The Lion Guard - Season 3

[Leorgathar]

Today Disney Jr revealed the first image from the 3rd season of The Lion Guard and... THIS is what has me hyped up now :D
(Seriously, for those of us who are bummed about the new movie, the timing is just perfect xD)

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Our Kion is growing up! and he has a scar on his left eye now! :kionwow:

Also, this is what was said along with the tweeted image:


The #CircleofLife continues! Join the #LionGuard as they
start their journey to the Tree of Life on August 3 at 9a on
Disney Junior. #LionKing

So apparently the Guard will be going on some kind of journey, possibly along with Makini and Anga, as seen in the image. And what is the Tree of Life? could it be a reference to the Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom? :thinks: Let the theorizing begin!

[KanuTGL]

So stoked! Again, this is way more exciting than the film, haha :lol:

It's really cool to see the characters have aged and I'm very curious to see how they continue to deal with the Kion/Scar foreshadowing, especially now since he has a scar too...

[nathalie]

I have yet to see The Lion Guard. Maybe it's time to start *hmm*.
Seen first 3 episodes when visiting Audra, and that's 3 years ago in October :lol:

[Lyonize]

I'm more excited about this than I am about the movie... This is sad. :lol:

[cleargreenwater]

What, Kion has a scar? I sort of left off watching after a while.

[Kossu]

Hehe, time to pick up the Lion Guard again!:) I'm really looking forward to the Night Pride story and I'm wondering where it's all going in general, since they did claim "The Lion Guard" storyline will connect TLK and Simba's Pride.:hmm:

[Aphelion]

So, I saw the first episode of the series, but not any past that. It’s not that I thought it was bad at all, the story was good if a bit standard, but I just forgot the show was a thing.

However, if there is an interesting ongoing story line with decent character development, as seems to be the case her, I might have to start watching it. Especially if the quality is anything like Disney’s other recent shows (Gravity Falls, Big Hero 6 and the remake of DuckTales)

[Leorgathar]

Ok guys, now this is huge!

On the first Season 3 episode we'll finally learn how Scar got his scar! Like... for real this time!

I'll put a link to the article instead of the video, because... SPOILERS
(I couldn't resist and already saw it xD but it's a big spoiler)

https://www.tvinsider.com/799338/the-lion-guard-sneak-peek-season-3-premiere-scar-david-oyelowo/

[nathalie]

If that's really it? The lamest thing ever.

[KanuTGL]

I managed to avoid the spoilers on Twitter for about 5 minutes :lol: I dunno. The scene itself was kinda lame I must say, but I want to know more before I completely write it off :thinks: Also, y'know, who is that guy??

[nathalie]

I was expecting a decent fight.

Not a Nick Fury situation.

[Leorgathar]

I didn't think it was lame :'D I actually liked it. But I agree it needs more context and raises some questions, even more with the Season 3 trailer:


https://youtu.be/XmO2Me0CrvY

I'm just guessing, but maybe the scar is some kind of curse? And Kion is now cursed too like Scar was, and they now have to go on a journey to the Tree of Life for Kion to heal? I don't know, but it seems the scar will have a big significance, rather than being, you know, just a scar xP
I find it kind of intriguing.

[nathalie]

With seeing the new movie now, I did expect he would have gotten it through something we hear him say in the movie.

[KanuTGL]

^ I thought about that, and I wonder if they meant for it to be implied that it was given to him by Mufasa - "I wouldn't dream of challenging you... again..."

None the less, yeah, in the TLG storyline, the scar surely seems to be more than just a scar and more like a curse *nods* I'm even more intrigued by this trailer in any case :ooo: Hoping there will be more actual explanations in the episode.

[cleargreenwater]

It sucked me in that's for sure. The trailer says final season, too, it's going to be super interesting to see how they wrap it up and tie in to SP. Although I'm a little surprised, with the new movie I'd think they would eek another season or 2 out of the renewed popularity.

[Kossu]

I saw the Scar spoiler too...Thought that it was a lame way to get his scar to be honest...but regardless, I'm still really looking forward to this and the trailer does look very cool!:)

Soooo...what was Scar called until before that certain moment?:p

[KanuTGL]

Just finished watching the season opener :D Loved it! By TLG standards it was awesome, and I can see now how they're going to tie in the show with SP :p Looking forward to the rest of the season!

There's a lot I want to talk about :lol: But I'll hold off for now until everyone who wants to has had a chance to see it!

