In Review: Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (S2 – EP 8) Separate Ways

Synopsis: In Separate Ways, Titan X makes landfall in Australia, where Shaw lures Godzilla into a showdown. Isabel uses the battle as a distraction for her secret operation.

The Story

Picking the story up from where last week left off, Titan X has made landfall on a beach in Australia, and Lee Shaw is racing across the sand to set up the signalling device Zuc created in order to draw Godzilla toward the creature.

Meanwhile, aboard the Monarch ship, Cate and Keiko seek out Tim’s help to make a case for testing their theory. Cate believes she can communicate with Titan X and guide it back onto its migration route, but Monarch’s leadership isn’t convinced. Even so, Tim quietly allocates resources to help them push forward.

At this point, Kentaro returns to the ship and reunites with May, aka Cora, who immediately presses him about his trip. When Kentaro reveals that he met with Isabel Simmons, it instantly puts May on edge, given Isabel’s position as the daughter of Apex’s CEO. She later reports her concerns to Tim.

Back in Australia, Cate, Keiko, and Kentaro fly out to the beach but run straight into trouble when a panicked flock of seagulls collides with their helicopter, bringing it down. Tim quickly dispatches a rescue team, but fortunately the group survives the crash and manages to link up with Lee, who informs them the device is already active. That leaves them with very little time to try Cate’s plan.

As Cate attempts to communicate with Titan X, with Kentaro standing close by, we cut to the Pacific, where Godzilla begins to stir beneath the ocean. Cate soon realises that Titan X has laid an egg and is effectively anchored in place, unable to move even if it wanted to.

At this point, Kentaro receives a call from Isabel asking if everything is ready. Reluctantly, and without fully understanding what he’s set in motion, he gives her the go-ahead.

Right on cue, Godzilla arrives and launches an all-out attack on Titan X. As chaos erupts, Kentaro pulls Cate to safety while a group of Apex contractors swoop in and steal the egg while Titan X is distracted defending itself.

As Lee, Cate, Keiko, and Kentaro make their escape, the camera lingers on Kentaro, whose expression sits somewhere between bemused and horrified—a quiet “what have I just done?” moment that lands nicely.

Acting

Mari Yamamoto and Anna Sawai both put in solid performances this week, particularly in their scenes alongside Tim (Joe Tippett) and Monarch superior Reddick Barris (Curtiss Cook). Those exchanges carry a lot of weight, grounding the episode’s bigger ideas in something more human and immediate.

Meanwhile, the sequences featuring Lee Shaw (Kurt Russell) tearing across the beach to set up the equipment inject a strong sense of urgency into proceedings. There’s a real forward momentum to these moments, like the episode itself is racing against the clock, and that tension seeps into everything around it.

Overall

This was a pretty strong episode overall. The climactic fight between Godzilla and Titan X is surprisingly heartbreaking, especially as we see Titan X not only trying to defend itself, but also reacting to the Apex contractors making off with its egg.

There’s a real sense of desperation in that moment. Titan X isn’t just fighting for survival—it’s fighting for something it can’t afford to lose, which gives the sequence an emotional weight that goes beyond spectacle.

What really sells it, though, is how the scene is juxtaposed with Kentaro’s reaction. The look on his face as he begins to grasp what his association with Isabel has led to is quietly devastating—a dawning realisation that he’s helped set something in motion that can’t easily be undone.