Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters episode four begins with a woman sunbathing in the middle of nowhere as the wind kicks up and some sort of equipment inside her camper begins beeping. It’s Utah in 2015, and the woman’s name is Barnes. She’s monitoring Outpost 47 and did not expect an old, dusty piece of equipment to spring back to life.
Barnes is part of Monarch and demands to speak to Assistant Director Verdugo. Once connected to the big boss, Barnes reports that she’s seeing radiation, specifically gamma rays, similar to supermassive black holes in outer space. The old piece of equipment seems to indicate the source is in Alaska.
Verdugo’s about to cut off the video call when Barnes warns that the last time there were readings like this was right before G-Day.
At that exact moment, Lee Shaw (Kurt Russell), Cate Randa (Anna Sawai), Kentaro Randa (Ren Watabe), and May (Kiersey Clemons) are under attack by the Frost Vark Titan. Everyone except Kentaro makes a break for it. Kentaro lags behind the group, shooting a flare over the creature’s head in an attempt to distract it. (Think “Squirrel!” in Up.) The ploy briefly works, and Kentaro chases after his friends.
Oh, hold on. Kentaro’s just a bad shot and was actually aiming for the creature’s face.
The foursome make it into a cave and remain quiet until the creature moves away. May’s leg slipped into a crevice and is now freezing, putting her in a terrible mood as they leave their hiding place.
The action slips back in time to Tokyo, one year earlier. Kentaro’s new art exhibition earns high praise from the gallery’s owner, Kimi, but buyers won’t want to pay good money for his work if he can’t explain his process. She gives him two hours to come up with something interesting to tell potential buyers.
Kentaro’s mom, Emiko (Qyoko Kudo), joins him in the gallery, describing his work as provocative. Emiko claims she and his dad are proud of his work – even though his father hasn’t seen it yet.
A short while later, Kentaro’s taking a photo of his “Parallels and Interiors” poster advertising his exhibition when May walks through the frame. They strike up a conversation, and she asks him to delete the photo since she’s in it. They flirt, and Kentaro offers to take her out for expensive whiskey, even though he’s supposed to be inside talking to potential buyers.
They drink and get to know each other, and he admits tonight’s his first show. May wonders if maybe he should be there instead of drinking in a secret whiskey bar, and he claims he’s letting the suspense build at the gallery.
Kentaro takes May to his place, and she admires his drawings on the wall. As they continue to flirt, Kentaro receives a text from Kimi at the gallery. He can’t put off leaving any longer and asks May to accompany him. She turns him down, claiming it’s not her kind of crowd.
They spend some time in his bed before he heads off to the gallery, alone.
The flashback ends with the foursome trudging along through the snow. May’s walking way too fast, concerned she’s about to lose her toes to frostbite. Both Lee and Kentaro want her to slow down since they have no idea where they’re going. However, they do have to keep moving since the Frost Vark Titan is still on the prowl.
Lee admits he knows nothing about this creature, as no two Titans are the same.
Kentaro reveals he saw a golf ball-like structure from the plane, and they should head toward it. Kentaro’s the only one who saw it, and Lee’s leery of heading off to the middle of nowhere. Still, they follow Kentaro’s lead until it seems he was wrong about spotting a building as nothing manmade appears.
Cate spots a tunnel of light in the sky and thinks they should head toward it instead. It’s definitely coming from some sort of structure, and at least they all see it. May believes Kentaro imagined a building, but Kentaro insists the building was real. He’s willing to go off on his own to prove it.
Lee tells him that he should go find it if he’s certain. If something’s there, he can send back help. Meanwhile, they’ll head toward the light.
Night falls and Kentaro starts hearing voices as he slowly makes his way through a snowstorm. His water’s frozen solid and stumbles and falls on his back in the snow, hallucinating that May’s beside him, shining a light into the air. (He’s remembering a year ago when they were in bed together.)
