#TheBiHanMovie
Past that is walls lined with skulls. Remember, this is a holy place and the Shaolin still study peace and passive ways. Maybe I'll talk about the ALLEGED Temple of Elements that shows up in Battle of the Realms but right now I wanna point out that after thrashing these guys I got Sub's Ice Puddle special. I always liked it, if only because in games like Armageddon it made even the likes of Shao Kahn and Onaga slip about like morons. Its very disappointing that MK9 onward just made it pin your feet to the ground.

A spring nearby bounces us upward to the next area.
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Just up this shaft is another good hole granting us a couple of herbs, but to the right is that piece of shit enemy type I mentioned before.

Asshole monks floating in a meditative position. You can't get close because they're protected by a magic bullshit force field, but also they like to zap you without warning, especially when you're mid jump. There's almost no way to get the little shits, and you bet they're gonna zap Bi-Han down into a death hole. Fuck these guys, I swear to fuckin' christ.

The only way to kill is to wait until they start up a teleport, upon which you have a brief window to throw an ice blast to instantly wipe them out. Yeah good luck figuring that out. And why does that work? No idea. Ice powers are just that special.

This prick in particular was guarding a door leading to this level's deity boss, BTW.
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It does feel like you suddenly face this boss a bit early in the stage, yeah. Defeating him does not actually end the stage, there's still a bit more to go.

Anyway here he is, the Earth God, no name given. Only Fujin got a proper name. Back in the old Shitter thread I called him "Ben Grimm", then Koranot (like the Castlevania boss) before finally just settling on Ben "Koranot" Grimm.

You'll notice he's a 3D CG model, turn of the century graphics and all, instead of a live actor. Obviously golems are hard to come by in real life.
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Movewise he has a small kick, a hammer punch, sometimes he'll make like the Three Dirty Dwarves and pound the earth causing debris to bang you on the head. Or he can just throw your ass down.

Now, he can't be frozen, and Sub's attacks don't do much in the way of damage, so how do you effectively beat this boss?

Well, there's a switch on the otherwise of his arena. It lowers an elevator, no idea why its there in universe, but...

The best way to get to it is to try sliding under Grimm. I mean if he doesn't kick you out of it.

Lure Ben "koranot" Grimm to the drop point and the elevator will drop right on his head for a nice chunk of damage. Downside is it takes a while for the elevator to head back up and become usable.

But basically you beat him by invoking the old Animaniacs "anvil on head" gag. SO...

That platform's brown and grubby!
It's very heavy too!
So watch out my rocky friend,
or it will fall on you!
#TheBiHanMovie
Seriously, I love how you just go full Looney Tunes on this guy to get the best results. And there's not much intelligence needed to this fight either. Just rinse and repeat...

It's made of solid granite!
It weighs a ton or two!
We know you'd like to meet it!
It wants to meet you too!
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After a few repetitions he goes down. No last ditch effort fuck-you attacks like Fujin though, Ben "koranot" Grimm falls over and explodes in the same turn of the century fashion as he was made from.

BTW, call that elevator one more time after for the next key, a segmented square that promises to open "passageways to uncharted regions."

Oh and for gods sake don't just run out of the room. If the orb prick hasn't respawned, a careless Bi-Han might just trip over his own dick and fall into the spike pit, which is still there and right outside Ben's bedchamber.
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I feel bad for Grimm though. Nobody ever remembers him, its all about fuckin Tremor, and THAT loser debuted in fucking Special Forces and only got on by on looking like Scorpion but brown. It took til MKX to be DLC and by MK12 he's relegated to a fuckin' Kameo. Screw him.
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Right, still a ways til the end of the level.

Elsewhere we use the segmented key on this area. Don't mind the shiny orb, that just replenishes Sub-Zero's ice meter, which already regenerates relatively briskly. Some people are just impatient.

The key opens up that one long spiked ceiling from before, ensuring that now the spring isn't a one way ticket to death.

