Warning: minor spoilers for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ Season 2 premiere are in play. 

While Season 2 of Apple TV’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters takes us back to a time before Godzilla: King of the Monsters it still feels like change is on the horizon. Part of that is because of the time warp that saw Keiko Randa (Mari Yamamoto) emerging from Axis Mundi after almost six decades. However, the very structure of the MonsterVerse’s Titan-focused agency is also shifting, through the attitudes of people like Tim (Joe Tippett) butting up against authority. 

Both of those threads are very present in the Season 2 premiere, “Cause and Effect”, and if you ask me, these two Monarch figures are about to set out on a journey to change the way things operate. So when the opportunity arose to speak with both Joe Tippett and Mari Yamamoto, to promote Legacy of Monsters’ return to our screens, that subject was firmly on my mind. And as you’ll read below, both actors have an interesting outlook on the future of Monarch – which after last week’s premiere installment is very much in question.

Joe Tippett and Mirelly Taylor look up with concern in Monarch's control room in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters - S2 E1 "Cause and Effect."

Tim Is Ready To Fight For The Future Of Monarch

As far as the mononymic Tim is concerned, the pressures of operating within Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ bureaucratic structure have hit an interesting impasse. As Apple TV’s entry in the MonsterVerse story has shown us, there’s a bit of a power vacuum to fill. With both Titan X making its debut, and its surprise vanquishing of previous Monarch boss Natalia Verdugo (Mirelly Taylor) in the process, Titan and Human alike are about to see a shift in the ranks. 

While we know that eventually leads to King Ghidorah challenging the hierarchy in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, it’s the human side of things that’s really in question. And that leads us to Joe Tippett’s remarks below, from That Hashtag Show’s conversation with him and Mari Yamamoto:

I think the consequences are even higher, as there are more threats introduced – versus in the immediate response to G-Day. Now it’s sort of like, ‘Ok, we live in a world of monsters. So how do we respond to that?’ And there are competing ideas, and power struggles, and things like that. … but Tim in that vein wants to study them, and try to figure out what’s the best way to co-exist. Because I think they’re going to win that argument. 

I’m surprised that I’ve been so caught up in the story for Monarch that I forget it actually takes place shortly after 2014’s Godzilla; the “G-Day” that Mr. Tippett refers to above. That sort of flashback action is the key to showrunner Chris Black’s midquel, which is set to fill in the history we didn’t see in-between Warner Bros.’ big screen adventures. 

We’re about to see more backstory filled in throughout the near future, as Apple also has a prequel series focused on Wyatt Russell’s Lee Shaw, and a very special mission in 1984. Which is a good place to shift our discussion, as Mari Yamamoto’s Keiko Randa is another party that bridges to that unknown history – and she has another viewpoint to offer on Monarch’s future.

Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, and Wyatt Russell look ahead with curiosity in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters - S2 E1 "Cause and Effect."

Keiko Randa’s Old School Methods Seem To Be What Monarch Is Missing

57 years in a lost pocket of existence leads to quite a bit of a culture shock for Keiko, one of three characters that make up Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ ‘50s based contingent. Helping shape the Monarch that her husband Bill (Anders Holm) would eventually help form, the couple pals around with Lee Shaw in search of the next beastie in need of some studying. 

Season 2 shows that trio embarking on their own journey to discover Titan X, 60 years prior to Monarch’s relatively contemporary 2017 setting. And as Mari Yamamoto told That Hashtag Show, her fledgling alliance with Tim seems to bring up these specific memories:

I think that Tim’s heart is in the right place. He really wants to do the right thing, he shares his fascination with the monsters, and all of those things. But I think, like [Tim says] in the show … as an institution becomes bigger, it gets harder and harder [to maintain.] The bureaucracy weighs down the initial sort of light-footedness that the original trio had.

By time Keiko returns to our world, there are a lot of adjustments to be made. Not only is Monarch much more kitted out than when she left it, it’s practically a government agency. Which, as you’ll read in her further remarks below, is a far cry from where things were in the ‘50s: 

It’s kind of easy for her to say, because she was the decision maker, and she could charge forward. Lee Shaw had to sort of clean up their messes all the time, but he would; and we had that kind of trust and teamwork. But seeing what it’s become now, is beyond her imagination. I think she slowly learns that there’s so many forces at play, and how hard it is to sort of maintain the purity of a mission. But at the same time, she’s unstoppable; so what’s missing is maybe the courage, and a little bit of the push of “no, this is our way.” The faith, and the belief, and the courage. I think that’s what she kind of brings back, and pushes Tim forward with Monarch.

The future of Monarch’s leadership style appears to be a pretty important theme on the road ahead. Which is an ingenious way of recentering the humans in the MonsterVerse as the main thrust of the plot; further reinforcing all of the moving pieces we’ll be seeing on the big screen in next year’s Godzilla x Kong: Supernova. 

For now, we’ll be returning to 2017, 1957,  So don’t forget that new episodes of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 premiere every Friday, only on Apple TV. And for all of the latest and greatest in pop culture (Titan-related, or otherwise), keep a browser tab tuned to THS’ TV News archive!