"Will the Real May Please Stand Up?"
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"Will the Real May Please Stand Up?" (本物のメイ は どうぞご起立を Honmono no Mei wa Dōzo Gokiritsu o) is the seventh episode of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Directed by Hiromi Kamata and written by Mariko Tamaki, it premiered on Apple TV+ on December 22, 2023.
Plot
A stunned Tim emerges from a pile of sand near the crashed helicopter. At the airport in Tindouf, Algeria, Cate Randa questions why Hiroshi was following Godzilla, given that he no longer works for Monarch. Kentaro is uninterested in Hiroshi's motives, fixating on how he left them again. Cate realizes that May has been gone for an unusually long time and leaves to find her. May, crying in the bathroom, notices two foreboding figures step in. She calms herself and asks them how she should expect her first kidnapping to go. By the time Cate reaches the bathroom, all three are gone, but she finds May's bag abandoned. May, sitting on a plane, tries to stay collected and begins to reminisce. In 2012, she agreed to a lucrative programming job at a company called AET over dinner with Brenda Holland in Seattle.
Cate spots a bedraggled Tim walking into the airport and demands to know what happened to May. He has no answers, and is surprised to hear that May made a deal with Michelle Duvall and that Hiroshi was also in Algeria. At Cate's mentions of a machine Hiroshi had with him, Tim theorizes that he is trying to prevent the next G-Day. Cate proposes an exchange: if Monarch can help them find May, they'll help the organization locate Lee Shaw. Kentaro pulls Cate aside, believing they should cut their losses and avoid any further involvement with Monarch; she dares him to tell her he doesn't care what happens to May. At the same time, Tim updates Deputy Director Natalia Verdugo on his disastrous mission. His sarcastic replies earn him a suspension, prompting him to scold Verdugo for treating Cate and Kentaro like criminals and thus motivating them to team with Shaw. Though she denies Monarch having kidnapped May, she asks if he's told the Randas the truth about May.
At Monarch Outpost 88 in Fairbanks, Alaska, Dr. Barnes observes that the gamma ray signatures around the nearby rift have the same isotopic signature as G-Day. While she takes a bathroom break, the base's monitors suddenly shut down as Shaw and Duvall enter with an armed guard. Shaw introduces himself and announces that the outpost is now under his control. Though he tells the staff they are free to leave, he implores them to join him in taking the Titan threat seriously. Barnes attempts to call in the insurrection as Duvall follows her, forcing her to hide outside.
After assuring Cate and Kentaro that Monarch will help them, Tim raves about Hiroshi's brilliance as a Monarch agent. Cate suggests starting their search with May's sister. Hiroshi clarifies, however, that Monarch learned May is not her real name during a background check.
Thirty months prior, Holland, calling May "Corah," tries to dodge a meeting with her. May has been disappointed by AET's lack of transparency regarding what the Cybernetic Neuro-Interface unit is using her code for and asks to be transferred to that division. Holland rebuffs her, reminding her that any code she produces for AET is company property, but dangles a possible promotion if May can earn it.
Barnes, having withdrawn to a gas station, updates Verdugo on Shaw's takeover while he orders the base's full stockpile of explosives packed up. Cate, Kentaro, and Tim arrive at May's former residence in Tacoma. As they still don't know why May was in hiding, Tim advises the Randas not to tell her family the truth. He instead pretends they know May through an online manga group and decided to stop by her home while they were in town. Lyra, May's sister, is skeptical of their story, while May's mother divulges that she hasn't been home in two years. They leave dissatisfied, but Tim is convinced Lyra isn't telling them something, especially when she immediately leaves in her car. They tail her into Seattle, but lose her in a parking garage, and she outflanks them, brandishing a tire iron and asking if they're with "the company." Kentaro calms her down by describing May in loving detail, and she explains that the company May worked for is Applied Experimental Technologies.
In the past, May receives a flurry of texts from coworkers telling her that AET's systems are crashing and everyone is looking for her. Holland has already deduced that she's responsible. Lyra finds May in her room packing; she tells Lyra only that she needs her passport and some cash. In the present, Lyra explains that May contacted her a few days ago, saying that she made a deal and would finally be able to come home. Cate assures Lyra they'll find her, and she tells Cate to let May know her family doesn't care what she did, they just want her home.
