Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

In 1973, Monarch researcher Bill Randa is chased by a Mother Longlegs spider on Skull Island,^[c] and throws a waterproof case of his files into the ocean. In 2013, the case is found by a Japanese fishing boat.

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In 2014, following Godzilla's battle with the MUTOs in San Francisco,^[a] schoolteacher Cate Randa reunites with her father, Hiroshi, who later disappears in Alaska. In 2015, Cate travels to Tokyo to settle Hiroshi's affairs, but discovers that he had a second wife, Emiko, and a son, Kentaro. Kentaro leads Cate to Hiroshi's Tokyo office, where she discovers files belonging to Bill, Hiroshi's adoptive father. Cate and Kentaro recruit Kentaro's ex-girlfriend May to decode the files. Monarch employee Tim is notified of their activity, and reports it to his superiors.

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In 1959, Bill is on a research trip to an abandoned power plant in Kazakhstan with his wife Keiko Miura and friend Lee Shaw. They find a cavern beneath the plant, and discover eggs of insectoid Endoswarmers. Keiko and Shaw rappel down to collect genetic material, but the larvae hatch and drag Keiko into a pit.

In 2015, Kentaro discovers Monarch files in Hiroshi's office indicating that Shaw, his honorary great-uncle, moved to an assisted living facility in Japan. Tim and Monarch field operative Michelle Duvall track down Cate, Kentaro, and May in an attempt to find the decoded files, but they escape. Cate, Kentaro, and May go on the run and find Shaw, who reveals that Monarch is using the facility to keep him under house arrest. He convinces them to escape from the facility and follow Hiroshi to his last known location in Alaska.

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In 1952, Shaw is assigned as Keiko's escort on an expedition following unusual radiation in the Philippines. They meet Bill in the jungle, who claims to be following folk tales of a fire-breathing dragon. Keiko recruits Bill against a skeptical Shaw's advice, and Shaw departs. Continuing alone, Keiko and Bill discover the wreckage of the USS Lawton, a Navy ship that sank in 1943 from which Bill was the sole survivor.^[c] They discover corpses in the ship and are attacked by an Ion Dragon. Having seen the Dragon's radiation-based fire, Shaw returns to the ship and rescues them.

In 2015, Cate, Kentaro, May, and Shaw escape Japan on a ferry bound for Pohang, Korea. In Pohang, they are accosted by border guards before one of them, Du-Ho, reveals himself as Shaw's old friend. Du-Ho transports them to Alaska by plane; on the way, May infers from Bill's files that Hiroshi was likely following a list of coordinates identified by Monarch. In Alaska, they find the wreckage of Hiroshi's plane as well as an encampment suggesting his survival. Du-Ho realizes that Hiroshi's plane was attacked after landing; a Frost Vark kills him and destroys his plane.

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In 1954, Shaw has joined Monarch in a command position. He, Bill, and Keiko present a cast of Godzilla's footprint to Shaw's superior officer, Gen. Puckett, to secure uranium for luring Godzilla out of hiding. In Bikini Atoll, Bill and Keiko are horrified to discover that Puckett has delivered the uranium as a nuclear bomb, to kill Godzilla under the guise of the Castle Bravo test.^[a] As Godzilla surfaces, Keiko attempts to halt the detonation, but Shaw restrains her and the bomb is detonated. In the aftermath, Shaw is given a blank check by Puckett for Monarch to research the Titans.

In 2015, the Frost Vark's emergence is detected by Monarch. Cate, Kentaro, May, and Shaw manage to escape from the Frost Vark, but May falls into a pool of water and quickly develops hypothermia as they try to find shelter. Kentaro splits off from the rest of the group and finds a building that he saw from the plane, which turns out to be an old radio station that had previously been repaired by Hiroshi. Having learned that the Frost Vark feeds on heat energy, Cate, May and Shaw create a bonfire to distract it, while a helicopter that Kentaro contacted arrives and rescues them. The group are taken to a Monarch outpost, where they are greeted by Tim and Duvall.

