My Lion King Forum

This is sort of three discussions in one, but since they're so closely related I thought I'd just combine them.

During the final seconds of Mufasa's life, starting right when Scar digs his claws into Mufasa's wrists, what was running through Mufasa's mind? I would expect he realized what Scar had been up to, but do you think he knew that Scar would also drive Simba away from the Pridelands?

Also, when Scar was busy making his impression on Mufasa's final seconds, Simba was right there watching the whole thing. We know this by his horrified expression and scream as his father fell from the cliff and into the stampede below. And yet, even after seeing Scar throw Mufasa into the stampede, he never realizes that Scar was responsible until Scar himself admits it to him.

My third discussion may seem nit-picky, but would Scar really be able to throw Mufasa that far out from the cliff with the grip he had?

I doubt that Mufasa had enough time to even register everything that was going on before he was thrown off the cliff. Maybe he had enough time to know that Scar betrayed him, but probably not much more than that.

Simba only witnessed his father falling off of the cliff. He didn't see what Scar did, as he was too busy scampering up the rocks. Clearly, that was a high distance from where Mufasa and Scar were, and seeing as Cubby Simba was at the very bottom to begin with, it would have taken him a little while to reach the top. From his point of view too, all he could really see was Mufasa's body plummeting to the earth below, if even that. Maybe he just heard his father's scream, which let him know that something was wrong.

Lastly, I think it's very plausible for Mufasa to fall as far away from the cliff as he did. Scar did toss Mufasa backwards and gravity, along with Muffy's natural size would do the rest. I think his body was probably kicked around quite a bit after he landed in the middle of the stampede too, so where his body ended up at the end was probably not the point where he initially made impact with the ground itself. ^^

I would expect Mufasa's last thoughts to be, disbelief, as shown by his expression as soon as Scar digs his claws into him, I would imagine him to be thinking "What are you doing!?" because as his brother he would expect him to help. Then when Scar says 'Long Live The King' from his horrified expression, I would believe he knows he is about to die.

As for Simba, I just looked at the scene again again, and from what I can see there seems to be a rock stack/formation blocking his view of Scar and Mufasa, and can only see when Mufasa is falling down.

And about being thrown off, pretty much what KM said, body size and gravity play the part

First Discussion: I'd think that part of Mufasa's horror at Scar's betrayal was that he figured that Scar would kill Simba, or at the very least exile the cub. He'd have to realize that, knowing that Scar was killing him to get power, he couldn't receive it unless he got rid of Simba as well. Of course, his final thoughts probably weren't quite as developed as all that. But Mufasa was obviously very devoted to his son and he was in his current situation because of Simba. So he wouldn't have been far from his mind.

Second Discussion: I don't think Simba saw Scar throw Mufasa from the cliff. He just saw him fall. Simba had climbed up onto another little nook in the gorge wall while Mufasa was trying to climb his way up to where Scar was. It's possible that Simba wasn't even in a position where he could see the beginning of Mufasa's fall, as we only see his reaction once Mufasa's about halfway down. And, (I totally just went back and watched this scene), the place where Simba watches Mufasa fall from has a little rock formation to Simba's right. Mufasa seems to fall from an area which is also to Simba's right (and probably higher up than Simba was as well). Therefore, the rock formation would have blocked Simba's view of Scar and Mufasa's confrontation.

Third Discussion: Scar had a pretty good grip. But I don't think his throw was all that contributed to how Mufasa fell. Physics and stuff. And then once he landed he probably bounced some and got kicked around..

O.o I totally forgot about that rock formation, lol. Guess that explains Simba's lack of knowledge as to that part of his father's death ^^

Judging by the look on Mufasas face, I’d say thoughts of disbelief and horror was running through his mind. Mufasa suffered the ultimate betrayal and the hands/paws of his own brother... I think his very last thoughts were a confused mix of complete shock and disbelief. I honestly don’t think he had time to start worrying about what Scar might do to Simba.


Like the others said (and like it says in the script that Moka posted) Simba never sees Scar throwing Mufasa to his death. If he did, how could Simba ever believe Scar telling him it was Simbas fault?

My third discussion may seem nit-picky, but would Scar really be able to throw Mufasa that far out from the cliff with the grip he had?

To be honest, I don’t think Scar would be able to throw Mufasa very far, but like KM said: Scar thrust him backwards, and combined with Mufasas huge weight and the pull of gravity..
Plus, it wouldn’t be nearly as dramatic if Scar simply let go, causing Mufasa to simply slide down..

I won't bother giving my input to the first two, because everyone else has already listed the same things I would have.

The third one, however, actually does bring up an interesting point.
Scar himself says that he does not possess a lot of "brute strength", and as such would not have the ability to throw Mufasa out so far. But, of course, seeing Mufasa being flung far off the cliff face before falling to his death is much more dramatic than having him tumble down the side of the gorge...more to the point, if he tumbled down the cliff face, there would have been a realistic possibility of him surviving. And while most of us might have wanted that (myself included), it would not work with the story Disney was trying to tell.

In the film world, it works like this: Dramatic Flair + Plot Flow = The Impossible Becoming Possible

1st dicussion: just like KM say, Mufasa only had time to relize that Scar betray him

2nd discussion: I don't think that Simba while he was climbing up the rocks saw the Scar throwing Mufasa off the cliff, he only saw his father, Mufasa, fall into the stampede,

3rd discussion: I'm not really sure about this one

muffys final thoughts were probaly disbelief/fear and probaly hatred for his brother. as for simba well hes a young a cub and he has his uncle of who he clearly trusts tells him he killed his father hes still processing his fathers death let alone thinking what actully happened. and as for where muffy landed what was already weight and gravity and stampede

I think Mufasa felt betrayed and was surprised by the betrayal of his brother, and that scared him (cuz his life was depending on his nasty brothers' claws)

For me the big plothole in this thing is this: Simba SAW Scar murdering Mufasa and still believes he's the culprit.... I can't figure that out. Never could.