This is the story of the Shirai Ryu, a proud ninja clan lead by the most bad ass of ninja generals: Hanzo Hasashi, also known as “Scorpion.” After being ambushed by Sub-Zero, Scorpion rushes to try and save his family and clan, but the damage has already been done.
The Review: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The episode picks up right where the last one left off: Scorpion getting his ass kicked while the Shirai Ryu are attacked by the Lin Kuei. His young son, Jubei, watches in the shadows as his mother is being manhandled by a couple of ninjas, but in the corner of his eye he sees the legendary weapon that his father uses.
But enough of that, we have a ninja fight to watch!
Much to my delight, both Scorpion and Sub-Zero use the moves that they’re known for. Sub-Zero uses his ice against Scorpion while Scorpion uses his harpoon and screams, “GET OVER HERE” before he hits Sub-Zero — in Japanese, no less. Scorpion defeats Sub-Zero… but at what cost? He rushes back to his village to see that everyone is dead, including his wife and son who have been completely frozen, but Scorpion doesn’t even get the chance to grieve as Sub-Zero comes up behind him and kills him. One of the other Lin Kuei approach Sub-Zero and if you’ve been watching the series since at least episode three you’ll recognize the ninja as Shang Tseng. Sub-Zero then changes into the vile sorcerer, Quan Chi, revealing that the entire attack was an elaborate plan to get Scorpion to fight for the Netherrealm in Mortal Kombat. It’s at this point that fire starts to burst from the frozen Scorpion, turning him into the ninja warrior that we all know and love.
In Summary:
I know that I always talk about how short these episodes feel, but this episode just went way too fast. The epic battle between Scorpion and Sub-Zero just didn’t feel intense enough. These two characters are the most iconic fighters in the franchise, but their fight was pretty lackluster. Yes, it was cool that their signature moves were included, but Jax, Sonya, and Kano had more action in their two part episode. Also, I wasn’t a fan of the generic hero formula being used — lead character gets the crap beat out of him then pulls off one move to win the day. Scorpion is better than that, and this is coming from a person who wanted him to win the fight. It didn’t feel worth it because it was so quick and easy — one harpoon and that’s it? Really? Then again, with the later reveal of Quan Chi, I suppose we could maybe say that Quan Chi threw the match so Scorpion could run home to a dead village.
In my last review I said that I just knew that little Jubei would have to try and fight off some ninja baddies. I was right! Except… we don’t see the fight, we just see him getting dragged away and screaming for his father. This was kind of a let down and I feared that this episode would end on a lame note, but what it lacked in action it made up for in emotion. Scorpion running home to a village full of dead bodies is one thing, but having him run to his wife’s side, hold her hand, and watch it slowly crack since she’s completely frozen punches you in the heart.
But no, the Scorpion pain doesn’t end there.
After finding his young son’s dead body Sub-Zero kills him from behind. As Scorpion is frozen to death he keeps staring at his son, his sight freezing over as he dies. I had wondered in my last review if it would be possible to make this scene tragic since Mortal Kombat fans know the story already, but this episode pulls it off. Scorpion’s seething hatred towards Sub-Zero is not only explained, but it’s completely justified. And to those fans who were in a huff about the last episode “not following the canon since Quan Chi wasn’t involved,” I suppose your complaints were heard since this episode followed it as accurately as possible.
There’s only two more episodes left until the series is over and it’s pretty obvious that we aren’t going to make it to the tournament. With so many characters left — including Liu Kang, champion of Mortal Kombat — I wonder who the series is going to end with, or how it will end period. There’s talk of a second season already, which is great because there definitely needs to be one. I would love to see how the tournament is approached, to see who fights who, and to see the characters really go in and kick some MK ass! Until then, this week’s episode ends on a depressing note as Scorpion becomes a bitter spectre… but does he have a skull head? Inquiring minds want to know.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQv-kYsclSM?rel=0&hd=1&w=560&h=349]
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