That ceiling in the first pic also raises up so Subbie can climb the rope. Just a bit upward? More pressers, and also an item I never use, an "Eye of Invisiblity." No idea how that makes sense, but it does what it says. I suppose it makes enemies not aggro?
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Well anyway, a long bit of backtracking back to that aforementioned headbanger spring. Now that the passage is open, it now just catapults us upward, to a shaft where a set of spikes closes to keep us from falling. Those spikes can spike you in other shafts if you're descending a rope but otherwise pay it no mind. Just past that ledge is the final key and a hole taking us a little backward so we can find where the key goes.

More importantly we also get the Aerial Ice Blast. A move Kuai Liang was gonna get in MK2, even having unused sprites for it. Funny how that works. Take note how here it completely halts Bi-Han's aerial momentum. Keep that in mind now.
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Anyway here's where we use that triangle key. It lowers this last pillar to the next corridor...where the level actually ends.

Yeah it just suddenly cuts to the end of level transition. It doesn't feel like the level ends it just kinda...stops.

Odd.

Though I can respect it for not going on too long or going too far, unlike the next level. Seriously the next level might drain what respect anyone has for this game, and I'm the sad fuck that played through it all.
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But like I say, the next level, the goddamn Water Temple, is not til tomorrow. Til then!
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I don't like this level. Not because its bad but because its a large, terminally dull maze. Like all sewer levels and I guess like perennial whipping boy the Ocarina of Time Water Temple.

From the off, you'll be seeing those huge shafts with climb ropes. Take a wild fuckin' guess if you can just jump down them, smartass.

Oh right, no changes to the monk enemies here either.
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And of course, junctions. Its a level begging for an FAQ.

Although to make it a bit spicy, there's streams with electric eels swimming about them. I like those because when you touch them Bi-Han makes a "YIPE!" noise. Well, there's other pain noises too but the "YIPE" one stood out to me.

A little down the way and forward is a large chamber. Fall death obvious, so we need to fill it up. Of course a cheeky fuck smacked me upside the head while I was investigating this room so he fuckin' got annihilated.
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For flavour, some corridors see you ride these upsidedown basins, occasionally jumping over bars to avoid landing in the eel pools.

Along the way I also pick up an important item, the Urn of Vitality. I actually stockpile these for a very specific reason, which you'll see probably next Monday or whatever. They of course refill Sub's health and ice meters which is handy.

Though my smile goes away seeing how a few ways are blocked, one of which requires an asshole smile key.
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More climbing. It keeps tickling me how Sub-Zero doesn't use his legs to hang onto the ropes, just madly hoisting himself up solely by his arms. Those ropes are fuckin' rigid man. Then again who am I to question the ways of the Lin Kuei?

Another Urn lies in a corridor blocked off requiring a key.

One rope however takes Subbie down to an interesting place: a chamber filled with running water. Whether or not its actively running or a whirlpool, for some reason simply jumping into it is a bad idea and an instant kill. What, you think the Lin Kuei teach their guys how to swim? Nah, water bad for Bi-Han.

(Yeah this level annoyed me that I tried spicing it up with sprite silliness.)
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Though it is worth it to see this level's abyss fall FMV, where Bi-Han gets flushed down the toilet.
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Thankfully I do find one key. Another segmented square.

BTW, reminder that the aerial ice blast halts your aerial momentum. So while its annoying dealing with this fuck that waits for you to jump off the rope so he can kick you to death, well who's laughing now, jackass?

Less happy is the herbal booster I find later on reminds me of the game's inventory management piss. Its straight out of Resident Evil, the silver lining being unlike Chris Redfield, who only has 6 inventory slots in his vest and trousers full of pockets, Bi-Han can carry a decently meaty 10 items. Sadly, healing and key items do not have their own inventory slots. I was lucky here and could combine the booster with a herb for a better herb and to free up a slot for the next key.

But if you filled up your slots by taking every item not nailed down and need a key, well you gotta waste an item to get that key, and you can't just pop a herb at full health. Whats even sillier is the N64 version actually let you just discard items. What's this version's excuse?
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Having separate inventories would go a real long way.

Anyway, I use that key on the door to find an empty chamber not unlike what I found a while back, with a basin sitting in the middle. Turns out once you get in here though, the place starts filling up with water. Again, linger too long and not only is that basin out of reach but you'll be reminded that Lin Kuei do not swim, unlike those ninja losers.

