Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm

The Defenders of the Realm face a pack of invading cybernetic units (seemingly Shao Kahn's basic footsoldiers) led by

Continuing from the last episode, the team soon discover that a rift has opened up in an ancient burial ground in the Tibetan mountains. Drawing on the powers of darkness, Scorpion, an undead warrior who was denied entrance to the realm of honored dead and banished to the realm of lost souls, has amassed a force of undead warriors and seeks to continue increasing his force with undead warriors from all the realms. The warriors follow Scorpion to Outworld and find themselves in danger of alerting Shao Kahn to their presence. Eventually, the Earth warriors find themselves in a tomb built for Outworld's most evil of warriors. It is also the resting place of the sorcerer Shang Tsung. Sub-Zero charges after Scorpion, who reveals his intention to resurrect Shang Tsung. Sub-Zero's anger gets the better of him, though, and he is quickly subdued. Sub-Zero entrusts Liu Kang with the task of defeat Scorpion because he believes that he could've defeated his brother without the help Kitana gave him. Liu Kang defeats Scorpion in Mortal Kombat with help from Sub-Zero. Sub-Zero almost throws Scorpion from the top of Shang Tsung's tomb until Liu reminds him that, without honor, he would be no better than his brother. Along with his undead soldiers, Scorpion is sent back to the realm of lost souls. Just when the earth warriors think that their work is done, Nightwolf contacts Liu Kang to inform him that another rift has been found.

A new dangerous enemy, the Raptors, creatures of a strange reptilian race led by Komodai (more than once referred to as simply "

This episode marked the first time at any point in the MK canon that Jax removed his metal implants, since having had them originally installed as part of the MK3 storyline. Komodai is Reptile's original name in the show.

A strange energy emission in

Sub-Zero goes out to meet with his friend

Smoke, Cyrax, and Sektor were all seen unmasked and in their human forms during a flashback scene at the Lin Kuei's training compound. Sektor was depicted as a black man and the others as Caucasian, but his description was passed on to Cyrax for

When

This episode featured the debut of the newly revised Kano. His nationality was changed from American to Australian as a tribute to actor Trevor Goddard's performance in the first MK movie, and his fight with Sonya therein was briefly seen in flashback midway through the episode. However, in a continuity violation, he is beforehand seen bald and in his MK3 outfit during a scene in which Sonya's Special Forces partner, Wexler (named after Threshold writer/producer Josh Wexler), was killed prior to the tournament.

In a battle against Shokan warriors, Sonya acts with overconfidence. As a result, Stryker is seriously wounded. He decides to suspend Sonya because he feels she can't work as a team with the others. After being ordered to take Stryker back to the compound, with Nightwolf out to help fending off Sheeva's troops, they are attacked by a detachment of Shokan warriors. Learning a lesson on teamwork while battling the Shokan warriors, she regains Stryker's confidence and is reinstated.

Quan Chi (hyphenated in the episode title) comes upon the gem of Tetsurri, a magic crystal with which he is able to awaken all the evil in a human soul. Using it, the sorcerer, in disguise as a refugee fleeing Outworld, influences the Earth Warriors and causes them to turn against each other. The Earth is now out of any defense, and would be conquered by Quan Chi, if not for Nightwolf, who escaped the crystal's influence. It is Nightwolf who destroys the evil crystal and ruins Quan Chi's black magic.

This episode marked Quan Chi's first appearance in any sort of Mortal Kombat media. He later appeared in the video games with Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat 4. There are also enemies in this episode that resemble Water God from Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. Also there is a fiery skull head that could be The Fire God.

Shao Kahn resurrects Shang Tsung and entrusts him with a sphere that controls the elements of nature (fire, wind, water and earth). Shang Tsung is the most suitable person to possess the sphere, because the more malicious the master is, the stronger the magic sphere becomes. The old enemy of good organizes different natural disasters and weakens Rayden. The Earth Warriors are trapped, so nobody can help the God of Thunder. Thus, he is the one who has to decide the fate of the world. But good, even though it grew weak, is stronger than the evil even when strengthened with the forces of magic. Having defeated Shang Tsung, Rayden gets rid of the sphere by sending it into space.

