i've criticized netherrealm studios for
the constant retconning many times
before and rightly so so let's be clear
unexplained changes in continuity are an
objective flaw in the storytelling
process but not every retcon is a bad
one i mean what fan of devil may cry
could ever say that is the case when
retcons are the reason we have virgil in
his current form sometimes they're used
to explain bizarre character shifts or
to explain pre-existing retcons and i'd
be lying if i said that every retcon
immortal combat even in the nether arm
era was a bad one so let's look at five
good retcons in netherrealm's take on
mortal kombat and no time alteration
doesn't count as a retcon johnny cave
surviving mk3 is not retroactive
continuity it's a direct cause and
effect one the outworld tournament
stipulations the outworld tournament was
originally just shao khan trying to lure
the heroes to outworld to kill them in
revenge for their victory in the main
tournament and it was probably only
really aimed at liu kang because the
only motivation any of them had to go
was the massacre of the shaolin khan
couldn't have predicted jax's
involvement to justify sonia's capture
and it was never suggested that sonia
was even friends with any of the others
by now by shaolin monks her capture is
somewhat framed as being part of a bid
to incentivize them to come along but
that's still not much mythologies and i
think trilogy added greater significance
to the tournament by suggesting that
it's all a distraction for khan's real
backup plan the resurrection of sindel
mk9 changed this to be a raising of the
stakes it counts as 10 straight
victories for the winning side khan can
invade if he wins but he loses his claim
on earth forever if he loses this gives
raiden a reason to accept rather than
risk losing his champion made days after
he saved earth realm in pursuit of petty
short-sighted revenge it makes raiden's
acceptance feel more considered as he
weighs the two outcomes against each
other and it makes khan's side seem like
they've not just been sitting around
with all their eggs in one basket and
actually have multiple backup plans in
case outworld lost and makes khan's
decision to abuse the rules and defy the
elder gods more justifiable due to him
having no other way to claim earthrealm
it strengthens the major cast
characterizations by making them seem
wiser and less rash and races the stakes
over mk1 in a way that the original mk2
really didn't if anything the stakes
were lower since khan's victory would
presumably count as one tournament win
at most
2. cabal's backstory at least the first
time originally cabal was just a member
of the black dragon that had abandoned
the clan and now found himself working
alongside military and law enforcement
officials to save the world mk9 decided
to flesh out his pre-mk3 backstory a
little establishing him as a black
dragon that had joined the nypd and
become striker's partner this opened up
new possibilities for cabal since all
that really happened with him post 3 was
that he formed a new black dragon and
was evil again adding a friend from his
post bd life has the potential for a
story where someone actually tries to
bring him back from the edge and help
him stay on the straight and narrow i'm
not so straight if that's your thing
some fans dislike cabal's return to
villainy and deception but what other
options does a man in this bad a
physical state really have aside from
being a criminal he can't exactly hold a
nine to five with that face nor can he
inspire hope and calming civilians as a
cop anymore and striker could be a
really good part of a story about cabal
teetering on the edge of returning to
his old life while his friend tries to
pull him back sadly they did nothing
with this and even retconned it out in
mk11 which i will be getting to
eventually but this video isn't about
how mk11 is a dumpster fire this is
about when they made good changes and
making cabala cop was a good one just
you know don't remind certain people
that he is one or they'll get
irrationally angry about him 3. king
jared is part of irmac irmak was
originally stated to be the fusion of
dead outworld warriors suggesting there
were those who died in khan service with
mk9 this was changed to idention souls
suggesting they were enemies of khan now
bound to his service which is much
crueler and helps villainize khan in a
way that mk11 failed to irmak's ending
then reveals that king jared is one of
the souls within him this makes sense
and explains why jared was never
resurrected after sindel came back it's
also further strengthens his story and
deception as now both of katana's
parents who have spent time in mental
servitude to outworld emperor are now
trying to save katana from that fate
again nothing was done with it but it
does help to improve the original
timeline and that's the only mk story
that matters feel free to disagree on
that point if you enjoy being wrong 4.
kung lao was trained by bull ride show
originally boricho had trained liu kang
and would not train kung lao until
deadly alliance when liu kang was killed
and kung lao was being set up as the new
hero learning his own special kick move
from the same man that taught lukang the
flying kick that took down shang tsung
nowadays kung lao was training for the
tournament so it makes sense for bo to
teach both there's not much else to say
i just think it works it's like how
shiva being sindel's bodyguard during
mk3 became her having been her bodyguard
before her death in mk9 but that one
really changes nothing while this one
makes the two monks much closer than was
originally suggested and therefore helps
to make kung lao's inferiority complex
more understandable since liu kang's
superiority can't just be chalked up to
having a better master 5. nightwolf is a
title i can't really explain why but i
kind of like this one but in true mk11
fashion they did nothing with it
establishing that there were past night
wolves is functionally no different than
just saying there were other guardians
of the matoka before then i don't know
maybe we'll see one from the time of the
great kung lao in future it would have
been far more significant if the night
wolf featured in mk11 was a new one
chosen by the great spirits after grey
cloud died in mk9 maybe we say the new
one is chosen on birth and that's why
we've gone 30 years without one and the
new one had to train after his status
was discovered but for me this character
fighting the revenant night wolf and
reluctantly letting shang take his soul
would be more interesting though i can
absolutely imagine feeling like they
were [ __ ] all over the original
night wolf if they had done that still
the setup for a next generation night
wolf had so much potential that sadly
went nowhere so it's kind of a perfect
representation of the entire new
timeline concept when you think about it
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today's recommended playlist is the
ruination of sindel by me because never
forget what netherrealm's retcons have
done to this series
you