Rain would ace this place tho.

Anyway jump on that sodding basin.
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Oh man I think it was around this time Rain was revealed to be playable in MK12, but unlike every other game where he was a water-and-weather themed ninja, now he was a water-and-weather themed wizard, staff and everything. Albeit with a hood instead of a hat but hey, it was new, it was intriguing and it was a sign maybe MK12 had new ideas in mind. So much for that, really.

Remember Hydro? That one water ninja from the Malibu Comics? yeah people went mad for him. They made versions of Hydro for those MK Mugen fullgames (where I learned for some reason they insisted it was pronounced Hee-dro. Go the fuck back to primary school) and he got a surprise starring role in one episode of MK Legacy Season 1 (where he jobbed to Sektor and Cyrax.) Then he actually showed up in...MK11. As merely an item used in the Towers mode. Yeah never mind, obscurity was kinder.

My point is with Rain now a sorcerer instead of a ninja, theoretically nothing would stop Hydro from popping up to take his place...well except MK12 being as disappointing as it intended to be.

Well that and near the end of MK12's life suddenly Floyd took all the thunder for a bit.
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The basin goes from right to left. The left hand side holds a key so snag that.

It goes to a door we saw earlier, though it does warn that it opens a door "overflowing with danger." As soon as you use said key, notice the water bursting through the cracks. Staring slackjawed at it is inadvisable.

Oh hey there's Hydro right there

Funny thing, the Sub-Zero for most of the Malibu Comics' runtime was Bi-Han, as his canonical death at Scorpion's hands in MK1 (spoilers btw) didn't happen til way later, by which Bi-Han had already become a major character. And Hydro was his brief co-worker til Scorpion killed him.

Still a lot better than the dumbshit writing Bi-Han got in Khaos Reigns I suppose.
#TheBiHanMovie
Anyway when the water starts bubbling, turn around and run like fuck to the other side before the door there closes and traps you. You might have to use the slide just in case.

Our reward is another chamber, the first one we saw ages back, filling up and providing a basin. Yeah, another knock against this level is the backtracking. Though we're inching ever so close to the end.
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Said basin now takes us to another eel pool, the end of which hides the asshole smile key we need. Had to inventory manage to get it tho. "A door leading to the beginning of the end" translates to "Boss room key lol."

To keep you invigorated I'll at least admit some parts of MK12 I liked were that instead of Kung Lao suddenly becoming an irritating fuckhead in the fight intros, now he's consistently a dipshit in both intros and story, while still being a bit of a jock. Mortal Kombat 12 making Raiden and Kung Lao its own Nerd and Jock is pretty charming. Also Shang Tsung remains a goddamn highlight, and it fixed Sindel. Sadly it died before it could fix Kabal and because nobody raised a fuss over him, he's probably destined to remain shittified like in 11.

So back to this game, how about that Water God eh?
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And here he is. We're back to live actors, in this case Brian Glynn (Shao Kahn's physical actor in MK2 and 3) with a watery makeover. On the plus side, as he has no official name I'm going to ignore the usual fan names and call him O'Shin from one of those old sprite comics by tabmok99 (I'm sure you'll find him if you google him.) Its an ancient nickname, known only to sorcerers and deities.

O'Shin CAN be frozen and shattered if hit. Though, while an understandable thought, if you thought the battle is that easy, you're sadly still wrong. As ice melts into water and O'Shin can easily reform from that.
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For moves, O'Shin has the obvious water blast that goes forward or upward, one he summons from the ground to blast you up, and a tidal wave upper. There's water warping too, so be careful.

At least AI wise he isn't too bad. So you can usually get away with freezing him and giving him the Kuai Kombo.
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I also like how he breaks apart in his damage sprites. It tickles me when that much effort is put in.

Oh and I also got the Ice Klone special mid battle too, which can come in handy.

Before long you empty his life bar. Again, no last ditch fuck-you attack. He bubbles up and...I guess loses integrity and pops. Either way, another god down, the worst level done.
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Tomorrow is the Fire Temple and is what Dr. Kleiner would call a red letter day. Not only is the Fire God the last barrier between us and the magic Amulet, but we'll be back in funny FMV land too!

