Episode 4 - Can't Wait To Be Queen

[Azerane]

This episode was quite enjoyable.


The episode is a brother/sister rivalry between Kion and Kiara as she is made acting Queen for several days while Simba and Nala are away making a tribute to the elephants. Rather than being away for the episode, we get to follow Simba, Nala and Zazu on their journey during which Zazu sings Simba an inspirational song about all the good reasons he should enjoy being King. Meanwhile, Kion doesn't like that Kiara is bossing him and the guard around, helped along by an immature Zuri and Tiffu. Janja tries to take advantage of the developing rift between Kion and Kiara.

I liked the episode, it was good to have Simba, Nala and Zazu get some screen time, and I quite enjoyed the song. So if you enjoy sibling bickering, and a badly placed poop joke, this is the episode for you :p Mufasa does make another appearance, however it is nice that Kion does not summon him on this occasion, he appears of his own accord. I also knew we would see that Hyrax again :D I like how we now have a potential for so much fan-fiction and comics regarding Simba's elephant friend who helped him restore the Pridelands after Scar's reign. There's so much to explore there.

[Ngatuny]

I liked it a lot, great to see some Simba and Nala, and Kiara as queen, made it feel like a prequel to Simba's Pride. :)

[Sharifu]

I don't mind if there is a spoiler button or not, but I wanted to let you guys know, if you want to make the spoiler button, type this without the spaces: [ SPOILER=Spoiler ] Text goes here [ /SPOILER ]

I liked this episode. Personally I wasn't too crazy about the song, but it was nice to see Zazu. Although it kind of bugged me that his tail feathers seemed so short. I'm weird. :lol: The poop joke made us all laugh too. :p Wasn't really expecting that response from the elephant's daughter, haha. I don't remember seeing the hyrax, I'll just will have to watch it again to find it. ;)

[Azerane]

I don't mind if there is a spoiler button or not, but I wanted to let you guys know, if you want to make the spoiler button, type this without the spaces: [ SPOILER=Spoiler ] Text goes here [ /SPOILER ]


Well that explains it, I was using the shortcut button for the spoiler tag but I was using it wrong :lol: Will go back and correct my posts, haha.

[Leorgathar]

I still like the Jasiri episode more, but this one was surprisingly so good! :D

I knew there was going to be a song called "Duties of the King" and that Zazu and Simba would sing. I hadn't listened to it to avoid spoilers, but I thought it was going to be meant for Kiara xD It was a nice surprise to see a subplot going on with Simba, Nala and Zazu, who hadn't appeared together in a song since "I Just Can't Wait to be King", it felt somewhat nostalgic :) (I still can't get used to Rob Lowe's voice as Simba, though ><).
The funeral scene was very touching, especially knowing now that this elephant (I think he was named Amanifu) played an important role in getting the Pridelands back to normal, that's good canonical information there. Also, I didn't expect we would see his body, especially in a Disney Jr. show, but it's good to show kids that death is a natural event in the circle of life. It was nicely played, even with the awkward poop joke (it's perfectly ok to have a bit of a laugh at a funeral, sometimes)

The main story was also pretty good, I kinda thought it would be about Kiara finding out how hard it is to be Queen and making a bit of a mess, but besides the meeting alone with Janja, I think she handled it pretty well. The sibling rivalry scenes were funny too.
Oh and this line: "Six on six >:3 ... Forget it!! D:" That was priceless :lol:

[s-tlk]

It certainly wasn't one of the best episodes so far, but also not bad. Simba was acting a little out of character when roaring at Zazu like that. I don't think Simba would do something like this, no matter how frustrated he is. Besides Kion's link to Mufasa is something which disturbs me most. Instead of warning Kiara about the ambush he instructed Kion to rescue her? This doesn't make sense. On the other hand this episodes had some funny moments which I enjoyed very much. ^^

[Leorgathar]

Besides Kion's link to Mufasa is something which disturbs me most. Instead of warning Kiara about the ambush he instructed Kion to rescue her? This doesn't make sense.

Hmm I have to disagree a bit with you on this. Mufasa didn't instruct Kion to rescue Kiara, Kion was going back to Pride Rock to talk to her, and there he found out that she had gone already. Mufasa told him to support his sister "especially when she's wrong." The way I took this was that even though Kiara was (frustratingly) wrong and Kion was certain that it was a trap, their disagreement shouldn't be a reason to leave her side, just like how Kion told her after arguing: "If you're serious about this, you're on your own!". I think that after talking to Mufasa, Kion was intending to go back and apologize to Kiara (before finding out she was gone already), tell her that she was right about the bees and he should have listened to her, and ask her to take his word in consideration about the meeting with Janja. Maybe they would have made paces and Kiara would have gave it a better thought, or if they didn't, at least they would have agreed to take Kion and the Lion Guard members with Kiara to the meeting for her own safety. In both cases that would be supporting her even if she's wrong, or rephrasing that, disagreeing but without abandoning her side.

I think it's a very good lesson, actually, if only it had been elaborated more.

[cleargreenwater]

I had heard things about Kiara being out of character in this series, but I didn't see it much here. Her friends were the ones with the biggest attitudes. It was neat having some old characters time and seeing Simba still learning things and having jitters about "head of state" stuff, too. As someone who has never been good with languages, and was guilted into reading at a funeral once, I understand the (otherwise inexplicable) stress rage.

Also very neat to see a funeral represented, as someone said upthread. It's a pretty adult concern and it gives me a lot of confidence in the show that they went there in some way shape or form.