[Leorgathar]

I saw it too, and I think it's remarkably good! :wow:
There's a real lot of improvement from the earlier seasons: Better animation, better visuals, better musical score, and more importantly, it has some really good character development! They introduced some very interesting changes in some of them, and it's so exciting x3
I also enjoyed seeing all the callbacks from the original Lion King, TLK2, and several other TLG episodes (If you've seen all the episodes so far, you'll catch all the details)

.....OK, it does have a few cheesy moments that made me raise my eyebrow :lol: but it's still much better for TLG standards, so I'll forgive them. I take this over the new movie a zillion times more.

I've seen a couple of the new episodes now too, and I'm really enjoying this new arc. I can't wait either to see how this all ties in to SP :D

[nathalie]

Oooh, that sounds interesting though, leading up to SP?

I really should start watching the series I guess. Only seen 3 so far.

[Kossu]

I have watched about 5 episodes from the new season so far. I like the whole concept of this season a lot more and, like you guys said, it seems quite clear now how it'll connect TLK and SP. I am quite relieved for that.:)

There are some geography things that make me roll my eyes now and then, but in the end, I suppose I should just see the whole Lion Guard/ Lion King universe as fantasy? Can't explain a lot of things otherwise.:pAlso, the villain(s) of this plotline so far don't convince me very much (motive-wise), but I'm still looking forward to how it will all develop.:D

[Stormfury]

I do like new Kion. So much fire with this season.

[KanuTGL]

Soo who else has binge watched the last season? :idiot: I just finished the second batch of episodes (to avoid any and all spoilers because I did not want to stumble on anything) and ahhhhhh! This is by far the best season of them all. I loved pretty much every bit of it... except the middle part of the very last episode. That was pretty WTF and kind of ruined it for me :wtf: But I loved the ending once the WTF stuff was over, and I loved all the new characters - especially Rani, Janna and Azaad <3

Sad now that the show is over, but happy all the same that it ended so well - whoever said that we were in for a treat with season 3 sure was right :rafikilove:

[Vidan]

I also just finished watching season 3. The last half was really good and the way they ended it made a lot of sense, for various reasons. And it felt like they escaped from their Disney Junior cage just a bit.

Kanu, I also felt like the last episode was a bit off, but more so that it felted rushed than anything else. I was quite happy with the way things ended overall. The ending felt earned.

Anybody else besides Kanu and me who are all caught up? I want to talk spoilers. :secret: Talking in vague generalities is hard.

...we do have a spoiler BB code tag ;) See this post for instructions on how to use it: http://leahalalela.tigontwins.com/showthread.php?6433-SPOILERS-New-movie-chat&p=202215&viewfull=1#post202215

[Leorgathar]

I finished it a few days ago, and yes I agree, this season is the best! :cheese:

Like Vidan says, I also see they stepped up from what Disney Jr. usually offers. Even compared to the previous two seasons, characters feel more developed this time around, Kion especially.
Kion's struggle with his anger and his healing process is one of the best ideas they've had for the show. I've always loved Kion, but he has always been a bit too perfect of a character. He really needed a makeover with a real flaw, and now that he has it, we do care more about him, like Fuli does whenever he suffers an episode.

I believe there's a metaphor where the venom in his scar represents something like trauma, or negative thoughts eating you from the inside causing you to be mean and aggressive towards others. I think it's very relatable in that sense (at least it reminded me of my own anger issues when I was a teenager) and both the journey and his time in the Tree of Life serve as part of his therapy. Maybe there's more to it than that, I want to rewatch the episodes again and see it all from that angle.

Now, I'll give the SPOILER button a shot :p ...


I need to get this off first....

KING KION AND QUEEN RANI!!!! :wow:

That ending was just amazing and I loved it! x3 The way it was set up was really good too. Their song "Of the Same Pride" is one of the best in the whole series, and if I'm not mistaken, it's only the third love song in the entire Lion King canon! It came up as such a nice surprise and I couldn't help but feel so happy for them, especially Kion after all that he went through (maybe it can be considered part of his healing, or a consequence from it?)

