season 2 ep 8: Rafikis new neighbours (airs sep 22th)

[zerodix]

In this upcoming episode, we will meet 3 new characters that will join Rafiki in his little boabab tree/the area around it. Rumours were spread that these 3 characters were family of Makini, but in a little preview I saw they were a monkey, an elephant and a buck/antelope like animal.
That was a big bummer, but maybe there is more nice to this episode. what do you think? worth watching or meh?

[SimbasGuard]

I never plan on missing an episode of The Lion Guard, I have yet to see a bad episode, just an episode that was just O.K. I always look forward to the new episodes. Even though this episode looks light on the drama there may be something more if you are willing to look for it.

For instance in "The Traveling Baboon Show" We see The Lion Guard bend their code of ethics just to avoid having a guilty conscience. Nothing is made of that fact in that episode, but now we know The Lion Guard will bend their own beliefs if they deem fit. That could come into pay at some point in the future.

Also with all the continuity being established for this season something revealed in this episode could have an impact on the plot latter on. There is also the possibility that if the main part of the plot is comedy we could still see some further advancement of Scar's plan.

I am also looking forward to seeing Makini again.

[AnonLion]

I'm gonna watch all episodes regardless if they seem good or not. Because this is season 2 there might be small snippets of Scar or other things relevant to the overall plot in the episode, so I'm definitely not gonna miss it. We'll just have to wait and see if the episode is good. I'm already intrigued though because I remember seeing in a preview Rafiki's tree burning, so that already sounds interesting.

[Panpardus]

Echoing the above, I have no plan on missing an episode - if I made through Return of the Roar upon first viewing, I can make it through anything this show throws at me - even though this is probably just going to be lighter fare with a lesson and a song I'll probably find "meh". (The three new animals have some collective Swahili catchphrase/chant that I'd be willing to bet is the basis for episodic song.) The new monkey character has a nice design, for what it's worth, though I doubt the species he's based on is a savannah-dweller. The most I'd reasonably expect is some more world-building lore from the Rafiki and Makini scenes, and seeing how the Royal Mjuzi is trained, which is enough for me. It'd be kinda cool if Kion and the Guard actually didn't show up for most of the episode and we just had a day with those two; I love Rafiki as a character and Makini is likeable enough, even with her slightly annoying traits.

[SimbasGuard]

[quote="AnonLion"]I remember seeing in a preview Rafiki's tree burning, so that already sounds interesting.[/quote]

I thought that would be in this episode as well. It will be interesting to see how The Guard puts out the fire. I doubt Kion will roar at the flames and after what happened to Beshte I doubt Kion will try to summon rain again.

[quote="Panpardus"]The most I'd reasonably expect is some more world-building lore from the Rafiki and Makini scenes, and seeing how the Royal Mjuzi is trained, which is enough for me. It'd be kinda cool if Kion and the Guard actually didn't show up for most of the episode and we just had a day with those two; I love Rafiki as a character and Makini is likeable enough, even with her slightly annoying traits.[/quote]

That would be very interesting as well as being a bold direction for the series to take. An episode where the Lion's share (Like I could pass up that pun) of the story's focus was not on Kion, The Guard, or one of it's members. It would open up a lot of potential for character development that Makini could realy use. Other characters could benefit from this concept as well. *Looks At Tiifu and Zuri*

[Panpardus]

A Tiifu and Zuri episode would definitely be a little too much to sit through if they're not given the right attention; they'd probably have to be 'grounded' by Kiara's and/or Nala's presence in order to make it work, and even then I'm not confident the writers would be willing to do too much with them. I feel like they're just destined to be inconsequential accessory characters. "Baboons!" was the last episode where they actually were part of the focus of the story, but even then it was just Kiara's proactivity keeping the three of them from being complete damsels in distress, since Tiifu and Zuri literally just sat around and did next to nothing.

[SimbasGuard]

Yeah good point, I can't imagine a scenario where those two could be faced with a situation that could give them the chance to rise to the occasion. Even if such an opportunity were to present itself I doubt They would seize the moment.

I could see them trying to compete with Makini for the right to be Kiara's advisor (thought I have no Idea how such a contest (even unofficially) could be arranged). If that were to happen I think their strategy (Under Zuri's Direction) would be to somehow try to Make Makini look bad rather than doing their best to show how good they could do at that job. The sad thing is Tiifu's character went down intellectually after Return of The Roar.

