Warning: Spoilers for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters episodes 1 & 2

Summary

• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters explores historic moments in the Monsterverse timeline, focusing on the 1950s and the 1970s. The show sheds light on the discovery of the Titans and Monarch's early investigations into them.
• The events of the 2014 Godzilla movie, referred to as "G-Day," are a crucial part of the series. The show emphasizes the aftermath of G-Day and the impact it had on characters, particularly Cate.
• The main storyline of the show takes place in 2015, one year after G-Day. Humanity is still grappling with the reality of Titans, as seen through warning signs and public panic. Monarch is still a secret organization, unknown to most of the population.

Multiple points in the Monsterverse timeline are examined in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Apple TV+’s Godzilla show has opted for a unique approach with its Monarch story, which looks at more than just one period in the Monsterverse’s history. Two are given considerable focus, with others being incorporated as well.

As a franchise built around ancient creatures, the Monsterverse timeline encomes thousands of years of history. Of course, only a small portion of that is shown in the Monsterverse’s movies and shows. Though the Titans (and Monarch) have roots in the past, the actual starting point of the franchise was the present-day era. The only Monsterverse movie to explore an earlier period was Kong: Skull Island, which centered on the 1970s. As for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, it’s chosen two time periods, complete with two separate casts, to serve as the foundation for its overarching narrative.

4 1950s

The Discovery of the Titans

The importance of the 1950s to the Monsterverse was established as early as 2014’s Godzilla when the military showed footage of Godzilla and explained their attempt to kill him in 1954. But while the 1950s have always been integral to the Monsterverse timeline, there were never any scenes actually set during this period in Godzilla and Kong’s movies. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters changes this through the attention it gives to Lee Shaw, a young Bill Randa, and Keiko Mira, who have their own experiences with the Titans in the series.

With them, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is able to shed light on unseen, historic moments in Monsterverse canon. In addition to the 1950s being the period when modern humans first encountered Godzilla, it was a time when people within the government were still learning about the Titans. This was on display in the second episode which showed the trio coming face-to-face with what is seemingly their first Titan. In episode 1, it was revealed that these three people represent an early version of Monarch. Clearly, their story will be how the show explores the organization’s first investigations into the Titans.

As for how their misadventures tie in with the other main arc, the show has at least two major connections. One is Lee Shaw, who appears at the end of episode 2 as an older man played by Kurt Russell in the 2015 storyline. Another is Keiko, who was recognized as the grandmother of Cate and Kentaro when she was spotted in a picture found in Monarch’s files.

3 1973

Monarch’s Skull Island Expedition

The first scene in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters episode 1 is set in 1973 during the timeframe of Kong: Skull Island. In the 2015 movie, Monarch spearheaded an expedition to Kong's Skull Island home where a handful of characters got themselves tied up in a battle between Kong and his natural enemies, the Skullcrawlers. Though this happened in between the two main stories, it’s still significant to the show’s plot in that one of Skull Island’s characters is the catalyst for the story. Shown in Monarch’s opening sometime before his death in Skull Island, John Goodman’s Bill Randa is the person who drops the Monarch package that kickstarts Cate and Kentaro’s suspicions about the organization and its link to their father.

2 2014

G-Day

Though not one of the main two settings, the events of the 2014 Godzilla movie that started the franchise are a fundamental part of the series. Retroactively referred to as “G-Day” in Monarch: Legacy of the Monsters, this was the day that human civilization came to with the reality that monsters exist. As shown in the movie, the MUTOs emerged from hibernation and brought chaos to the surface, which culminated in Godzilla revealing himself to the world. In the process of tracking down the two MUTOs, Godzilla left San Francisco in ruin.

The fallout from this was briefly revisited after the movie in Godzilla: King of the Monsters when it showed how the Russell family was impacted by it. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters puts more emphasis on it by showing Cate’s flashbacks to G-Day across both of the show’s first two episodes. Apparently, she was on the Golden Gate Bridge when Godzilla plowed through in the movie. The tragedy of Godzilla inadvertently costing the lives of a bus full of children has haunted Cate, giving the show cause to make 2014 a recurring element of Monarch’s story.

1 2015

One Year After G-Day

The biggest storyline in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters follows Cate, Kentaro, and May as they get entangled with Monarch in 2015. In this arc, G-Day happened one year ago, meaning that humanity has had some time to get used to the idea that Titans are real. This is demonstrated through the Godzilla warning sign at the airport and the Titan alarm that sent the public into a panic in Tokyo. Clearly, humanity is still reeling from G-Day and processing the new status quo. Plus, the damage and pain caused by the events of G-Day is still fresh for a lot of people, specifically Cate.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters releases new episodes on Fridays on Apple TV+.

Heading in this direction fills a gap in the Monsterverse timeline left by Godzilla: King of the Monsters. King of the Monsters took place in 2019, five years after Godzilla’s fight with the MUTOs. In the timeline, Monarch is sandwiched between the first two Monsterverse installments, allowing it to explore the more immediate aftermath of Godzilla’s emergence. Whereas in the case of the King of the Monsters characters, people had already known about the monsters for a few years. Not only that, but Monarch’s existence had been exposed by that point. In the Apple TV+ series, most people still have no knowledge of Monarch or the fact that there was already a government organization keeping tabs on the monsters.

With that being the situation, it’s likely that humanity’s awareness of the Titans is limited to Godzilla and the MUTOs for now. King of the Monsters unleashed several Titans on the world via Ghidorah’s wide-reaching call, and also mentioned that Monarch had thus far discovered “17” Titans after Godzilla. Since this story in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is set four years prior to this, some of these monsters may be on Monarch’s radar, but perhaps not all of them - yet. Presumably, most of civilization has no idea just how many of these monsters are out there, hibernating in secret.