The human mind is an unpredictable and dangerous thing, as so often the curiosity borne out of a desire to explore something unknown turns into a destructive, egocentric approach to annihilating the very thing. As the third episode of Apple TV’s Monsterverse series, Monarch: Legacy, continues the momentum initiated by the first two, viewers find themselves witnessing the timeless scenario of human intervention disrupting the course of natural events time and time again.
In the previous episodes, Cate, a survivor of the San Francisco G-Day event, went to Japan after her father’s demise or mysterious disappearance in order to check up on his belongings, but instead found that he had a secret family there. It is also revealed that Hiroshi is the son of explorers William Randa and Keiko Miura, who, along with their common friend, Lieutenant Lee Shaw, tried to scour the world in search of primeval Titans during the late 1950s, operating under a shadowy organization named Monarch. Just as Cate and her stepbrother Kentaro uncover Bill Randa’s Monarch-related findings from Hiroshi’s safe and take May’s help to decrypt them, Monarch operatives Tim and Duvall start hunting them down. To find answers, Kentaro considers visiting Lee Shaw, who turns out to be living in a form of house arrest under Monarch’s supervision. With more secrets from the past to unravel, the connection to the present’s monster-related crisis is gradually unveiled with the third episode of the series titled Secrets and Lies.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did Shaw And Co. Journey To Korea?
Previously, in the present timeline, after meeting Billy’s grandchildren for the first time and learning about Hiroshi’s disappearance, Shaw had decided to escape from Monarch’s captivity in search of Hiroshi and asked his visitors to join him as well. As the episode begins, Shaw initiates his escape plan, but the rest of the group is still hesitant to go through all the risks an escape might entail. Cate just wants to keep the Monarch operatives off her trail, and May is skeptical about Shaw’s motives. Thankfully, Kentaro shares Shaw’s willingness to track down Hiroshi, and that’s a good enough reason to proceed with the escape plan.
Breaking out of the facility by pulling a couple of stunts in a rental car, Shaw uses his military knowledge and explorer expertise to secretly board a cargo ship heading towards South Korea along with his new, younger associates. Kentaro is a bit surprised at May’s willingness to accompany them, even though she has no personal stakes involved, but May insists on sticking around. She has lost her career and future prospects after being pulled into the Monarch business and wants to see this thing through to the end. Meanwhile, learning about Billy’s archives at Monarch, Shaw opines that they might hold the key to finding Hiroshi, and further knowing that May has already digitized the information found in the hard disks, he suggests disposing of the physical copies of the archives to avoid suspicion. Kentaro protests, as he is not fully convinced as to why they need to follow Shaw’s suggestions. It is understandable, as the amount of secrets he has been confronted with within a few days makes it impossible for him to trust Shaw right off the bat. Moreover, Hiroshi went missing near Alaska, whereas Shaw is taking them to South Korea for reasons yet unknown, and Kentaro questions him about that as well.
Shaw understands the predicament and assures the team that his interests align with theirs as well. He states that before venturing out to find Hiroshi’s whereabouts, they need to make a detour to Korea to find out about one of his old associates, who can help them in their search big time. The team reaches Pohang, South Korea, and Shaw pulls off a risky maneuver at customs to reunite with his old buddy, Du-ho.
Taking Down The Giant: What Did Shaw Reveal About Monarch To General Puckett?
Back in 1954, two years after their encounter with the black dragon Titan at USS Lawton in the Philippines, the monster tracker trio—Bill, Shaw, and Keiko—are looking to fund their organization, Monarch, to explore the world in search of these enigmatic giants. The responsibility to do so falls on the shoulders of Shaw, who tries to use his military background as leverage to convince his superior, General Puckett, to have the US Army fund Monarch’s operation of Titan tracking. Keiko had surmised that the monsters feed on radioactive energy, and in order to continue their mission of tracking the monsters, they would need access to radioactive resources at the army’s disposal. A massive footprint of a gigantic monster recovered from Indonesia, which fans surely recognize to be that of Godzilla’s, intrigues the general, and on the question of global security, he agrees to let the monarch use 140 pouches of uranium to lure the monster out.
However, things take a wrong turn when it is revealed that Puckett has been instructed by his superiors to annihilate the creature, Godzilla, using the very radioactive resource that will be used to lure it out. The curious, scientific minds Billy and Keiko are absolutely horrified at the proposition, and adhering to their continued pleading, Shaw requests Puckett multiple times to call the attack off, to no avail. Ultimately, at Bikini Atoll, using the hydrogen bomb Castle Bravo, the military lures out Godzilla and detonates the H-bomb using a transmitter. The episode doesn’t clarify what happened to Godzilla, but fans surely know that not only did the king of the monsters survive, but the nuclear explosion even juiced him up further as well.
However, in the aftermath of the event, the only good outcome turns out to be that the army is not only willing to fund Monarch, but they have given the organization absolute free reign in creating monitoring equipment, checkpoints, and advanced surveillance to track the Titans across the world—so that in the future, instead of the unknown wilderness, one of the creatures doesn’t end up popping up in one of the urban metropolises without any prior notice. Keiko requests that Shaw not let Puckett know everything Monarch finds out about the Titans situations, and even though Shaw doesn’t agree to lie to his superiors, in a roundabout way, he states that Billy and Keiko should share information only on a need-to-know basis, thereby clarifying his allegiance to them in the process.
Did The Team Find Hiroshi In Alaska?
Alarmed by Shaw’s escape, Monarch Chief Verdugo arrives in Japan to rattle up Tim and Duvall, and upon learning that Shaw has been spotted in Pohang, she sends them to the location. Du-ho salvaged a vintage bomber, which the team boarded to navigate towards Hiroshi’s possible location. Using the digitized data in Billy Randa’s files, Shaw is able to pinpoint the exact location where Hiroshi’s plane went missing. En route , Cate gets some worldly advice from Du-ho, which helps her assuage the pain caused by Hiroshi’s betrayal. As the bomber soars over the exact location, it gets into a cataclysmic situation, and thanks to Shaw’s last-minute improvisation, it safely lands on a snow-capped mountain. Fortunately or unfortunately, Hiroshi’s crashed-down plane is also found in that exact area, and the team becomes anxious to know whether they’ll find him as one of the deceased victims.
Thankfully, Hiroshi isn’t found, nor is he among the fallen ones, but a severe disaster seems to be awaiting the team. Du-ho discovers that Hiroshi’s plane had landed safely as well, but it was attacked by some unknown being. Realizing this, he starts to take off with the plane and asks the rest of the team to board at once. However, he is a bit too late, as a star-nosed mole-type gigantic Titan emerges from within the snow, destroys the plane, and uses ice propulsion powers, killing Du-ho in the process. The fate of the team remains uncertain as the episode ends on a cliffhanger, similar to the previous two chapters. It is unlikely that Hiroshi survived a danger of this magnitude, and it seems like only Monarch’s intervention can save the team from the impending disaster caused by the ice-mole Titan.
