‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’: Could Shaw Be Hiro’s Real Father? Shaw’s Relationship With Keiko Explained

‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ is certainly character-driven, and it has been clearly established that the Randa family and its involvement with Leland Shaw has been one of the focus points of the storyline, especially because the series keeps on jumping between the present and the past. We know that Shaw is quite invested in Hiro Randa, the father of Cate and Kentaro, and the past seems to tease the possibility that there could be something bigger between the two, especially with Hiro’s mother involved. So, could Shaw be Hiro’s real father?

Lee and Keiko clearly had a thing in the past

In the previous episodes of ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,’ we were able to see the history of the trio of Lee Shaw, Keiko Miura, and Bill Randa. Lee was assigned to become Keiko’s bodyguard while the scientist was off studying radiation spikes in the Philippines. That was when they ran into Bill, who was following the legend of a dragon-like monster in the same region, as the trio eventually started working together as part of Monarch to investigate matters involving the Titans.

Of course, while Keiko and Bill were the brains of the operation, Shaw was the military arm of the trio as he was the one who acted as their bodyguard and the military’s liaison with Monarch. They were successful at getting military funding, especially after they discovered the existence of Godzilla.

In episode 6 of ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,’ it was shown that Lee and Keiko both attended a military party in 1955 in the hopes of getting closer to the higher-ups of the military and securing more funding and independence for Monarch. It was during the party that Lee and Keiko were able to get close to one another as they were even about to take their relationship to the next level before work got in the way of things.

Still, it was clear that Lee was in love with Keiko. When Keiko and Bill needed to go to Japan to investigate radiation spikes, they told Shaw to stay behind so that he could present Monarch’s funding case to the military and eventually become the man calling the shots for Monarch. However, his feelings for Keiko got in the way because he disobeyed General Puckett’s orders and decided to go to Japan instead of presenting Monarch’s data to the military to secure funding and independence.

In Japan, Lee and Keiko got into a short argument regarding Shaw’s decision to chase what he wanted instead of doing what was best for Monarch. But after coming to terms with their decisions, Lee and Keiko shared a kiss, indicating that there was something romantic between them. Even Bill understood what was happening as he previously left the two to talk things out, not wanting to be a third wheel in the matter.

Keiko and Bill eventually got together

Of course, as seen in episode 1 of ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,’ it was clear that Keiko and Lee never panned out in terms of their relationship. That’s because Keiko was already married to Bill during the time that they were investigating the radiation spikes in Kazakhstan. In fact, they already had a child named Hiro.

This means that at some point between 1955 and 1959 (Kazakhstan), Keiko and Lee broke things off. It is possible that the events of episode 6 were what led to the eventual breakup between the two characters.

Near the end of episode 6, it was shown that Puckett gave the Navy operational command over Monarch after Shaw went MIA to go to Japan to follow Keiko and Bill. Miura was clearly upset with Shaw as she realized that his actions were what caused the military to lose faith in the Monarch and hand command over to the Navy.

Keiko didn’t necessarily hate the military, but she didn’t exactly trust them as well, especially because the Americans were still a bit too uneasy with the Japanese due to the events that transpired in World War II. Of course, Keiko also believed that the military would rather blow the Titans up instead of actually studying them. Keiko wanted to study and learn more about the Titans, and that was why she wanted funding and independence from the military.

It is likely that Shaw’s actions drove Keiko away from him. Eventually, she got together with Bill before the two got married and had a family together. After all, Bill was likely more understanding of Keiko’s situation due to his work as a scientist. 

As seen in the flashback scenes in Kazakhstan, Keiko and Lee kept a good working relationship with one another, as their breakup may not have been that bad. But it is the fact that they were still on good terms that had fans believing that there could have still been something between them before Keiko’s death.

Did Keiko cheat on Bill with Lee?

We know that Keiko and Bill had a child named Hiro, who ended up becoming the father of Cate and Kentaro. But one of the things that we know about Hiro is that he was extremely close to Lee. Shaw himself saw Hiro as the son he never had, and one would think that he treated Hiro as a son due to how he loved his mother.

But does that mean that Keiko cheated on Bill with Lee? Is it possible that Lee was actually Hiro’s father all along? Well, for that to happen, Keiko and Lee would have had to have rekindled their passion for one another while Keiko was already married to Bill. In episode 6, Keiko and Bill were yet to get together, and that means that Hiro was born right after 1955 but before 1959.

So, what that means is that Keiko would have cheated on Bill with Lee somewhere between 1955 and 1959 if Hiro was actually Lee’s son the entire time. Due to the nature of their work and how close Keiko and Lee are in the physical sense, this is actually possible, especially because they were likely unable to consummate their feelings for one another when they got together in 1955.

Then again, it is also possible that Shaw’s feelings for Dr. Miura remained unrequited after they broke things off. This could mean that Hiro has always been Bill’s son and that Shaw only treats Hiro as his son because of his love for his mother. After all, he needed to be there for Hiro after the boy lost his mother at an early age, and Shaw likely expressed his love for Keiko by acting as a second father to her son and even becoming the grandfather that Cate and Kentaro never had. But it is likely that more of this will come to light in the next episodes of ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.’

Got something more to add? Let us know in the comment section below.