A new Mortal Kombat is an event in and of itself, especially in this day and age. That’s been somewhat diminished following Mortal Kombat 1, which rebooted the timeline yet again…and promptly skirted all over it by bringing back previous villains. The ending was still a giant cluster, but it teased a confrontation with a new and unlikely Titan – Havik. What kind of bloodbath would he bring in the future? Would Liu Kang’s timeline suffer an even worse fate than before? How many seasons of Invasions would players have to stomach in the meantime?
Khaos Reigns is finally available and marks the first paid story expansion for Mortal Kombat 1. It also finally delivers on that epic new battle. Kind of. Sort of. With how over-the-top each new story development in the franchise has been lately, this a more sobering series of events. So, what happens, how does it end, and where is the series going next? Spoilers follow for the base game and expansion, so be warned.
Mortal Kombat 1 ended with the defeat of Titan Shang Tsung, as Liu Kang seemingly erased his timeline from existence. As noted already, Titan Havik surveyed the aftermath of the battle and teased instigating the next. However, Khaos Reigns kicks off with Bi-Han, Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei and the current timeline’s Sub-Zero, crashing the wedding of Scorpion, who is his younger brother, Kuai Liang. The latter established the Shirai Ryu after the base game’s events and is preparing to marry his fiancee, Harumi.
Sub-Zero brings Sektor and Cyrax to the fight, with the latter utilizing the Lin Kuei’s Cyber Suits. However, after learning that Bi-Han deceived her regarding his brother, Cyrax turns on her allies and joins forces with Scorpion and Liu Kang. Sub-Zero and Sektor are summarily captured and await trial at the hands of Edenia’s Empress Mileena.
Hoping to let bygones be bygones, maybe pointing out that Bi-Han was doing a little trolling, Liu Kang and his allies quickly find themselves besieged by Titan Havik and warriors from Khaosrealm. With the Kamidogu in hand, he wants to use Geras’s time crystals and combine all the timelines. After all, what would be more chaotic and still have Havik at the top, ironically in control? Geras is taken away with Sub-Zero in pursuit, though he’s quickly taken prisoner.
Since Liu Kang doesn’t want to leave his timeline unguarded, Cyrax, Scorpion and a begrudging Sektor embark on a quest to save Bi-Han and Geras. Khaosrealm is an interesting destination since it features refugees from other timelines, like Emperor Rain and Empress Tanya. The latter is trapped in the Khaoseum (the same location as the trailer with all the Havik variants), fighting for her life. Thus, the trio and Emperor Rain venture to the arena and battle other variants before Titan Havik sends them into a maze.
While Rain sacrifices himself to ensure their survival, they quickly run into a variant of Orin, a character from Mortal Kombat: Armageddon that assists the protagonist Taven. This variant also helps by teleporting the group into Havik’s Citadel, where Geras and Bi-Han are held. Unfortunately, the latter has been transformed into Noob Saibot thanks to experiments by Titan Havik with chaos magic. Hilariously, the group incapacitates him, bringing him along with Geras and the Kamidogu as they return to their timeline.
Liu Kang busies himself with healing Bi-Han, but can’t undo the chaos magic. Thankfully, the latter’s mind is clear, and he fights alongside the forces of good using his new shadowy powers. Eventually, Titan Havik arrives with his forces, reclaims the Kamidogu and becomes more powerful. Despite this and creating a bunch of Havik clones to preoccupy Liu Kang’s forces, he’s easily defeated by Noob Saibot, who leaves him a bloody limbless mess.
Before he can deal the killing blow, Liu Kang intervenes, not wanting to slay Titan Havik lest his timeline’s residents potentially suffer the consequences. Bi-Han takes this as well as you’d think, and after some back and forth, he readies to fight Liu Kang…until Geras suddenly freezes him in time. In case you’re not keeping track, Sub-Zero/Noob Saibot suffers four humiliating defeats in the expansion.
Sektor returns to the Lin Kuei to act as their Grandmaster while Liu Kang keeps Bi-Han at the Temple of Elements to rehabilitate him. Meanwhile, Cyrax receives an invitation to join the Shirai Ryu at the behest of Kuai Liang.
There’s already a lot to unpack, but that’s not all. Upon completing the Arcade Mode stories for each new character, we learn that Bi-Han is rescued by Sektor, who ventured into the Temple of Elements to retrieve an Amulet for Quan Chi.
She discovers Noob Saibot and, convinced that Liu Kang abandoned him instead of offering treatment, frees him to seek vengeance. Bi-Han, on the other hand, is pretty chill with his new powers. We see a new battle between the Lin Kuei and Liu Kang’s forces, with the latter overwhelmed by Noob Saibot’s powers, seemingly resulting in the deaths of Geras and Kung Lao.
Meanwhile, though Cyrax has joined the Shirai Ryu, many resent her for her actions during Scorpion’s wedding (even after switching sides). There’s some infighting, but eventually, the clan members give her a chance to prove herself.
Despite all the losses taken throughout the expansion, Khaos Reigns does a decent job of fleshing out Noob Saibot as a potential new Big Bad. It’s an interesting twist, considering his role as a lackey in many other titles, and he seems like a formidable opponent for Liu Kang. The question is: Will NetherRealm Studios wait another year before following up on this with a new story expansion? Time will tell.
In the meantime, the fate of the Kamidogu is unknown. Titan Havik has seemingly returned to his timeline, but what impact will that have on the future? Surely, he won’t take his defeat lying down. With all the chaos he’s caused throughout other timelines, is Liu Kang content to let him be after everything, especially after how he dealt with Titan Shang Tsung? And what of Orin? Will she play a deeper role in future events or remain in Khaosrealm, possibly facing the consequences of her actions?
It’s hard to predict, but the events of Khaos Reigns make it seem like NetherRealm is shifting towards conflicts restricted to the same timeline rather than dipping into the multiverse. How they’ll reconcile this approach of everything significant happening in the expansions while Invasions, which deal in nothing but battles with other universes (remaining inconsequential in the long run), is unknown.
Maybe that sub-plot with Quan Chi will be picked up again, and Noob Saibot will seek the Kamidogu for himself. Perhaps he’ll get involved with Shinnok after taking the Amulet’s power for himself. If Noob Saibot poses a significant threat to Liu Kang, then it may be up to Scorpion and the Shirai Ryu to ultimately take him down, leading to yet another destined battle between the clans.
In the meantime, Khaos Reigns is a competent continuation of the current story, adding some new players while mixing things up further. It’s not the multi-timeline brawl that the base game’s climax offered, but after everything we’ve seen over the years with this franchise, maybe that’s for the best.
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