Summary

• Mothra's sacrifice in Godzilla: King of the Monsters is crucial for empowering Godzilla to defeat Ghidorah in a pivotal battle.
• The MonsterVerse continues to expand with the introduction of new Titans like Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah, setting the stage for future films.
• The possibility of Mothra's return in the next Godzilla movie remains open, with the discovery of her egg hinting at a new generation of the iconic creature.

In the pivotal showdown of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Mothra dies to protect Godzilla from Ghidorah. Despite this, her return in a future installment of the MonsterVerse remains a possibility. Godzilla: King of the Monsters serves as a direct continuation of the saga that began with 2014's Godzilla, effectively setting the stage for the Monsterverse. This was followed by Kong: Skull Island, a film that revisits the 1970s and serves as a precursor within the MonsterVerse, highlighting not just King Kong but also the mysterious island that is home to him and a variety of ancient monsters.

Through Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Legendary further enriched its MonsterVerse by introducing a new roster of Titans, including Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah. These iconic creatures have been slightly reimagined to fit the narrative needs of the MonsterVerse, yet they remain true to the essence of the beloved characters. The MonsterVerse is going strong, with the subsequent release of Godzilla vs. Kong marking a significant continuation of this expansive cinematic universe and Godzilla x Kong becoming a huge success too. With the studio's continued interest in expanding this realm with more creature-centric films, the narrative possibilities are wide open.

Mothra's Death Is Mysterious In Godzilla: King Of The Monsters

She Could Return Thanks To Her Symbiotic Relationship With Godzilla

King of the Monsters' version of Mothra is true to her earlier incarnations, remaining both a powerful but benevolent creature who only attacks when she feels threatened. Mothra is not only a mighty Titan in her own right, but a unique one in that changes from a larva to an adult moth, cocooning herself while she makes the transition. During the climactic battle of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Mothra sacrifices herself to save Godzilla. Mothra shares a symbiotic relationship with Godzilla, and it's in part thanks to the symbiosis that Mothra could return in a future Godzilla movie.

That in itself is a noble gesture, speaking to Mothra's selfless nature, but it's more complicated than that. While at first, it appears that Mothra is simply shielding an injured Godzilla from Ghidorah's devastating gravity beams, she's actually sacrificing herself to give Godzilla the power necessary to defeat Ghidorah.

This dust is Mothra's energy, which she knowingly transfers to Godzilla

In the existing Godzilla movies and their canon, what's happening at that moment in the movie may not be very clear. As Mothra's body disintegrates, a fine dust can be seen falling onto Godzilla. This dust is Mothra's energy, which she knowingly transfers to Godzilla for him to unlock a more powerful form - Burning Godzilla.

Similarly to how absorbing the blast of a nuclear bomb helps Godzilla to recover more quickly from the Oxygen Destroyer, absorbing Mothra's energy gives Godzilla the necessary boost in power. When Godzilla arises, he is glowing red hot from all that extra energy, unleashing it at Ghidorah in multiple atomic pulses that rip the alien monster apart and kill him. Godzilla simply isn't powerful enough to defeat Ghidorah alone, needing Mothra's energy to do so. In this case, Mothra's death may just be the most important moment of the whole movie.

A New Mothra Could Be Born In The Next Godzilla Movie

More Than One Mothra Larva Are Born From The Egg

In the end credits of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, there's a news clipping that reveals that a new Titan egg has been discovered. It very well could be Mothra's egg seeing as there's a precedent for Mothra laying an egg before she dies. In the case of this film, if Mothra knew she might die in the upcoming fight against Ghidorah, then all the more reason for her to lay an egg beforehand.

Sometimes there's more than one Mothra larva born from the egg, though only one reaches adulthood to become the new Mothra

Throughout Toho's Godzilla films, an adult Mothra dying and being succeeded by her offspring happens fairly regularly. Sometimes there's more than one Mothra larva born from the egg, though only one reaches adulthood to become the new Mothra. In the next Godzilla movie, it's entirely plausible that the egg revealed during King of the Monsters' credits will either hatch or have already hatched before the film begins.

A future Godzilla movie could see a young larva Mothra go into a cocoon and emerge as a beautiful giant moth, just as she did in King of the Monsters. Or, perhaps it will have already gone through its chrysalis transformation, and from the start Mothra will again be in her adult form. Either way, the tease of an egg leaves the possibility for Mothra's return in the next Godzilla movie wide open.

There Have Been Other Mothras Before

There's No Reason To Believe The Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Mothra Will Be The Last

At the start of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Mothra hatches from an egg being held at the Monarch facility, Outpost 61. The organization discovers the egg while excavating a site in the Yunnan Province of China - the Temple of the Moth. Inside the temple are carvings of a giant moth, illustrating how the people who built this temple worshiped the moth like a goddess. But if Mothra is only just hatching, the moth in the carvings must be different.

Unlike Godzilla or Rodan - who are believed to be the exact same specimens that lived millennia ago - Mothra's life is cyclical. She hatches, enters her cocoon, emerges, lays an egg, dies, and is reborn. There have been other Mothras before, and there's no reason to believe that the Mothra who dies in King of the Monsters will be the last. Not only do we see Mothra live this cycle in the film, but the Temple of the Moth in China isn't the only place where Monarch has studied Mothra.

Dr. Chen reveals that her family has been Monarch employees for generations, sharing photos of her grandmother and grandaunt at an archaeological site relating to Mothra on Infant Island in 1961. This implies there could be many such sites dedicated to Mothra throughout the world. In which case, the Mothra to whom the Temple of the Moth was built is likely not the first Mothra, nor is the one Chen's grandmother and grandaunt studied on Infant Island. Mothra has lived many lives, and her time in Godzilla: King of the Monsters is only one of them.

Mothra Could Live Thanks To Godzilla

It Would Involve Transfering Back Her Lifeforce

Mothra living on through her offspring and Mothra coming back to life aren't really the same thing. Mothra doesn't simply die in King of the Monsters - she transfers her life force to Godzilla. The film even has the atomic pulse Godzilla sends forth to kill Ghidorah briefly taking the shape of Mothra's wings and her chirping is heard when he attacks. This again emphasizes the symbiotic relationship that exists between the two Titans, but it may also hint at how Godzilla could be the key to Mothra returning in the next Godzilla movie.

The fact that another Mothra egg has been discovered may not be all that's needed for Mothra to return. For her to be reborn, Godzilla may need to transfer Mothra's lifeforce back to the egg. This may, in fact, be something Mothra would typically do herself when nearing death, ensuring that once one cycle of her life ends, another can begin. In the case of her death in King of the Monsters, though, it would need to be Godzilla who transfers Mothra's lifeforce to the egg - which also may be something that's happened before.

While there's no specific evidence in the film to suggest this, it's certainly possible that part of Godzilla and Mothra's symbiosis involves the sharing of her lifeforce energy in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. This would mean that after Godzilla uses Mothra's energy to defeat a particularly strong threat, he instinctually will seek out her egg to return Mothra's lifeforce. In doing so, he not only ensures that Mothra can live again, but that her energy will be available to him the next time he needs to defend his role as the Titans' apex predator and King of the Monsters.

Key Release Dates

• 

  Godzilla Vs Kong

  Release Date:

  2021-03-31