Diksha Sundriyal
Apple TV+’s ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ dives into the origins of the secret organization that had been behind the scenes in the Monsterverse thus far. The show gives the audience a background of the secret organization while keeping the mystery alive through the characters who have no idea what it is and how dangerous it is for them to get involved with it. This complex tale unfolds over different timelines, with the show moving from one decade to another to create an intricate puzzle that reveals its answer only when all the pieces come to light.
While the show jumps through a lot of years, there are some key events that help draw a line between different time periods, helping us understand the true nature of Monarch. A chronological breakdown of the main events that become the turning points in the storyline of ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ reveals the starting point of the MonsterVerse, taking us to the Phillippines in the 1950s.
1952: Bill, Keiko, and Lee Come Together
Whatever Monarch might be now, it couldn’t have been without the trio that did most of the heavy lifting. Bill Randa was in the US Navy and onboard the USS Lawton when his ship was attacked by a monster in 1946. He was the sole survivor of the incident, and it opened his eyes to a different reality of the world. Meanwhile, the government starts to pick up some hints from the abnormal radiation readings and sends Keiko Miura to investigate it.
Lee Shaw is assigned as her protection, and they meet each other on the docks of Manila. They drive into a jungle, following the Geiger counter, and it leads them to Bill. At first, there is a sense of distrust between them, but when they face a monster together, they forge an unbreakable bond. This is also the beginning of Monarch, which became the leading organization to conduct research on monsters, with Bill and Keiko becoming its leaders.
1959: The Trio Faces a Grave Loss in Kazakhstan
Seven years into their research, a lot has changed for Bill, Keiko, and Lee. By this time, they are neck-deep into Monarch and have already spent a good part of the decade chasing after monsters. Bill and Keiko are also married and have a kid, Hiroshi, whom they’ve left at home to go on another expedition, this time to Kazakhstan. They are chasing another instance of abnormal radiation readings and find what they are looking for, but they cannot celebrate this because things take a dark turn when Keiko dies during the mission.
After Keiko’s death, things take a turn between Bill and Lee as well, which Bill later refers to in a video he records for his friend. Meanwhile, Bill raises his son, who later goes on to play an important role in Monarch and its work on the monsters, opening the door for another generation to sneak in and unravel the secrets.
1973: Skull Island and Bill Randa’s Death
The opening shot of ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ takes the audience to Skull Island. This is in line with the events in the 2017 movie, ‘Kong: Skull Island,’ in which Bill Randa brought together a team of specialists to lead an expedition to the mythical Skull Island, where they found King Kong. Whatever Randa might have wanted out of the expedition goes to pieces when he is killed by one of the mounters on the island, but not before he does something significant.
Throughout the film, he can be seen carrying a video recorder. He has other recordings and some important Monarch-related papers, which he throws into the ocean, knowing that they will not be destroyed and will one day make their way to the person they are intended for. This finally bears fruit in 2013, when the bag is found by fishermen in the Sea of Japan.
2015: Cate Randa Searches for the Truth About Her Family
‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ picks up the events in 2015. This is about a year after the events in the 2014 movie, ‘Godzilla,’ in which the monster traveled all the way from Japan to San Francisco and wreaked havoc on the city. Cate Randa was also there when Godzilla was tearing everything apart, and she barely survived the incident. The trauma of the day, however, has not left her even now.
Sometime after G-Day, Cate’s father Hiroshi dies in a plane crash (though, interestingly, his body was never recovered, and neither was the plane found). This leads her to Tokyo, where she arrives to settle her father’s affairs but discovers that he was leading a double life with another family. It also turns out that Bill Randa’s stuff found its way to Hiroshi, who was Bill’s son (making Cate and Kentaro Bill and Keiko’s grandchildren), and he had been secretly working on something related to the monsters. The events pick up from here as Cate and Kentaro try to find out what really happened to their father.
Read More: How is Cate Related to Bill Randa?
