The first part of Mortal Kombat Legends’ animated film Scorpion’s Revenge thematically explored the vengeance of Hanzo Hasashi. He made a pact with Netherrealm sorcerer Quan Chi and attained indestructible power. Hanzo transformed into “Scorpion” to take revenge from his rival Lin Kuei ninja clan and Sub-Zero, who slaughtered Hanzo’s family in cold blood. In the background, a Mortal Kombat Tournament took place. Lord Raiden and his mighty fighters from Earth’s realm fought against adversary Shao Kahn to protect Earth from merging into the Outworld. While Scorpion and Shaolin monk Liu Kang saved the Earth by disrupting Shao Kahn’s winning streak, both characters needed closure.
At the end of Scorpion’s Revenge, Hanzo learned that his clan and family weren’t murdered by Sub-Zero but by Quan Chi. In a sheep’s skin, the sorcerer tricked Hanzo to get a treasure key from Shang Tsung’s temple. On the other hand, Liu Kang discovered that he is destined for a more significant battle against Shao Kahn. The sequel film Battle of the Realms spotlights these two prominent characters. In the narrative, Hanzo repents for his blind revenge while Liu Kang fulfills his predetermined destiny.
‘Battle of the Realms’ Plot Summary
In a prologue scene, a band of legions (probably Shao Kahn’s monsters) hunt a baby Liu Kang and his family. The legions rip apart Liu Kang’s mother and father. However, Lord Raiden protects baby Liu Kang and takes him under his wings.
The narrative jumps to portray the events happening following Scorpion’s Revenge. After the Mortal Kombat, Shao Kahn unleashes his army of legions upon the Earth Realm. He sends his most trusted warrior, Kitana, to seize the protectors of the Earth. However, both Lord Raiden and Shao Kahn are fed up with the never-ending slaughter. To end the bloodshed, Shao Kahn suggests Raiden request the Elder Gods another tournament, The Final Mortal Kombat.
Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, and other warriors warn Raiden to stay away from Kahn’s treacherous trap, but Raiden accepts it. He advocates that the protectors may win for a time, but Kahn’s Outerworld is a place of vast resources. Shao Kahn will keep attacking Earth Realm until his desires are fulfilled. To end the ongoing struggle, Raiden and Kahn request the Elder Gods for another tournament. God accepts their plea and permits a final Mortal Kombat Tournament. However, before leaving God’s realm, Raiden shows his willingness to join the battle as a fighter and is ready to sacrifice his Godhood for the same. Raiden returns to Earth Realm as a normal human being, informing his band of warriors about the upcoming tournament.
The Plight of the Scorpion
Consequently, the plot follows Hanzo Hasashi, aka Scorpion, who is trapped by the master of Netherrealm, Shinnok. He informs Hanzo that the key to the Kamidogu artifact intertwined with his soul after the island’s destruction. Now only Hanzo can open the gates of the Temple of Elements and bring the Kamidogu artifact. However, before Shinnok can convince Hanzo, he flees from the Netherrealm.
Shinnok assigns a mercenary ninja clan, Lin Kuei, to capture Hasashi, aka Scorpion. At the Lin Kuei fortress, Sub-zero (Bi-Han) brother, Kuai Liang, is burning with vengeance to take revenge from Scorpion. The grandmaster employs his deadliest warrior, Kuai Liang, and Smoke to seize Scorpion. But before the hunt, the grandmaster plans to transform their mortal bodies into Humanoid robots. He had already experimented with warrior Cyrax and Sektor and now wants to modify Kuai Liang and Smoke. When they detest the idea, the grandmaster unleashes Cyrax and Sektor robots on them to fulfill his devilish desire. In a pursuit, the robots capture and transform Smoke, but Kuai Liang manages to run away.
Kuai Liang takes up his brother’s mantle and becomes Sub-Zero. He follows the trial of Scorpion and threatens to kill him, but the robots intertwine. What follows ahead is a battle between three forces with their respective motives.
Hunt for the Last Kamidogu Artifact
In the Mortal Kombat series, Kamidogu refers to “god tool” or “divine equipment.” These are mystic artifacts crafted by the Elder Gods, and every realm has its separate Kamidogu. In video games, there are a whole six realms viz. Outworld, Earthrealm, Netherrealm, Orderrealm, Chaosrealm, and Edenia. Each Kamidogu holds the essence of its respective domain and can be fused into One Kamidogu.
In the film, Lord Raiden underlines that these Kamidogu are the remnants of the One Being. After the Elder Gods rebelled, they split the nemesis, “One Being,” and divided the universe into six realms. The Elder Gods hid the pieces throughout the realms, and if Shinnok gets them all, he will resurrect the One Being to unravel the realms until nothing is left. Why? Well, Shinnok is a “mad” who wants to destroy it all.
Without falling prey to complexities, the story establishes that Shinnok has gathered all the 5 Kamidogu artifacts, except the Earthrealm’s Kamidogu hidden in the Temple of Elements.
‘Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms’ Ending Explained
The peculiar theme explored in the film was that Kuai Liang (or the second Sub-Zero) flickered with a similar vengeance as seen in Hanzo Hasashi in Scorpion’s Revenge. Through the drama, Hasashi realized his mistake and embodied a pang of guilt he couldn’t reconcile. He concluded that saving the world from Shinnok would bring him redemption and thus pacified his enmity with Kuai Liang.
During the Mortal Kombat in the Outerworld, monstrous Shao Kahn butchered Kung Lao and Lord Raiden. The final battle was between Liu Kang and Shao Kahn as prophesied by Raiden in Scorpion’s Revenge. In an ultimate fight, Liu Kang defeated Shao Kahn and saved Kitana from captivity. However, before the Earth Realm could celebrate their victory, the ground started shaking after the resurrection of “One Being.”
The Elder Gods appeared on the battlefield and rewarded their power to the chosen one, Liu Kang, to aid him in conquering One Being. The plot also pointed out why Liu Kang was chosen and what made him different from Scorpion. Like Hanzo, Liu lost much in life (his family), yet he blamed no one. Throughout his journey, he only fought for the well-being of others, to protect them, and not to take revenge. The constant arrival of its theme “revenge” created a parallel between Hanzo and Liu Kang. However, by the ultimate battle, they both fought together.
As the realms merged, Liu Kang, transformed into his ultimate form and turned into a (lousy CGI) dragon. With the help of Scorpion and Sub-Zero, a transformed Liu Kang chopped off One Being’s arms and legs, thereby crushing his body and soaking his power thoroughly.
After One Being’s destruction, Liu Kang used the Elder Gods’ power to separate the realms again. As the Earth protectors returned to Outworld, they found that Shao Kahn’s body was missing. Probably his general Shang Tsung escaped with his master’s body. He would likely return to take his revenge, but as always, the Earth protectors would be there to stop him, together. Nothing much was suggested to what happened to the Elder Gods or their powers. Probably Liu Kang still holds them. If that is the case, he is the most indestructible warrior by the end of the film.
Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms is a 2021 Animated Film based on the Mortal Kombat franchise. It is directed by Ethan Spaulding.
