Though Raiden is based on Japanese mythology, in Mortal Kombat he's never exclusively been stated to have a particular race. He's a god, so I'm sure he sort of transcends race boundaries. It's a bit different when you cast someone as an Asian character when they aren't actually Asian, but Raiden isn't Asian to start with so the casting really isn't offensive.

Electro-shock is not an archaic therapy method. not that archaic at least.

Lobotomies in some for date back to the middle ages, though dubious wethr they knew that lobes exist in the head of people. Also, why would lobotomies trigger powers when they





Though yes, the electroshock therapy would have made for a more spectacular exit for the God of Thunder. Who is less of a fuckup, but is stealing Smoke's schtick of stealing.


Now I am confused.

I understand that electro-shock isn't clinically archaic, and that it has been used with quite a bit of success for treating certain problems, but to the normal media digesting public it has always been portrayed as rather barbaric. Frankly, a medieval lobotomy seemed like way too much of a stretch.

And I must pose the question again, to folks that clearly aren't reading every post - if Raiden being weakened by falling to Earth in his mortal form is an acceptable excuse for why he couldn't leave the mental hospital, why was he not weakened when falling to Earth in his mortal form a second time?

Awesome episode.
As good as the third one, maybe even better. I like how was edited this episode. The main problem with this series for me is the editing. Action jumping all around, characters, places, times - all goes at random and swicthes to fast. 30 seconds here, then 30 seconds there.

This episode, alongside th third one was exeption. Kind of slow pace, without fast-switching between events and people. This episode, probably, is the closest in its idealogy to the MKR and because of it, I think it was one of the best episodes in the series so far.

I really wish, WB give creative freedom to the KT, so he'll can do his vision of MK, instead trying to please unpleasable fanbase and make another attempt at creating litteral "movie based on the game" thing. At least his vision would be original, fresh and interesting, while there would hundred complainers hating that he didn't put enough of the game stuff in the movie. His game-based episodes were mediocre, but his realistic ones - are awesome.

My favorite moment was Raiden's arrival and departure from the mental ward, his battle with hospital attendants, when they tryed to use teasers on him (Bad idea =)) and his arrival in the Asia. Directing and operator work were much better than in the previous episodes. Also, I liked the mood and actors. Though Raiden remainded me about Dr. House a bit.

I hope the next episodes will be more down to earth ot at least a bit closer to the MKR, then 4 and 5 episodes were.

Perhaps it's more like he just hasn't been to Earth in a very long time and needed to get used to having a body?

What are you even questioning? Hypothetically, if he gets weakened when he falls to Earth, it would make sense as to why he was taken down by guards the first time.

Are you really asking why he has the "superhuman strength" to pick up a hat off of somebody's head and wink at the camera, the second time?

The first time he landed, he was passed out for an entire night and threw up that blue blood stuff.

The second time he landed, he stood right up.

Ah. Well. The first time didn't he crash land from the sky? That seems like that'd be a lot more painful than just teleporting? Or did he crash land the second time too? Clearly, I don't remember this episode too clearly.

Crashing from the sky IS how he teleports apparently. It was pretty much the same both times, lightning struck and then he was laying on the ground.

So the only reason they had Raiden committed to a mental asylum was to make the story "more gritty"? Because other than that I see no good reason for this episode to even exist. He falls to earth and gets put in a mental hospital, so what? it appears to be completely inconsequential to Raiden's character and his role in Mortal Kombat. He doesn't take anything away from it.

Also, if you're trying to make something more realistic and "gritty" you have to do more than that just put a character in a dark setting. In order for something to be more realistic, you must blur the lines between good and evil. Because as we all know there is no such thing as complete evil or complete goodness in real life. Black and white are pure fiction, the world we find ourselves in is nothing but varying shades of Gray. So to place Raiden in a dark mental asylum and have him face off against an evil opponent is missing the point entirely.

This is a waste of an episode in my opinion.

I think the mental institution makes perfect sense.. he gets discovered in the grounds, so obviously they think he is an escapee or that someone dumped him there.

It shows the problems that Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade and Jax Briggs face in MK2/ MK3 in that people in the real world don't believe them about the invasion, the tournament, Shao Kahn, etc.

I think it was good too, coz it showed Raiden's frustration with the humans.. but in Blue, he found someone who kept his faith in the human spirit.. in his mission.. He was sent to Earth to gather forces for the next tournament, which i'm suggesting will see him appear in the ShaolIn Temples in series 2..

Oh, God... This one didn't even make sense. The evil doctor angle was so stupid... As well as the stabbing. And the lobotomy was a pretty lame and forced device. Blue? She had 10 seconds of screen time. The acting was good... but the story? Ha!

I didn't like it and it's not because it's "different" from the canon.


Blue and the doctor said and did more things of substance than Raiden did and it was his story.


The asylum as the setting might have been gritty, but being gritty for the sake of being gritty doesn't just make it good, I'd rather see Raiden's personality developed rather than the doctor's sadism(the webisode felt like it was about the doctor's character).

Budgetary issues had nothing to do with developing Raiden better.

i liked the ending though and Blue was actually interesting.

I think this episode was a huge step up from the previous two, I couldn't even finish ep 5.

To all the people who keep wanting this series to follow the game's canon and have all the powers, story, and moves from the games.
Do you realize how incredibly cheesy all that would be in a live action movie/series?

I really enjoyed the rebirth teaser because it gave a completely original gritty realistic take on the Mortal Kombat characters. One that would actually work in a movie.

