The Rise of Scar (spoilers)

[Ninclow]

Why bother bite one hyena, venom or no venom, when he would not be able to take on all of them and end up as somebody's lunch if he tried to defend himself? It makes sense for him to talk his way out of the situation, because he has more brains than physical strength.

Still, the way he manipulated Makini reminded me of how Scar tricked Simba. As long as he can keep his head low and off the Guard's radar, there is no telling what he could accomplish with words alone.

[Kallo]

Well, I finally watched it. And... after I had lowered my expectations a bit, it was about what I was expecting. I wasn't disappointed nor super hyped. I'm glad I did lower (or perhaps change is a better word) my expectations, though. I think it'll be the easiest thing for me to just start listing the good and the bad.

First, the good: The animation was SO much better in this episode than ever before. I am hoping it will remain on this level and will keep improving in future episodes, and that it's not just a thing because "special episode". Ushari got great development in this episode. Was nice knowing Fuli is the first ever female Lion Guard member, even though that bit seemed a bit random to point out. Fuli has always been my favourite member, but she just keeps growing more and more on me, and this episode was no exception. She was awesome. I enjoyed Makini's character for the most part, and loved all the stuff with her and Rafiki. It was good to see the royal family again (anything we can get with them is always good), though looking back, it IS kinda silly that Kion wouldn't inform (or have Ono inform) Simba that Kiara was kidnapped. I mean, it's something that should concern Simba and Nala, don't you think? Once I realised Scar was going to be a typical villain, I was glad that they saved him until the end and didn't overuse him immediately. Especially since he's apparently now gonna show up in other episodes as well. A few seconds of seeing him was enough. I also liked some of the references to the movies, such as the opening scene and Rafiki smacking Simba on the head with his staff. As usual, the background music was amazing and for the most part I enjoyed the songs from a musical standpoint as well.

And now, the bad: As much as I enjoyed the songs musically (especially the hyena song), lyrically they were pretty bad and cheesy. The part where Simba sang "Sometimes it's fun" and then followed it up with "I'm proud you're my son" seemed a bit forced and silly, especially since it kinda didn't reflect much on what Kion was singing about. Not to mention "Let's bring back a legend" must've been the most facepalm-worthy moment of the series yet. Just... no. Another problem I had was that we STILL didn't see the rest of Simba's pride, despite having the perfect opportunity for that during Makini's official introduction scene. I'm beginning to doubt we ever will. What made it feel even more off, was that Tiifu and Zuri were there, but nobody else. I don't have a problem with Tiifu and Zuri, like some people, and I enjoyed some of the jokes they had in there, but I'd rather have not had them if nobody else from the pride was there either, because it just kinda ruined the scene for me; all I could think about was how it stank of animator laziness. It's like they said "Oh, we'll throw Tiifu and Zuri there cause we have the puppets for them, but don't expect us to create any new background characters". Originally I had hoped Scar would be a very psychological, "in Kion's head" type of villain. While I had realised that wasn't gonna happen, I was still a little bit disappointed with how they handled Scar. Janja being the one to summon him was very "meh". And they also made Scar far too cartoonish a villain. I didn't like how they kept calling him "evil" and made it so set-in-stone that "GOOD lions are in the sky and EVIL lions are in fire". It's like... yes, Scar did evil and selfish things during his lifetime, but he's not THAT type of villain. He might not have respected the Circle of Life, but his intentions were never to destroy it; that just sort of happened because of his selfish, thoughtless actions. I mean really, terms like "evil lion" and "legend of darkness"? Wasn't feeling that. It even makes the hyenas look bad, cause their goal is to simply get someone to help them with getting food. They shouldn't be thinking of themselves as "evil". The line "Yes, I am Scar" also sounded a bit too cartoonish for my liking, but I'm willing to accept it as just a cool introduction after all that buildup. Just tone it down a little in the next episode. Scar's voice sounded... alright. Not super good (the laugh was especially not very good), but let's just say I didn't HATE it.

So yeah, all that being said... I, surprisingly, don't really have any proper emotions about this one. It... just was. Not any better or worse than I expected (the improved animation was probably the only thing that did exceed my expectations). After all that waiting, it just kinda left me feeling mentally numb. Not hyped, nor disappointed. I'm kinda just left waiting for what happens next. I feel like Scar in this series had potential for so much more, but I'm glad the episode had enough things going for it that you can't call it bad. And it left us hanging on the right note at the right moment, because now I am interested to see what will happen next.

[gothprincesskiara]

I just thought of something too, its probably a good idea that they left Scar as a cliffhanger, because alot more fans will be wanting to watch what happens next, the more watcher the more its helps the show.