About that other side of the finale, I actually liked the idea of Vitani becoming leader of a new Lion Guard, it gives her quite an important role. But I agree with you guys that it made the finale feel kinda rushed. It made me look at the time remaining and think "come on, it's the last episode! why waste it on this silly contest to see which Lion Guard is better?" xP I would have much preferred if that story had been left for a separate episode, and also to give Kovu some more screen time, he didn't get to do anything really. Thankfully, the rest of the episode was great and helped to balance it, and the very ending was so much worth it <3

Overall there were only a few things that bothered me, like Bunga. Pretty much every other character in the series has evolved in some way, but Bunga doesn't seem to have changed at all, and farting was just... gross :wtf: farts aren't anything new to the series, but I think they overdid it this time xP

None of the villains posed much of a threat either, I would have enjoyed to see a bit more of development from them, and maybe a bigger and more personal challenge, but I guess that was already dealt with at the very season opener with Scar.
Oh and... Polar bears in Africa!? Seriously!!!? :lol:

But all in all, great season! and if this has to be the end, I'm so happy it ended this way :simbabiggrin:

[KanuTGL]

Ahh, I haven't managed to get the spoiler button to work before, but this time it looks like I got it! :lol:


Yess Queen Rani and Kion!! I think their relationship was handled really well - how their friendship and love grew gradually and, like you wrote on Twitter, Leor, how they never actually said "I love you", but it was really clear that they meant it <3 And it was a perfect ending for Kion's Guard. The show hinted just enough at them being needed at the Tree of Life throughout the season for that decision to be a really satisfying end. I guess that was the main purpose of the villains, to show that there was a threat, even though I agree that they felt pretty lame otherwise :P

I have to talk about episode 15... Oh man, my favourite episode by a mile <3 I was surprised at the "content warning" at the start, but for a Disney Jr. show I get why it was a good idea to put it there. I thought it was an emotional but very beautiful episode, and that scene really tugged on my heartstrings. It felt very mature for TLG and I guess that shows how far they've come. Perhaps they've been able to write more mature content as their audience has aged. Also the final shot of Rani is now my desktop background and I'm not even sorry :idiot:

Now, for my worst gripe... I just can't get over how there was even a contest for who was the "true" Lion Guard. There was never a question of Kion & Co not coming back, was there? They never stopped being the Lion Guard. Having Vitani and her lionesses as stand-ins while Kion was gone is fair enough, but how did everyone just stand back and accept the competition after they returned? After everything Kion and the others did for the Pridelands? How could Vitani think they'd still be keeping the job after the actual Lion Guard returned? Vitani is the sister of Kovu, the future prince consort (not king...), but Kion is the son of Simba and Nala, i.e the actual royal family and current monarchs?? I just... what!? That part of the episode really threw me off, especially after I feel like they've taken care to be pretty rational in the rest of the series. I did really like that Vitani became the new leader of the new Lion Guard - it's perfect for her - but I'm not at all happy with the way they went about it... like you guys said, it felt rushed. I also find it amusing that they've completely ignored Vitani's adult design from the film and just aged up her cub appearance xD Goes to show how confusing her design is, haha!

And I agree that Bunga was extra annoying this season. He's not developed or changed at all, though I thought it was cute that he got a "girlfriend" too :P As for Kion, he definitely needed this journey to be interesting as a character again. I agree Kion was just too perfect, and I think I've complained about that somewhere else here too... xD In this season I really felt for him and rooted for him through his struggle. I'm glad they continued to play on the Scar connection, even though there is a ridiculous amount of TLK canon characters with scars over their eyes now xP

Also I don't think the Tree of Life is in Africa - they've met all sorts of Asian animals on their journey (red pandas, snow leopard, snow monkeys, Komodo dragons, binturong, tigers, etc etc), so I guess they moved to a new continent and the Night Pride are Asiatic lions :p

All in all I'm super happy with this season, they really did a great job <3

[This Land]

Over the last couple weeks, I've just binged watched from where I left off (Season 2 Let Sleeping Crocs Lie) And funnily enough, that's when things started getting interesting, I can't remember why I stopped watching but got immediately hooked again.


But season 3 was in a league of its own, I -Loved- it !. Not without its flaws of course but I agree to everything mentioned above. It was more enjoyable to watch then this year's remake, ha! xD. Battle of the pride lands blew me away, was soooo good 8D. No need to repeat what eveyone else has mentioned xP. I even liked the changed opening and ending credits showing their journey which was a nice touch. Watch it while listening to the game of thrones opening tune for amusement xP



Though I do think "Poa the destroyer" was such an unjustified filler, I mean we all know what Beshte's characteristics are like and didn't need a whole episode just for that, that could have been easily compressed down into 5 mins and slid into another episode somewhere. The time wasted from making that episode could of been used to have a more Decent ending which dont get me wrong turned out nice but as mentioned by others felt a bit rushed.

In all, very enjoyable and it's sad to see it's now finished, I could ramble on for ages into detail my likes and dislikes but....too much effort and I suck at explaining things... XP
here is to hoping they make a new series "The Night Lion Pride Guard ?" :D