Board Thread:Mortal Kombat X/@comment-1084762-20150120234121/@comment-5901324-20150217183444

Perhaps they're just doing this because Kabal and Jade did not have playable roles in the story, but they didn't actually want to make people sad. Its ridiculous and lazy, but still, understandable (sorta).

Also, now that you mentioned it, I think this increases the chance of the Mysterious Woman's appearence. If, for some reason, Kitana and Kung Lao (and maybe others) escaped from Netherrealm and got back to their bodies, why wouldn't Jade be able to return? Probably, someone else had her body, and maybe Kitana is seeking to defeat the Mysterious Woman. The guy from the stream said that Jade's soul would appear in the game.