In fact if I had it my way Raiden wouldn't even be a god i this episode.
Maybe they could have let him escape using a teaser or high voltage cable or something instead.
Whenever this series mentions any of the games story it just sounds so cheesy and out of place.

"Cheesy" Blah blah blah, always with the unimaginative jackasses who think movies about magic can't be good.

There is a movie in the theater right now about a god of thunder who has actual lightning powers and flies, and characters traveling to and from Earth and mystical worlds with gods and monsters via a magic portal.

It is very entertaining and successfully making millions of dollars.

Suck it long and suck it hard.

I just hope the next time we see him, Raiden gets a shave. Edit: Well put, Razor.

1 Thor is not R rated.
2 Thor does not focus on umpteem number of characters all with superpowers.
3 Take a look at the actual story of MK, is it really fit for a serious movie? They'd really need to make some changes to both story and characters for it to work.
Even the first movie did this.

And as I said I really enjoyed the rebirth teaser so in my opinion that would be the way to go.
Just look at the kind of mass attention that teaser got. It was on basically every news site, and 90% of people who watched it loved it. Except some close minded hardcore fans of the series of course.

Perhaps the very same hardcore fans who have kept the series alive for the last 15 years seeing as how the story had not been a big steaming pile of Oni crap like the gameplay has been, probably. I just don't want any more PG13 Kombat movies.

As fit as any comic book is. There's literally no difference between the subject matter in JLA and Avengers comic books and the Mortal Kombat storyline.

None at all.
If they can get the Spider-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor movies to be as accurate in story and character appearance as they have, with A and B-list actors, big budget effects, and blockbuster ticket sales as they have, then the ONLY thing stopping Mortal Kombat from doing the same is the FALSE perception in the minds of executives that there is a difference between a comic book adaptation and a video game adaptation that should dictate how much they devote their resources when making them. A Mortal Kombat or a Halo or a Legend of Zelda picture could be bringing in the EXACT same audiences and doing the exact same bank if they'd hand them to Bryan Singers and Kenneth Branaughs and Sam Raimis instead of Uwe Bolls and people nobody has ever heard of because they've never done anything famous before.

Rayden is not Asian, he's never been portrayed as Asian anywhere ever, including the games.



It's pathetic how many people are saying ''you're all blind for enjoying this''. If you don't like it, that's fine, but we're not retarded just because we liked something you didn't. Everyone has been listing their thoughts on why they liked the episode (myself included). Get your heads out of your asses, stop acting like you're Gods of wisdom for pointing flaws in a low budget short internet video about a cartoony fighting video game.

As for the point being made about how "nowadays no hospital would allow multiple lobotomies", I think it's crystal clear that the hospital is not meant to be a well run asylum. It's run by madmen, and that's why they get away with their deeds.

Haha, completly!! (And I loved both, Thor and Sucker Punch).

I liked this one, it shows how it could be for Raiden to land on Earthrealm and try to explain what's happening, and how unfortunate things could turn for him, appearing on a mental institution with his body on a still weakened state.

I loved the hat part and clearly from now he is going to be a full-powered bad-ass as he is no longer weak.



Cool stuff! Thanks for the info I didn't know about that part of being all thunder gods of all pantheons. I though that Haokah thing was some sort of "master" for native americans.



Except for Odin, Loki, Destroyer, Laufey and his frost giants, Volstagg, Hogun, Frandal, Sif, Nick Fury (not superpowers but related to superheroes) as part of the perennial after-credits scenes about the Avengers formation and the introduction of Nope, he isn't related to superpowered heroes and villains, nope... :P

I agree- I don't know how Raiden being in a mental institution propels the story forward or how it helps define his character. They couldv'e had a more canonical story about Raiden that shows us more of who he is and his pre-tournament shananigans.

I did like seeing Raiden fight, however.

Is it just me, or was the doctor more intimidating and creepy than the guy who played Shao Kahn?

1. Thor - Does not look like he is from the comic book. Does not follow the exact plot of the comic book. Donald Blake was used as reference in the movie and

2. X-men - No yellow tights for Wolverine, No blue tights for Cyclops - NO TIGHTS AT ALL, or it would have looked campy.

3. Harry Potter, LOTR, Pan's Labryinth, Curse of The Golden Flower, Hero, these are not comic books nor video games, where the characters where bright and colorful outfits, with a storyline written by videogame designers

4. Hellboy is an exception , but the source material goes well with live action.

The first Mortal Kombat movie was campy. Goro getting punched in the balls, no bloody fatalites, Scorpion and Sub-zeros costumes looked like something you could buy in a halloween shop for about $15.

And the number one reason it would never translate as a direct adaption ...... Shao Khan walks around in his fucking underwear.

Hey if people want another direct adaption thats fine, but X-men if anything proves my point that you have to ground things in reality if you want it to come off seeming serious on screen. X-men 3 was considered the worst one of all of those films, you had people flying all over the screen, it just looked bad.

Thank you Razor, at least you understood what I was trying to say.

And frankly, I have to agree with you on the similarities between MK and any comic franchise. It's true that Mortal Kombat's story would have to be made lean and mean as they do with the successful superhero flicks, but it could be done.

Heck, I don't think you'd even have to change the story around to make it gritty. Gritty is about atmosphere, not plot.

Razor hit the nail on the head. Especially the Uwe Boll part...Ugh. Why the hell has that man's career not been completely Fatalitied yet?