Warning! This article contains spoilers for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Summary

• Life in the Hollow Earth thrives thanks to light from mysterious crystals
• Shimo's icy powers caused the Ice Age in Earth's pre-history
• Mothra rises from her slumber in the Hollow Earth, prophesied to help defeat the Skar King

At long last, the films of the Monsterverse have expanded far past a simple disaster story revolving around a single gargantuan creature. From hidden worlds nestled deep within the Earth to alien invaders and long-lost secret cultures, the franchise has raised far more questions than it has answered.

At least, that was the case until the recent release of Godzilla and King Kong's second feature film sharing the screen within the context of the cinematic universe. By the end of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, a litany of long-standing questions that have been gestating around the series as far back as the release of Kong: Skull Island in 2017. From mysteries regarding the nature of the Hollow Earth and the ultimate fate of critically endangered Titan species, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has given many concrete answers to some of the series' oldest running questions.

8 How Does Anything Live In Hollow Earth?

The source of all life may be more mineral than celestial

The sun is ultimately responsible for providing energy to all living creatures, giving plants the resources they need to become the basis of the food chain while providing warmth and light for animals to exist in. The Hollow Earth doesn't have such luxuries, however, meaning the ultimate fuel for life for the megafauna and flora of the bizarre parallel ecosystem must come from elsewhere. Interestingly, the Hollow Earth was observed in Godzilla vs. Kong to have at least some ambient light source, meaning that whatever energy source that sustains life underground might also give off something similar to sunlight.

In Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, it's finally revealed how life in the Hollow Earth was able to not only survive, but thrive. Thanks to the light given off by the mysterious esoteric crystals shown off in the opening sequence of the film, the residents of the Hollow Earth are able to see each other, possibly feeding the native plant life that in turn fed the evolution of the massive beasts of the interior landscape. It's implied in Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire that life on Earth may have actually begun in the planet's interior originally.

7 How Does The Ice Age Fit Into Earth's Pre-History?

Shimo's introduction resolves a hidden query posed in an earlier film

There are a number of inconsistencies in the hypothetical ancient history offered by the Monsterverse's Hollow Earth that clash with what we know in real life. For one, how the Ice Age fits into the supposed genesis of life in the interior of the planet. Godzilla: King of the Monsters implied the Ice Age was caused by Titan activity of some sort, triggered after an attempt by the human race to enslave the titans. Even if this message was only surreptitiously hidden in secret messages requiring the film to be paused to be read, it still posed a great mystery.

The introduction of Shimo in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire finally ties together this secretive tease into the established timeline of the Monsterverse's history. The film definitively states in no uncertain that the frosty powers of the cryogenic kaiju were powerful enough to trigger a cataclysmic drop in global temperatures, directly following up on the minor tease from Godzilla: King of the Monsters. It's quite impressive that the Monsterverse was able to set up and pay off Shimo's existence so early on.

6 What Happened To Mothra?

Did the benevolent flying Titan really perish so easily?

Few Titans have been introduced in the Monsterverse with as much reverence as Mothra. From her angelic appearance to her haunted echoing wail, Mothra is one of the most iconic Godzilla monsters to be introduced in Legendary Pictures' Western take on the franchise. This made it all the more disappointing when Mothra was dispatched of within the same film she was introduced in, perishing from King Ghidorah's gravity beams while lending her life force to Godzilla in a heroic act of sacrifice.

While a tragedy, those familiar with Mothra in the original Godzilla movies know that the flying monster goddess has a very casual relationship with death. Sure enough, in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Mothra is resurrected, although she comes back to life in a deep slumber hidden far below the Hollow Earth. It's in this film that her relationship with the Iwi is revealed, reawakening thanks to Jia's influence and absconding to the surface just in time to prevent Godzilla from fighting his former rival.

5 What Was Mothra's Role In The Original Titan War?

And what was prophesied to be her role in the present?

In previous films, murmurs of an ancient war between Titans occasionally slipped their way past the various human protagonists, implying the Hollow Earth's gigantic denizens had a far deeper history than previously thought. While Godzilla and Kong have both been alluded to taking part in this war in some capacity, one famous kaiju remained out of the picture, being none other than Mothra herself. Frequently associated with the divine, the graceful insectoid Titan must've had some important role in the supposed war of the giants.

