Abhiroop Das
Created by Chris Black and Matt Fraction, Apple TV+’s ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters‘ steps into its second season with Godzilla and Kong facing a new monster, dubbed Titan X. As Monarch begins tailing it, however, they discover that Titan X is revered as a deity among the many villages that fall along its predetermined route through Earth. This time, however, Apex intends to disrupt its journey and tame it, which puts them in direct opposition with Lee and Keiko.
By the end of the season, Titan X is revealed to be a gentle giant that just wishes to protect its egg, and with the help of Cate and others, it makes a safe return to the Axis Mundi. However, the final scene of the episode unveils what is potentially a far greater threat to humanity. Though this may be Lee’s first time witnessing this beast, fans of the Monsterverse should already be familiar with this Monster and everything it is capable of.
The Female Rodan Found by Lee is Different From the One in Godzilla King of the Monsters
Season 2 of ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ ends on the grandest of scales, revealing Rodan to be the potential antagonist for the next stretch of the story. While we have already seen a Rodan in ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters,’ the one we see here is a separate beast, and most likely that Rodan’s female mate. We see a similar type of pairing among the MUTOs in ‘Godzilla’ and the Skullcrawlers in ‘Kong: Skull Island,’ so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. What’s more troubling, however, is that this Rodan appears to be a free monster who is coexisting with humanity without showing much hostility. In ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters,’ Rodan storms out of containment in the Isla de Mara volcano and almost instantaneously wipes out the town, and nothing suggests that the same cannot happen with the new Rodan.
Rodan is also often referred to as the “fire demon,” and it’s for good reason. While it primarily resides in volcanoes and is capable of spreading the ashes around, its most devastating ability is to create cyclonic drifts with its wings, which can quickly turn into firestorms and wipe out entire cities. While it appears that the Rodan in ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ has only just awakened, the locals speak of her as an old inhabitant of the island, one who has previously attacked people who get too close. It’s possible that this Rodan has a similar relationship with the world as Titan X does, in that it only comes out to the surface for a small period of time and then returns to Axis Mundi.
Though the Isla de Mara volcano doesn’t strike as particularly unique in ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters,’ with context from the show, we can now identify it as a rift hotspot. On that note, the fact that this Rodan is most likely situated in Thailand makes for an uncanny coincidence, as its location is roughly antipodal to Isla de Mara in Mexico. Lee’s timeline is yet to discover the Hollow World, or how one can vertically travel through it and make it to different points on Earth, but many scenes in the show already foreshadow it. As such, figuring out Rodan’s migratory patterns can be the key to solving this riddle once and for all. That might just be what Lee and Isabel are after, but Lee’s decision to exclude Keiko from this expedition suggests that there might be something more life-threatening at play. Regardless, Rodan’s return marks a dramatic high point for the show, bringing it closer than ever to the chronology of the Godzilla movies and beyond.
Read More: Legacy of Monsters: Is Monarch a Real Secret Organization?
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