I know, I'm hyped too.
#TheBiHanMovie
Here we go, Fire Temple and more importantly, FMVs to follow!

The fact it starts by giving you a booster for free is pretty funny tho.

Though it might be because it throws another new enemy type at you. This monk has super speed a la Kabal (also played by Rich Divizio funnily enough), and prefers to hit-and-run. He pokes you and speeds off, giggling. The Ice Klone helps with him. He's much more tolerable than the orb bitch from the Earth stage.

Less nice is that there are some floors that hurt you if you stand on them (denoted by Bi-Han going "YIPE") that you have no choice but to tread over, either jumping repeatedly or just gunning it...provided you don't smack into the barbed rotisserie bars. Some also spout fire anyway, and on an ice assassin, well yeah.
#TheBiHanMovie
And I'd be foolish not to take note of the abyss fall FMV, where one false step and Bi-Han is a deceitful Mazinkaiser episode card.
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So as you saw, the order of the day is switches that lower platforms for a bit. This level is far less mazelike than the previous and is thus automatically better. Couple that with fairer platforming and less fuck-you traps and this is probably the best of the elemental temples.

Also yes, still collecting keys to progress. The game basically giving you Urns of Vitality at this point to make up for some of the level's negatives. Although if you got some of that Dit Dow Formula, that helps a bit.

Also meet the second of this level's unique enemies: BIG monks who fight exactly like Jax. As in this guy has Jax's multislam and even the GOTCHA Grab. Still, freezable as ever so no big deal, right? Right.
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Also extra lives that the game just kinda gives you at this point.

Anyway the second key (I got the first one a post or so ago) is an equals sign. This level is brisk! I wonder why that is. Lol.

Although we got platforms that go up and down, which aren't the same as the swingers from the Wind Stage but might still trigger PTSD from that level so.
#TheBiHanMovie
Also my regular ice blast got enhanced. The Icon didn't make it clear but this means you can freeze someone twice so that the next attack shatters them, skipping a fight entirely. See normally in older MK games if Sub-Zero tries to freeze someone already frozen he gets a Double Ice Backfire as punishment where he gets frozen instead. MK2 added a Fatality-exclusive Deep Freeze to really keep them frozen. I guess this is how MKMSZ implements that.

Still I don't mind Komboing people for EXP.

More switches, more elevators. At this point I might just go on a tangent about the ALLEGED Temple of Elements "seen" in Battle of the Realms.

I mean I got the third key and all but...
#TheBihanMovie
Fuck it, tangent time.

So Battle of the Realms, being a stupid overpacked film for no reason other than "HEY ANNIHILATION DID IT AND SUCCEEDED RIGHT?" featured the Temple of the Elements as a location. In that film it contained the Earthrealm Kamidogu (A Deception macguffin) rather than Shinnok's Amulet...which in the MK Legends series was inexplicably changed to a key for no reason whatsoever.

The temple is now on a remote island for some reason instead of the HImalayan mountains and there's a big comfy front door instead of a perilous mountain that Bi-Han had to scale. Also because of shit that happened in the first movie, Scorpion has the Shinnok Key inside him now.

Oh right and the inside of the temple...I guess the fourth pic is meant to be the Wind Temple, which you can tell by the generic cavern walls, lack of wind funnels, spoons and swinging platforms and it not being in open air.

To make no mention of none of the other areas in this supposed call back showing up. Just another knock against this movie.
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So of course that didn't stop TV Tropes from going "OHMYGOD ITS THE TEMPLE OF ELEMENTS FROM MKMSZ" despite looking absolutely fucking nothing like it. Because what the fuck is research when you can just make it a meaningless checklist item without even verifying, and falling for out right keyjangling with a name taken solely for I CLAPPED value. Fuck off, TV Tropes.
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Well at least I guess Snow Blind and Cage Match are better, though there not being any more MK Legends movies planned so far makes me wonder.

Anyway I got the final key in the ACTUAL Temple of Elements. You can tell because the Wind Temple is in open air, the Earth area is a mine, the Water temple is terrible and the Fire Temple is basically Lower Norfair.

