Mortal Kombat Conquest - Episode 01 - Warrior Eternal Part 1

 

Kung Lao, a reluctant warrior who has successfully defended the Earth Realm in Mortal Kombat, must now decide whether to follow his destiny or his heart.

Episode opens with the ancient contest in which humans honorably protect their Earth--Mortal Kombat, a battle where defending warriors face off . If the Earth Realm warrior is victorious, the planet is saved from invasion; if the challenger wins, the Earth's portals are weakened and the Emperor Shao Kahn, leader of Outworld, can cross over and begin wreaking havoc on the planet and its peoples.

In this particular battle, Kung Lao, the Earth warrior, crushes Shang Tsung, the Outworld warrior. Instead of killing Shang Tsung, Kung Loa chooses mercy for his opponent and lets him live--a decision which he comes to deeply regret. The defeated Shang Tsung is banished to the Cobalt Mines of Shokan, where he spends his days plotting revenge against Kung Lao and all of the Earth Realm.

Following Kung Lao's victory, Rayden, God of Thunder and Protector of the Earth Realm reveals to him that as the last defending warrior of Earth Realm, he is charged with training a new army of warriors to compete against Shao Kahn's henchmen in future rounds of Mortal Kombat. Unfortunately for Kung Lao, this wasn't what he had in mind--he figured after successfully defending the Earth Realm, he'd be able to go on with his life as it was before Mortal Kombat.

Two big parts of this life are the Temple of the Order of Light, which trained Kung Lao to be a warrior and Jen Reyland, a local Baron's daughter. During the week that the Temple was celebrating the victory in Mortal Kombat, Jen, accompanied by her bodyguard Siro, went to make an offering to the temple and its fighters. On the road they were met by three monks who turned out to be highway bandits trying to rob them. Luckily for Jen, but not the bandits, Siro is a master martial artist, who not only defended Jen, but also took one of the bandits, Taja, prisoner. Taja would eventually become a servant in Baron Reyland's household.

Turning his back on his destiny, Kung Lao asks for Jen's hand in marriage, but is quickly rebuffed by the Baron who states that Kung Lao's association with the Temple and the "Elder Gods" and "Realms" is not a suitable lifestyle for his only daughter. When Kung Lao protests, the Baron tells him that any further contact with his daughter would be considered a threat and he'd have no choice to but to have Kung Loa killed.

Meanwhile, in the Cobalt Mines, Shang Tsung has taken up with the vile she-prisoner Vorpax. While neither can be trusted, they need one another as Shang Tsung still has his powers of sorcery, but cannot leave the mines and Vorpax, although not as powerful as her partner, is able to cross through portals into other Realms to carry out his evil deeds. In his first strike against Kung Lao, Shang Tsung enlists the deadly warrior Scorpion to visit the Earth Realm and begin his revenge.

Through a series of malicious machinations involving Scorpion, Shang Tsung is able to thwart Jen and Kung Loa's palnned elopement; have Kung Lao captured by the Baron's guards and sentenced to death; and have the loyal Siro disgraced and banished from the Baron's household--leaving his fate, as well as that of Jen and Kung Lao up in the air.