Will Keiko Ever Forgive Lee? Mari Yamamoto & Kurt Russell Explain ‘Monarch’s Emotional Season 2 Ending

In the second season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, the real reason why Apex wants the Axis Mundi finally comes into play, along with why Bill (Anders Holm) left Hiroshi. And at the center of it all is the heart of Monarch, Mari Yamamoto‘s Dr. Keiko Randa, whose genius created the organization and inspired generations to carry it forward in her name. Warning: Spoilers for Monarch Season 2 Episode 10, “Where We Belong,” ahead.

In Season 2 Episode 9, “Ends of the Earth,” Keiko and Lee (Kurt Russell) reach Skull Island in search of a stable Axis Mundi rift, retracing Bill’s final expedition. At the Titan graveyard where he died, Keiko’s long-held anger gives way to a deeper truth: Bill never stopped searching for her. His work was driven by love and a desperate attempt to find her again, explaining why he left their son, Hiroshi (Takehiro Hira).

That revelation carries into Episode 10, “Where We Belong,” as Keiko shares with Lee her breakthrough decoding Titan language, forcing Lee to admit what happened in Axis Mundi: That in 1962, he was forced to leave her there because he couldn’t risk saving her and destroying an established timeline. It doesn’t take long for Keiko to realize that he cost her 57 years of her life. It is a betrayal that cuts deep, reframing everything she thought she knew about their past and the man she once loved.

“Grieving while running”

TV Insider spoke to actress Mari Yamamoto about the episode and how her character handled the confrontation. To her, it was more about grieving than it was about anger.

“She tries to process it as a scientist, but then the human takes over,” says the actress. “She’s been running on empty. I’ve been saying it’s grieving while running for 10 episodes, which has been 10 days for her, so she’s not had time to process anything.”

“I’ve lost everything at this point. So everything is so heightened,” says Yamamoto. “I always say that the Billy-Keiko-Lee trio is [that] they talk to each other over space and time. Billy lost both of them, but he’s still talking to them; he’s still looking for Keiko. Keiko, in the Axis Mundi for two months, she was also talking to them in her head to survive. And, Lee, I’m sure he was talking to them and hearing their voices all the time. So, to know that they had the opportunity to get back together, the three of us, is such a betrayal.”

“And at the same time, I think what’s most fresh on her mind is the death of [her son] Hiroshi. To know that you could have had more time with your kid…I can’t imagine a bigger heartbreak,” explains Yamamoto. “So I think, nothing can rationalize the anger that she feels. Nothing can rationalize for her the choice that he made to rob her of that time.”

Meanwhile, Cate’s been betrayed by Kentaro

Cate (Anna Sawai) realizes Titan X isn’t attacking out of malice but trying to reclaim her stolen egg. Isabel uses it as bait to control the creature and clear the way for her plan to turn Skull Island’s rift into a time machine, forcing a drugged and remotely controlled Titan X into a clash with King Kong. Like a large-scale game of Rampage. Once Kong is gone, Skull Island will be open to rich consumers who won’t be afraid of its great ape guardian.

At the same time, Cate learns her brother Kentaro (Ren Watabe) has joined the dark side with Isabel, as he hopes to use the rift’s time dilation to save their father, Hiroshi, even if it means betraying her.

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Keiko Randa: Action Star

As everyone converges on an abandoned Monarch outpost on Skull Island now overtaken by Isabel and her Apex cronies, she sets the stage for a battle of the ages: a furious, remote-controlled Titan X unleashed against King Kong. Isabel amps up Titan X’s rage in hopes of destroying Kong, and the two battle it out. And Cate is caught in the middle of the chaos, dodging flying debris and lashing claws. It falls to Keiko to save her, tearing into the fight in a jeep and barely avoiding snapping tentacles and crushing paws.

As Cate and Keiko make it back inside the outpost where Titan X spots her egg and immediately abandons the fight with Kong to reclaim it. With the tracker destroyed during the melee, Titan X loses interest in the battle and begins to wander. To guide her to the rift, the group takes to a helicopter and blasts Titan recordings, drawing her in. With Cate offering reassurance, they lead Titan X to Bill’s rift, where Cate shares a moment with the creature before it disappears inside.

Lee has a moment with Lee

Lee reaches the edge and sees his younger self (Wyatt Russell), still trapped in Axis Mundi in the 1960s. Keiko follows and comes face-to-face with the man she once loved, but she can’t hear him. “I can’t hear you,” she panics. Older Lee quietly explains he was saying goodbye. Keiko turns away from the younger version and takes the older Lee’s hand as the two men share a final salute before the younger disappears into the rift.

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“What I love about that scene is, again, it’s not father-son, it’s the same person. And because you can’t remember anything that happened in Axis Mundi, as this connection is beginning to unfold, oldly, is beginning to remember some of those things. And so he’s at some point experiencing it through himself as a younger man,” Kurt Russell told TV Insider. “When he has to reveal to Keiko what he experienced down there, and she can’t understand why he did what he did, why he didn’t do what he didn’t do, and he doesn’t throw the whole thing under the bus. He just accepts it as, You had to be there to understand.'”

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In the scene, there is an understanding that Keiko shares with both Lees. Actress Yamamoto explains the fragility of the moment.

“I think it was like a thank you for everything and saying goodbye to young Lee,” said Yamamoto. “She’s choosing to be in ‘The Now.’ And I think it’s like forgiveness, but also thank you for everything, because he’s always been her protector, in a way, even though she doesn’t need it.”

Later, Kentaro tells Cate that Hiroshi entered Axis Mundi during his “lost years,” and there may still be a version of him trapped there to save. He chooses to go with Isabel.

Oh, ya’ll wanted a twist?

In the end, Lee is missing, while Keiko steps into her rightful place as head of Monarch 2.0, a leaner operation focused on “more flexible, more nimble…back to basics: science and discovery, like the founders intended,” with Cate, Tim (Joe Tippett), and May (Kiersey Clemons) by her side. Their first task: handle Kentaro and his reckless mission. Monarch is a family business again.

Meanwhile, Lee is on the hunt. His search takes him to a coastal country halfway around the world, trailing Isabel and Kentaro. Guided through the jungle by A-Wut, Lee is led to a remote point before the man refuses to go any farther, revealing scars from a past encounter with the creature they’re tracking. Lee presses on alone until he finds what he’s looking for: A volcano, with a new massive Titan perched atop it…Rodan.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Seasons 1 – 2, Streaming now, Apple TV