Fridge / Godzilla vs. Kong

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Fridge Brilliance

• Apex is defeated with an ape axe.
• Mechagodzilla's structural design contains elements resembling Kong's (like the humongous and efficient arms). Hence, as a midway between Godzilla and Kong and an artificial machine in contrast to the organic animals that the titular kaiju are (Man vs. Nature), Mecha-G is a perfect counter to the duo.
• Godzilla's emergence in the trailer is met with the ominous chanting from Ligeti's Requiem, the same chant played in the first trailers of the 2014 Godzilla film. That chant was before it was revealed that Godzilla was a protector, back when people (and the audience) were expected to dread him...and now the chant is back as Godzilla has turned against humanity: he is something to be dreaded once more.
  • Another way to look at it: this could be another smokescreen, like how the 2014 trailer initially presented things. Since something provokes Godzilla to attack places, it might be a subtle hint that we might get a similar situation to the 2014 film, which reveals he hasn't gone bad but is trying to stop something worse.
• Godzilla's rampage becomes nigh-on justified when it's understood precisely why he's running roughshod on the surface: because humanity went and revived King Ghidorah as an anti-kaiju weapon, and they did it no less than half a decade (which is probably an eyeblink from Godzilla's POV) after Ghidorah almost destroyed humanity and the whole world as a direct consequence of humanity's hubris with the Oxygen Destroyer. Godzilla's been shown multiple times in the past to have a comprehension approaching human levels; he knows exactly what they've done, so he's not going to take the gentle approach in hunting down his nemesis.
• This version of Mechagodzilla is notable for lacking teeth (even the Ready Player One version prominently had them). This neatly addresses the Fridge Logic question of why a Humongous Mecha would even need teeth.
• It's rather fitting that Mechagodzilla was taken down by alcohol. Bear in mind that Mechagodzilla is technically Ghidorah. Who is Ghidorah based off of? The legendary Orochi. And how did Susanoo take down Orochi? By getting Orochi drunk.
• At the film's finish, Kong has become the ruler of the Hollow Earth. In other words, now a King Kong, if you will.
• Kong's axe is heavily implied to be comprised of Godzilla or his predecessor's dorsal fin and bones. Ancient enemies, indeed.
• MechaGodzilla is a mishmash of all previous depictions, a manmade anti-kaiju weapon as introduced with MechaGodzilla II, a revived kaiju consciousness within a robotic encasement ala Kiryu, the third iteration, but that leaves the obvious hole of the first MechaGodzilla, a giant robot disguised as Godzilla sent by aliens. Godzilla's actions are provoked by MechaGodzilla, framing him as attacking the planet, and the brain that hijacks the machine is that of an alien. Thus, all bases are covered.
• Another reason why Godzilla spares Kong is because, rivalry or not, Kong did play a crucial role in preserving the Earth.
• Given that he's powerful enough to blast a hole straight into the earth's core, how does Godzilla get trounced so easily by Mecha G? Because he blasted a hole straight into the earth's core. Imagine how much energy he expended to do just that, and it becomes clear that he was well-tired out and energetically drained by the time his robotic rival shows up.
  • Not to mention is Beam Spam in the fight with Kong, using his Atomic Breath far more often than he ever has in the Legendary Series. Even if some residual Burning Mode powerup remains from KotM, Godzilla burned through a frightening amount of his reserves before Mechagodzilla even showed up.
  • Another major reason Godzilla lost his Beam-O-War battle with MechaGodzilla? This Godzilla's atomic breath is a literal Breath Weapon, requiring Godzilla to take a deep breath to activate it, and it stops when Godzilla runs out of air. Being a cyborg with an internal power supply, of course MechaGodzilla beats him — he doesn't need to breathe to fire it.
• Others have noted that MechaGodzilla has a human-like build, especially his gangly arms. Well, of course, he does! He was designed to be piloted VR-style by a human!
• It doesn't make sense why Godzilla would halt his pursuit of King Ghidorah to focus on a young Titan like Kong until it's discovered that Kong's ancestral home is built on top of a powerful energy source surprisingly similar to Godzilla's abilities and that the race had been using said source to build weapons against him and his kind. Godzilla probably feared that Kong would use this power against him or at least lead untrustworthy people to discover it and abuse it. Those fears were warranted because the energy source revived Ghidorah within MechaGodzilla.
