"Departure"
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"Departure" (旅立ち Tabidachi) is the second episode of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Directed by Matt Shakman and written by Chris Black, it premiered on Apple TV+ along with the first episode on November 17, 2023.
Plot
Manila, 1952: Lieutenant Lee Shaw reports to his superior officer following a fight with two fellow soldiers who were harassing a woman in a bar. The disappointed officer invokes Shaw's father, but he points out the man is now a drunk. He is assigned as the security escort for a Japanese scientist in the Philippines, with a warning that a similar mission recently cost an escort his life. Assuming the scientist in question is male, Shaw flirts with Dr. Keiko Miura before she explains who she is. They have a tense drive into the wilderness. Keiko explains that she's investigating an unusual radioactive isotope detected in the area that appears to have originated close by.
Tokyo, 2015: A sleepless Kentaro Randa returns to his father Hiroshi's office. After looking at the family photos on the desk, he trashes the room in a fury until reaching a locked file cabinet. One of the keys Cate Randa gave him unlocks it, and he finds a folder inside bearing the Monarch symbol. Inside are documents pertaining to Lee, including a letter welcoming him to an assisted living community outside of Tokyo and a roll of film labelled "Philippines '52."
Lee continues to needle Keiko, complimenting her fluent English and questioning how likely they are to find anything if the military only sent her to investigate. He excuses it by saying that she made a snap judgment about him too, but when pressed admits that it's not the same, seeming to impress her. They hear something nearby in the woods; Shaw draws his pistol and disappears to investigate, leaving Keiko alone. She soon finds herself face-to-face with Bill Randa, camera in tow. Lee, having crept around him, aims the pistol at his head and demands to know who he is. He describes himself as a Navy veteran and cryptozoologist, and concludes from their equipment that their destination is the same as his: "the truth."
A woman follows Cate as she walks to the train station. She takes another call from her worried mother Caroline and tells her that she's coming home and what she's discovered in Japan has nothing to do with them—as usual, it's all about her father. While she looks at departure times, Tim trikes to strike up a conversation with her. Unsettled by him, she tries to leave, until he says he needs to talk to her about the files, which are highly valuable and belong to his organization, Monarch. She asks to make a call first; once they step outside, she throws the phone at his face and runs. The woman who was following her, Duvall, catches her and drags her into a car. Tim assures her they won't hurt as he pulls a hood over her head, and she panics as she flashes back to Godzilla in San Francisco. While thrashing, she kicks Duvall in the head, causing her to slam the car into a median barrier, flipping it over. Cate escapes the car first and flees the scene.
Kentaro visits May Olowe-Hewitt, who still regards him coldly, and asks if she has a projector for the film reel he found. He apologizes for ghosting her; she apologizes too, saying she tried clinging to him to keep from drowning, but still doesn't want to see him. In her apartment, her decryption of the files continues as she prepares a backup. Cate tries to report her abduction at a police station, only to realize she left all of her identification in the car. The officer is dismissive of her, but looks at her with renewed interest after making a call. She rushes out of the station. Kentaro returns home, where his mother Emiko has brought out photo albums. Seeing how angry he is, she shreds some of the photos, realizing she's angry too, and he joins her. He picks up one photo fragment and is surprised to see Lee smiling back at him.
Bill explains to Keiko and Lee that he's hunting a dragon, reputed by locals to leave a trail of fire across the sky, which he believes could actually be ionizing radiation. Keiko asks him to join them, overruling Lee and dismissing him as her escort. As they continue into the jungle, Bill shares with Keiko that he may have seen a dragon himself before, the sort of creature he has termed a Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism (MUTO). He shows her a map of the path in the sky the supposed dragon has been tracing for centuries, which they realize is a perfect match for the radiation readings surveillance aircraft have taken in the area. The maps lead them to a clearing where, impossibly, a rusted and battered destroyer sits. Randa recognizes it immediately as the USS Lawton.