Speaking of Lower Norfair I gotta say its funny that just being in this area doesn't automatically drain Sub's health. Does cryomancy powers help keep him cooled down? Is his Lin Kuei suit actually a Varia Suit or derive its weaving from Varia Suit tech? Is Samus just not doing it right? At least he's prepared for SOMETHING, Aran.
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The three keys make a surprisingly coherent symbol. No corny flavour text this time though. They're keys to the fire boss and thats all it was.

Speaking of...
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Here he is, and yes I tried to identify his actor and couldn't.

All that matters is, he's the god of fire. Some call him Kaijin or Hinoka (wow really?) But I like to stand out from the crowd.

Thus, I call him Little Johnny T. Why? Because he has a battle cry that sounds like he's screaming "THEY CALL ME LITTLE JOHNNY T!" So that's what he is.

Obvious out of the way, he cannot be frozen. That's because he's building body temperature to cook up that dumb bitch that said UK homes don't need air conditioning because something something environment. #askastupidquestion

Specials: A typical fireball, a ground fire spread, a fiery teleport and a fiery swing. Only the fact that he obviously can't be frozen makes Little Johnny T trickier than Fujin, Ben "koranot" Grimm and O'Shin before him.

Also note Little Johnny T's Raiden hat. He's the only elemental god to have a hat, even.
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He doesn't break apart when hit but I still gotta admit I do like his design. Every elemental has their main element in their design. Fujin with his cape and wavy white hair, O'Shin being blue and bubbling apart when hit and Ben Grimm being a giant fuck-off golem. Little Johnny T REALLY wears his element on his sleeve.

Sadly, even with ice powers not affecting him, Little Johnny T's been a comfy couch potato god and is out of practice. Its not long before Bi-Han beats him down like all the rest. You'd think a fire god would be an apt place to put a loud explosive final fuck-you desperation move, but again, only Fujin gets that honour.

Instead Little Johnny T flails about, explodes...and then keels over. Okay man you do you.

But you probably saw that magic Amulet in the background floating on a perilous platform. Now that Little Johnny T is gone, nothing stands in our way!
#TheBiHanMovie
Bi-Han just has to make his way up a staircase. That is, a very narrow staircase with no railings whatsoever.

And just incase he thought Anila and her fluffy sheep were waiting to catch him, Sub-Zero chances a glance downward to see that, should he slip, he'll end up impaled, exploded AND die in magma all in one go.
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"Well that's just not safe."
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But he makes it up there, cool and collected as ever. There's that magic amulet now fresh for the taking.

Funny, Quan Chi never actually said what said amulet looked like. For all Bi-Han knows this might not even be the amulet Quan wanted. Its just a shiny thing. And Sub-Zero likes shiny things. He's about to grab it...
#TheBiHanMovie
QUAN CHI OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE.

Yeah I don't know how he got here so fast or where he was hiding but he's here now I guess. And this is where the Amulet is officially identified as that belonging to Shinnok, fallen Elder God of death, jailed in the Netherrealm for his crimes. Fans who played MK4 already know of course but a little clarification for the newbies never hurts.

Also take note how the camera intently circles around them during this scene.

Anyway once he regains that Amulet, Shinnok will be able to escape Hell and attack Earthrealm again. Bi-Han was just hired to smooth the way for Quan Chi to waltz on in and grab the amulet with nothing to stop him.

Also BIG kudos to the way Rich Divizio goes full ham on the acting here, loudly shouting audio-filtered lines, wiggling his hands and making goofy faces all the while.
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What the Amulet does exactly isn't made too clear other than it allowed uncontested travel between realms apparently. In MKX and MK11 apparently it can also shoot pain beams too, and MK11 somehow made it the One Ring that can corrupt people and make them evil. But MK11 fucking fellated cliches like there was no tomorrow.

I also love how Subbie for some reason not only randomly tries to bring up Shao Kahn of Outworld (who has nothing to do with this specific game's plot outside of backstory) but emphasizes the "SHAO" part of his name. Weird acting flex there but whatever. Quan Chi gasses up Shinnok as a bigger deal than Shao Kahn.

