It would be too far fetched because it doesn't make any sense.

Well it was just an idea. It just kinda sux the way it was left off. It really would've been cool to see the final battle between Kung Lao and Goro. An episode featuring Smoke would kicked ass as well.

The best thing they could do, I think, is pretend like the last 2 episodes never happened, and take it up from Balance of Power, after which, in his pissed off rage, Shao Kahn doesn't kill his enemies, but puts his traitors in their place. Captures Shang Tsung, kills off the reptiles (except for a few of them, which would explain why so few were left in the first place), and crush Vorpax's armies, and regain his power as the emperor of outworld.

I think it would make more sense to make the final episode a dream of kung lao's just the way it was presented to me i kinda got that feeling the first time i seen it but it wasnt god dammit lol

Why dont we just except t the way it is! Never thoiught i'd see some MK fans still bitter about the ending. kahn was the best thing to happen. it would be corny for lowly villains like quan chi, Shang, Vorpax to be on top.

Like the game, I think the series was at it's most interesting when it was free flowing and drawing upon it's own developing continuity, but damn. That's not only a plausible concept, but a fantastic one!
Focusing so intently on a small area with such a specific fight-centric structure might be stretching the friendship just a tad, but finding a way to bridge the gap between abduction (the beginning) and a tournament (the last few episodes) would be nice.

Kung Lao/Goro would be a much more fitting end to the series, although, in a world where it's being renewed, it'd be really nice to go a few more!

Good job, chief!

Why exactly would Shao Kahn bluff, and then start a tournament with the people he would want dead...

I agree. A dream would of been more suitable.

Why do any of the convoluted bait-and-switches occur in MK and likeminded fiction? A regular point of reference during the final episode was whether or not anyone would intervene to enforce the rules.

So, someone does... Hence, tournament.

This your first dance, or what?

But it wasn't a dream

Mind boggling flawed logic just isn't my style.

The original poster suggested that Shao Kahn, after capturing his deadliest enemies and having the chance to murder them, decided not to, but tell Rayden he did anyway, and then start a tournament that gives his enemies a chance at victory even though he's just achieved his objective.
Shao Kahn was one evil badass throughout MKC. This storyline suggestion would turn him into a moron, dumber than MKA's Shao Kahn.

So, OK, you interpreted it as the Elder Gods inforcing the rules.
Well how the hell is starting a new tournament enforcing the rules? Enforcing the rules would probably mean punish Shao Kahn with death for breaking them in the first place, if not, they'd just resume life as it was, meaning it was still 50 years before the new tournament. As the rules say.

I really don't get what you meant.

It's consistent with everything we already know.

The first Mortal Kombat tournament we witnessed was quickly followed up with a "tournament" in Outworld. This stuff all seems like pretty basic MK 101.

Even if the fighters aren't being resurrected by an intervening force; that entire final episode was abstract enough to believe noone actually died at all. It's also only preceeded by Kahn shouting about revenge a lot, which, as we've seen in fifteen years of MK, can be a long and convoluted path.

A new tournament not only offers the most plausible reason for the major characters appearing to be killed, but is so specific to the logic of the world, you could believe it was the intention from the start. It's certainly better writing than the popular ignore it/it was a dream fan-fic copout.

I thought this was already proven, those last 2 episodes was dreams of kung lao, in season 2 he was supposed to awake from his nightmares and continue the show......

I think that imprisoning them to fight another tournament would be something Shang would have done.

am i the onlyone who actually loves the ending of the series?

it's genial,a bit rushed but totally unexpected,shocking,sad and ....reliable.
Think about it...how in the hell can kung lao keep on surviving every single attack by Kahn's assassins?
Even with Siro and Taja's help(which are pretty useness,'cause they loss 90% of the fights troughout the season) Kung lao seems weaker and absolutely not strong enough to be Earth's last hope.
So he keeps on fighting until he can.
it's sensed.

why don't kill ultimately the "conquest" project once for all?
Is plenty of great Tv series that died wihtout a reason.
i loved Dark Angel..and it doesn't have a ending.
i loved Blade the series,but died after one season,with an incomplete ending.
of course these are "minor" seres...just try to think about the mainstreams ones like Twin peaks(a stupid cliffhanger ending) or x-files which have a ending but it doesn't give any light on all the mysteries of the saga.


and,of course,i'm avoiding all the great tv series which ets suspended wihtout a reason,such like Fear itself,etc.

so please think about it..think about how lucky we were to get a season of 22 episodes,with great acting and most important great fighting scenes and excellent storyline.

if the mk franchise will somehow resurrect(hard to believe due to abysmal ideas like Mk vs DCU) and will live a second youth like the one that Mk lived in mid '90s,i'm pretty sure we can have new movies,new cartoons and new Tv sereis.

as for now,pray for the end of the war or for the people that subdues injustices.A mk Conquest season 2 is just hopeless.

Ah, this is a smart one. But Twin Peaks was due to the loss of Joan Chen and the allegedlly dismal first movie (also they cut miss Chen's scenes and there were supposed to be 2-3 more movies)

Building on the idea of the ending being a dream, I always thought it'd be best to pick up a continuation right before the next Mortal Kombat Tournament. You open Season Two with an amalgamation of Kung Lao's usual visions/nightmares mixed with the events of the final episode, and reveal that the final two parter was another vision he had brought on by his self-doubt and his apprehension about the up-coming tournament. Raiden could reveal that such visions are commonplace before the fate of Earthrealm is to be decided.