• Before Kong destroys HEAV 2, he briefly looks inside of it. Considering his intelligence, he likely knew the purpose of the HEAVs as transport units and wanted to make sure Jia wasn't in it before he destroyed it.
• It's established in the Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) novelization and still implied in the film that Ghidorah's Healing Factor requires energy to work. This mechanic may be precisely what causes Ghidorah's lingering influence in the skull and inside MechaGodzilla to awaken once MechaGodzilla is fully powered.
• When Team Godzilla discovers Ghidorah's skull in the Apex base, Heyes theorizes that there's a second piece of Ghidorah inside MechaGodzilla acting as a receiver, which seems like a frown-inducing Fridge Logic due to how Ghidorah was killed in the previous film and how the severed head only survived because it was decapitated much earlier. But in the film, only Ghidorah's upper skull is seen with the jawbone and neck missing, whereas the head was completely intact when Alan Jonah first purchased it. Where did those missing pieces go? They're the piece that's inside MechaGodzilla. The neck even more so than the jaw, as it'd likely contain part of Ghidorah's nervous system.
• How fitting the antagonists' deaths are:
  • Walter Simmons is a Smug Snake and is technically killed by Ghidorah, a serpent-like Titan.
  • Unlike Dr. Serizawa, who died by nuclear fire (also the source of Godzilla's power), his son died by electricity (the source of Ghidorah's power). Even the manners of their deaths have a lot of polarization: Dr. Serizawa died willfully making a Heroic Suicide to directly save Godzilla's life, while Ren was forcibly killed by Ghidorah when whatever was left of Ghidorah's consciousness in its remains came Back from the Dead.
  • MechaGodzilla, infected and reprogrammed by Ghidorah's subconsciousness, gets defeated by a liquor bottle. And Yamata no Orochi, the mythical Japanese serpent that inspired Ghidorah, was slain after being drugged with liquor.
• The red coloration of Apex's "Number 10" captive Skullcrawler might have an In-Universe explanation: if Apex captured it as an egg like the ones Team Godzilla discovers and raised it entirely in captivity in their facility, then it growing up in different conditions to the Skullcrawlers in Kong: Skull Island, being exposed to different environmental factors, might have affected its development.
  • Alternatively, it may be a genetically-engineered clone, probably reinforced by its sheer size at over twice the size of Ramarak.
• Monarch being able to both fund the construction of a bio-dome and get it built in very short time (depending on whether they had to build it quickly when the Perpetual Storm closed in or they predicted the storm's encroachment before it happened and had ample time in advance) seems like a bit of a stretch, since building that dome and getting it operational all to save one Titan's life probably cost Monarch almost as much as Apex building the 466-foot Mechagodzilla did. But depending on how the attitude of the public at large towards Titans has been affected by the events of King of the Monsters, it's possible that after Ghidorah's rampage, Monarch need only snap their fingers and say this is the logical approach and the government will pour funds into their account.
  • There are also likely charitable donations towards Titan preservation efforts from charitable organizations and corporations. A lot of charities might crop after KotM shows just how important the Titans are. . . or just destructive they can be if something goes wrong, leading to lots of donations towards projects ensuring the Titans remain beneficial. And with all the teases in KotM's closing credits, there are probably corporations who exist solely to explore and harness the changes the Titans are making to our planet. Both groups would be interested in investing heavily in Kong's survival.
• If humans can't survive passage into the true Hollow Earth (not just the surface tunnels and sunken city Godzilla uses), where did the crafted building that houses the axes and energy source come from? It has architecture, statues, and doors, all artificially constructed. The most likely answer? Since numerous Titans have human level intelligence, it was probably constructed by the Kongs.
  • Kong's primitive, animalistic existence on Skull Island was due to his family essentially being castaways who grew up without knowledge of the Hollow Earth.
• It seems like a coincidence Godzilla would sense Mechagodzilla in Hong Kong when he does...but notice the blood and gore in the test chamber and that this particular Crawler is called number 10. This implies that Mechagodzilla had been tested several times, but Godzilla didn't sense him. What changed this time? Walter is talking with Ren about the Hollow Earth energy source they were in the process of getting that'd make it fully operational...while Ren is in Ghidorah's skull cockpit, with the harness still on, though not actively using it. It's very possible Ghidorah was awake and intentionally called Godzilla so he'd be there when Mechagodzilla came online.
