"Aftermath" is the first episode of the first season of the MonsterVerse series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
Synopsis
Cate travels to Japan to get answers about her father and uncovers a shocking secret. Keiko, Lee, and Billy pursue a theory about Titans.
Plot
1973
During the Mission: Skull, the expedition's helicopter squadron crash lands somewhere in the island. William Randa records a video on his camera for someone who he calls "buddy" apologizing for his mistakes and talks about leaving something for the future, a legacy. As he does that, a monster starts chasing him and he runs through the bamboo forest, dropping the camera while doing so. He gets cornered at a rocky shore and waits in horror as the Mother Longlegs nears him. He takes off his backpack and throws it into the ocean, hoping it would be somehow reach his buddy. The Mother Longlegs charges Randa but unintentionally awakens a Mantleclaw. The two monsters fight until they fall into the water. Randa watches the floating backpack flow away with the current.
2013
Sea of Japan
A Japanese trawler boat pulls a haul of fish from the sea. One of the fishermen finds Randa's backpack in the net and sets it aside.
April 1, 2015
Tokyo
Cate Randa's plane to Japan lands, but a passenger stops her from getting off until the people in hazmat suits finish spraying them with decontamination chemicals. He explains it is for killing by parasites. Cate, seeing the hazmat suits, has a flashback of G-Day. She walks to customs when she sees a Godzilla evacuation route that triggers another violent flashback of G-Day. She tells the immigration officer that she's in the country to settle her deceased father's affairs.
Once out of the airport, Cate hails a taxi with a talkative driver who believes the events of San Francisco were a hoax. She notices the weaponry around the city as they are prepared to face such a disaster. Cate arrives at an apartment building and answers a call from her worried mother. She uses a set of keys to unlock the front door, though it working surprises her. She walks inside and notices the decorated home, complete with pictures of her father and another family. A woman is inside the home and startles at the site of Cate. A boy, Kentaro, runs out and, after some shock, Cate and Kentaro realize they have the same father.
1959
Kazakhstan
Two scientists, Billy and Keiko Randa, and a military officer, Lee Shaw, drive to a radioactive location. Keiko gives each of them a gas mask. Their objective is to prove "the network" is real and that their theory isn't a fantasy. The trio breaks past the gate and into the forest. A boy, wielding a gun, leaps out from the trees. Keiko speaks to him in Russian and explains who they are, and how they want to help, and warns about the contamination. He believes it's a fairytale used to keep the curious away. The old folks say the government burned a hole through the Earth to Hell. He leaves them to find out the truth for themselves. After walking for a while, Keiko realizes the boy is right when there isn't any radiation detected. They remove their masks and continue.
April 1, 2015
Tokyo
Kentaro doesn't believe Cate because she doesn't look like their father. He wants proof so she shows him pictures of herself, Hiroshi, and her mother. Cate wonders who their father was cheating on first; his mother or hers. Emiko is hoping Cate can tell them where Hiroshi is and what happened to him. Cate gives them keys and starts to leave, as she can't help them understand anything.
1959
Kazakhstan
Kei, Billy, and Lee enter an abandoned power plant that is meant to be ground zero. Each time the meter spikes it disappears, as if it's being absorbed. Lee isn't surprised as the monsters they have seen before consume radiation. They set bombs around the plant and detonate to reveal a chamber, voids, deep within the bedrock. Keiko embraces Billy with glee. The explosion creates an aftershock that fractures the surrounding buildings.
April 1, 2015
Tokyo
Cate is walking when she answers a call from her mom again. Her mom asks if someone is in the apartment, and Cate wonders if she knows. Her mom is desperate for answers. The phone goes dead and an alarm blares from the phone and systems around the city. Kentaro helps her up as the early warning system for Godzilla is going off. They follow a group of people into the train station where they'll wait until the all clear. Emiko wants to know if Hiroshi was with Cate during the San Francisco attack. She says he wasn't there.
2014
Godzilla is rampaging the city. Cate opens the emergency door in the school bus and helps several students escape before it falls into the crater made by Godzilla.
April 1, 2015
Tokyo
Cate's visceral flashback triggers a panic attack and she tries to leave the station. Emiko restrains Cate and guides the girl back to the bench to console her.
1959
Kazakhstan
Keiko, Billy, and Lee enter one of the plants and descend to a railing where they see a new form of embryonic MUTO. They determine it's a nursery and need a sample of the genetic material. Lee warns that the mother might be nearby. Billy is excited to learn whatever they can about the new species, but Lee wants them to be safe. Keiko goes over the railing despite their protests. Lee joins her to keep her safe while she collects the material. Keiko and Billy kiss before she starts the descent.