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In 2013, Kentaro meets May while waiting for his first art show at a prestigious gallery. He chooses to spend the evening with her instead of preparing for the show, and they bond. Kentaro ultimately decides to present his art before he is ready to do so, out of a desire to make his father proud. The night of the gallery is the last time he sees Hiroshi before the latter's disappearance.

In 2015, Monarch deputy director Natalia Verdugo is frustrated to learn that Shaw has kept Cate, Kentaro, and May in the dark about Hiroshi's activities in Alaska. Duvall suggests releasing the three to track their movements. After returning to San Francisco, Cate convinces her mother, Caroline, and Caroline's colleague James to smuggle them towards Hiroshi's local office in a restricted zone of the city's ruins. Evading military patrols and dealing with Cate's PTSD, they eventually reach Hiroshi's office. While they fail to find further hidden files, Kentaro concludes from Hiroshi's maps that he likely headed to Africa in search of Titans. May secretly contacts Duvall, asking to go home in exchange for her cooperation.

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In 2014, two days before Godzilla's emergence, Cate is in a relationship with fellow teacher Dani, who discusses moving in together. Unknown to Dani, Cate cheats on her with another woman named Evin. On G-Day, a guilt-ridden Cate leaves Dani behind to chaperone a bus of children across the Golden Gate Bridge. When Godzilla crashes through the bridge during his clash with the military, most of the children are killed.

In 2015, Duvall breaks Shaw out of captivity, revealing that she joined Monarch after her sister died in the Janjira power plant disaster^[a] but has become disillusioned. They take Cate, Kentaro, and May to the Algerian Sahara, where they find Hiroshi using a Titan lure. He warns them to escape before fleeing. Tim arrives with a team of Monarch agents, but Godzilla emerges, having been sleeping underground, and causes their helicopter to crash. Shaw and Duvall reveal their intent to follow and help Godzilla, but Cate, Kentaro, and May leave to find Hiroshi. Cate and Kentaro are angered when May reveals that she allowed Monarch to track them.

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In 1955, Shaw and Keiko attend a defense industry ball, where they bond. Bill recalls them to Monarch headquarters, and they learn that Dr. Suzuki, a Japanese scientist, has captured unusual isotopic signatures and used them to design a Titan lure. As Bill and Keiko travel to meet Suzuki, Shaw reluctantly stays behind to present a budget proposal, but he eventually abandons the meeting and joins them in Japan due to his feelings for Keiko. The lure attracts Godzilla, who destroys it. When Shaw, Keiko and Bill return to the United States to inform Puckett of Godzilla's survival, they learn that he has transferred Monarch's command due to Shaw's absence.

In 2015, May is kidnapped at the airport in Tindouf, Algeria by her former employer, Brenda Holland of Applied Experimental Technologies, who gives her the choice of spying on Monarch or being prosecuted. Cate accosts Tim when he arrives at the airport and asks him to help locate May. Tim, Cate, and Kentaro find May's family in Tacoma, Washington and learn about her past from her sister, Lyra Mateo. They trigger a false Titan alert to rescue May from AET, but she chooses to stay behind and not spy on Monarch. Verdugo is convinced by Cate to secure May's release in exchange for help understanding Shaw's plans, and by Tim to take Monarch public to explain the alert. After reaching an agreement with Monarch, AET rebrands to Apex Cybernetics.^[b] Shaw and Duvall take over Monarch's Alaska outpost and use explosives to seal a tunnel to the Hollow Earth.

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In 2012, May – then known as Corah Mateo – is recruited by AET. Dissatisfied with the secrecy around her work, she hacks into AET's systems and discovers that they are secretly conducting cybernetic animal experimentation. Horrified, she destroys their research data and flees to Japan under a false identity.