And to be fair at the time it made sense. Shao Kahn was the biggest threat Earthrealm ever faced, a multidimensional konqueror. But he was still a mortal, and still vulnerable to death. As Liu Kang handily proves later on in the timeline, Shao Kahn CAN be beaten. Shinnok, however, was a fallen Elder God, a legitimate deity who had been around long before Shao's birth. He could kill people with a mere thought if he could, so its easy to understand why Quan talks up his boss as a bigger deal than the at-the-time iconic series baddie. The only thing holding him back is that this is still the Midway era where Shao Kahn had a functioning brain.
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And c'mon, you see those faces Quan is pulling? He earned it.

Sub isn't impressed and tries to spit in the sorcerer's face. Though, considering he basically just won, Quan Chi isn't even the least bit bothered at all, simply heading home to give Shinnok his property back...while outright trolling Bi-Han.

Like seriously if Quan made an honest mistake calling him "ninja" before, this time he's doing it on purpose just to rub it in. "I WON YOU LOST NEENER NEENER"

With that, Quan Chi warps out, leaving Sub-Zero to dejectedly head on home.
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Like I'm not kidding, you gotta see this shit. Bi-Han just straight up slumps his shoulders, puts on THE most sad beaten hang-dog body language and walks down the stairs all super sad like he's Charlie fucking Brown.

But also, wasn't there a fifth god mentioned?

Yes there was.

He's not happy about his colleagues getting ganked by some dipshit in blue pyjamas.

And now he wants a word.
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Daddy's angry and he's got the Symphonia 2 font on.

Now granted the intro spoiled his involvement and he's in the manual but here's Raiden, god of thunder, official protector of Earth (in this timeline) and master of the hat. Well, "Rayden" as most console MKs spelled it but I like to keep things a little consistent with modern ways.

There was Raiden just hanging out with his favourite nephew Kidd Thunder when he got the word his boys somehow got their shit pushed in by a nosey Lin Kuei, and now Raiden is kind of pissed.

Now despite usually being playable in MK games, Raiden normally stays out of mortal affairs unless they either concern his realm at large or the whole of the universe, which this incident falls under.

Though he's being generous here, offering Bi-Han a chance to make things right.
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Though that make things right mission involves having to go to hell. There's a fast way and a slow way and nobody has time for the slow way...so its a good thing the slow way is still pretty fast.

Now while Raiden has no power or dominion in the Netherrealm (of course), he can somehow still open portals to it. I'm sure someone seeing this and having watched Mortal Komedy was banging out all the "God of Useless" jokes they could. And to be fair they got a point. His powers and limits are kind of inconsistent. He can still fight and use special moves in Outworld and the Netherrealm (and later on in Edenia, Seido, Chaosrealm, outside of Time...), just...not the big god stuff?
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BTW portals are LOUD hence why Raiden is shouting and why I put his dialogue in ALL CAPS.

Only in Mortal Kombat can one tell another to "go to hell" and have it actually be a literal command. Raiden also warns of the "Brothers of the Shadow." While not elaborated on by the Hat God, the Brotherhood of Shadow is a cult-like group of killers and monsters headed by Shinnok and Quan Chi. Years after this, Bi-Han would indeed be part of that group when he dies and is remade into Noob Saibot.

But with that Sub-Zero bows and jumps in.
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But whether he'll make it or not is for tomorrow to decide. But long story short in the next ep...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5n--fm17vw
"Yay we're all going to hell"

YouTube
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Welcome to HELL!

And today's objective is to escape a "Prison of Souls". To do that I'm pretty sure we either need to break in there or get put in there first. Anyway Quan Chi is literally waiting for us RIGHT as we take our first step on Netherrealm...gunmetal. I'll talk about that later. Anyway let's get him.
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SIKE

You didn't think it would be THAT easy, did you? Nah, Quan teleports away like a proper cocktease leaving us to venture into the Netherrealm proper. For those who soldiered through this game to this point after playing other MK games featuring the Netherrealm, its probably a shot to see a somewhat early 20th century chamber open up into a modern Earth-style techno walkway while the background, suitably dark and orange, also has modern techno watchtowers and searchlights going for them. Its honestly a vibe I love.

