Monarch: Legacy of Monsters survived its first season, secured the renewal and returns with a second outing that evidently didn’t learn a whole lot. As a new Titan emerges, our characters embark on a global expedition to understand and put an end to its path of destruction.
I need to talk about this season in two sections; on one hand we have six episodes of messy, uneven and poorly paced mediocrity to open the season, then we follow that up with four deep, thrilling, emotional and action packed episodes that are what this entire season should have been. The bulk of this season struggles with the balance between its past characters and modern day arcs. Once again it’s the characters in the past that are deeply compelling, contrasting the modern characters who are somewhat insufferable. The one silver lining is that Keiko (Mari Yamamoto) has crossed into the modern narrative, bringing with her so much of the heart, emotion and intrigue that is prevalent in the past. There’s just so much depth to Bill Randa, Keiko Miura and Lee Shaw, that any content focusing on their (increasingly complex) relationships is endlessly engaging. The issue is that these moments are relatively sporadic through the first six episodes, sprinkled amongst boring modern sequences that are painfully slow and uneventful. There’s certainly compelling, and even exciting, scenes through these early episodes, but nothing consistent enough to make it an engaging watch.
So much of the narrative within the first six episodes has been lost to my memory because of how inconsequential and forgettable it all is. There’s a neat concept of both the past and present characters encountering this Titan, allowing us to learn about it across time, but it’s only cool in concept as there’s nothing all too exciting done with it (aside from one great moment in the latter parts of the season). There’s a couple of subplots acting as throughlines through these episodes, but there’s also a couple of characters who have next to no real purpose. One of those characters is May, and it shouldn’t come as a shock because she had no real place in the first season either. She doesn’t have an arc of her own and is only really utilised in a unique way for part of a single episode. Then there’s Kentaro… and holy shit I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a character go from being so useless to the point of being invisible to being one of the most idiotic and moronic characters in the space of a season. At first he’s just floating through the season purely because he has to be there due to his familial connections to other characters. He’s absolutely boring to watch, but in a waste of time way not an offensive way. Then the writers transform him into an insufferable moron that results in me hating actually seeing him on screen. That transformation actually happens in the final few episodes, so I’m getting ahead of myself here.
In terms of iconic Titans and large scale battles, this season is lacking way more than the previous season. I understand that the purpose of this show is to focus on the humans, but the first season handled Godzilla really well by centering the story around him yet not having him be the answer to every conflict or solution. This is teased to be a season where Kong would play a huge role, but outside of the pilot he’s almost entirely absent. It’s a plot element that’s entirely mismanaged in these early episodes, resulting in fewer action sequences, especially in those early episodes. Just to be clear, the action sequences themselves are all incredible and beautifully cinematic. Some are filmed from a human level and some from a Titan scale, and they’re just an absolute blast. My gripe is that there’s so few of them in the bulk of the season, and they’re all so short. There’s even one which is entirely a dream sequence, which is the laziest way to admit they realised they hadn’t had an action scene in a while. However the last four episodes are quite jam packed, with the final two episodes packing in some phenomenal action sequences that had me wishing we got this for the entire series.
The first half of the season is just so choppy and up and down in pacing that it’s hard, if not impossible, to really get into it. Then we pivot to the final four episodes that may as well have been made by a new creative team, because while they’re not phenomenal, they’re a huge and exciting step up. The arc through these episodes is a lot more focused, intense, dramatic and emotional when concerning the past characters (and their modern-day presence). There’s still some flaws carried through from the rest of the season, but the pace is wonderfully consistent and it’s moving towards a clear goal that actually remembers Kong was teased for this season. These episodes feel epic, like they have stakes, while the rest feels distinctly like a subpar TV show. It leads to a finale that’s exciting and explosive, leaving me wanting more but also weary of the fact that next season could just be more of the same overall.
Lastly, there’s the performances. Mari Yamamoto is still the beating heart of this narrative, both in the past and modern day arcs. She’s integral to every story beat and does a great job of playing both versions of her character, one who has gone through a lot more stress and grief than the other. Any time she’s on screen you know you’re getting a top notch performance. Rounding out the standouts are Anders Holm (Billy), Kurt Russell (Lee) and Wyatt Russell (Young Lee), who each bring their A-game and contribute greatly to the emotional weight and dramatic intrigue of the series. The interactions between each of the above are carrying the series on its back; so much so that without their arcs it wouldn’t have survived a season. Anna Sawai (Cate) copped some flack in the first season for a so-so performance, but honestly she’s stepped up a decent amount. I believe it has to do with her chemistry with Yamamoto, but we’re actually seeing some of the acting that won her an Emmy.
I also want to praise Joe Tippett, who turned one of the more disliked characters in the beginning of the series into one of the most fun. His energy and charisma lights up the screen, injecting personality where there’d otherwise be none. Lastly, there’s Ren Watabe (Kentaro). While the writing of the character is certainly bad, I haven’t seen a more uninspired and lazy performance in a while. He just looks bored, and not from a character personality standpoint. His every emotion is delivered in the same flat, dull and lifeless monotone voice, resulting in a character I can’t enjoy watching. It may sound harsh, but I’d gleefully welcome a recast for this character going forward.
In the end, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 is overall worse than its predecessor, but it finishes strong with some of the series’ best content. The first chunk of the season is uneven, messy and quite flat, being saved by fantastic past-set characters and a few riveting performances. If you can brave those early episodes, you’ll be rewarded with a latter half that is thrilling, emotionally impactful, and makes the slog of a journey to get there worth it. While not quite as much action as I’d like, it’s exciting whenever the Titans do go toe-to-toe, so I can’t complain too much.
6.5/10
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