Note: This episode is the third part of a crossover storyline that spanned the other shows in the USA Action Extreme Team lineup. The crossover began in episodes of Street Fighter ("The Warrior King") and Savage Dragon ("Endgame"), and concluded in Wing Commander Academy ("Recreation").^[2]

This episode begins with a battle between Kitana and Amazon leader Zara in the realm of Ilkan, following the death of Kitana's mentor, Ramath. A guard arrives in time and arrests Zara. Although the battle was interrupted, Kitana knows that it will continue some day. Many years ago the enemy of the princess returned. In the past, Zara managed to find one of the two swords of Ilkan. When these swords are connected, it is possible to open portals to other worlds. Jax, Sonya and Kitana suddenly disappear through a portal that the other Earth Warriors cannot pass through. To get to the second sword, Zara takes Jax as a hostage. Kitana and Sonya go to Ilkan to save their friend. They defeat a gigantic guardian inside a temple and take the sword, but Kitana is extremely hesitant to surrender the sword to Zara. The unfinished battle continues, and this time the princess wins and Jax is rescued. The swords are now lost after Kitana throws them into a portal.

"Swords of Ilkan" is the only episode in the series with only original guest characters. There is an energy creature that resembles The Earth God from Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero only in different coloring. In fact, since Quan Chi first appeared in the show, then maybe it could be The Earth God.

Sonya and Sub-Zero go out to find out the plan of the Black Dragons, but they are attacked in an abandoned theater. Sonya is wounded, but rescued by a former member of the Black Dragon -

One rerun of "Amends" aired during the fifth annual UNICEF International Children's Day of Broadcasting.^[3] The story of Kabal almost exactly follows his MK3 story, where he's portrayed as a protagonist minus the subplot of Kano's betrayal.

Jax is tired of the endless battles and elects to quit the team, retiring to his deceased grandfather's isolated cabin. There, he makes the acquaintance of a girl named Ruby, who is secretly working as one of Shao Kahn's agents. She tries to find out the location of the Earth warriors' base. Jax then finds himself captured by Ermac's forces and is imprisoned in a cave under Shao Kahn's castle, where he was put for torture. His comrades set out to rescue him, but are outnumbered by Kahn's troops and are surrounded. It seems that their destruction is inevitable, but at this moment Ruby decides to help the Earth warriors by leading them through a hidden exit. Jax realizes that a peaceful life is impossible while Earth is exposed to danger from another realm, and returns to the squad.

While Ruby did not exist in the games, aspects of her character (most notably her red ninja outfit) bear similarity to and makes her resemble

In the series finale, the Defenders of the Realm prepare for the final battle with Shao Kahn's forces on the anniversary of the unfortunate death of Jerrod, the king of Edenia and Kitana's father. They anxiously await the confrontation, but Liu Kang shows more apprehension because a victory would mean that Kitana would have to leave the team to rule Edenia. Kitana brokers an agreement with Sheeva's Shokan warriors, but she doesn't know that she is in fact Shang Tsung, who transformed to look like Sheeva. Kitana and the rebellion forces break into Shao Kahn's castle and demand that Shao Kahn hands over his rule to the princess. Suddenly Shang Tsung appears with the warriors of the real Sheeva. The sorcerer is also after the throne of Outworld. But Tsung forgets one thing; Sheeva and the Shokan also have enemies in Outworld. Rayden finds out Shang Tsung's plan and disrupts the fight. The god of thunder brings with him the worst enemy of Sheeva; Motaro, along with the entire Centaur and Tarkatan armies. The defenders escape through a portal as the Shokan and Centaurs do battle. The insurrection may have failed, but the realm of Earth has not fallen and Mortal Kombat continues. It is unknown what happens next as the series ends. This is the only episode that featured different animation that was of a higher quality.