The rest of the first episode/s would establish that Kung Lao has formed a team of fighters to take on Outworld, including the usual Taja and Siro, but also another female fighter, his wife, who suspects that Raiden is hiding a darker truth about Kung Lao's future, and the ninjas Sub-Zero and Smoke. Siro would naturally distrust these last two, whom Kung Lao recruited after he finally convinced them to set aside their blood fued until after Earthrealm is saved, and the two could provide some decent tension in the Earthrealm camp. In the meantime, I would also use the opening episodes to establish that Shang Tsung has killed Quan Chi and bought his way back into Shao Kahn's favour by presenting him with Shinnok's amulet, which he took from Quan Chi. Tsung is spending his time training Outworld fighters (Scorpion, Reptile, Mileena, and Baraka) for Mortal Kombat and torturing Vorpax.

The rest of the series would be the depiction of the tournament, in which a lot of the main characters are killed off (again...) but this time in battle, and the losses are on both sides. There's be a tension between Kung Lao and Raiden, who is aware of a secret surrounding the tournament, which is revealed to be Goro, who annihilates the other Earthrealm warriors, leaving only Taja alive to raise Kung lao's young son. In her grief, she orders Raiden never to show his face again for deceiving Kung Lao, and the series would end with Quan Chi, Noob Saibot, and Shinnok joining forces in the Netherealm.

While I do like the emotional impact of Conquest's ending and detest the Dallas-like retcon a dream reveal would have, it is frustrating and annoying that so many loose ends never got resolved and the series never got to align closer to, at least, the first movie, so I think it's natural that fans would like to see some kind of resolution.

I don't think the ending was meant to be a dream, but I do think they would have had the Elder Gods step in and reverse time or give the characters some kind of way out of being dead.

Remember that the very last shot of the show was a close-up on Kung Lao's Mortal Kombat winner's medallion shining or glowing supernaturally. That had to mean something.

My site has the actual New Line timeline they posted about the MK universe - I believe it added where the series left off.

or... or.... OR!!!! How about at the last minute Rayden (Raiden) picks up the smashed pieces from his medallion and talks to his former self in Season 1's episode 1 to warn him of Kahn's victory and the annihilation of all the fighters and Season 2 is a reboot.

... oh wait that kind of stupidity happened already in the MK universe.

Conquest didn't make it to season 2 for a reason. It was THAT bad. Let it rest in pieces.

The Morbid ending didn't really bother me all that much suprising.

If he survived he would just have met another Morbid ending at the hands of Goro.

As gorostilllives said, the official MK site gave an indication as to the direction of Season 2 in their timeline, which would have resolved the cliffhanger of Season 1 and formed a bridge to the first MK film:

With Rayden locked up, beaten and fatigued, he prays to the elder gods, who will not allow this to happen any longer. Even though they believe that mortals are the masters of their own fate and should deal with foul play themselves, they will not tolerate the breach of an entire defenceless realm. Kahn's actions are undone by the Elder Gods, thus banning him from any tournaments for five hundred years. He will now act as Rayden does, only as a spectator, and not as a leader, fighter, or anything that has to do with Mortal Kombat.
With this set in motion, Kung Lao, Taja and Siro return to Earth Realm in peace, along with Shang Tsung to Outworld, Quan Chi to the Neatherealm, and Vorpax to the Cobalt Mines. Having not aged before the next tournament, Kung Lao remains in top physical shape, but as for Taja and Siro, they start to age and become less competitive.
For years having dealt with nightmares of his death at the hands of a four-armed monster, Kung Lao is about to confront them in the upcoming tournament. Through Rayden's guidance and instruction, Kung Lao is the best he's ever been in mind, body and spirit. But the thunder god reminds him that his opponent is the most powerful Mortal Kombat has ever seen.
To win back the emperor's favor, Shang Tsung searches the depths of the universe to find a fighter who will undoubtedly win the next tournament. In the realm of Shokan, he finds Prince Goro, an eight feet tall, four-armed warrior born half man and half dragon. The emperor is very pleased and looks forward to the tournament.
When the next Mortal Kombat takes place, it pits the defending champion against the new contender Goro. The match lasts several days, with neither man refusing to quit. Rayden watches as Kung Lao starts to lose his edge, and his life force. Any normal man or Outworld fighter would have surely been defeated by the warrior monk, but Goro is nothing like anyone from either realm has ever seen. After nearly a week straight of the most intense match in Mortal Kombat history, the great Kung Lao is killed by the prince of Shokan.
Shang Tsung forms an alliance with Goro to dominate the tournament ...
Now that Kung Lao is dead, Taja and Siro have grown old and withered away, Rayden must find another to train. He confronts Sub-Zero to fight for Earth Realm, but the ice ninja declines. Rayden will not find the chosen one until almost five hundred years later.
Because Outworld has won this tournament, Shao Kahn restores Shang Tsung to his side as Outworld's sorcerer, and Goro as the emperor's second in command. Now they will need to finish the set of wins to invade Earth Realm, but neither Shao Kahn nor Shang Tsung is worried.
Over five centuries, Outworld amasses eight more victories to make nine, while Rayden looks to the elder gods and demands to know when he will find the Chosen One.

Nothing about a dream or such. Just as everything was reset at the end of MKA, the Elder Gods did the same at the end of MKC.

uh nope, not at all. What gave you that idea? The tournament resumed normally, thus leading into the MK movie.

Dude, he's quoting from a timeline created by Threshold.

And it means that Kahn's not allowed to *attend* tournaments, not saying there weren't any.