#mlom text

monarch: legacy of monsters is not a godzilla show. it's a show about one family's generational trauma that starts in the 1950s with a tragic throuple and ends in 2010s with a brother & sister teaming up to search for their father after discovering he had two families while the sister actively steals her brother's girlfriend and godzilla keeps getting in the way.

If you look at the way that 206 delved into Kentaro's character as a whole but in particular, that scene with May, it actually speaks volumes about where he's at that he thinks the only possible reason May would come to check on him after the death of his father is because Cate doesn't want her. He can't fathom that she was actually worried about him, that she wanted to make sure he was okay and that he was actually the first person she wanted to check on. Like, there had to be another reason for her to do all of that in his eyes and it's a reason that conveniently positions Cate as the first choice and Kentaro as "the spare".

Unpopular Opinion but, Shaw is the one to blame for this whole Titan X mess. Yes, Cate is the one who pressed the button and actually opened the rift and released her but, Shaw is the one who blew up that building full of people knowing there was a rift there and what would happen and didn't even tell anyone to evacuate first so they weren't in any danger before it opened leading May, Cate & Shaw getting trapped in Axis Mundi. Cate has PTSD from not being able to save those school children, of course she was going to do whatever it takes to say someone else if she can but, Shaw's actions are what lead to all of this happening in the first place.

introducing both godzilla and monarch into the show in the same way - through cate's eyes, someone experiencing the horror that comes from knowing monsters exist at the exact moment it happens, really was a brilliant decision. especially in the context of godzilla 2014 because you aren't seeing godzilla arriving to fight to a muto that's endangering lives, you're seeing godzilla on the bridge at the exact moment his actions result in a bus full of school children plunging to their deaths. same with monarch, you're not introduced to serizawa or people talking about and trying to understand what is happening before a catastrophe occurs, you are watching people walking around with cameras and taking pictures while completely ignoring that there people trapped and dying all around them.

i don't think we as a fandom talked nearly enough about kentaro believing his father died on g-day or that the moment he's introduced to cate he immediately associates her, her mother and this secret family with his father's death and the real reason he died. like, his behaviour towards her makes so much sense when you know and understand where his mindset was initially.