This article contains spoilers for Apple TV’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2, Episode 8
With only three episodes remaining in Season 2, it’s safe to say everything is coming to a head. Different groups now have the answer to what to do next, but unfortunately, they have different ideas about how to proceed. While at times “Separate Ways” feels like we are watching multiple therapy sessions between these people, it does allow for a few answers to be discovered and the showdown between Titans we have all been waiting for.
With Titan X now making landfall in Australia, it’s a race to get there, and not surprisingly, for reasons other than trying to save the creature. Lee Shaw (Kurt Russell) arrives first, preparing to use Dr. Suzuki’s machine to lure Godzilla in to take care of Titan X. Keiko (Mari Yamamoto) and Cate (Anna Sawai), have their plan focused on Cate’s strange connection to Titan X. Both Monarch and Apex Cybernetics have plans too, although they are less clear, especially when we are talking about the whole Kentaro (Ren Watabe) and Isabel (Amber Midthunder) secret plan, that may or may not be connected to Apex.
To make matters worse, the Secretary of Defense has had enough and wants to end the threat of Titan X now, so he is sending a fleet of twenty ships, armed with nuclear-tipped Tomahawk missiles. They tried something like this before, at Bikini Atoll, and it didn’t turn out so well, but the ‘blow it up’ option is always a favorite, and now everyone has about three hours before they arrive. Before everyone was racing against each other, now they are racing to do what they need to do and try to avoid a barrage of nuclear missiles from the sky.
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Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2, Episode 8, has a great build-up, but then it slows down immensely as there is a pause for all groups involved to talk amongst themselves about what they need to do next. It’s an unfortunate side effect of having so many characters and storylines, which makes the episode’s pacing erratic at best.
This is not a criticism as much as a reality of how the show is structured. Some things do need explaining, and to do that and develop characters, it needs to be done right. Thankfully, the back end of the episode moves quickly as all the pieces are in place for everyone involved.
Cate, Keiko, and Kentaro, fresh back from his weird trip to Thailand, reach the island via Monarch helicopter, though the landing is rough. With Godzilla on the way, Cate approaches Titan X, who gives up the secret of why it has come here. It has laid eggs and now has to protect them at all costs against both humans and Godzilla.
Kentaro, who has called Isabel, lets her know what is going on, even though he has doubts, and her team moves in, steals the eggs, and gets away, all while Godzilla and Titan X have begun their big fight. Cate is forced to flee with Kentaro and Isabel’s group while Keiko and Lee drive away from the battling creatures.
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Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2, Episode 8, was really strange at times. There were numerous instances of moments between two or three characters, talking about the decisions they’ve made, the reasoning behind those decisions, and the possible results. While some conversations gave us more information, others were simply rehashing ideas we’d heard before.
In the middle of all of this, May (Kiersey Clemons) takes a moment, or two, to take off and go visit Brenda (Dominique Tipper), who is at a secret Monarch Assessment facility, to try and find out what is going on with Isabel and Kentaro. Every time Isabel is brought into the story, it feels weirdly out of place, and this was no different. Repeated conversations and odd plot twists have dragged down a few episodes now, unfortunately.
We did get a Titan brawl, though only briefly, that is sure to spill into the next episode, but it remains to be seen where the story will take us next. I have a feeling Skull Island will be involved, and possibly more time jumping as well, but the way this show shifts the narrative so quickly, it’s really hard to say. Whether that’s a good or bad thing, in the end, we’ll have to wait and see.