  • During the initial attack in Pensacola, Mechagodzilla's eye was present, sending out some signal, which it did again after killing the Skullcrawler. Mechagodzilla was likely built with the same kind of ORCA signal that drove Titans berserk in the previous film and Ghidorah was triggering it.
  • In addition, notice when the first time Godzilla rampages against Apex happens: it's after Mechagodzilla has already been mostly shipped to Hong Kong, and only his eye is actually at the Apex base...the eye giving off the signal. It's very possible Ghidorah intentionally waited until most of his body was on the other side of the world to summon Godzilla to a location he was no longer at, knowing he'd go on a rampage.
• To show that Kong and Godzilla have made peace with each other, Kong drops the axe (buries the hatchet).
• Godzilla ignored Kong and his parents while on Skull Island because they were essentially in exile after losing the war. Godzilla claimed the Earth while the Kongs were confined to Skull Island for the rest of their lives. The Titans are smart enough to handle political exile.
  • Or didn't consider the Kongs a threat, as they were confined to a small area of Godzilla's planet-wide territory. As in real life, there's presumably no point in wasting time and effort fighting unnecessary battles: The Kongs were stuck on an island with no way to leave, meaning they posed no threat or challenge to Godzilla.
• Apex's "analysis" of the other Titans at the film's beginning led some to believe they were killed. This isn't the case, as some have been "defeated" by Kong, and he hasn't left Skull Island to encounter others. What we're looking at is Apex analyzing Titans and their abilities to see how they stack up against Mechagodzilla.
• The massive technological advancements by human organizations like Apex and Monarch throughout the movies until what is considered fiction and reality are blurred as of this film. Having giant monsters be real and the crushing reality that you are not the biggest fish is undoubtedly a major motivation behind such advancements.
  • Also, studying the frankly impossible biology of Titans may have led to all kinds of theoretical breakthroughs now seeing practical results.
• It seems very stupid that Apex would test Mechagodzilla in their branches which are in urban areas, risking Godzilla himself attacking it along with valuable infrastructure while in the middle of testing. There are two reasons. First, they didn't think that Godzilla could sense the brain waves of his archenemy at first until they connected the dots as of the first attack. Secondly, they are planning on using Mechagodzilla as a replacement for Godzilla, so making the latter attack what is presumably innocent places in the public eye would sour his image as a savior, making Apex unveil their creation and using it on him a giant example of Engineered Heroics.
• Kong's axe, when powered by Godzilla's atomic breath, is powerful enough to cleave through Mechagodzilla like a hot knife through butter. This, in hindsight, explains why Godzilla was so pissed at Kong and took off the kids' gloves after Kong landed a direct blow on his head with the atomic breath-powered axe. Something powerful enough to destroy Mechagodzilla with ease is certainly something that would hurt Godzilla deeply, which is why he was so pissed after that: Kong came close to killing him with that blow, so Godzilla decided to play seriously and hit Kong where it hurts until he's finally defeated. When fighting Mechagodzilla together afterward, Godzilla remembers how much the powered axe hurt him and realizes that he can give Kong the edge he needs to overcome their stronger opponent, so he fires his atomic breath at Kong's axe.
• Why didn't Godzilla resume attacking the convoy after the survivors of his first attack in the ocean played dead and then used helicopters afterward, as any movement would have tipped him off that it was a ruse? He probably thought they were here to collect Kong's body, and the ones who played dead most likely waited until Godzilla was far enough for them to evacuate the surviving humans as well. It wasn't until he sensed Kong charging his axe that Godzilla realized he had been tricked.
  • Or perhaps he did know Kong was playing dead, but he considers such an act a mark of submission. Godzilla ignores Kong at that point, thinking he's conceded defeat, only to later sense that Kong has charged up a weapon used against so many of his kind and thus is willing to punch down to the Hollow Earth, knowing that a grave truce had just been broken.
• Why did Kong have so much trouble breaking out of his chains during the Tasman Sea battle when he easily broke out of an anchor chain in Skull Island? Well, boat anchors are meant to keep boats from floating away and, therefore, would be quite a bit weaker than chains specifically designed to hold down a Godzilla-sized ape. Second, the chains Kong broke out of in Skull Island were old and rusted out, making them weaker still. Finally, Kong had been on sedatives for some time and was likely still slightly groggy and weak, at least for the first part of the battle, whereas in Skull Island, he was in mid-fight with the Skull Devil and likely was running on pure adrenaline. Factor that together, and it’s no surprise that Kong couldn’t break free.
