Diksha Sundriyal
Apple TV+’s ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ expands the world that started with the stories of King Kong and Godzilla. While the monsters are still an important part of the narrative, the show is more focused on peeling the layers of mystery and showing us what the secret organization, Monarch, is all about. The story begins with the death of a man named Hiroshi Randa, whose daughter goes to Japan to settle his affairs but discovers something else entirely. For a man of so many secrets, it becomes difficult to accept what may or may not have been real, including his death. The third episode reveals that Hiroshi’s arc might not be done just yet. SPOILERS AHEAD
Cate and Kentaro Discover New Evidence About Hiroshi’s Fate
Even before Cate found out about her father’s double life, she knew little to nothing about his job. She was told that he was a software engineer and was married to his work. He went wherever the work called him and often spent his days away from his family. When Cate discovers that he has a second family in Japan, she believes that the time he didn’t spend with her, he was in Japan with Kentaro and his mother. But when Kentaro asserts that Hiroshi had never quite been present for him too, it turns out that the man was keeping way more secrets than both his families could have imagined.
What Cate knew about her father’s death was that it happened somewhere in the remote region of Alaska. He was on a plane which crashed, the reason behind which couldn’t be uncovered because the plane was never found. This means that her father’s body was lost forever, too. She had to make peace with it because she never imagined that there might be foul play involved. Cate continues to believe this until she and her brother meet Lee Shaw.
Shaw knew everything about Hiroshi’s double life, even if he was unaware that the man had two families. Having worked with Monarch for so many years, Shaw also knows how treacherous the organization can be. Their only job is to keep secrets, and it would make sense that they kept a few secrets about Hiroshi’s fate as well. As soon as he hears that Hiroshi’s dead body, along with the plane, was never found, Shaw is convinced that Hiroshi is not dead. In fact, this is just another plot of Monarch to keep the truth hidden. Shaw’s reasoning sounds convincing to Kentaro, but Cate remained doubtful of him. She refuses to believe anything until she has proof, and in the end, even she has to accept that Shaw might be right.
Shaw, Cate, Kentaro, and May go to Alaska, tracing the location of the plane’s crash. The weather is tricky and the terrain is difficult to maneuver, but they somehow reach the place and find the crashed plane. Inside it, there is only one dead body, and it is not Hiroshi. At a distance from the plane, they find a tent, which makes them curious. Shaw believes that the tent was pitched by Hiroshi because there is no sign of anyone else around. Cate still has her doubts, but when they enter the tent, and she sees the pencil shavings just like her father used to leave at home, she has no choice but to accept he was there. She also recognizes the writing on the notebooks inside the tent, and it becomes clear that her father didn’t die in the crash. But does that mean he is still alive?
Considering everything that has happened by far, the chances of Hiroshi’s survival are pretty high, and he might even appear in the following episode. It’s possible that he left the tent to get water and food from somewhere, and when he returns, he’ll be reunited with his children. However, the presence of a monster, whom Cate and her team have to fight as soon as they discover evidence of Hiroshi’s presence, shows that Hiroshi would’ve come across the monster as well, and there is a very slim chance that he survived it without inflicting any damage.
Still, it’s a strange world, and perhaps Hiroshi came up with a way to deal with the monster. Because he has worked with Monarch his entire life and has known about monsters all along, it would make sense that he knows a thing or two about tackling the said monster. This makes the possibility of him being alive even stronger and makes us hopeful for the reunion in the next or the following episodes.
Read More: Godzilla and Monarch Legacy of Monsters Timeline, Explained
