Warning: Spoilers for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2, episode 10
There’s a possibility that Monarch: Legacy of Monsters has sneakily introduced an ally from Godzilla’s past. And if not, it may be one that may join forces with him in the future. In Toho’s movies, Godzilla has fought alongside a host of kaiju. Over the years, he’s enjoyed team-ups with the likes of Rodan, Mothra, Anguirus, King Caesar, Jet Jaguar, and Gorosaurus.
As for the Monsterverse incarnation of Godzilla, he’s only had one onscreen team-up with one of the aforementioned monsters. In both Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, he aligned with Mothra, with whom he shares a symbiotic relationship. His only other ally, albeit one that he seems to only work with reluctantly, is Kong. The two worked together to beat Mechagodzilla, and despite a brief resumption of their rivalry, they teamed up once more to stop the Skar King’s plan.
Another team-up with Kong is now likely to occur, as the two are on track to return for Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, which is expected to feature SpaceGodzilla as the villain. So for the time being, there’s no indication that Godzilla will recieve any new allies in the near future. However, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters may have introduced one from his past. And if so, they could reunite in the show’s third season, possibly on the same side.
Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters May Have Introduced A Second Rodan
At the end of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 finale, Kurt Russell’s Lee Shaw traveled to Thailand on the hunt for a creature (and an Axis Mundi rift) being pursued by Isabel Simmons and Kentaro Randa. His search brought him to Rodan, who was standing above a volcano. This was a shocking twist, and not only because the Monsterverse’s movies have done nothing with the Titan since 2019. His appearance in the episode is a sign that two Rodans currently occupy the planet.
It was established in Godzilla: King of the Monsters that Monarch set up Outpost 56 in Isla de Mara, Mexico to monitor Rodan, who was nesting in a volcano there, in 1991. It was understood that he was in hibernation there up until the events of the film, where the movie’s villains used the Orca device to wake him up in 2019. Yet, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ Rodan scene takes place near or in Thailand in 2017, and here, he’s very much awake and active. Clearly, the timetable doesn’t add up.
What this suggests is that there are two living Rodans in the modern era of the Monsterverse. It’s worth noting that such a twist wouldn’t go against classic Toho lore, considering that the original Rodan movie from 1956 also dealt with two Rodans. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters may be taking inspiration from that. If that’s the case, he may have a history that’s completely different from his King of the Monsters counterpart.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ Rodan May Have Teamed Up With Godzilla Against Ghidorah
Introducing a second Rodan could tie back to an Easter egg from King of the Monsters. While the main characters were traversing through Godzilla’s underwater city in the Hollow Earth tunnel, a mural could be spotted that depicted Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan all teaming up against King Ghidorah. It may have meant as a reference to the specific kaiju matchup that transpired in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, but it can also be taken as a sign that a similar fight happened at some point in the Monsterverse’s canon.
Of course, if it did happen, it didn’t involve King of the Monsters’ Rodan. Michael Dougherty, who directed the film, previously explained that his egg was left by his parents inside the Isla de Mara volcano. He’s a young member of his species whose first time leaving the nest came during the movie.
Godzilla, Mothra, and a version of Rodan joining forces against Ghidorah is not a farfetched notion. After all, Godzilla and Ghidorah are ancient enemies with an ambiguous history. It’s not hard to imagine that one of the ancestors of the Rodan in King of the Monsters was on a different side in a previous Godzilla-Ghidorah battle. Since Rodan did bow down to Godzilla eventually, it makes sense that he could have allied with Godzilla under different circumstances.
As for the ancient Rodan illustrated in the mural, it could be that he’s the one living in the volcano in Thailand. Going in this direction would allow the introduction of a second Rodan to have meaning; if this Rodan is no different than the one featured in King of the Monsters, bringing in a second one may come across as a pointless retcon. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters can make this one feel distinct from him by revealing that he’s an ancient Titan with a rich and storied history of his own.
Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters Can Finally Deliver A Godzilla-Rodan Team-Up
Making Godzilla and this Rodan ancient allies could go hand-in-hand with another long-awaited Monsterverse moment that Monarch: Legacy of Monsters now has the potential to deliver. Although King of the Monsters was largely accurate to Toho’s movies in terms of how the four monsters are typically perceived, it did disappoint in one key area: Godzilla and Rodan never got to team up.
Admittedly, it left the door open for that to happen later since Rodan survived the ending, but Godzilla has since had two more movie appearances, and it still hasn’t happened. If the films have moved away from Rodan to focus on Godzilla’s relationship with Kong, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ Rodan storyline presents the Monsterverse with a golden opportunity, as it can finally put Godzilla and Rodan on the same side. If they teamed up thousands of years ago, the show could facilitate a reunion, with the pair knowing they can rely on one another to beat a common foe.
As season 2 made clear, there’s enough room in the story for more than two monsters, so it’s certainly plausible that an additional Titan other than Rodan will be its main antagonist. If that’s the case, Godzilla could have a reason to join forces with the legendary Fire Demon. A proper Godzilla and Rodan team-up could amount to what could very well be the show’s most exciting monster battle to date.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