• The scene where Simmons insists on rushing through activating Mechagodzilla without testing the Hollow Earth energy formula over Ren's Ignored Expert protests can seem like a Strawman Has a Point, where Simmons has a point that their Evil Plan will be ruined by Godzilla finding them anyway or otherwise Monarch will come in and stop and arrest them if they don't activate the Mecha now; until you consider a few things which could push Simmons' argument more back towards just being Too Dumb to Live. Godzilla knows Mechagodzilla is in Hong Kong because he sensed its activation from in the ocean during the Skullcrawler test run, and now that he's in the city, Godzilla can't find the Mecha's exact location — it's likely that if the Mecha was never activated; sooner or later after beating Kong, Godzilla would return to the ocean again to wait until Mechagodzilla's signal reappeared just as he'd done at his previous rampages' locations, leaving Apex intact and giving them ample time to test the formula at their leisure and get Mechagodzilla activated next time. This is explicitly confirmed to be the case in the novelization.
  • Then again, of course, the above assumes that the Mecha tech doesn't signal Godzilla without Apex's control once he's in the city (which, to be fair, is what happened at Pensacola, with the novelization confirming that Apex has no control over the Ghidorah parts signaling Godzilla); plus there's the risk that if Apex doesn't activate Mechagodzilla now, Monarch (who in the novelization are catching onto their Evil Plan at this point, with the novel also stating Apex have moles within Monarch informing them about the organization's activities) will be able to launch an investigation that'll get Apex shut down by the government for good for their evil actions that put so many people in danger. Additionally, the blood- and gore-stained state of the Mechagodzilla testing chamber indicates that Apex has likely only ever used the one chamber for testing their creation — which in turn implies that once the Mecha is fully constructed, Apex has no design-compliant way of dismantling its parts to be shipped away along their underground tunnels^note which would be too small for the Mecha when it's in one piece and reconstructed at another base, so Apex wouldn't be able to ship the Mecha out of Hong Kong to avoid their dirty secret being discovered when Monarch came in if the Mecha was never activated. And that's not even going into how Apex would hide the Ghidorah skull and the tech hooked into it.
• The novelization states that Godzilla sent the other titans into hibernation while he hunts down Mechagodzilla. Why does he do this? Because he knows that Ghidorah can control the other Titans. If Mechagodzilla awakens the others, Godzilla can't guarantee their loyalty for backup (save Mothra, who may not have hatched yet). If he can stop Ghidorah before he fully revives, the problem is solved, and the others can reawaken. If not, it will take them time, at least, before they can aid the Mecha, and hopefully, Godzilla will stop him before then.
• Ren Serizawa in the novelization is a Black Sheep who, over time, turned away from his father's ways and became the complete opposite of everything his benevolent father stood for and advocated, in favor of obsessing over (metaphorically) overthrowing his father's work and surpassing him; is comparable to Lucifer's rebellion against God in the mainstream interpretation of Satan and God's relationship with God which was popularized by works like Paradise Lost. This makes it all the more appropriate that Ren is psychically linking his mind to the skull of the MonsterVerse Satan, and even more appropriate that Ren in the novelization dies by becoming part of said monster's consciousness when his mind drowns within the Ghidorah-possessed Mechagodzilla's.
• While Godzilla may seem like a Jerkass for relentlessly hounding Kong at every turn, it makes sense in the context of the story up until this point. Whenever a Titan has broken ranks or challenged Godzilla's authority, the results have invariably been disastrous, with enemy Titans (The MUT Os and Ghidroah) from the last two Godzilla-centered Monsterverse movies threatening the Earth’s ecosystem. Combined with the fact that (unlike Kong) Godzilla is indicated to be old enough to have witnessed, if not participated in the war between his kind and Kong's, he has no reason to trust Kong, or assume he's any different,. To that end, his consistently hostile behavior toward Kong fully aligns with his established character.
• While there is the undeniable fact that in this movie, Godzilla is not making as much of an effort to avoid human casualties as he has previously in the Monsterverse in his hunt for the remains of Ghidorah. Even with that in mind, he only retaliated directly against human vessels during the ocean fight only after they struck first. His actions in antagonizing Kong (especially in Hong Kong when it was Kong who instigated the fight in a populated area) were still, to a degree, protecting humanity from what he perceived as a threat to them in a young, warmongering upstart Titan seeking to steal his crown, seeing as how he has not witnessed Kong behave benevolently towards humans, further cementing how he had not truly turned on humanity.