In 2015, Shaw and Duvall return to the Kazakhstan power plant where Keiko was lost in 1959, now enclosed in a containment facility. Cate, Kentaro, May, and Tim deduce that Shaw is trying to rectify the past, and Verdugo sends them after him with a small team. Shaw and Duvall confront the team when they arrive at the plant, and Shaw informs Cate that he intends to help Godzilla maintain order by separating the Hollow Earth from the surface world. As Shaw primes explosive charges around a tunnel to the Hollow Earth inside the pit, an adult Endoswarmer emerges. May, Cate, Shaw, and the Endoswarmer fall back into the tunnel before its destruction.

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In 1955, Monarch's new head Lt. Cmdr. Hatch questions Shaw, Keiko, and Bill's evidence of the Titans' existence. Bill assaults Hatch while defending Keiko from a racist remark. With Monarch's existence under jeopardy, Shaw convinces Keiko and Bill to compile their research. Bill realizes that Titans evade detection through the Hollow Earth. While sharing his findings with Keiko, he learns that she is a widow raising Hiroshi alone, and they begin to develop a relationship. As a last resort, Shaw reveals Godzilla's survival while presenting Keiko and Bill's findings to Puckett.

In 2015, Monarch rescues Kentaro and Tim. Cate, May, and Shaw are presumed dead, but Emiko inspires Kentaro to continue searching. Kentaro confronts Hiroshi when he returns. Meanwhile, Shaw and May awaken in an intermediate realm between the surface and the Hollow Earth, known as Axis Mundi, and search for Cate. Nearby, Cate is attacked by a Bramble Boar, but is rescued by an unaged Keiko.

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In 1962, Shaw volunteers to lead Operation Hourglass, an expedition into the Hollow Earth. Suzuki's Titan lure is used to induce a partial Titan emergence and stabilize a Hollow Earth tunnel in Kansas. During the launch, the tunnel implodes, and Shaw’s team is lost. Monarch's funding is cut due to this incident. An Ion Dragon kills Shaw's team in Axis Mundi, before he is sucked through another tunnel that leads back to the surface.

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In 1982, Shaw awakens in Japan. Holding Emiko hostage and demanding to see Bill, Shaw is met by an adult Hiroshi, who reveals that Bill has died^[c] and that Monarch intends to leave the Titans undisturbed. Shaw is placed under house arrest after multiple escape attempts. Thirty-two years later, he sees the news of Godzilla fighting a MUTO in Hawaii.^[a]

In 2015, Keiko tells Cate that she found the equipment left behind by the Operation Hourglass team, and rigged their lure to send a distress signal to the surface. They reunite with May and Shaw, but Keiko is devastated to learn of Bill's death and that decades have passed on the surface. Tim leaves Monarch after clashing with Verdugo over her refusal to investigate Keiko's signal, and informs Kentaro and Hiroshi. Shaw, Keiko, Cate and May reconnect the lure to Shaw's old launch vehicle, but inadvertently lure an Ion Dragon already present in Axis Mundi. Shaw exits the vehicle to reconnect a dislodged cable, while Godzilla emerges through a tunnel and battles the Dragon, throwing it back into the tunnel and activating the vehicle. Keiko struggles to bring Shaw back into the vehicle, but he falls and is left behind.

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In 2017, at an Apex Cybernetics research station on Skull Island, Hiroshi returns the vehicle to the surface; he, Kentaro, and Tim — now working with an Apex team led by Brenda — reunite with Keiko, Cate, and May. They evacuate as Kong approaches the station.

In 2017, Kong attacks the Apex station on Skull Island, forcing everyone to evacuate to Monarch's Outpost 18, a large ship near the island. Brenda offers May a new job with Apex, but she declines. Verdugo refuses to try and retrieve Shaw while Kong is still behaving aggressively, but Cate, Kentaro, Hiroshi, and May secretly return to the damaged station. Keiko, Verdugo, and Tim fly back in to retrieve them, but Cate refuses to give up on Shaw and launches his old vehicle back down the tunnel to Axis Mundi. Shaw, who has survived, finds the vehicle and returns to the surface, but the energy surge awakens a tentacled Titan that was hibernating in Axis Mundi, as well as a swarm of large crustaceans known as Scarabs. The new Titan surfaces on Skull Island, kills Verdugo, and is chased into the ocean by Kong.