Sure enough, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire assures viewers that Mothra was indeed present for the cataclysmic conflict that once spanned the globe between the various Titans of the realm underneath the planet's surface. Mothra is revealed to have a revered role as the protector and deity of the Iwi people, much like her original role protecting the people of Infant Island in the original Shōwa era of Godzilla movies. Later prophesied to help Godzilla defeat the Skar King and Shimo, Mothra has continued to be a major player in the Monsterverse.

4 Who Started The Ancient Titan War?

Solid details surrounding the supposed conflict are finally unearthed

In previous Monsterverse entries, the vague suggestions of an ancient war between Titans long ago aren't given much substantiation, though the concept remains intriguing. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire not only expands upon this idea, but revives it, essentially following a second attempt from the Titan tyrant who began the original war. Early on in the film, the pre-history status quo of King Kong's simian species and the more monstrous creatures like Godzilla is established, with the apes protecting humans within the Hollow Earth while Titans roamed the surface.

At some point, the Skar King became obsessed with the idea of ruling over the surface, launching an invasion against Godzilla and his ilk. Using hundreds of enslaved apes, as well as a telepathically-enthralled Shimo, the Skar King was nearly successful in his ambitions, only to be sealed away alongside his army by Godzilla. If the Skar King lost this supposed war, it's still left unclear as to how the surface came to be populated by humans rather than other Titans like Godzilla.

3 What Happened To Kong's Species?

King Kong may not have been the last of his kind after all

In his Monsterverse debut in Kong: Skull Island, King Kong is thought to be the last of his kind, living out a solitary existence on the small island while defending it from invasive species. Castaway Hank Marlow claims as much, reiterating that Kong is the "last of his kind, but still growing," possibly having learned as much from the tribe of Iwi living on the island. Dubbed Titanus Kong by the Titan research and peacekeeping organization Monarch, little was known about Kong's race, implied to be an extinct but surprisingly advanced civilization in Godzilla vs. Kong.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire expands upon Kong's species, now simply referred to as "The Great Apes" by both Monarch and the Iwi. It's revealed that Kong is not indeed the only living Great Ape, with the vile Skar King and his army having been long-dormant within a sealed crater after being imprisoned there by Godzilla millennia ago. Among them is even a young Great Ape, Suko, offering proof that the simian race holds some kind of future beyond King Kong himself.

2 What Happened To The Iwi?

Like Kong, Jia was thought to be the last of her culture

In the 1960s time period of Kong: Skull Island, there was still a healthy population of Iwi people living among the terrifying megafauna of Skull Island, subsisting under the watchful eye of Kong himself. By the modern day, it's revealed that the entire culture has only a single survivor, Jia, who maintains a close relationship with her people's protector. The Monsterverse comic Kingdom Kong implied that the majority of the Iwi were wiped out by intense storms following the rampage of the bat-like Titan, Camatazotz.

This neglected plot thread is finally picked back up again in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, as an ancient population of Iwi are found to be living in the Hollow Earth deep underground. Not only that, but this population is revealed to have maintained a close relationship to both Godzilla and Mothra, both being worshiped as gods that protect them from the Skar King and Shimo's destructive rampages. The Iwi are also revealed to have some telepathic abilities, possibly explaining the Skull Island population's lack of spoken language.

1 What Was The Nature Of Jia And Kong’s Bond?

Kong's only close relationship with a human is given more context

In Godzilla vs. Kong, King Kong is seen in the modern day for the first time in the series, having developed a close relationship with the last Iwi child, Jia. Jia is revealed to have a connection with the Great Ape that borders on the supernatural, being eerily in-tune with his moods, desires, and the telepathic signals he seems to receive. While clearly extending beyond mere animal husbandry, the exact nature of Jia and Kong's bond isn't well-defined by the end of the previous Monsterverse film.

Jia returns in the cast of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and along with her come some stunning revelations about her actual relationship with the bestial defender. It turns out that the population of Iwi living within the Hollow Earth have tremendous telepathic capabilities, and some of this power may have been the result of Jia's heritage, leaking in to her relationship with Kong. Not only that, but Jia turns out to be critical to a prophecy that goes on to heavily influence the events of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.