No more Shaolin from this point on. Our enemies now are the upcoming Brothers of the Shadow, and right now its Netherrealm prison security. And fitting with the surprising techbase aesthetic of this region of Hell, the staff here at Netherrealm Dartmoor use long range laser weapons for one! Some even have cannons!

They're also different from Shaolin in that they bleed green, and decompose into green mush upon dying. Otherwise you can more or less take care of them the same way.
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A little up the way and we have our first Netherrealm deathtrap:

Giantass hammers. Much like the Shaolin pounding pillars or the Earth Temple spring pressers, getting clipped off center hurts. And much like the aforementioned, you can use these big boys against your enemies. Since they work automatically though you can't exactly bait them like the Shaolin pillars. Its all about timing here.

I mean as long as the crushing pound of the mallet doesn't call to you.
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Entering a second cell, we have our first official Brother of the Shadow!

A guy in a red headdress and trousers and...I think some chest strap taken straight from the Van Darkholme catalogue.

I don't even recall if these guys have anything special, as more often than not I all too quickly showed them who's the boss of this gym. So if you were expecting deep dark fantasies...sorry to disappoint.

Seriously man the leather club's two blocks down
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Seriously look at this guy and tell me he's not Van Darkholme-adjacent.

Quan Chi you have some explainin' to do
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Its a bit further up from him we come across a patented electric fence. Whizzing not advised. It flickers on and off so obviously you wanna time your movements.

Though if you feel malicious, the upcoming goons provide prime opportunity to get some Injustice-style wallbounce funtimes going.

Alright, fun's over, let's move on.
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Past this fence however, suddenly Bi-Han feels the need to take control from me and happily run forward. I've seen speedruns of this game that jump everywhere, and Subbie always suddenly starts running normally here. The game does take control from you for a scripted bit.

Because somehow Bi-Han forgets peripheral vision and gets slapped down to the ground by the meaty hamfist of what I can only call a roided out Sir Daniel Fortesque from MediEvil. His friends promptly repeatedly (and painfully judging by the blood) poke Bi-Han with sticks. I thought the Devil did that himself judging by what he said to Shadow the Hedgehog but imagine the Devil lying! Hah, no way! /s

If nothing else at least we can accomplish the objective the loading screen gave us. It just took Bi-Han losing a brain cell.
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So this is where it gets interesting. The next sequence depends on something you did earlier in the game.

Do you remember when we had the chance to kill Scorpion in the first level and took it with gusto? Yes.

https://fgc.network/objects/f1c2f2ef-a0f8-4510-8450-f4e258926d6f

Well, the next bit does indeed change depending on whether or not you killed him. After finishing the playthrough in which I got the pictures needed for this LP, I went back and used a password to get to this level on the assumption it would give me the sequence without Scorpion, an assumption proved right.
MightyK (@[email protected])

#TheBiHanMovie Upon emptying his health bar, Hanzo falls to his knees and begs you to spare him, while the game shouts "FINISH HIM" and plays tense music. Yep, its offering you a fatality chance, o...

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I'm gonna show the "Mercy" cutscene first.

Sub-Zero is tossed into a cell and looks rather annoyed. He's about to demand his lawyer but the jailer tells him to shut up, upon which Subbie's cellmate speaks up.

To spoil things, yeah that's Shinnok. He's pretending to be a harmless old man, right down to, for some reason, sounding a lot like George Lucas. Seriously, compare the voices.
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Still, clever move of him to try to worm his way into Sub's heart like this, and this scene's one of a few where I'm wondering if making the elder Sub-Zero brother into Noob Saibot was always an idea they had planned and not something thrown in for surprise value in Deception.

Its at the idea of escape that Not-Shinnok-At-All gets coy. Now I did forget to cross out Shinnok's name in that last pic but when we both look back at it, we, you and I, it does work better uncrossed out.

Bi-Han asks if Shinnok ever considered escaping, and the old man ominously states he will, though not before "playing Raiden's game." I'm gonna assume NBA Jam, NFL Blitz or Unreal Championship 2 on Xbox.
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Upon which he suddenly vanishes via jump cut. Mysterious!

But on the plus side the door's open! Sub-Zero makes his escape, to sweet freedom!
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And promptly eats a cannon to the face.