The Lion Guard - Season 3

[Stormfury]

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

[KanuTGL]

Soo who else has binge watched the last season? 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 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

[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. 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/sh...l=1#post202215

[Leorgathar]

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

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 ...

I need to get this off first....

KING KION AND QUEEN RANI!!!!

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 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!!!?

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

[KanuTGL]

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

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

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

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