Wary of every stranger she passes, Cate walks back to May's apartment, only to find Tim and Duvall already inside. May pulls her into a dark corner before they can spot her and the two women quietly leave together. Meanwhile, Emiko tells Kentaro that Hiroshi's father died in Vietnam when he was just 18, leaving his Uncle Lee as his only family. Kentaro questions why Hiroshi never mentioned the man to him. He receives a text from May asking him to call her, but before he can answer, Tim and Duvall barge in, asking for Bill's files. Duvall tells Emiko that Kentaro stole the files, but she soon concludes she's lying and cues him to escape by giving him Lee's picture. She distracts the agents while he pretends to retrieve the files and sneaks out, with Tim only catching on and realizing who Kentaro is when he sees Hiroshi's photo. Furious, he slams Bill's empty bag down in front of Emiko.
Bill recounts that the Lawton sank 200 miles west of Pearl Harbor in 1943, a shocking distance away from the Philippines. He resumes filming as they explore inside the ship. When he searches through a box and takes out a baseball cap, Keiko spots his name on the box and realizes that he once served on the Lawton. He tells her about its sinking in more detail now: they thought they hit a Japanese submarine at first and the ship ultimately sank in under three minutes, leaving him the sole survivor. While driving, Lee notices his Geiger counter clicking, then a glowing trail in the sky. He turns around.
May retrieves a go bag, with some of its supplies, like extra passports, surprising Cate. They meet up with Kentaro. Cate wants to just give Monarch the files, while May wants to reach out to her contacts to stay on the run, but Kentaro, holding Lee's photo, tells them he knows exactly where to go.
Strange organic growth on the walls of the Lawton precedes a room full of dead sailors entombed in a waxy substance, horrifying Bill. As the prepare to leave, they notice a fresh secretion.
A gardener carefully watches Cate, Kentaro, and May enter Lee's retirement home. He brightens upon hearing that Kentaro is Hiroshi's son, and soon ushers them all outside. After telling him about the files they found, they ask if he knows why Hiroshi traveled to Alaska. Lee questions whether Hiroshi is really dead, but before he can elaborate, May notices a hidden camera inside a tree. Lee reveals that the "retirement home" is more of a Monarch-operated prison, showing them his ankle monitor. Before they can leave, he warns them that Monarch will just keep pursuing them until they finally catch up - unless they journey with him to learn Hiroshi's true fate. He cuts off the ankle monitor with a hand pruner and gives them a minute to decide.
A force outside puts dents in the hull of the Lawton, then punches through it with a giant claw, pinning Bill under debris. Lee arrives to help Keiko free him as the monster continues its assault. They leap out of the falling ship, barely running clear of it as it crashes down. The Ion Dragon then bursts through the vessel and flies after them, missing them as they reach the treeline and a small pit. Shaw is stunned to realize Bill was right as the awestruck scientists watch it land on the ship and bellow.
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Anna Sawai as Cate Randa
- Kiersey Clemons as May Olowe-Hewitt
- Ren Watabe as Kentaro Randa
- Mari Yamamoto as Dr. Keiko Randa
- Anders Holm as young Assistant Professor Bill Randa
- Joe Tippett as Tim
- Wyatt Russell as young Lieutenant Lee Shaw
- Kurt Russell as Colonel Lee Shaw
- Elisa Lasowski as Michelle Duvall
- Qyoko Kudo as Emiko Randa
- Christopher Heyerdahl as Colonel Puckett
- Tamlyn Tomita as Caroline Randa (voice)
- Ryuta Kato as desk sergeant
- Yuki Shinno as desk attendant
- Daisuke Nakagawa as Japanese man
- Kyle Riefsnyder as orderly
- Adam Kirschner as Spradlin
- Ryan Cowie as Rossi
- Crysthelle Rue as local girl
- Jory John as Albert
Appearances
Titans
Characters
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Weapons, vehicles, and organizations
Locations
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Gallery
Production
Promotional stills
Screenshots
Videos
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Trivia
- This episode retcons the destruction of the USS Lawton as portrayed in Kong: Skull Island, where a newspaper clipping showed it washing ashore with prominent claw marks on the hull. Its appearance also changed from a battleship to a Fletcher-class destroyer.
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