Fridge Horror

• After briefly short-circuiting due to Josh pouring Bernie's drink into the computer, Mechagodzilla lets out an unmistakably Ghidorah-like screech...and given that Ren Serizawa is using Ghidorah's skull and "telepathy" to control Mecha G...how much of Ghidorah is present in Mechagodzilla? Is Ghidorah's influence just a controlling mechanism to pilot the robotic titan? Or is Mechagodzilla Ghidorah's mind back from the dead and actively seeking revenge on Godzilla?
  • Even more chilling when you remember: the head Ren turned into a cockpit was Kevin the left head. The timid, curious, and dimwitted one of the three heads. Assuming this truly is Ghidorah's personality in a new body and that it's truly Kevin's mind alone without the other two heads' minds, just exactly what made Kevin so terrifyingly brutal, quicker on the draw than before and devoid of his original curious tendencies in his desire for mass annihilation? Especially when he was just prepared to give Godzilla his taste of the Kiss of Death...
    • It could be revenge for the destruction of the rest of himself and his other two heads. The left head might have decided to go full out in response and thus dropped those personality traits to focus on destroying those who had hurt it.
  • If one considers that the rest of King Ghidorah is no more and it was stated that neurons run throughout all of his being like an octopus's tentacles that retain all relative cognitive information, it's probably that the brain prioritized restoring the most efficient consciousness — in other words, Ichi.
  • Or maybe all three personalities still exist, contained in a supercomputer brain that still isn't big enough for all three of them. Yes, it might be worse than Mechagodzilla being controlled by a personality of Ghidorah... Mechagodzilla might be insane.
• Did Ghidorah even feel the environment around him as a mecha? Imagine being stuck in your body with no sense of touch or pain.
• Rather wacky compared to the other examples on this page, but considering that the two titular titans unexpectedly made their arrival and began their second face-off when Hong Kong was barely evacuated, several uninformed people probably had to urgently leave their houses and save their skins while in the middle of a shower or a pooping session. You do the math.
• Considering the reveal that Ghidorah's decapitated head retains vestiges of its consciousness even as all its flesh rots away... what exactly was it like for said consciousness fragment, being inside an immobile, decomposing head? Did it only awaken when exposed to the Hollow Earth energy formula? Was it even aware of anything before it hijacked Mechagodzilla? Could it feel what was happening to its skull, or experience the realistic And I Must Scream of being left untended in a static room for hours or days on end whilst fully conscious?
• Godzilla's atomic breath can punch straight into the Earth's core, and his hide is resistant enough to withstand a point-blank nuke. And yet Mechagodzilla defeats him in a Beam-O-War and inflicts a nasty burn on his chest... Just how powerful is Mechagodzilla's beam?
• The Clash of the Titans leaves Hong Kong pretty much devastated. The locals are in for hard times even if foreign aid steps in.
  • There are still live Skullcrawlers and their eggs in the Hong Kong branch of Apex. Hope someone discovers and stops them before they eventually breach the surface world...
  • ...a feat that is now much easier given that Godzilla blasted a hole into the Hollow Earth, in the middle of Hong Kong. How long before smaller but dangerous creatures like Skullcrawlers and Hellhawks find this easy-access passage to the surface?
  • Remember in the previous film, when it was revealed that Las Vegas and San Francisco had to be abandoned after the MUTO's and Godzilla's respective passages left them irradiated? After the ending of this film, that will presumably be the fate of Hong Kong, which in Real Life boasts a population of over seven million people. How many people will be displaced and rendered homeless as a result of this?
• The birthplace of the Titans is a very real Hollow Earth. If the Titans didn't shake the foundation of the scientific community to its core, then this definitely will. Would this world also undergo human exploitation, something that not even the presence of giant monsters can remotely stop, as shown in the film in due time?
• Kong may be king of the Hollow Earth, but this doesn't change the fact that his kind is practically extinct, as there aren't any other live giant apes shown in there. Kong's hopes that he can find his kind are pretty much dashed.
  • None that we saw during this movie. Also, Kong's situation is not unique; almost every Titan is Last of His Kind. Somehow.
    • Right, but he's the only one who's shown to be mournful about that and longing to find them.
