D'Vorah said he did intend to free Shinnok in Earthrealm, so to me the answer is yes. I don't think he planned on getting killed though. To me it seemed like once Scorpion rekt his shit and threw his kunai through his chest, he knew he was done for but still decided to try and free Shinnok before he was killed anyway.

What's paying with his life?
Just a small pain of his throat being cut and he's back in the Netherealm, 10 minutes away!

We'll hardly be seeing him again anytime soon, though.

Not if he's dead. It's his magic that creates the revenants after all.

Ha... ha ha ha. HA HA HA HA.

This is the FOURTH time he's been killed.
1. MK: Mythologies
2. MK: Deadly Alliance/Deception
3. MK: Armageddon
4. MKX

If there's one thing Quan Chi is good at, it's not letting death be too big of an issue for him. It's practically a holiday to catch up on his saxophone lessons.

His MKSZM fall into the abyss was non-canon, as was e.g. Liu Kang twisting Shang Tsung's neck at the end of Shaolin Monks. They simply added his death for the fun of it. Both Bi Han's and Quan Chi's actual biographies state Bi Han just beat Quan Chi up.

After MKD, SHao Kahn (or Shinnok, I don't know, NRS never bothered to reveal it) restored Quan Chi's body form using the material from the Flesh Pits, as he did with Shang Tsung. As this is a new timeline, where SHao Kahn is dead, and Shinnok incapacitated, no one powerful or willing enough would be there to bring Quan Chi back. Weirdly, but semi-reasonably, I could imagine Liu Kang restoring him, as Liu is now both an arch villain and Netherrealm ruler, as well as a raging hater of practically all of his former Earthrealm companions.

And his MKA death, as of now and here, never happened.

Still doesn't matter. The Dragon King randomly showed up once and resurrected a bunch of characters. Shinnok resurrected a bunch of characters. Quan Chi resurrected a bunch of characters. The Elder Gods resurrected a bunch of characters. Raiden accidentally resurrected a few himself (to varying degrees of success).

So I imagine another villain can come along and do it, be it the unseen Dragon King of the new timeline, the Blood God (*cough*), or the One Being (*double cough*), or someone entirely different.

Heck, watch as its revealed Quan Chi had some sort of black magic back-up in his fortress to restore him to life in case his plans went south.

Death in Mortal Kombat is as lasting as Dragon Ball Z death.

Kind of curious what the original plan would be if Scorpion didn't interfere.

Was D'Vorah suppose to singlehandedly take out the entire base and give the amulet to Quan Chi?

I took it as he knew death was unavoidable and just made sure he freed shinnok as a middle finger to everyone else.

Not a fool-proof plan, but her strolling in and unleashing a swarm of poisonous insects would cause a panic long enough for her to get the amulet to Quan Chi. At least, that's how I'd do it if I was an insane bug lady from Outworld.

This is a thing that bothers me about Quan Chi

He is just a slave to Shinnok

At first I thought that Quan Chi would betray the Elder God, but he stays loyal to him until his end.

I like the MK4 plot better.

remember that Quan Chi is weaker due to being separated from Shinnok's amulet for a long period of time. it's possible he was just desperate for power. I'll admit,looking back,it does feel weird,given Chi's personality.

i agree it makes for a more interesting character, but if they stayed the same path you know well and good that people here would be crying alligator tears that NRS lacks creativity/ NRS is lazy etc.

The very reason this question exists is because the story was so poorly told. I don't even remember anything significant that Quan Chi did in MKX - every time he showed up in story mode, he was like a feeble, tired and weak old man, fearing for his life.

They can have any number of ways to revive Quan Chi. Evil dead people would show up in the Netherrealm regardless.

Agreed. I feel that Quan Chi was really misrepresented in the story of MKX. Regaurdless of if this is a new timeline or not Quan Chi is Quan Chi and he's always got an ulterior motive. Hope he actually did and that motive carries on to MK11.

... Which creates another question: did NRS kill Quan Chi off because he was starting to feel redundant and used up, or was he depicted as redundant and used up because they intended to kill him off?

I mean, overplayed as he was in both MK timelines, he was still hardly a non-resourseful and unnecessary villain. Remember he did outlive his Outworld comrades in MK9, even though they fought simultaneously. I can only think that, for some reason, NRS thought Quan Chi now entered his "retirement" phase (which still makes no sense, since Quan Chi isn't a human, like Shang Tsung, and is richer than him both in lifespan and array of plot designs).

Would be nice if this was labeled spoilers and you didn't reveal story secrets in the title.

I was thinking the same thing...maybe they're finally moving on from Quan Chi. Truth be told he's been the major recurring villain since MK4 and it's getting a bit tiresome, but for a character they love having as the villain...for all his schemes and manipulations...for the boasting they did about him during his reveal trailer (Scott Himmerick said that in MKX, "Quan Chi's schemes are fully realized and playing out according to his design"), he just doesn't do anything in story mode but be tired and get beaten.

I'd like to see Shang make a come back...even in MK9, he didn't seem like that much of a major threat as he was in games past. Of all the characters who "died" in MK9, his was the most unconfirmed...he was fused with Sindel, who is dead, but he was not a separate servant in the Netherrealm. And where would those legions of souls that he enslaved go?

Ah, reading too far into this. Overall yes...Quan Chi...the way they handled him this time was baffling.

I like to believe Shang will make it into the next MK, arising in the Netherrealm alongside Sindel and other revenants, as Liu Kang and Kitana's servant. It will, in a way, be Liu Kang's middle finger to Shang Tsung. Later on, he might devise a plan to overthrow Liu and re-enact his quest for power and rule over Earthrealm, Netherrealm, or Outworld...

If his "demise" at the hands of Shao Kahn was meant to be a cliffhanger as it was, it likely meant he was to return at some point. I mean, even the blatantly killed-off characters from MK9 now made their comebacks, so why would it be the same with Shang, of whom we don't know if he was really even destroyed (or merely transfigured)?

I think so hence the reason why D'Vorah comes to Earthrealm. I think he did not bargain for Scorpion finding the truth about his past though.

It looks like Quan Chi is going to take a break from the series which is good so that characters tied to him can break away get some new story arc. I think he might appear in titles further down the line but not in the next game. A lot like Shang Tsung since he missed MKX but is heavily hinted at in the endings as returning in the next game.

Same. That's the oddest thing to me. Quan Chi was loyal to Shinnok to the death.