When the first trailer for Mortal Kombat 11 arrived, fans noticed the franchise's hints that the game would embrace time travel in a big way. As the official description for the game emerged, along with various game-play trailers, it became abundantly clear that following Raiden manipulating time in MK9 and then taking Shinnok's amulet in MKX, the time stream is broken and someone needs to fix it.

The first story trailer for MK11 finally reveals just who intends to do so by introducing the temporal goddess known as Kronika. But as she lays out her plan, we realize she may just as evil as the overlords who preceded her, and to protect the fabric of time and space, Raiden will be copying her actions and enlisting his own help from the past. Here, we'll break down the key parts of the trailer and look at exactly how the two sides stack up as they look to undo the Thunder God's past mistakes.

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A NEW DEADLY ALLIANCE HAS FORMED

The trailer kicks off with Kronika revealing that in order to rectify what Raiden did, she needs help from various timelines. We already had an idea of who she was from Jade's ending in MK9, and now we witness Kronika's main pact with Shao Kahn, former Emperor of Outworld. We're not sure which timeline he's from, as he's wearing new gear, but he's back from the dead and badder than ever.

Kronika seems to be leaning towards villains plucked from the Sands of Time as she promises "a greater empire in the new era." In addition to Shao Kahn, she's allying with villains such as the Revenant versions of Liu Kang and Kitana, Skarlet, Erron Black, Skarlet, a young Kano, the bug queen D'Vorah, and Baraka and Kahn's rumored right-hand man, a four-handed monster called the Kollector. Kronika also has her time-travel lackeys at her side, Geras and a white-hooded character game leaks are calling Cetrion.

RAIDEN'S ASSEMBLED SOME FAMILIAR AVENGERS

It remains to be seen how Raiden will attempt to fix his tampering with the timestream, but we know he'll turn to trusted friends for help. The classic versions of Liu Kang, Kung Lao and Raiden himself are seen in Kronika's recruitment drive, but later they're siding with the older Thunder God, apparently realizing Kronika's the new villain on the block. It's basically the Thunder God enlisting the tournament's former champions and folks he considers family.

Raiden 2.0 wants to ensure Outworld, NetherRealm and EarthRealm are protected once more, so he also rallies the classic version of Scorpion to his cause, which leads to an epic shot of the yellow ninja going up against an evil version of himself. The returning Jade and another former Outworld ruler in Kotal Kahn are also joining Raiden's crusade, which we know will also have Sub-Zero as part of the resistance. How and why all these personalities are chosen, well, that remains to be seen.

THE CAGE/BLADE FAMILY IS READY FOR WAR

The trailer doesn't hide how important Cassie Cage, her dad Johnny and mother Sonya Blade will be in the war to come. Their Elite Special Forces Unit has always been integral in safeguarding EarthRealm, and Raiden makes it clear Johnny and Sonya are going to be close members of his inner council -- which reiterates they haven't lost faith in each other since the first game.

What's intriguing is that they'll be going up against an army that's as grounded and ruthless as they are in Kronika's very own elite assassin outfit. The Cage family will be facing an upgraded Black Dragon army including the likes of Kano, Kabal and Erron Black, along with all sorts of slashers, gunslingers and gangsters. Given both sides have such bad blood in their history, expect nothing short of a personal, bloody and revenge-fuelled vendetta when they all collide.

NEXT PAGE: Mortal Kombat 11: Shao Khan's New Kill Squad, Raiden's Shifting Loyalties & More

SHAO KAHN'S GOT ANOTHER KILL-SQUAD

In a brief but intimidating shot, we see Shao Kahn with what appears to be a kill-squad of his own, though their identities remain a mystery. We don't know if they're proteges like Reiko from MK4, or if they're actually time displaced versions of the warlord himself. But they're all wearing scary masks, ready for battle and following his lead.

Baraka's Tarkatan forces are also present, as well as emissaries from Kotal Kahn's army, which seems to indicate the ex-Emperor will once again be using politics to perhaps lure back some of his Outworld followers who defected when he died. With these warriors by his side, similar to how he had Goro and Kintaro in the past, it could pave the way for Kahn to eventually turn on Kronika when the opportune moment arises, and expand his reign beyond Outworld.

THE DIRECTIVE OF THE ELDER GODS

It remains to be seen if Kronika is indeed an Elder God. We're making that assumption since she's calls herself "the Keeper of Time," which has driven Raiden to the other Elder Gods for assistance. It's a bit surprising, as he defied them in the last couple games, bending time to defeat Shinnok and take his amulet by breaking their rules. Nonetheless, the Elder Gods seem to have forgiven the Thunder God for now, offering advice on stopping Kronika.

Raiden indicates "The realms are in crisis," and they agree by telling him if Kronika gets her way, "Every being will be erased in a temporal armageddon. Find Kronika's key and gain control of her hourglass. Only then will time's momentum be restored!" That paints a clear picture of Raiden's goal, which leaves us wondering it that key is a person or a literal relic. It also hints that the Elder Gods, as they've done in the past, are playing Raiden and using his legion as a pawn in some bigger game.

GENERATION X IS BACK

In MKX, fans were impressed by how effective the Elite Special Forces Unit came off with the new breed of soldiers in its ranks: Cassie, Jacqui Briggs (Jax's daughter), Kung Jin (Kung Lao's descendant) and Takeda (the son of the blind ninja Kenshi and former protege of Scorpion). Cassie's front and center in MK11, but fans also bear witness to Jacqui in all her gun-toting glory, apparently playing a big role against the Black Dragon and Shao Kahn's minions.

It does leave us wondering, though, whether Kung Jin and Takeda will be involved, and if not, exactly what happened to them. With time travel involved, we expect a lot of faces from the past in the melee, but it'd feel like a disservice if the new blood and generation that was supposed to take the franchise into the future is short sold here. Legacy is important but so too is the evolution of the MK series, and so far, these other youngsters are MIA.

RAIDEN MAY BE PLAYING BOTH SIDES

At the end of MKX, Raiden became a dark overlord, making it clear he was going to protect all the realms with an iron fist. It's why he sent warning to the new rulers of Outworld, the Revenants of Liu Kang and Kitana, and why Kronika intervened. He wasn't the benevolent god of old anymore and was clearly becoming that which he fought against his whole life.

Interestingly, in this trailer, Raiden seems to have reverted to his heroic persona. But in a shot where he uses Shinnok's amulet to decimate a legion from Outworld, we're left wondering if he's actually faking his face turn. The virtuous Raiden would have used his lightning-based powers, not Shinnok's amulet, in the heat of battle. Either he needed a power boost, or Raiden is still corrupted and is simply using his friends as tools to stop Kronika in order to resume his rule as gatekeeper of all dimensions.

Mortal Kombat 11 releases on April 23 for PS4, Xbox One, PC and Switch.