Time Travel Is The Monsterverse’s Future - Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters Season 2, Episode 9 Explained

Apr 24, 2026 - 13:31

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Time Travel Is The Monsterverse’s Future - Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters Season 2, Episode 9 Explained

Published Apr 24, 2026, 5:01 AM EDT

Felipe Rangel is a Movie and TV Journalist ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more.

Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics."

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2, episode 9.Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 picks back up its time travel plot to reveal that the endgame for the season seems to be setting up a major shift to the Monsterverse. In Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2, episode 8, the Apple TV series decided to put nearly all of its cards on the table. Finally, it has been revealed that Titan X was never after a destructive goal, as the kaiju simply wanted to go to her nest and care for her egg.

Due to Lee Shaw's plan, Godzilla showed up, and the two Titans fought. By the end of the hour, Apex used the distraction to nab Titan X's egg and rush out of there, with both kaijus immediately following Apex. Before all hell broke loose, Cate tried to connect with Titan X again, getting as close to the kaiju as she was when her father, Hiroshi, was accidentally killed by the beast's falling tentacle.

This time, there were no tragedies, with Cate's connection to Titan X being furthered. After last week's episode of the Apple TV sci-fi series was filled with the kaiju battles that fans spent the better part of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 asking for, episode 8 has revealed what Apex is really after, and it all goes back to the Axis Mundi and some of season 2's biggest discoveries.

Isabel’s Time Travel Plans Could Change The Monsterverse

Amber Midthunder's Isabel is one of the most interesting additions to the Monsterverse in this season of Monarch. As the daughter of Walter Simmons, the deceased CEO of Apex in the Monsterverse movies, but who is alive in the TV show's timeline, she plays a key role in the franchise. Isabel's relationship with Kentaro could reframe both Monarch and the wider Monsterverse.

At the end of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2, episode 9, Isabel makes her intentions clear, as she wants to use the Axis Mundi, which connects Earth to the Hollow Earth, which is the home of the Titans, for time travel. There could be many uses to that, as the time dilation seen in the Axis Mundi, which essentially allowed characters like Lee, Keiko, and Hiroshi to jump forward in time, could change many people's lives.

Legendary’s Titan Universe · From Godzilla to Kong MonsterVerse
Trivia Challenge

☢GodzillaThe alpha predator

🦍KongThe eighth wonder

🌎Hollow
EarthThe world below

⚡TitansAncient colossi awaken

🔬MonarchStudying the impossible

LET THEM FIGHT →

In the first MonsterVerse film (2014), Godzilla battles parasitic creatures that feed on radiation. These creatures are classified with a military acronym. What are they called?

ATitans BSkullcrawlers CMUTOs DHollow Beasts

✓ Correct! MUTOs (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms) are parasitic creatures that feed on radiation and laid eggs inside a nuclear warhead. A male (winged) and female (larger, eight-legged) MUTO serve as the first film’s primary antagonists before Godzilla destroys them both in San Francisco.

✗ Titan down! Titans is the general classification for all giant monsters. Skullcrawlers are from Kong: Skull Island. “Hollow Beasts” isn’t a MonsterVerse term. MUTOs are the specific parasitic creatures in the 2014 film.

Kong: Skull Island (2017) is set during which decade, with soldiers returning from a major conflict?

A1940s (post-WWII) B1970s (Vietnam War era) C1990s (post-Cold War) D2010s (modern day)

✓ Correct! Kong: Skull Island is set in 1973, at the tail end of the Vietnam War. The military escort led by Samuel L. Jackson’s Colonel Packard consists of soldiers fresh from Vietnam, which adds to the film’s Apocalypse Now-inspired atmosphere.

✗ Titan down! The answer is the 1970s Vietnam War era. The film deliberately uses the political backdrop of the war’s end, with Packard’s soldiers looking for one last mission. The period setting also explains why Monarch’s discovery of the island remained classified for decades.

On Skull Island, Kong protects the native Iwi people from dangerous subterranean reptilian predators. What are these vicious creatures called?

ASkullcrawlers BWarbats CHellhawks DLeafwings

✓ Correct! Skullcrawlers are hypervorous subterranean reptiles that killed Kong’s parents and are the primary threat to the Iwi people on Skull Island. The largest one, nicknamed “The Big One” (or “Skull Devil”), serves as the film’s final boss.

✗ Titan down! Warbats, Hellhawks, and Leafwings are all Hollow Earth creatures from later MonsterVerse entries. Skullcrawlers are the reptilian predators unique to Skull Island.

In Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), the eco-terrorist Alan Jonah unleashes a three-headed alien Titan frozen in Antarctica. What is this monster?

ARodan BMothra CMechagodzilla DKing Ghidorah

✓ Correct! King Ghidorah, designated “Monster Zero” by Monarch, is a three-headed alien Titan discovered frozen in Antarctica. Unlike Earth’s Titans, Ghidorah is an invasive extraterrestrial species whose presence disrupts the natural Titan hierarchy, forcing Godzilla to reassert his dominance.

✗ Titan down! Rodan is a volcanic pteranodon Titan, Mothra is Godzilla’s symbiotic ally, and Mechagodzilla doesn’t appear until Godzilla vs. Kong. King Ghidorah (Monster Zero) is the frozen three-headed alien Titan.

In the MonsterVerse, Godzilla’s kind and other giant creatures are collectively referred to by what name?

AKaiju BTitans CLeviathans DColossi

✓ Correct! In the MonsterVerse, all giant creatures are classified as “Titans” by Monarch. This distinguishes the franchise’s terminology from the Japanese “kaiju” while establishing a shared mythology where these creatures are ancient apex predators.