May, Cate, and Lee aren’t having an easy time either, and May needs Cate’s help to walk. Suddenly, the threesome realize they’re back at Hiroshi’s tent. They’ve just walked in a big circle!
Lee explains that Titans can change their environment, and this place is stranger than they think.
Cate’s wrapped May up and has a fire going in her dad’s abandoned tent. May’s also dreaming about that first night in bed with Kentaro as Cate tries to wake her up. May tells Cate her legs are burning, and Cate knows that’s a good thing. It indicates she doesn’t have frostbite yet.
May asks Cate to get in touch with her sister if anything happens to her.
Lee joins them and shares crackers and chocolate he managed to scrounge up. Unfortunately, Lee’s going to have to burn Hiroshi’s papers since they don’t have anything else to use for kindling. He does so reluctantly, moments before the Frost Vark Titan breaks the ice and heads toward their camp.
They flee the tent just in the nick of time and watch as the creature sucks up the fire as energy. May doesn’t think she has the energy to run from it, and Lee looks stunned as he says, “You may not have to.”
The Frost Vark Titan’s going after heat, so it’s not attacking them. Lee wants to light the aviation fuel on fire to give them time to escape. He even promises to carry May if necessary.
May doesn’t think she’s going to make it; at some point, she’ll just be deadweight. She advises Cate to do what it takes to make it out alive, even if that means ditching Lee, too.
Kentaro only manages to get to his feet because he hears his dad’s voice. Hiroshi (Takehiro Hira) walks past him in the snow, and Kentaro begs him not to leave him alone. Kentaro sees a trail of pencil shavings in the snow and follows them over a small rise.
He’s mere feet from a building, which he imagines is the gallery that showed his work. He enters and tells his dad that although he sold a few pieces, Kimi dropped him as a client. His dad never responds as Kentaro recalls him saying he was talented and could make a living with his art. Kentaro cries as he admits he never wanted to disappoint him, even though he thought his work wasn’t ready.
It’s revealed he never saw his dad again after that night at the gallery.
Kentaro emerges from the memory and discovers a working radio in this deserted building. Pencil shavings on the desk appear to confirm his dad was there at some point.
Lee’s about to light a bonfire using his dead friend’s body as kindling when the creature emerges from below the ice. It chases after May and Cate as Lee hurries to light a fire. A helicopter appears out of nowhere, and Cate frantically waves her arms to get its attention.
May holds the backpack with her laptop in front of her as the Frost Vark Titan begins sucking her heat.
Lee is sent flying through the air as the rocket fuel bonfire explodes. The creature turns its attention from May to the fire as Cate helps May run toward the helicopter.
Lee struggles to his feet and also races toward the chopper. They’re surprised to discover Kentaro’s already safely inside it.
Back at Monarch’s headquarters, Verdugo delivers the news that there have been “noteworthy” readings. Dr. Barnes joins by video and shares the readings, which match the gamma-ray flare that occurred before the Godzilla attack in San Francisco.
Tim insists that Bill Randa’s files contain something important that they need to combat whatever’s happening.
The episode ends with Cate thanking Kentaro for rescuing them. He explains he found pencil shavings and realized their dad was there and fixed the radio. “He made it out. He’s alive!” says Kentaro.
May reaches out to hold Cate’s hand and smiles.
Lee opens May’s backpack and discovers her laptop is frozen solid. The helicopter lands, and Tim’s there to greet them. Tim tells Shaw it’s an honor to finally meet him while Cate stares daggers at the man who attempted to kidnap her in Tokyo.
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 1 “Aftermath” Recap
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 2 “Departure” Recap
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 3 “Secrets and Lies” Recap
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 5 “The Way Out” Recap
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 6 “Terrifying Miracles” Recap
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 7 “Will the Real May Please Stand Up” Recap
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 8 “Birthright” Recap
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 9 “Axis Mundi” Recap
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 10 “Beyond Logic” Finale Recap
* * * * * * * *
New episodes of Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters stream on Fridays.