• So MechaGodzilla receiving a large enough juice-up caused whatever was left of Ghidorah's mind to reawaken after the decapitated head had decayed to just a skull. What would've happened to the head if it was energized before it had rotted away to just a skull?
  • Given that Ichi was still alive after decapitation and required Godzilla "smoking the dragon blunt" to kill him for good, it's fairly plausible it could survive without a body...
• At the end of the film, MechaGodzilla has been completely trashed, and Godzilla is seen wading back into the sea without Time Skip, but Ghidorah's skull inside Apex's base is still intact, and therefore whatever's left of Ghidorah's mind is likely still alive, if now without a mobile vessel.
  • Suppose every last trace of Ghidorah is eventually destroyed. Sounds like bliss? Well, let's hope there aren't more of these dragons somewhere out there in the galaxy, or if there are, that none of them ever stumble across Earth...
    • Imagine if the Ghidorah we saw was among the smaller, weaker underdogs of his kind...
    • We've already seen reference to a certain another titan, whose appearance in a Toho film could essentially be described as Ghidorah with eight heads.
  • What's more, though Monarch will most likely seize the skull at the film's end, what'll they do about it then? Since energy and radiation fuel Ghidorah's Healing Factor, attempting to destroy the skull could have disastrous consequences, and they might not want to risk it. Probably the best they'll be able to do is lock the skull up in a vault.
    • Since Godzilla can vaporize the middle head of Ghidorah, it's likely that as long as Ghidorah doesn't absorb energy, the alien can be killed.
• MechaGodzilla may not have King Ghidorah's world-ending Weather Manipulation, but if he'd killed Godzilla and Kong and won, he still could've posed just as much of a threat. As Apex's Ultimate Destroyer, if MechaGodzilla interacted with other Titans, he would probably be viewed as an Alpha-class Titan by them (assuming his bionic nature doesn't put them off too much), and with Ghidorah controlling him, he could've taken command after killing Godzilla and commanded the Titans to do all the extinction-inducing work for Ghidorah...
• A bit of a touchy subject here, but still a legitimate one. The film indicates Jia is most likely the Last of Her Kind among the Iwi. Whilst most traditions of Iwi culture have a chance to survive in some form through her, due to her deafness, any oral traditions that don't use instruments — chants, songs, etc. — were likely never learned by her and are therefore now officially extinct (unless Monarch operatives who previously interacted with the Iwi observed and recorded them).
  • Somewhat mitigated by the fact that the Iwi culture does not seem to have much of an oral component, as was noted in Skull Island. Because they need to avoid attracting the attention of the island’s many...many predators, the Iwi are quiet to the point of not even speaking if they can help it. So, it’s likely that there wasn’t much of an oral tradition to be lost.
  • The Iwi were known to speak very little, and Jia, the only survivor, is deaf. Perhaps deafness was a very common birth defect — an effect of the small genetic pool — and most of the Iwi were mute.
• Ren is generally cool and collected, with occasional anger...until he's piloting Mechagodzilla, at which point he becomes sadistic and brutal...and kills the Skullcrawler the same way Ghidorah beat Rodan. Did Ghidorah only wake up when the Hollow Earth energy was infused into Mechagodzilla, or was he awake and influencing Ren the entire time?
• For all of Simmons' claims of his actions to "restore" humanity to the top of the food chain, one really can't understate how incredibly callous he's been with the lives of his employees and everyday civilians. Godzilla is hinted to have attacked multiple Apex locations around the world. If this were about protecting people, once it became clear Godzilla was targeting them, the sensible thing would be, if not to halt your work altogether, then to move your work as far inland as possible in as isolated a place as possible. Instead, Apex works almost exclusively in areas along the coast and densely populated places. Their main base, where MechaGodzilla is being completed, is right on top of Hong Kong, a city with roughly 8 million people, people he's put directly in Godzilla's path. It doesn't take a genius to think of positioning Apex bases where they could be seen as creating an opportunity to turn the world against Godzilla by ensuring that he's not just taking out Apex employees but also leaving huge collateral damage. Hong Kong is reduced to a wasteland like Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Boston because of one man's overblown ego.
• Given that Kong's species seems to be carnivorous or at least omnivorous, preying upon other giant monsters like Mire Squids and Warbats, it's probable that Jia, having been raised by Kong most her life, probably included said monster flesh in her own diet as well...