✗ Titan down! While “kaiju” is the Japanese genre term, the MonsterVerse specifically uses “Titans.” Leviathans and Colossi are not official MonsterVerse terms. Monarch classifies all giant creatures as Titans.

In Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), the villainous corporation Apex Cybernetics builds a mechanical weapon to challenge Godzilla. What do they build?

AMecha-King Ghidorah BKiryu CMechagodzilla DMOGUERA

✓ Correct! Mechagodzilla is built by Apex Cybernetics using the severed head of King Ghidorah as a neural interface. However, Ghidorah’s consciousness takes over the mech, turning it into an uncontrollable weapon. It takes both Godzilla and Kong working together to destroy it.

✗ Titan down! Mecha-King Ghidorah and MOGUERA are from Toho films, and Kiryu is the Millennium-era Mechagodzilla. The MonsterVerse’s Mechagodzilla is built by Apex using Ghidorah’s skull as its neural framework.

The MonsterVerse introduces Hollow Earth — an entire ecosystem within the planet where Titans originated. In Godzilla vs. Kong, what energy source powers Hollow Earth and its technology?

ANuclear radiation BTitan blood CHollow Earth energy (HEE) DPlasma vents

✓ Correct! Hollow Earth energy (sometimes called HEE or simply “the source”) is an immensely powerful energy that sustains the subterranean ecosystem. Kong’s axe is charged by this energy, and Apex harvests it to power Mechagodzilla. It’s essentially the lifeblood of the Titan ecosystem.

✗ Titan down! Nuclear radiation powers Godzilla specifically, “Titan blood” isn’t a recognized power source, and “plasma vents” aren’t an established concept. Hollow Earth energy is the specific power source of the underground realm.

In Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024), Kong discovers a civilization of great apes in Hollow Earth ruled by a tyrannical leader. This villain wields a weapon crafted from a Titan’s crystallized spine and controls an ice-breathing Titan named Shimo. What is the villain’s name?

ACamazotz BTiamat CSkar King DDoug

✓ Correct! Skar King is a tyrannical great ape who rules over an enslaved civilization of apes in Hollow Earth. He wields a whip-like weapon made from a Titan’s crystallized vertebrae and controls Shimo, an ice-breathing Titan responsible for Earth’s past ice ages.

✗ Titan down! Camazotz is a bat-like Titan from MonsterVerse comics, Tiamat is a sea serpent Titan, and Doug is the fan-favorite friendly lizard creature from Hollow Earth. Skar King is the ape tyrant villain of The New Empire.

REVEAL MY SCORE →

Monarch Briefing Your Titan Clearance Level

/ 8

Monarch director — or still filing MUTO paperwork?

↻ NEW BRIEFING

For a corporation like Apex, they would be controlling an extremely profitable enterprise. After all, many people in critical health conditions would pay anything for a chance to jump into the future through the Axis Mundi and come out at a time when there is a cure to their condition. That is not to say that the Axis Mundi's dangers would be eliminated.

There have been many sci-fi discoveries in the Monsterverse, including both the movies and the Apple TV series. However, nothing has been as game-changing to the franchise as the possibility of Apex controlling time travel. With Godzilla x Kong: Supernova's story still a mystery a year before release, time travel could play a role in it.

Kentaro’s Emotional Goal Explained

Ren Watabe as Kentaro in Monarch Legend of Monsters

Isabel's plan of controlling time travel also helped explain why Kentaro was so understanding of what she wanted to do, as the latest episode of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 spelled out his surprising, but not completely unexpected, goal. Near the end of episode 9, Kentaro tells Cate about his ultimate objective, saying, "Dad, he doesn't have to die, we can save him."

So far, the time travel elements in Monarch have been mainly related to time dilation in the Axis Mundi, allowing characters to go missing there for years in real-world time. No one has gone back in time to change events that have already played out. The closest the Apple TV sci-fi series has come to that was through the Wyatt Russell and Kurt Russell versions of Lee Shaw interacting through a radio.

Even then, they were never in the same place together. Now, Kentaro wants to use the fact that Hiroshi told him that he was in the Axis Mundi for a year — in real-world time — to try to save that past version of his father. That is smart, as Kentaro would only need to learn enough about the Axis Mundi through Apex's plan to control and study it to take a version of his father who was already in there at a time, not get out of the Axis Mundi in the past on Earth.

Billy’s Game-Changing Discovery Explained

Anders Holm's Bill Randa returns in episode 9, which is a major one for the character. It is revealed that Billy managed to find where the Axis Mundi's central hub was located, and it is right on Skull Island, which would ultimately be the last place he would be seen alive. Billy carefully mapped all the possible natural rifts around.

Billy never gave up on finding Keiko, which is why he was looking for the hub of the Axis Mundi for the rest of his life. It is revealed that through it, a person can travel anywhere they want in the Axis Mundi. Billy's reveal could be key to Kentaro's goal of bringing the past version of Hiroshi, who was in the Axis Mundi, to the present. Episode 9 also showed Billy and Keiko getting married, which was a heartwarming moment.

Why Apex Is Interested In Titan X Finally Explained

Finally, Apex's main interest in Titan X was revealed. While past episodes had revealed that the organization wanted to use Corah's code to control the Titans, eventually making all kaijus on Earth docile and under Apex's control, the company had a specific goal for Titan X. To establish its base on Skull Island and study the Axis Mundi, Apex needed to rid the location of its protector.

In other words, Apex wants to control Titan X to use it to kill Kong. Without Kong, they will be free to do as they please, as not even Godzilla stuck around Skull Island after just guiding Titan X back to the location where the beast could take a rift back home. By the end of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2, episode 9, Titan X is under Apex's possession, with Isabel's time travel ambitions laid bare, and it remains to be seen if the organization will succeed.