My Lion King Forum

Simba: I know he's following in Scar's paw prints...and I must follow in my father's.
Kiara: You will never be Mufasa!

Does anyone think that Kiara seems just a little cold towards Simba here, despite Simba's rather short-sighed nature throughout SP?

Personally, I always thought that Kiara was never told of what happened to Mufasa, either because the thought never occured to Simba or - much more likely - he is still unable to talk about the stampede, even after all these years.

If Kiara had known about the stampede, she would have known that her comment regarding Simba being unable to follow in his father's paw prints would have cut him deep, and she most likely would never have said it...I highly doubt she was aware of the full implications of what she was saying to her father then.

But that's just me...what are your thoughts on that particular moment?

Also, I apologise if this has already been covered, but I did search extensively through the forum's history and found no trace of it. I was just reminded of it now, and wondered if anyone else had anything to add?

Personally, I love that Kiara says that, Simba needed to hear it.

My opinion is that Simba has told Kiara a lot about Mufasa and what a great king and father he was.
I doubt that he’s ever told her about the stampede, but I think Kiara must have gotten enough information about Mufasa to know how Simba admired him and that Simba was trying (too hard) to be just like his father.

When Simba says that he needs to follow in his fathers footprints, Kiara has already picked up on the fact that Simba is trying to be a second Mufasa. He believes that Kovu following in Scars footprints is the same as Kovu being exactly like Scar, and so Simba tries to be like Mufasa.

And after Simba hurt Kiara so deeply be exiling her love, she’s more likely to want to hurl a hurting comment at him.. Remember that Kiara is quite young, so this comment could be her way of getting back a little at Simba, her hurt and anger clouding her mind so she doesn’t truly see how deeply she cuts him by saying this.

I was thinking about this just the other day and I don't think Kiara knew about the stampede. As upset as she was with her father at that moment,she still loved him and I doubt she would have said something like that to him if she'd known the whole story. But it's possible that she did,too,because I think we all know that when you're angry and upset,you rarely think before you speak.

Both of you raise good points.

I'd definitely have to agree with the idea that Kiara was told a lot about Mufasa as he had lived, rather than how he had died. How else could she know just how deeply Simba wanted to be like his father?

And I wasn't saying that what Kiara said was wrong...I actually agree with PK in that it probably needed to be said to bring Simba back to earth, to make him realise what he was doing...I was just saying that, by Kiara's standards, it was very cold.

But like you said, Queeny...most of us tend to speak well before we think when we're angry at someone or something.

As an extra point to all this, I know there's a TLK fan fiction hiding somewhere in fanfiction.net that actually brings up this exact point...looking at it from the view that Kiara did not know about the stampede, and regretted her words when she found out the whole story later.

If I find it, I'll link to it.

I believe that Kiara was well aware of everything that has happened in her father's past, including the stampede. Think back to the talk that Kiara and Kovu had in the grass after stargazing where Kiara mentions that Simba told her that Scar had a darkness in him that he couldn't escape. Clearly she knows more than what's depicted openly in the movie, which is the reason why I think she knows all about her father's past. Like it's already been said as well, it was mostly stated just to get back at Simba for being so closed minded when it came to exiling Kovu and despite whether she meant it or not (which I think she kind of did), it had to be said in order for Simba to realize just how extreme his behavior was.

AustralianChaos wrote:And I wasn't saying that what Kiara said was wrong...I actually agree with PK in that it probably needed to be said to bring Simba back to earth, to make him realise what he was doing...I was just saying that, by Kiara's standards, it was very cold.

I didn’t mean to imply that what Kiara said was wrong, so I’m sorry if you got that impression.

I agree that it was quite cold, epsecially coming from a character like Kiara. Being Simbas voice of reason is Nalas job, lol.

Like KM mentioned: Kiara tells Kovu that there was a darkness in Scar that he couldn’t escape, and later Simba tells the story of Scar to Kovu. It’s quite likely that he has told the same to Kiara, giving her enough knowledge to know exactly how much it hurt Simba to hear that he would never be exactly like his father.

I do think that Kiara regretted saying this later, but at the same time it was something needed to be said, Simba needed a wake up call, and Kiara was (in this extreme situation) the perfect messenger.

I think Kiara was very much justified in her comment. Simba was getting above himself and using his father to rationalize his poor decisions and stubbornness.

I think that it was actually a good thing she said it. Simba really needed to get back to the real world and look through things more closley. If he actually stopped and thought about what had happened and looked at who Kovu really was, he might have realized that Kovu wasn't following Scar. He was following his heart. And Kovu did try to help Simba when he was attacked, but was knocked out in the prosses. I think Simba needed Kiara to say that. He really needed to get a clue about what he had just done... especially to his daughter.

I believe that Kiara was just really hurt, on what Simba had just done to Kovu. Since Kovu and Kiara really loved each other, Kiara just got so mad. I believe that she did know every thing that happened with Simba and Mufasa, but it just came out when she said that. As Arani said, it was a good thing she said it because after all, Kovu was just trying to apologize, and Simba never gave Kovu another chance.

I think that Kiara was really hurt and angry at Simba for banishing Kovu and just wanted
to show Simba just how hurt she was. And yea I believe she did know all about the past of
Mufasa and Scar.