  • While the Iwi diet may include monster flesh, Kong only rescued Jia; he did not raise her. Given Kong's intelligence and how much of a Gentle Giant he is with her, he likely handed her off to Monarch as soon as possible, knowing that other humans could take better care of Jia than he could. It seems that Dr. Andrews primarily raised Jia.
• Given that Godzilla's goal was to destroy Ghidorah once and for all, and even after Mechagodzilla was destroyed, Ghidorah's skull is still intact and hidden away, who's to say that Godzilla's rampages are over until every last trace of his nemesis has been wiped off the Earth?
  • Was Godzilla actively hunting Ghidorah before Apex began working on building Mechagodzilla, or did he only begin attacking when he sensed that Ghidorah might be returning? If it's the latter, he'll probably settle down again now.
• After Godzilla was brutally outmatched by MechaGodzilla's strength, the machine was about to pull off the same tactic to Godzilla, just like it did to the adult Skullcralwer. But considering that it's Kevin (an extension of King Ghidorah) who finishes him off as Godzilla did to the female MUTO in 2014, it leads to some rather horrific questions. Has King Ghidorah ever witnessed Godzilla doing the same method to other Titans beforehand? Has Godzilla ever attempted to do the same thing to him during their ancient battles? Or maybe at one point, Ghidorah tried to give Godzilla a taste of his medicine by having Ni and Kevin bite onto Godzilla's arms while Ichi ensured the final blow by firing a Gravity Beam straight into their enemy's maw? He's done an identical strategy on Rodan in King of the Monsters just like how Mecha G murdered #10, with his side heads grasping his wings and having them outstretched, allowing the middle head to blast him. Although he likely aimed at his chest and defeated him rather than outright killing him. ^note  Although because of his bloodthirsty personality, he too would've murdered Rodan if he surely wanted to. Since King Ghidorah has known and hated Godzilla for so long, he would've likely tried to eliminate him by pulling off Hoist by His Own Petard maneuvers at least several times.
• Doubles as Fridge Brilliance because it demonstrates how Emma Russell's amoral plan to save the Earth wasn't 100% right after all, but... The tie-in graphic novels and the official novelization of this film confirm that Skull Island's extinction was caused by one of the Titans that were awakened during the events of Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), Camazotz, drawing a Perpetual Storm that Ghidorah left into Skull Island's storm barrier. Camazotz was only awake because Ghidorah, as King of the Monsters, awakened him, and Ghidorah was awake because of Emma's grave mistake in awakening him without knowing of his true nature or considering his rivalry with Godzilla. Even if Emma's plan to have the Titans replenish the world's ecosystems and teach humanity a lesson in humility before mankind could cause their extinction did work out in a roundabout way once Godzilla took out the unforeseen threat of Ghidorah, she's also posthumously and indirectly responsible for the irreversible extinction of one of the very ecosystems she wanted to save.
• The thought of a man like Mark Russell, as he's depicted in this film, being the new head of Monarch is pretty terrifying. Throughout this film, he's completely useless, and by extension makes most of Monarch ineffectual at best or unwitting pawns to the villains at worst because he refuses to separate doing his job from his issues with his late wife's betrayal: making poor calls and rash assumptions based on his emotional problems in response to Godzilla's attack whilst his character development from the previous film backtracks. This starkly contrasts the late Dr. Serizawa's stoicism and intellectualism. After this film's ending, under Mark's supervision, how many future Titan clashes and crises down the line will spiral and escalate beyond necessary, all because Monarch's new leader and designated Godzilla expert after losing Serizawa is an unprofessional, over-emotional, stubborn cynic with a Titan-sized chip on his shoulder?
  • The novelization reveals that Mark is upper-middle management in Monarch at most, and Guillerman is Monarch's new top dog. It also gives Guillerman a major moment of idiocy where he wonders aloud whether he should be rooting for Godzilla (the long-time Titan protector whom we now know was Easily Condemned) or Mechagodzilla (the Apex-made Mechanical Monster which just annihilated several city blocks unprovoked For the Evulz in full view of Guillerman) during the Final Battle, so the idea of a man who is that devoid of common sense being in charge of Monarch isn't any better.
• Mark and Madison's reunion in the end is supposed to convey that things will be okay between them. The novelization (which expands on how crappy and self-centered Mark has been as a parent after the prior film's events) furthermore gives Mark a slight Jerkass Realization beforehand once he learns Madison has run off on her own. But considering how this story shows that Mark didn't internalize anything he went through during King of the Monsters (and anything he did internalize, such as his regret over leaving Madison, he misinterpreted in the worst and most misguided way), it feels more than likely that he'll have another Aesop Amnesia after this film's ending.
