Zira and Vitani`s Relationship

[Mike]

To be fair, the scenes we saw that included both Zira and adult Vitani were almost uniquely situations that specifically called for a sort of commander and soldier relationship. I don't think it represents the relationship between the characters in general.

[Panda-chan]

Vitani was basically brainwashed into following Zira's orders, which was how she was trained to think from the start. As a cub she displays a lot more personality and can clearly think for herself. As an adult however, Tani follows Zira's orders like a slave. Zira displays no true motherly affection for any of her cubs (with the rare exception of Nuka's death), either because she's just that hateful or because she is afraid it would make them weak. Instead, she treats them like her army, brainless yet loyal. Therefore, when Zira threatens to kill Vitani, it doesn't bother her since it'd be just like losing another soldier.
The reason Vitani is a bit higher in rank than the other lionesses is because she's the smartest and most useful. Nuka, being next to useless in Zira's opinion, is far lower in rank, despite being family. And obviously Kovu is treated above anyone else because he is expected to be the next king.

[Momotaro]

Zira never actually showed motherly affection to Vitani. As Amanda said, she was pretty much brainwashed into following her orders, which is kind of sad. But at the end, when Kiara and Kovu popped up and saved the day, she realized that she didn't deserve to be treated like a soldier in an army, and went to the good side. XP

[SummerSnowLeopard]

I think Zira and Vitani have a nice mother-daughter relationship. Zira never neglected Vitani. Of course in the end, that relationship fell apart