The Rise of Scar (spoilers)

[gothprincesskiara]

Ok so I like to take notes during the show and well in case no one has made the official topic yet I would like to start.

OMGOSH where to start?

so this takes place during the dry season. and when Kion talks to his grandfather, he says that the dry season is cause so many issues that it makes Kion a bit snippy, I guess thats understandably expected, even when he says he tries not to lose control, but more on that later.

There is now a name for Rafikis staff? anyone remember what that was called? I tried looking for it in the TLKTLG wiki but im not seeing it in there yet among Makinis description.

BABY KION IS SO CUTE!

(my RP topic)
I can't believe that before the Lion Guard I had always believed Rafiki would be the knowledge keeper as well as connecting with the great kings of the past, and the magic and wisdom he carries, it feels so good, because that is how I always RP with Rafiki in my RP version, Rafiki is a true teacher of the Pridelands.
Also Makini will be her royal adviser, Mjuzu and knowledge keeper? Oh boy not sure how I feel about that when it comes to my RP.

THEORY CASE SOLVED
Scar and the Hyenas died in the fire, I guess the hyenas were too raged at Scar they were too focused on him that they notice the fire would follow behind them, the 3 hyenas Shenzi Banzi and Ed are as good as dead.

We now know that not only Kion but the rest of the Pride, Rafiki and Makini can speak to the Lions of the past, make sense, I guess, but it still happens rarely like when Simba saw his father in the first film.
They also mention that this includes the bad ones too, and this again as someone mentioned is refered as the difference between heaven and hell , but I dont have a problem with it.

Very interesting that the skinks make good little spies, note taken, I think there kinda cute.

Last but not least, Kion didnt lose control of the roar just in anger, but he did it because he loves and cares for his family, and will do whatever he can to protect them, I would get angry too if my family was threatened.

Now im VERY surprised that Rafiki would tell Makini there are many sticks to remake a staff, I would have expected Rafiki to say "you lost your staff-panic- if ended up in the wrong hands it could mean serious trouble" I was hoping that would be the case, but I think Rafiki was being careless which leads me to end with that i think that ending had a half-fast careless ending, not too happy about the way it ended, I expected better from Rafiki.

Makinis singing was so unnecessary they should have just left that out, pointless.

[TTB-Kun]

i really loved the 3 songs from the episode, my favourite is the one with simba and kion, really loved the dynamics between the two, also cub kion too cute.
I'm still trying to figure out the lirics of some part since i'm not native english

[Elton John]

About the ending.

Spoiler: show

I like how Janja rage-triggered Kion at the end. Kion was keeping his anger in control until then. He wasn't merely angry, he was enraged enough to create freaking thunderstorms with his roar.

It wasn't a repeat of 'never roar again'. Kion kept his cool when Kiara was in danger but Janja knew Kions weakness too well

3 songs? There were four songs from what I remember.

[escobea1]

What I liked most about this special was that it took its time with things. Kion and his father bonded by talking about their personal doubts. Makini learns the value of silence after failing to listen. Ma Tembo looked after her herd by using realistic elephant tactics. The hyenas recalled previous events to hatch their plan etc. The focus was not on Kion vs. Scar yet. Instead, all characters are given time to react to each other according to their own character wants/needs. I ended up liking it more this way. It seemed natural. And yes, Baby Kion was an adorable surprise.

[TTB-Kun]

[quote="Elton John"]About the ending.

Spoiler: show

I like how Janja rage-triggered Kion at the end. Kion was keeping his anger in control until then. He wasn't merely angry, he was enraged enough to create freaking thunderstorms with his roar.

It wasn't a repeat of 'never roar again'. Kion kept his cool when Kiara was in danger but Janja knew Kions weakness too well

3 songs? There were four songs from what I remember.[/quote]
the one from makini meh, is not even a full song, not counting that

[AnonLion]

I really liked this episode. At first I thought Scar would be brought back at the beginning, but when I noticed it wouldn't be handled that way I realized that he will most likely act as a villainous force throughout the season and probably finally have a showdown in the finale, I hope that really is the case.

Sometimes I liked Makini sometimes I didn't, mostly when her personality trait of "talking too much" was spammed a bit too far like with her song.
I was afraid Ushari would suddenly be evil out of nowhere but I felt that his reasons were valid enough, and I definitely feel bad for him since he gets treated so bad even by the Guard.
FINALLY Kion decides to talk about his problems and feelings with Simba instead of just Mufasa, the song they had together was absolutely lovely and from it you can see how much Kion could relate to on his problems Simba.
It was also fantastic how Janja got the roar out of Kion; the roar hadn't been used in season 2 at all until now, and even Kion is aware that he should be very careful to not let his emotions take over him when using it, so when Kion finally did use the roar because his family was threatened the scene had a lot of impact, it was very well executed.

