Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters!
With more finally revealed about the character, Anna Sawai shares some insight on Cate’s tragic backstory in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. The Monsterverse show follows the American schoolteacher as she learns her father had a secret family while also working for the titular organization and teams up with her newly discovered half-brother to find their dad after he was believed to be dead. Episode 5, entitled “The Way Out”, offered more of Cate’s origin as having dated one of her fellow teachers, while also cheating on her, and left her behind to chaperone a bus evacuating students on G-Day, which she was ultimately only to save a few of following Godzilla’s destruction of the Golden Gate Bridge.
As the show continues its run, Screen Rant interviewed Sawai to discuss Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. When asked about Cate’s tragic backstory revealed in episode 5, the star expressed her excitement to explore the character’s relationship with Dani and her struggles in committing to her partner, while also teasing that with no confirmed on-screen death for her, this dynamic could be explored within the future of the show and Monsterverse. Check out what Sawai shared below:
Then, we don’t really see it, but possibly, Dani died on G-Day, so Cate is dealing with this guilt that she is the reason why Dani wasn’t saved. So, that was a whole conversation. And I absolutely adored Courtney, who plays Dani. She was so much fun to work with, and she was my first proper girlfriend on screen. I’m so happy that I got to share the screen with Courtney. Yeah. But we don’t really know, actually. I guess they don’t really show it, so maybe they’re trying to see how it plays.
Oh, no, no, no, she for sure doesn’t [die]—we don’t see that. But we see Cate holding the key and then talking to her mom about it later on. But I also feel like that didn’t make the final cut, so you might have to cut that out. But yeah, there’s kind of room for any kind of possibility.
How Cate’s Backstory Is An Important Parallel To Another Monarch Character
Though the initial reveal of Cate having dated Dani, and her potential death during G-Day, would have been more than enough of an interesting backstory for the character, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters episode 5 took it a step further by revealing that she was cheating on Dani with an unspecified woman. Considering she did this after Dani had asked her to move in with her further added a layer of flawed complexity to Cate, allowing audiences to look at their lead protagonist in a completely new light after sympathizing with the emotional turmoil she had faced regarding her family tree in prior episodes.
Interestingly, however, Cate’s troubled approach to her relationship with Dani not only evolved Sawai’s character in a surprising fashion, but actually established a key parallel with another of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters‘ characters, her own father, Hiroshi Randa. Much of Cate’s conflict at the start of the season was grappling with the revelation that her father had secretly built a second family in Japan and hid a number of secrets from her and her mom, including leaving them following the events of G-Day without much of an explanation. Though she’s frequently demonized him for his actions, her drive to find him and learn of his connection with Monarch could largely be considered as Cate realizing she and her father are not very different.
Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters’ Randa Family Tree Explained
The Randa family is at the center of the Monsterverse series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, with multiple members across different time periods.
While it’s not clear who the woman Cate cheated on Dani with is in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters episode 5, there are just enough context clues in their interactions with one another to suggest they’ve been enjoying time together for a while before the flashback’s reveal. As such, it could be argued that Sawai’s character very much cared for both people enough to form separate relationships with them, even if her relationship with Dani was the one audiences connected with on a deeper level for how the show presented her as a kind and loving partner keen to take the next step with Cate. Given Sawai confirms that Dani has not been definitively killed in the show, it will be interesting to see if the final few episodes or a potential Legacy of Monsters season 2 will bring Dani back and force Cate to confront some of these issues and break her father’s habits.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
The Legendary MonsterVerse continues with Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, a sci-fi action series created for Apple TV+. Set after the events of Godzilla vs. Kong, the series follows two siblings retracing their father’s footsteps to uncover the truth behind their family legacy. What they find sets up a story over three decades and explores the foundations of the mysterious company.
- Cast
- Kurt Russell , Wyatt Russell , Anna Sawai , Kiersey Clemons , Ren Watabe , Mari Yamamoto , Anders Holm , Joe Tippett , Elisa Lasowski
- Genres
- Action , Sci-Fi
- Rating
- Not Yet Rated
- Seasons
- 1
- Writers
- Chris Black , Matt Fraction
- Streaming Service(s)
- Apple TV+
- Franchise(s)
- Monsterverse , Godzilla , King Kong
- Directors
- Matt Shakman
- Showrunner
- Chris Black , Matt Fraction
