzilla and Anguirus, and given the fact that “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” teased the existence of Anguirus, there is a chance that a similar connection might develop in MonsterVerse as well. Interestingly, the animated continuation of Columbia Studios’ Godzilla (1998) depicted a version of Monster Island as well, which acted as a prison for mutated creatures.
Regarding how Godzilla could appear in the shallow bay area of Monster Island, there was a clue provided previously during the fourth episode of the series. In the snowy terrains of Alaska, the frosty Titan Snow Vark presumably traveled through Hollow World crevices that span the globe, one of which Lee Shaw noticed while being rescued by Monarch. The existence of one such Hollow Earth crevice near Monster Island explains how Godzilla was responding to Dr. Suzuki’s gamma radiation over a prolonged period of time as well as the mysterious migration patterns of the Titans. In future Monsterverse projects, we might get more updates and Titan revelations revolving around Monster Island, or just like how Skull Island has been established as Kong’s domain, Godzilla will reign over this version of Monster Island.
Kaiju Caller: Connection With The King Of The Monsters
The second best major reveal this episode had was the unique Titan communicator device created by Dr. Suzuki, which utilized gamma-ray radiation mimicking to lure Godzilla into Hateruma island. The same device, or probably a modified version of it, is also seen in the series’ present timeline in 2015, which Hiroshi Randa was using in the Algerian desert to track Godzilla. Despite being schematically different, another such device, ‘ORCA’, which was used in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, serves a similar purpose. As Monarch: Legacy of the Monsters takes place in between the events of the first Godzilla movie and its sequel, there is a strong possibility that Mark and Emma Russell were inspired by Dr.Suzuki’s invention.
In fact, the connection to the King of the Monsters becomes more apparent from Lee Shaw’s statement, who warns the Randa siblings about a Titan event that has the destructive potential to make even the G-Day seem like sunshine and rainbows. Surely Shaw had knowledge about threats like King Ghidorah, whose emergence eventually brought the entire world to the brink of total annihilation, which also explains why he wanted to help Godzilla navigate his way.
Cate’s Role: Human-Godzilla Connection
Lastly, a classic Monsterverse tease is showcased during the climactic moments of the episode. As Godzilla wakes up from his slumber in the Algerian desert, he momentarily exchanges a glance with Cate, and quite understandably, she is stupefied. Cate was so overwhelmed by this interaction that she mentioned this occurrence to the rest of the team. This moment is pivotal, as Cate previously had a very personal and traumatic encounter with Godzilla during G-Day. The Golden Gate Bridge collapse resulted in the deaths of her students and also of the person she loved, and during that point in time, she had a very up-close first meeting with Godzilla. The encounter in the Algerian desert marks the second time she has faced the big G, and it foreshadows her future role in upcoming episodes of the series in a curious fashion.
Previously, Godzilla had shared such glance exchange with Lieutenant Sam Brody (“Godzilla”) and Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (King of the Monsters), both of whom had almost had a profound epiphany as a result of such momentous interaction and saved the primeval beast from certain death. Perhaps in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Cate will go through a change of heart in the aftermath of such interaction and play a similar role. After all, her grandmother, Keiko, had a strong sense of respect for the creature, which was passed down to her son, Cate’s father, Hiroshi Randa, as well.