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In 1957, Keiko, Shaw, and Bill travel to a remote village on the island of Santa Soledad in Chile, investigating rumors of a sea monster. They find one of the Scarabs displayed in the village bar, and are later led to a cave where they see ancient rock art of the tentacled Titan, which is worshipped by the locals as a god.

In 2017, Shaw and Keiko both recognize the new Titan as the group return to Outpost 18, unaware that one of the Scarabs has hitched a ride on their helicopter. Tim assumes command of Outpost 18 and receives orders to arrest Shaw, but chooses not to do so yet. The new Titan reaches Indonesia and approaches the Strait of Malacca, endangering many civilian ships. Hiroshi attempts to change its course using a sonar-projecting drone, but the Titan destroys it. Cate is attacked by the Scarab; Kentaro and May save her, but the Scarab sends out a call that causes the Titan to change course and pursue Outpost 18. Shaw uses a Zodiac to carry the Scarab away from the ship and throws it into the ocean, diverting the Titan.

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In 1957, Bill uses the cave art on Santa Soledad to map out a possible migratory route for the new Titan, but Keiko refuses to leave until she can finish studying the island. Bill and Shaw reluctantly agree, and Bill leaves to follow the map. Keiko tells Shaw about her first husband, Hiroshi's father, who died of cancer shortly after Hiroshi was born. The pair are invited to a nighttime festival, but the local villagers are revealed to be a cult devoted to the new Titan, which they refer to as "Co-Cai". A swarm of Scarabs emerge from the cave, as the Titan approaches the village.

In 2017, Outpost 18 docks in Tokyo for engine repairs, and Cate decides to leave. Hiroshi, Keiko and Shaw devise a plan to lure the new Titan, dubbed "Titan X", away from population centers using a modified sonic version of Suzuki's Titan lure, but they are interrupted when an Apex team, led by Jason Trissop, assume command of the outpost from Tim. Monarch's director, Reddick Barris, also orders Tim to take Shaw and Keiko into custody, but he allows them to leave with Hiroshi and Kentaro, and convinces May to go undercover at Apex. Keiko learns about Hiroshi's two marriages. Cate returns to San Francisco and reunites with Caroline, who is now married to James. She tries to return to normal, but struggles to cope with her guilt and trauma. May infiltrates Apex by accepting Brenda's job offer, and discovers that they have stolen Hiroshi's Titan lure. Hiroshi clashes with Keiko, and reveals that Bill sent him away to live with Keiko's family when he was a child.

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In 1957, Keiko and Shaw observe Titan X interacting with the Scarabs, and Keiko photographs it. The cultists attack the pair, wanting to protect their secret; Keiko and Shaw are both injured, but manage to escape with the film and flee into the island's forest. While hiding from the cultists and tending to their wounds, they give in to their lingering feelings for each other and have a romantic encounter. Bill returns to the island the next day and rescues them, but Keiko struggles with guilt and later sends a letter to Shaw, expressing her feelings for him but regretting their affair and reaffirming her love for Bill.

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In 1962, Bill is raising Hiroshi alone after Shaw's disappearance, and finds Keiko's letter in Shaw's old files.

In the 1960s, after sending Hiroshi to stay with Keiko's family, Bill continues his research for Monarch. After his death in 1973,^[c] all of his files are put into storage. In 2015, some of the files, including the one containing Keiko's letter, are stolen by Apex operatives.

