Retcons and the impact of storytelling · 1:35am May 28th, 2020
Greetings. If a discussion revolving in the main around Mortal Kombat is not of interest to you, please disregard the following. If it is, be advised that spoilers of the recent release of Aftermath follow.
Like many, I assume, I was excited by the prospect of the story mode of Mortal Kombat 11 being extended, and pre-ordered the expansion pack long before its release yesterday. In particular, I still held out hope that the disappointing retcon of Sindel's story would be reversed by use of the theme of multiple timelines (the Friendships were also a must-have). In short, over a decade (two?) of character development had been inverted: a fundamentally loyal, sacrificing, and loving Queen was rewritten as a megalomaniacal, power-obsessed sex-fiend who betrayed (and killed in one case) her family and millions of her subjects in order to upgrade her title, and acquire more power. But here was a chance to turn it around. The possibility of the protagonists drawing forth the beloved version of her Highness from one of the alternate timelines was low-hanging fruit. It would have been plausible, and would have required little reshuffling.
I made the timeless mistake. I allowed myself to feel something, and was duly krushed for it. As events progress, the Queen is restored from her revenant state, and has an emotionally powerful reunion with her daughter, who never stopped believing in her. For a few minutes, it seemed that the stars were put back in alignment, and my hope had been fulfilled.
Soon enough we learn that Sindel was pretending to be honest and true in order to gain the trust of those whom she intended to betray. This is in keeping with the character as presented in the pre-fight dialogues revealed during her release last year. There was no repeal of the retcon.
I won't say, as some have, that this is an example of bad writing. I have to credit the developers for sticking with their vision, despite its overwhelming unpopularity. Rather, although I felt physically ill as the realization dawned that Sindel was in fact, and probably forever would be, transformed into a psychopathic tyrant, I reluctantly say that it is brutally effective writing. I believed she was the heroine she was in the 90's during the resurrection scene, partially because I wanted to believe it, but mostly because of the brilliant execution of the dialogue and animations. Mortal Kombat is not known for its moving drama, but this scene did what A Royal Problem and Between Dusk and Dawn almost, but ultimately failed to do.
The emotional momentum of Sindel’s reunion with her daughter, and the prospect of her fighting alongside her and the other defenders of Earthrealm made the pure, unrelenting malevolence she exhibited thereafter truly sickening. While I happily admit to having reveled in the morbid, abstract irony of the Overpowered Couple (Shao Khan and Sindel) sadistically destroying and enslaving the Cage family for breeding purposes, along with easily killing and torturing most of the other heroes, I risk my villain card by reasserting that I would have preferred the alternative. Having the prize held out, then thrown on the floor to shatter like a deposed titan is inspiration-killing.
One word about the writers. I would advise moderation in criticizing them. We don’t have the full picture of why they made the decisions they did, and we never will. Maybe the executive mothership buzzed in, gave them the old probe and some strong suggestions about low-risk tropes. Maybe they wanted to make a point about the state of the world and Sindel got caught in the crossfire. I do raise an eyebrow at how the reunion was made to seem like a compromise between the creators and their audience, and at the possible symbolism of the glass of wine our Queen throws down like so many fan tears. But there’s more than one way to interpret most cultural artifacts. I, for one, choose to cling to the notion that Kronika was manipulating Sindel toward evil, just as she manipulated Raiden.