At AET, Holland and May trade recriminations. May remembers sneaking into the Cybernetic Neuro-Interface unit and discovering footage of cruel experiments on monkeys, which Holland haughtily describes as the future being created. She laments how May wiped out millions of dollars of research with her meddling. May asks why AET never issued a warrant for her arrest; Holland responds that the company prefers to handle such matters internally. Tim calls in a favor to access local CCTV footage which reveals May entered AET headquarters several hours ago. Cate asks if Monarch has a secret rescue system, to which he makes another call. Seattle citizens suddenly receive alerts of an impending Titan attack on their phones, sending the city into a panic. Verdugo, receiving the same alert, recognizes it as Tim's work with barely-contained fury. He explains it as a system Monarch has been working on since G-Day as he, Cate, and Kentaro slip inside AET.
Holland asks May what she knows about monsters, given her presence in Algeria at the same time as Godzilla. When May questions AET's interest in Titans, Holland offers research into Godzilla's nervous system, which allows him to walk despite his massive size, as an example. She adds that she's aware the alert is a hoax, as AET would have had notice before the general public in the event of real danger, and that May's friends have entered the building to rescue her. She proposes that May walk free, but report everything she learns about Titans back to her. She exits the office to greet Tim, Cate, and Kentaro, proclaiming the company's dispute with May settled. Cate embraces May and prepares to leave, but May stops her, wanting to tell her something.
In a brief flashback, May ends a call with Lyra just before first meeting Kentaro and introducing herself with her new name. In the present, she tells May that her real name is Corah Mateo and she used to program for AET. She thought she could use Hiroshi's files as leverage to get herself out of trouble with the company and apologizes for using and deceiving them. She resolves to disappear again and tells them to leave, shocking Cate. As the trio exits AET, Monarch agents suddenly usher them into a van. Verdugo is inside, and she reprimands Tim for using the Titan alert while he updates her on May's situation. Cate offers her help in dealing with Shaw, reminding Verdugo that they found their father's map and Godzilla without Monarch's help. As she did with Tim, she asks for May's freedom in exchange.
At AET, May disingenuously explains her sabotage to Holland as frustration with herself for selling out and joining a wealthy company. Just then, Holland receives a call that Verdugo is in the lobby asking to see her. That night, May returns home and has a tearful reunion with her family. Tim proposes to Verdugo that Monarch take the Titan alert as an opportunity to step out of the shadows. In Seattle, May catches up with Cate and Kentaro. Suspicious of Monarch's deal with AET, she asks to come with them and see this adventure through. Cate asks if she should start calling her Corah; May replies that she should continue using her alias. Cate holds her during the car ride while Kentaro silently watches them.
Verdugo records a message revealing Monarch's existence and purpose to the public, explaining the Titan alert in Seattle as a false alarm. She declares that the organization will steer humanity through unprecedented dangers. Holland is among those watching the speech. On call with Walter Simmons, the company's CEO, she declares that their agreement with Monarch could be fruitful. She views the proposed logo for AET's upcoming rebrand—to Apex Cybernetics.
Shaw's forces plant explosives around the Alaska rift as he observes in a helicopter. The first blast lures out the Frost Vark. It leaps at another helicopter as the rest of the explosives detonate. The rift becomes a vortex, sucking in the Titan before sealing up. Shaw lands and screams in triumph.
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Anna Sawai as Cate Randa
- Kiersey Clemons as May Olowe-Hewitt
- Ren Watabe as Kentaro Randa
- Joe Tippett as Tim
- Kurt Russell as Colonel Lee Shaw
- Elisa Lasowski as Michelle Duvall
- Dominique Tipper as Brenda Holland
- Mirelly Taylor as Deputy Director Natalia Verdugo
- Eisa Davis as May's mother
- Morgan Dudley as Lyra Mateo
- Jess Salgueiro as Dr. Barnes
- Camille Legg as Collins
- Wonita Joy as Monarch supervisor
- Mitchell Johnson as explosives team member
- Zia Newton as Oliver
- Dave Santana as Daniel
- Julian Lao as coffee patron
- Logan Tarasoff as goon
Appearances
Titans
Characters
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Weapons, vehicles, and organizationsLocations
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Gallery
Promotional stills
Screenshots
Trivia
- The animals with mechanical implants May discovers at AET recall Bernie Hayes' theory in Godzilla vs. Kong: The Official Movie Novelization that Apex Cybernetics planned to implant remote control devices in Skullcrawlers.
- When improvising a list of mangaka who May enjoys, Tim mentions Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama, who frequently referenced Godzilla and other kaiju in his works and made a cameo appearance in The Return of Godzilla (1984).
- Natalia Verdugo's speech airs on KYPN, a fictitious news station previously seen in Godzilla (2014).
- This episode's title references the catchphrase of the long-running game show To Tell the Truth, which is frequently parodied in pop culture, most famously in the Eminem song "The Real Slim Shady."
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