All in all I was very happy with the episode, and I'm looking forward to seeing Scar during the rest of the season.

[TheLionPrince]

The Rise of Scar was a pretty much an extended version of a usual Lion Guard episode, but I was a little disappointed by the lack of Scar in it. For most of the episode, I was hoping they would hurry up and summon Scar. When it wasn't that, I guessed I had to accept for it for it was. So, let's discuss the good things. I really liked Makini, Rafiki's new apprentice. Her character was full of personality with her eager-to-please and spirited attitude, without it becoming cringy and excessively cute. I did like that they delved more into the importance of the staff. She has a long way to go if she wants to follow in Rafiki's footsteps, but the writers have created a new character that's welcome in the universe. Also, there was a nice Easter egg with the opening shot with the animals walking across the screen against the sunset, which was a homage to Simba's Pride. You know this one...



Baby Kion was cute. The lessons of learning to be silent and controlling your emotions were great life lessons to hold to, and I hold the first lesson to heart.

The most disappointing factor is that they hyped up the return of Scar (via spirit), but it only appears in less than a minute. I know he will be seen again in the next episode, but I can't help that I wanted a little more. While he doesn't sound like Jeremy Irons (and I didn't expect him to do), David Oyelowo sounds like he has a menacing voice for the role. The songs again are not very memorable.

I was a little taken back that Janga claimed Scar died in the fire. I thought it was obvious that Scar died from being eaten alive. I don't exactly remember if Janga implied Shenzi, Banzai, Ed, and the hyena clan that killed Scar also died the fire. Anyway, I never thought the fire lasted that long to burn them all since it cooled down immediately when it started raining. Also, the lionesses, Timon, and Pumbaa were nearby Pride Rock and they were unaffected by the fire.

[Aelwen]

Overall i like the episode, especially Simba/Kion bonding moment. Although I didn't like the song, the "We are one" was better and more menaningful IMO.
I hope we'll see Nala/Kiara bonding moment too some day.

[TTB-Kun]

imho the problem with the simba and kion song, and also the problem of a bunch of other songs in the show is that they don't have that "african" sound.
Although i liked the song i think is a bit trivial in terms of sound
The opening one is more fitting with the drums and the chorus

[Panpardus]

So, my thoughts...

I'm just going to gush about the opening for a second. That. Was. Awesome. The orchestral bit was so grandiose and foreboding, a vibe we usually don't get from this show but then again, it's the dry season. Things are about to get very difficult. I noticed the callback to the imagery from Simba's Pride with the animals walking against the sunrise; the scene itself was beautifully done, the only thing that would've made it better was if the elephants' designs weren't so cutesy cartoony. Anyway, all that I was more or less expected; this is the biggest episode in the show's run so far, so you've gotta do it right and set the appropriate mood.

What I wasn't expecting was for that opening to lead into this South African/Afrobeat groove (that I couldn't help but start clapping/drumming along to, which has virtually never happened for a song on this show before) nor the full choir to bust out singing in Swahili while the guard ran across the Pride Lands. (For anyone wondering, the chant itself, "hevi fujo", roughly means "intense/total turmoil".) And I definitely wasn't expecting the Fela Kuti-esque horn lines, nor the break in the middle of the song with Pride Rock front and center. And I most definitely wasn't expecting the ending of that song with the low voices just resonating and trailing off in appropriate fashion. I might be focusing a lot on this, but this is exactly the kind of music I was hoping to hear from this show in the first place, and I actually thought it would never happen, so I was very pleased. This is the first song since "My Own Way" that I was instantly impressed enough by to consider a "genuine Lion King franchise song". I just wish it were a little longer in some parts, but overall it is the best musical number I've heard from this show; definitely head over heels above the rest of the stuff from this episode. I genuinely hope it isn't a one-off, though I'm fairly confident that songs like it are going to be rare.

While I'm on music, I liked the Simba-Kion duet in terms of just getting a good father-son interaction, and I was definitely getting "We Are One" vibes from its execution, but it was definitely not a Lion King song; it felt like a Phil Collins-Disney piece (especially since Simba's singing voice here sounds like Phil Collins, which I both like and dislike) that musically just doesn't belong in this universe (a lot of this series' music has that same vibe, actually) and it's disappointing because I really want to like it for what it adds to the story. The hyenas' song was just a retread of "Tonight We Strike", so I wasn't impressed; there's honestly little difference between the two musically. Makini's song was annoying especially since they kept starting and stopping it, and I didn't particularly like it when we heard the full thing anyway.

I have a lot of thoughts so I'll just update this post piecemeal, since it's a longer episode with a lot to take in.