Was it reasonable for Vitani and Zira to assume that?

[Carl]

So there's something I've been wondering about for a while now.

When Simba is taking Kovu into Pride Rock that night, and Vitani is watching, it always seemed odd to me that she was surprised that Kovu didn't kill Simba right then and there and felt it necessary to run and tell Zira he'd missed an opportunity. Obviously for the plot she had to tell Zira he'd failed to kill the king when presented with a perfect chance, but was it a perfect chance?

Even as a kid I knew the lionesses inside the den would be able to see Kovu and Simba and that they would stop him if he tried striking down their beloved king. She had to know others would witness it and come to the rescue; after all, Kiara had just gone into the den herself moments before, so there would be at least one witness, and it seems reasonable to assume the rest of the pride was already inside.

So did she not think about that? Did Zira not think about that? Were they so focused on killing Simba that it didn't matter to them if Kovu got overpowered in the end? I know in nature, the females would just accept the new male after he killed the previous one, but this isn't nature, and these lions have been personified, so they wouldn't sit back and let Kovu kill Simba and then become his pride instead. So what I'm wondering is why his continuing to gain their trust for another night, as per the plan, was met with that reaction? As viewers we know he'd had a change of heart, but at that point, neither Vitani nor Zira could know that. So why did this lead them to assume he'd betrayed them?

What do you guys think?

[DGFone]

I think it has to do a lot with Zira being rather stupid with her plans due to her... ambitions. The goal for Kovu was to get close to Kiara so that in turn he can get within striking distance of Simba, and then kill him.

Somehow, I doubt that Zira accounted for Kovu waiting to kill Simba in a situation where he will survive the encounter, and only thought that if Kovu is close enough to Simba to strike, then strike Kovu will. So when Vitani saw Kovu in this perfect opportunity, but not take it, it was the ultimate betrayal of the plan.

[Regulus]

My question is how she got in the Pridelands to begin with.

But, considering that she was in the Pridelands, I assume that was part of the plan. So, basically, Kovu was going to kill Simba, and the other Outlanders were going to help.

[TheLionPrince]

Another thing to take into account is that after Nuka was furious that Kovu let Kiara go, Zira explained that the fire rescue worked perfectly, and that the closer Kovu gets to Kovu the closer he gets to Simba, and "once he has Simba alone" is when Kovu can make his move. It all depends on how Vitani explained the scenario, though little of it was shown. Simba was clearly not alone in that situation, and depending on how Kovu was trained, it's possible that Kovu was trained to take on multiple lionesses in case they were to interfere.

If that's the case, in Zira and Vitani's eyes, if they felt Simba was "alone" because he let his guard down, Kovu had indeed betrayed them.

[quote="Regulus"]My question is how she got in the Pridelands to begin with.

But, considering that she was in the Pridelands, I assume that was part of the plan. So, basically, Kovu was going to kill Simba, and the other Outlanders were going to help.[/quote]

Simba and the lionesses were in the den, Zazu was probably sleeping about that so he wasn't overseeing the Pride Lands to spot for invaders, and the other animals are defenseless against a lion pride so there was little border security opening the doors for Vitani to invade the kingdom.

Nice opinion piece on that last sentence.

[Carl]

Thanks for the opinions, guys!

Regs, I don't know about that. She seemed pretty alone. If the othere Outlanders were supposed to help, wouldn't they have been lurking nearby too? He could have picked any moment to strike Simba, and it could have happened anywhere. I don't think they would have been much help unless there was more than one of them nearby at all times.

TLP, the "when he has Simba alone" statement was why I wondered about it, actually, I just forgot to mention it in the OP. And since it does, as you mentioned, depend how Vitani explained it to Zira, I suppose she could have made it sound like he was totally alone. It just always struck me as odd that she seemed to expect him to take on an entire pride at once.

[Regulus]

Nuka and Zira in the Pridelands the night before:



Then, that night, Vitani is there:



But, she runs off before she speaks to Zira:



It can only be seen that she's standing on a rock, but because the background doesn't change, I had always assumed that Zira was in the Pridelands as well. A simple hue/brightness/contrast adjustment would have gone a long way to making me believe that Vitani ran back into the Outlands, considering that those two screencaps are merely seconds apart.

The fact that Vitani had to run a short distance meant they were spread out, which suggests they were prepared to strike from many different directions. Also, Zira's position on top of that rock leads me to believe that she was preparing to lead the attack after Kovu, the same way she does in the fight scene at the end.

Just imagine it: Kovu kills Simba when he least expects it, right in front of his entire pride. At first the lionesses are in shock, but then they run up to fight Kovu. But when they do, Zira and her entire pride shows up to surround all the Pridelanders. Vengeance is served.

[Carl]

Hmm, that is a reasonable theory. I had always assumed they were staying near the Pridelands and just sneaked in on those nights, but I guess they could have been lurking within the borders. Thanks for that theory!

[DGFone]

No, I think that at least Vitani sneaks into the Pride Lands. Remember: the border extends to the horizon from the top of Pride Rock. By extension, this means that if you can see Pride Rock and you're on the ground, you're in the Pride Lands.

Not to mention that all these pictures of the Outsiders next to Pride Rock: they are most certainly in the Pride Lands. After all, this here is still in the Pride Lands, and look how much smaller Pride Rock is: