‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ Season 2, Episode 3 “Secrets” Recap & Review

This article contains spoilers for Apple TV’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2, Episode 3

While Monarch: Legacy of Monsters juggles the world of Titans and the chaos they cause, the show has done a better-than-average job of sifting through the human characters and their complex relationships as well. In Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2, Episode 3, “Secrets,” the show addresses some long-overdue storylines. While the episode was light on actual monsters, it did give us a peek underneath what drives some of these characters and how they are dealing with some messy incidents from their pasts. 

Episode 3 jumps right into the past, back to 1957, when Keiko (Mari Yamamoto) and Lee (Wyatt Russell) came face to face with Titan X in the village in Southern Chile. After all the young creatures join it in the ocean (like the one in the present found on Monarch’s Outpost 18), they seem safe. However, their presence and snapping pictures of the creature have the villagers all riled up, so they are forced to flee, escaping one danger only to face another immediately. 

Meanwhile, back on Outpost 18, a plan is formed to retrieve Hiroshi’s (Takehiro Hira) prototype machine from his storage in Tokyo. The plan is to lure Titan X to a place of their choosing, mimicking the sound the young creature made on board the ship. It’s a good idea, except not everyone is on board.

Apex Cybernetics comes on board to do upgrades and take over on a “temporary basis” only. Cate (Anna Sawai), feeling guilty for being involved in letting Titan X loose on the world, leaves and heads home to San Francisco. May (Kiersey Clemons) goes drinking to contemplate her future. Cracks are definitely forming amongst ‘Team Save The World From Titans,’ and there is more stress to come.

One of the big moments in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2, Episode 3, is not really a surprise to anyone at this point. While Keiko was discovering Hiroshi’s two families, she reflected on that moment in 1957 when, after escaping both Titan X and bloodthirsty villagers, Lee and Keiko shared a passionate moment.

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It is tied to Hiroshi’s pain of Bill (Anders Holm) leaving him at eleven years old. We are left wondering whether it’s because of the letter Keiko wrote Lee, about how she loved him, but that what happened between them could never happen again, as her heart belonged to Bill.

Yes, there’s a lot of human drama unfolding in this episode, and at times it feels a bit over-the-top, like a soap opera. However, packing so much into one episode might be a good thing in the long run, since these complex dramatic moments are now all out there. Hopefully, we won’t need to revisit them in full episodic fashion.

The events in “Secrets” raised some interesting questions about certain characters. It showed that, while talented, smart, and driven, these people are still flawed and can be haunted by the choices they made and the secrets they have kept. 

We also get a glimpse (hopefully) of what Apex Cybernetics is truly planning. May and Tim (Joe Tippett) come up with a side plan to get May inside Apex and spy on them to find out what they’re doing. It could be a very big plan too, as the original plan to get Hiroshi’s prototype Suzuki device falls apart when the team, after collecting the needed parts, returns to the warehouse in Tokyo, only to find the device has been stolen.

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Everyone always has an agenda, and there are many in this episode. The complex relationship between Monarch and Apex is sure to go off the rails at some point as well, with those hidden agendas being something bigger and, as of now, still a secret. 

Guilt, regrets, and secrets are the main drivers of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2, Episode 3. To its credit, it hit all the dramatic notes while still moving the episode along at a decent pace. While the episode focused more on drama than action, it hopefully checked enough boxes regarding the characters’ personal baggage so that there won’t be a need for another all-encompassing episode like this in Season 2.

We now understand a lot about most characters, baggage, and everything else, so it’s time to focus on saving the world… and monster mayhem.