[Aelwen]

[quote] Another problem I had was that we STILL didn't see the rest of Simba's pride, despite having the perfect opportunity for that during Makini's official introduction scene. I'm beginning to doubt we ever will. What made it feel even more off, was that Tiifu and Zuri were there, but nobody else. I don't have a problem with Tiifu and Zuri, like some people, and I enjoyed some of the jokes they had in there, but I'd rather have not had them if nobody else from the pride was there either, because it just kinda ruined the scene for me; all I could think about was how it stank of animator laziness.[/quote]


Oh, yes, I so wish they showed us more lionesses but... I suppose they don't have budget or/and desire to make new characters. Look, even in the TLK pride members were drawn blurry/in the distance and the creator deleted a lot of side characters during the drawing. This cartoon is very cheap and theyh don't want to draw anyone who doesn't have any role.
So I doubt we'll see Sarabi/Sarafina too.

When is the next episode due?

[Ninclow]

Scar will have a cheesy villain's song...

[Kallo]

[quote="Ninclow"]Scar will have a cheesy villain's song...[/quote]

I've already accepted that Scar will be a cartoonish, cheesy, typical villain in this show, and that he'll probably be pretty different from his original movie version. However, I'm willing to to be fine with this, if he'll at least be a good and well-written cartoonish, cheesy, typical villain. It still won't at all be what I had originally hoped for, but quite frankly, we probably should be happy they even included characters like Scar and Zira in this show. So far it looks like they nailed Zira's character better, but it's not like they completely butchered Scar so far either, and unless that happens, I'll try not to be too picky. Even if I did hope for him to be a more dark villain (and the show to be more mature in general) I'm just honestly happy to see Scar back in ANY form after 23 years.

[Ninclow]

OMG, it looks like Scar becomes the go-to guy for TLG villains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0N57HWpJ2g

[SimbasGuard]

There is very little I can add that has not been touched on already. I'll just try to make some quick points.

I loved Simba and Kion's We Are One moment.

I loved seeing baby Kion (even if that does further disprove my theory that Kiara and Kion are twins).

It was great to find out that Fuli is the first female member of The Lion Guard. I had always wondered about that.

I got a kick out of how Fuli was the one that was able to calm Kion when he was about to use The Roar in anger early on in the episode. (No I don't ship them.)

I like Makini. I enjoyed the fact that she and Kiara hit it off so well.

I also enjoined the fact that Tiifu and Zuri were jealous of the fact that Kiara and Makini hit it off so well. (Even though I though they should not have been there to be introduced to Makini in the first place).

I liked how Nala prevented Tiifu and Zuri from tagging along with Kiara and Makini (It also furthers my suspicion that Tiifu and Zuri like Kiara for her position as Future Queen rather than for who she is).

As for Kiara looking weak: I have never had the misfortune to be burnt by steam, but I'd imagine volcanic steam in particular is extremely hot. If you were to burn your feet with it just walking would be difficult if not impossible. Let alone running at high speed.

As for Kiara being easily captured: Kiara new something was wrong, so The Hyenas attack did not catch her as much by surprise as it could have. However while Kiara's attention was was focused on the Hyena's in front of her she was blindsided by Cheesy. This likely knocked the wind out of her, that is not something you can just shrug off. Before Kiara could recover Chungu grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, now given how Chungu was dragging her. This left her in a position where she could not fight back from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uGcKAmM3E4

Kiara does have fighting skills, Kion even has confidence in them. As shown in Can't Wait to be Queen when Kiara and Kion are about to face-off with Janja's Clan. Kiara is ready to fight alongside The Lion Guard in that same episode a moment later.

In The Trail to Udugu Kiara was besting Kion in most of their wrestling matches.

As for Scar he can be a major threat, especially considering that none of the good guys know he is back. That is an excellent way to handle him story/plot-wise.

* Edit By SimbasGuard 8-17-17 @ 1:13 PM U.S.A. CDT *

Also as for why Simba And Nala were not alerted that Kiara had been kidnapped. Makini alerted The Lion Guard of the situation so she must have felt it was unnecessary to tell Simba And Nala (She may also have been somewhat afraid too). If The Lion Guard had been unable to rescue Kiara, it is a safe bet that Kion would have told his Parents.

[Kallo]

I'm not sure why people would be expecting Kiara to be a good fighter. She never was that way in TLK2. In fact, there was more than one scene focusing on how BAD a fighter and hunter she was, even when older. Meanwhile, as a cub she barely escaped the crocodile attack. Don't know where people got this idea that she suddenly should be full of fighting spirit in TLG. Especially since in the series she already is moreso than in TLK2.

[SimbasGuard]

[quote="Kallo"]I'm not sure why people would be expecting Kiara to be a good fighter. She never was that way in TLK2. In fact, there was more than one scene focusing on how BAD a fighter and hunter she was, even when older. Meanwhile, as a cub she barely escaped the crocodile attack. Don't know where people got this idea that she suddenly should be full of fighting spirit in TLG. Especially since in the series she already is moreso than in TLK2.[/quote]

Well in The Crocodile attack Kiara did save Kovu from being eaten and as an young adult she was alert enough to intercept Zira when she attacked Simba. None of that would have ensured a victory in either contest had it been a prolonged fight, but it dose show that she at least has fighting spirit, and is capable of attacking an enemy's weak point. Also keep in mind that as a cub she escaped The Crocodiles, she did not need to be rescued from them.