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In 2017, Titan X awakens another swarm of Scarabs in American Samoa. On Outpost 18, Trissop and Tim detect Titan X on Apex's sonar tracking system, indicating that it is heading towards San Francisco. Kentaro, Hiroshi, Keiko and Shaw meet May in Pensacola, where they plan to steal Hiroshi's Titan lure from Apex. In San Francisco, Cate meets a student she saved on G-Day and decides to return to Monarch. Trissop's team leave Outpost 18 as Tim's team and the U.S. Pacific Fleet prepare to intercept Titan X, but the signal turns out to be a whale. In Pensacola, the others infiltrate Apex headquarters and discover that Apex has been smuggling creatures off of Skull Island. Brenda shows May that Apex has developed neural implants to pacify the Titans. Shaw and Kentaro cause a distraction, allowing Hiroshi and Keiko to find the dismantled lure. They discover that Apex have some of Bill's old files, including his map of Titan X's migratory route, which allows them to predict its next destination as Santa Soledad. May chooses to stay with Apex, but the others escape and reunite with Cate. Hiroshi finds Keiko's letter to Shaw in Bill's files.

In 1990, Hiroshi calls a young Cate to help her fall asleep, while waiting in the hospital for Kentaro's birth. He and Emiko name Kentaro after Hiroshi's birth father.

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In 2017, Hiroshi argues with Keiko and Shaw after learning about their affair. Brenda, May and Trissop lead an Apex team to Santa Soledad, with Cate, Kentaro, Hiroshi, Keiko and Shaw in pursuit. Shaw and the Randas privately approach May, who believes that pacifying the Titans is worth the risk, but Shaw theorizes that Apex intends to use the Titans as weapons. Titan X arrives and awakens the island's swarm of Scarabs, which injure Shaw. Its calls have a hypnotic effect on Cate, and she is drawn to the water's edge as it emerges. The Apex team fires an upgraded neural implant into Titan X, but the implant fails to control it, and an enraged Titan X removes the implant and destroys their camp before departing. Hiroshi is fatally wounded while saving Cate; he apologizes to her for his past mistakes, before dying in Keiko's arms as Tim and his team arrive.

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In 2014, Hiroshi is about to visit Emiko and Kentaro in Tokyo when he receives a call from Tim, who informs him that Bill's case of files from 1973 has been found in the ocean near Japan.

In 2017 before the rescue from Axis Mundi, Hiroshi reveals to Kentaro that when he went to Alaska in 2014, he accidentally traveled through a tunnel to Axis Mundi and, after spending a day there, emerged in Africa in 2015.

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In 2017, Hiroshi's funeral is held. Kentaro lashes out at Cate for causing Hiroshi's death, while Shaw and Keiko reunite with Dr. Suzuki. Cate, Keiko and Shaw travel to Suzuki's home in Japan, where he explains that Hiroshi helped him rebuild his Titan lure. Shaw plans to use the lure to summon Godzilla, hoping that he can defeat Titan X. May visits Kentaro in Tokyo to reconcile, but he rebuffs her and meets Isabel Simmons, one of Walter Simmons' daughters,^[b] who invites him to work with her. Keiko and Cate discover that Cate is connected to Titan X, and theorize that it may be lost and confused as a result of Apex's neural attack. Shaw and Suzuki test Suzuki's lure at the entrance to the Hollow Earth tunnel Shaw emerged from in 1982. The tunnel briefly opens, and Shaw picks up a distress signal he had sent during his time trapped in Axis Mundi in 1962.

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In 1958, Monarch has received additional funding due to Keiko's photographs of Titan X, but Shaw decides to request a transfer due to guilt over his affair with her. He later reunites with his abrasive father, who interferes with Shaw's transfer in an attempt to secure him a higher-level position, but Shaw rejects him and chooses to return to Monarch.