April 1, 2015
Tokyo
The all-clear alarm sounds through the PA system. Everyone leaves the tunnels. Emiko, Kentaro, and Cate start walking back to the apartment. Kentaro translates his mother's request for Cate to have tea with her and discuss her life. Cate doesn't want to spend time with the other woman. Kentaro stops her to ask if she got the answers to give the other woman. She thinks their father is bad, so he offers to show her his work.
Kenataro takes Cate to Hiroshi's office where Kentaro believes their father worked in satellites. She finds a safe behind a map and, after several failed attempts, guesses the passcode using a combination of everyone's birthdays. She takes a bag out of the safe and empties its contents on the table. The bag is property of Randa, W.J. She recognizes the symbol on the bag as belonging to the men in hazmat suits on G-Day. Cate makes a deal with Kentaro for him to help her. In exchange, she'll get out of his life forever.
Kentaro goes to May and asks for her help. She refuses to help him, so he offers to pay her. This offends her so she leaves. He follows her and they argue about their broken relationship. He opens up to her about why he wants the drive opened, so she agrees to help. May takes them to where she lives and plugs the data system into her computer. She decrypts it easily as the encryption technology on the drive is outdated.
At Monarch, alarms go off on Collins's computer, as she works in data culling. She contacts her superior and then visits Tim in his office downstairs. She shows him the few megabytes of the files that she has. She asks if she should kick it up to Verdugo, but he turns her down as he'll handle it. He rushes her out of the office so he can make a phone call.
Back in May's place, the trio examines the opened files. Keiko recognizes a picture of Bigfoot. Kentaro notices a map that looks like the satellite map that was in Hiroshi's office. The files are labeled with the Monarch logo. Cate tells them that Monarch was there on G-Day. While the city was coming down and people were dying, the Monarch operatives were running around taking pictures. She thinks their father worked for Monarch. Kentaro doesn't believe that and tells May, in Japanese, that his father would be alive if he wasn't with Cate on G-Day. Cate, in Japanese, reiterates to Kentaro that Hiroshi wasn't with her that day.
2014, G-Day +5
San Francisco
Cate, who is walking through a camp, answers a call from her father. He appears a few moments later and they embrace. She wants to take him back to their tent but he refuses. He gives her bus passes for both her and her mother that will take them to Reno. There's a hotel and car in her name waiting. Hiroshi needs Cate to take care of her mother now. There's something he needs to do, but he knows she'll be alright. He apologizes while she stares at him in shock. He says he loves them both and then leaves.
April 1, 2015
Tokyo
A week after Hiroshi left, Cate and her mom got a call from the state police in Fairbanks, Alaska. The bush plane he was on disappeared in a storm. They never found the wreckage. Kentaro knows Hiroshi isn't a monster and must have a reason for what he did. Cate doesn't want to hang around for more answers. She spots a file on May's computer of a woman standing in a huge print. The woman is her and Kentaro's grandmother - Keiko Randa.
1959
Kazakhstan
Keiko and Lee investigate the embryos when the earth cracks. She finds multiple sets of appendages and determines they're insectoid. When they turned on the reactor, it must have drawn them to the surface to feed. The ground rumbles again, and Lee tells Kei to forget the timeline as they have to go. The building becomes unstable. Moments later, the insectoid eggs hatch. Lee and Keiko flee to their ropes, but Billy struggles to pull Keiko up. The insectoids attack Kei and try to pull her down. Lee shoots at the insects and then tries to grab Kei's hand, but she can't reach. The insectoids overtake Kei and weigh the rope down too much. It slips from Billy's hands, and she falls.
Quotes
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Cast
Starring
- Anna Sawai as Cate Randa
- Kiersey Clemons as May Olowe-Hewitt
- Ren Watabe as Kentaro Randa
- Mari Yamamoto as Keiko Randa
- Anders Holm as young William Randa
- Joe Tippett as Tim
- Wyatt Russell in the role of Lee Shaw
- Kurt Russell in the role of Lee Shaw
Guest Starring
- Takehiro Hira as Hiroshi Randa
- Qyoko Kudo as Emiko Randa
- Tamlyn Tomita as Caroline Randa
- John Goodman as William Randa
Co-Starring
- Hiroshi Ikushima as Taxi Driver
- Takeshi Kurokawa as Male Passenger
- Anton Markelov as Young Hunter
- Camille Legg as Collins
- Hiroko Yano as Passport Officer
- Kengo Hashimoto as Japanese Fisherman
- Junichi Tarjiri as Japanese Trawler Captain
Appearances
Monsters
- Godzilla
- Mother Longlegs
- Mantleclaw
- Endopede
- Kong (Stock footage)
- Ion Dragon (Photograph)