  • If so, it becomes Harsher in Hindsight since it would mean that Madison essentially went from one emotionally abusive parent to another. Considering the bigger picture, Emma was far worse, but Mark doesn't seem much of a better parent regardless of their "well-intentioned" efforts to protect their daughter.
• Madison's new personality might be natural character development or a result of her trauma from the previous movie. She's now acting more like her mother: She recklessly enters a dangerous situation to get answers, has Emma's assertiveness/arrogance, and assumes the leadership position in her group. The novelization reveals that Mark had Madison see a therapist who determined she got PTSD and suffers nightmares from what her mother put her through with Jonah and Ghidorah. Madison's new behavior could also explain her treatment of Josh, her only friend. In the novelization, Madison says she likes Josh as a friend for his reliability and lack of bravado; however, she may also like how Josh's Cowardly Lion personality (despite his street smarts) makes it hard for him to stand up to her, especially with how Mark believes Madison might've bullied Josh into joining her mission.

Fridge Logic

• With Emma's unfavorable reputation due to her eco-terrorism, how was Mark able to get and secure a high-up position within Monarch? Meanwhile, Madison becomes a social pariah among her schoolmates; doesn't anyone know Madison's side of the story?
  • When news breaks of someone's involvement in a heinous crime or criminal group, people often overlook vital details and focus solely on the fact that the person was involved. Though Emma was his ex-wife, Mark opposed her and Jonah, likely earning him public forgiveness. However, despite Madison's crucial role in saving the world, some may still hold her initial alliance with the terrorists against her. Some might argue that Madison was old enough at that point to know better than to join her mother in unlawful acts, not understanding that Madison was only involved because Emma manipulated and misled her into believing their actions were righteous, in addition to suffering years of emotional abuse from Emma. While some adults might understand the situation more and show Madison some leniency, children can be less forgiving, continuing to judge her for her past mistakes at every chance.
• The novelization reveals Alan Jonah sold Ghidorah's skull to Apex, which contradicts his "restoring the natural order" doctrine. So, why did he do it?
  • Getting additional funding for his terrorist operations is a good guess. However, the more probable guess is that Jonah sold the skull to him after discerning Walter Simmons' ego and ambition to restore humans to their top spot on the totem pole because he knew Walter's plans were doomed to fail. Jonah helped Apex along the path to its inevitable hubris-induced downfall, cunningly eliminating it as a potential obstacle.
• What's the deal with Mark's change of heart towards Godzilla?
  • The novelization reveals that Emma is a big part of it. Mark can't help comparing Godzilla to Emma, anthropomorphizing the former's behavior—ascribing human characteristics to Godzilla's actions, a trap that Mark admits falling into like others in Monarch. Like Emma, Godzilla's efforts in protecting the planet have good intentions, but they've both left extensive collateral damage in their wake, believing some human suffering is justified for the Earth's benefit. When Mark tells Madison that animals can change like people, it's mainly to make her drop the subject and leave it alone; Mark considers Madison's opinions about Godzilla and Apex, just not to her face. In a roundabout way, he means that Godzilla can abruptly switch sides, much like Emma did when she teamed up with Jonah. Mark fears Godzilla's attacks on Apex facilities are Emma's actions all over again.
• Why is Madison, for all her smarts, giving a conspiracy theorist like Bernie and his crazy ideas the time of day?
  • The movie makes Madison seem like she's become a conspiracy nut, but the novelization clarifies that she hasn't. She knows most of Bernie's theories are baloney, but he tends to be on the right track when discussing the Titans. Madison wants to investigate Apex with Bernie's help; while everyone else plays into Apex's hands and quickly denounces Godzilla, Bernie is the only one who agrees that Apex is nefariously provoking Godzilla into violence and is willing to do something about it. Madison probably only listens to Bernie's podcast for the Titan-related stuff and entertains his more outlandish views to gain his trust; otherwise, he wouldn't help her.
• Why is Madison so gung-ho about going after Apex?
  • The novelization provides some much-needed insight into her motives. Madison champions Godzilla, so she's especially disheartened and betrayed by her dad turning against him again despite Godzilla's heroics five years ago. She also still feels guilty for her complicity in the previous film's events. Madison wants to justify Godzilla's existence and ease her burden.

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