In 2017, due to the time-bending nature of Axis Mundi, Shaw finds himself communicating with his younger self when he was trapped there. Concealing his identity from young Shaw, he has him plant a tracking device on the hibernating Titan X. When his younger self gets suspicious, Shaw confesses the truth and convinces young Shaw not to make contact with Keiko. He then parts ways with Suzuki and follows the tracker to Australia, as Monarch also detects it. Kentaro travels to Thailand to meet Isabel, who explains she was adopted by Walter Simmons but then sidelined after the birth of her sister Maia, and hints at a plan to use Axis Mundi to undo G-Day. Tim summons May and asks for her help in examining a sample of Titan X. Keiko and Cate investigate a shrine after learning from Bill's notes of other women who heard Titan X's song, and Cate finds a cavern system where the song is amplified, enabling her to understand that Titan X was asking for help.

In 2017, Cate and Keiko rejoin Monarch and convince Director Barris to let them communicate with Titan X before the U.S. military attacks it. Kentaro joins them, but lets slip to May about his meeting with Isabel. With Tim's help, May visits Brenda in Monarch custody to inquire about her awareness of Isabel's plans. Cate's group confront Shaw, who has set up Suzuki's lure to attract Godzilla. While Keiko distracts him, Cate approaches Titan X and discovers that it has laid an egg. As Godzilla arrives and attacks Titan X, Kentaro signals Isabel's team, led by Trissop, who steal the egg. During the fight, Trissop is killed by Godzilla. Cate is forced to flee with Kentaro, and Keiko and Shaw watch helplessly as Titan X rushes into the ocean after the egg, with Godzilla close behind.

In 1958, Keiko and Bill marry in a private ceremony in Papua New Guinea, but Bill has trouble coming up with his vows.

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In 2017, Outpost 18 follows Godzilla and Titan X to the outskirts of Skull Island, where Godzilla ceases his pursuit. After arriving at her base on the island, Isabel tells Cate that she wants to open a tunnel to Axis Mundi permanently and use it as a gateway to the future, but later informs Kentaro that she also plans to have Titan X kill Kong. Isabel's team successfully tranquilize Titan X after luring it to the egg. Tim, Shaw, Keiko, May, and Monarch soldiers follow Titan X onto the island, but Shaw and Keiko are separated from the others after an attack by tree-dwelling Vinestranglers. Isabel's men remove the tracker from Titan X, but Cate escapes and contacts the Monarch team. Following Bill's maps, Shaw and Keiko find a Hollow Earth tunnel entrance and multiple probes that Bill sent to Skull Island through other tunnels around the world. Each probe contains a message to Keiko: his belated wedding vows. Isabel's team increases Titan X's aggression with neural implants as Kong senses its presence. Kentaro finds Cate and claims that they can save Hiroshi.

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In 1959, Bill and Shaw mourn Keiko after her disappearance. In 1968, Bill is lecturing about his rift theories in Pennsylvania when he is visited by Suzuki, who admonishes him for neglecting Hiroshi by chasing Keiko's ghost.

In 2017, Kentaro explains Isabel's theory that he can rescue the version of Hiroshi from 2014, when he was trapped in Axis Mundi. Keiko learns about Shaw's interaction with his younger self, before they meet up with Tim's team. Cate escapes from Isabel's base as Kong arrives and battles Titan X. Keiko rescues Cate while Tim and May enter the base; they are unable to deactivate the overloading neural implants, but are able to pacify Titan X and disable the implants by returning the egg, ending the fight. Shaw steals one of Isabel's helicopters and picks up Cate, Keiko, Tim, and May, while Isabel and Kentaro escape on another helicopter. Cate leads Titan X to the Hollow Earth tunnel entrance, and Titan X returns to Axis Mundi with the egg. Shaw and Keiko have a short vision of Shaw's younger self, who bids Keiko goodbye.

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Six weeks later, Hiroshi is added to a memorial for deceased Monarch employees, while Barris recruits May, Keiko, and Cate into Monarch alongside Tim and assigns them to the task of tracking down Kentaro and Isabel. Meanwhile, Shaw is already following the pair to Thailand; he meets up with an old friend, A-Wut, and is led to a volcano where he sees Rodan.