Now in an effort to put this thread back on track after I derailed it. What if (and I know this not going to happen at all.) Tiifu and Zuri are somehow responsible for the Fire at Rafiki's Tree. A prank against Makini gone horribly wrong. They are jealous of her after all.

[zerodix]

it airs today! has it aired yet? if so, does anyone have a link or stream to watch it?

[AnonLion]

[quote="zerodix"]it airs today! has it aired yet? if so, does anyone have a link or stream to watch it?[/quote]
You can watch it here https://watchtlg.netlify.com/watch?v=4069735

It was an entertaining episode for sure, though I did immediately dislike the three new characters. You can tell they were written to be annoying. They did help save Rafiki's tree in the end, but the narrative made it feel as if they did it just so the audience grows to like them, and though their actions were heroic that still doesn't change their personalities. The song was okay, nothing memorable but I felt it fit the episode. What I did like a lot however was seeing the Lion Guard dealing with fires, and I was impressed at how well they managed since fire can get out of control very quickly. I was a little skeptical of the use of the roar though, because yes technically it can be used to raise dust more easily in a bigger area, but the force of the roar could have also caused the fire to spread, but that's just nitpicking of my part. I'm also glad we got to see Makini again, and she's surely getting better to become a great Mjuzi, but I do feel a little sorry she's had to change staffs so frequently, hopefully third time's the charm

Overall fun episode, definitely enjoyed it more than Swept Away. Looking forward to next week's.

[Panpardus]

Definitely a fun episode, with constant threat of fire providing a good atmosphere and sense of danger, even though it does take a while for the disparate story elements to come together. I thought it was actually pretty clever how the guard was able to prevent the spread of the fires via digging ditches, and I couldn't help but wonder if Kion was going to try and use the storm cloud roar at some point - and was relieved when he didn't. (I was actually looking up the effects of wind on wildfires after I watched the episode, and basically if the wind is blowing fast and hard enough it can wipe out a fire, so I guess the use of the roar was as scientifically sound here as you could get with a magic roar.) That said, part of me wishes that the roar only caused more problems, building into an extended version of the "Never Roar Again" arc, with Kion's unintentional misuses of his power that cause him to question whether he should use it at all.

The other half of the actual story of the episode was interesting enough. Our mandrills' scenes together were nice, and I could definitely stand to see more of just them interacting in their mentor-student relationship. I do find it a little funny (and a bit of a mark of poor writing here) in how Makini keeps having these big ceremonies thrust on her such that she never learns about them until the day of, and her entire lesson has to be mastered in the span of a single afternoon or something, and I'm also still not quite sure what the point of this episode's ceremony was, not that it was a major plot point or anything, it just didn't make enough sense to me. Also, I can't help but be curious about whether Makini's second lost staff is going to amount to something later on; they took some time to linger on that shot and show that she got yet another one at the end of the episode.

On the titular "new neighbors", I guess they're likable enough individually and they're clearly not malicious or anything, just a couple of adolescent goofballs. (I still found the gorilla princes to be much more annoying with fewer redeeming qualities, even if they saved Kion's life, since it was their screwing around that got him in trouble in the first place.) I actually found it interesting that the show tried to somehow play with the angle regarding how adolescent males of a variety of social species are usually kicked out of their natal herds/groups when they come of age (in part because of their rambunctious, hormonal behavior), but nobody actually acknowledging that fact in-universe - not even Rafiki - was something I found very odd, and the way the show resolves the issue felt like they were trying to reach for some moral that didn't really exist here. In my opinion, it would've been a lot better if they'd just played it straight, then you could have a more interesting theme or moral while still having the same ending. (Once again, the downsides of being a preschool-targeted show.) While it wasn't as bad as I was expecting (i.e., "Tickbirds and Rhinos" 2.0), I found the song to be pretty much in the same vein as I did the one in "The Lost Gorillas" - an unremarkable montage song over an admittedly fun sequence. (Seeing Makuu and the crocs was great in its own way, though is it just me or does it look like they've changed location since we last saw them?)

Overall, fun episode with some rewatch value.