My Lion King Forum

I don't remember seeing a topic like this before, but if there is one, lock this, I guess.

So when I was watching TLK with my little cousin over the weekend, I thought of something. After the stampede, why isn't Zazu suspicious of Scar's behavior? Since Scar hit him, it would seem to me like he'd be suspicious. I understand for the plot he kinda needed to not seem suspicious of him, but why didn't Scar just let him go back? By the time Zazu could have returned with the lionesses, the stampede would likely be over and Simba gone.

Zazu would have had to find the lionesses first, then probably wake most of them, then he'd have to tell them what was going on and lead them back. While it seemed to take a while, the entire stampede was probably over in a handful of minutes. When the Zazu returned with the lionesses, Scar could have played panicked, and begged them to help find his nephew before he ended up like Mufasa. By that point though, Simba would likely have already disappeared with the hyenas on his tail. So why was it necessary to hit Zazu, and why wasn't Zazu suspicious afterwards?

I always attributed it to a mild form if amnesia. It's also possible that Scar may have lied to him since Zazu did not see Scar when he hit him. I could see Scar saying that a rock hit him.

Scar didn't let Zazu go to look for help because there's a chance he might see him kill Mufasa and attempt to murder Simba. Sure, he would have flown away before that, but Scar wasn't going to take any chances.

Zazu wasn't suspicious of Scar because first, he really didn't see Scar slap him. He was looking away from Scar, and he was slapped from the side. Zazu could have thought that he flew into the cliff. Second, because of that, Zazu most likely suffered a concussion (to go along with BlackCatCrossing's point) which is known to cause its victims to have no memory of the moments just before the accident due to a brief interruption in the short/long-term memory transfer mechanism. Third, Zazu serves as the majordomo to the monarch; he is not to question Scar or his authority in any way. He wasn't even allowed to mention Mufasa's name if he were suspicious.

The only explanation I can come up with, and the one that I've seen brought up most often, is that Zazu got hit hard enough to lose memory of the event. I don't think that Scar would have been able to play it off as a rock hitting Zazu, because if you were to remember the event, getting hit by a rock should be quite different than by a lion's paw. But if Zazu won't remember it, the difference won't matter.

You also have to remember how dazed Zazu looked after he hit the rock. He was out of it for the entire stampede, easily. Which also means that it's very likely that he would also not have any memories of what happened right before as well.

Scar hit Zazu because Zazu said that he was going to fly and get help. And like the others have mentioned, it seems to me that Zazu got knocked out pretty good, so I reckon he wasn`t able to remember exactly what had happened later.

I feel kinda dumb now for not thinking of that. Yeah, thinking along those lines it does make more sense than it seemed to.
Thanks for the opinions guys.

This begs the question, did Scar count on Zazu being with Mufasa that afternoon or was Zazu a variable in his plan? He seemed surprised when Zazu said that he would go for help.

It seems like Zazu is almost always with Mufasa, so I feel like Scar should have expected he would be there. Maybe he just didn't think Zazu would be a threat?

TheBlackCatCrossing wrote:This begs the question, did Scar count on Zazu being with Mufasa that afternoon or was Zazu a variable in his plan? He seemed surprised when Zazu said that he would go for help.

As slippery as Scar's mind is, I think you may have found a plothole. But I'd rather think Scar didn't think his plans through enough.

Julie Skywalker wrote:It seems like Zazu is almost always with Mufasa, so I feel like Scar should have expected he would be there. Maybe he just didn't think Zazu would be a threat?

Maybe he was so caught up in planning to kill Mufasa, and Simba with the hyenas that he forgot about Zazu.