New episode 'Lions of the outlands'?

[Carl]

As long as the episode is of the same general quality as the rest of the series, I'm gonna be happy. I'm pretty hyped to see some of my favorite characters make an appearance at last!

[Nilla]

Did anyone else notice that in the add the narrator said "their first showdown against the lions." implying that there could be another?

[Rollo]

Ooooh man. I'm very nervous for this episode turning out poorly. It's definitely going to prove TLG's worth, in a sense--not that it will matter in the long run. If you like/love TLG, you're going to continue doing so regardless of this which is fine. But seeing how they manage to pull this off, while respecting and logically continuing the timeline at the same time, hopefully, is probably going to either make me give more kudos to the show than I have, or it's going to make me super disappointed that it's came in and messed everything up. They are really dealing with precious property here. It's very similar to what The Lion King 1 1/2 did with the original movie.

I think people really need to stop believing that this show will get dark--I'm just so worried that you're all expecting Zira to be the terrifying villain that she was in SP and Bunga ends up farting and killing her or something.

Okay, total exaggeration of course, but you know that the "real" Zira could take down the entire Guard. She was going to do that to Kiara before Simba arrived. That's not gonna happen here. She's not going to be as menacing because the creators have to constantly keep in mind whether it's going to traumatise a three year old or not. It's just the sad reality of this show being created for, and distributed by Disney Junior.

[Carl]

Of course it's not going to be as dark as SP or TLK. Of course Zira is going to be toned down. That said, the show is very mature for its target audience, and I think it's fair that we can expect it to be as good or better than Never Roar Again. Sure they could horribly ruin it. But so far TLG has been good. I'm not expecting a quality drop from what we've seen thusfar, so I'm just excited to see how they tackle this.

[Elton John]

Zira could. But I mean, why would she? Her beef is with Simba and she could probably find use of Kion and his rawr.

I mean...Zira is a threat to all except for beshte. You do NOT mess with a hippo, even one so young.

[Rollo]

I'm not trying to be negative about TLG. I don't think I even hinted at anything remotely close to a drop in quality, just that it would be a very different interpretation of a story many of us are very familiar with--one many of us clearly cherish--which means it's going to be a bit shocking when that's shaken up.

I don't think I'm overly criticising it, I think I'm being very fair toward it considering what it is. I don't hate TLG nor do I love it so it's a very unbiased opinion. But I can see that people are hoping for it to be as good as Simba's Pride or at least retain that feeling that the film had, and I can sympathise with them. I went through that with 1 1/2 and I didn't get it and it was super disappointing. I'd hate for that to happen again.

This is going to be something completely new and not like what we've seen before. The "soft" version of the movie is a better way to put it, I suppose.

EDIT: Zira in SP seemed to have initial intentions to kill Kiara because it would be revenge, and also she would be taking a chunk out of the throne. Why would that be any different with Kion? If it makes Simba miserable, she's going to want to do it, no?

[Elton John]

I think you've been very reasonable with your criticisms. Far more than some.

[Rollo]

I think you've been very reasonable with your criticisms. Far more than some.

Thank you I appreciate you saying that.

[Carl]

I agree, you have been fair. I just haven't noticed people expecting movie quality/tone. If they are, they're deluding themselves, and so I honestly think it's on them if they get disappointed by it. It's definitely not going to be what people expect—that's why people shouldn't expect anything. The show in general shouldn't be taken super seriously, and I think a lot of people, whether they like it, are neutral, or dislike it, are simply taking it way too seriously. It's a fun show, and that's all it aims to be, and all it should be seen as. IMO they'd have to do something absurd like claim Kovu is actually Scar's kid after SP stated otherwise in order to really disappoint me. And Zira is my favorite character. So yeah.

Additionally, Zira's plan is SP was to get Kovu close to Kiara so as to be able to assassinate Simba. She had no plans to kill Kiara specifically, so I don't see why she'd want to kill Kion either. If she could turn Simba's kids against him, that would hurt him pretty badly too and that seems like something she might try (though of course she'd fail).

[SimbasGuard]

So the Outlander cubs will be voiced by their adult versions. I had assumed if they were cubs, there would be a chance that would be recasted. Very interesting. It'll be a test of the voice actor's talents if they're able to pull off convincing cub-like voices, minus Nuka obviously.

Actually Lacy Chabert voiced Vitani as a cub, Vitani as an adult was voiced by Jennifer Lien. Who for reasons I do not know was not credited in the movie

While Jason Marsden did voice Adult Kovu, he also voiced young Shere Khan in Jungle Cubs. While we will get a Kovu that sounds older than he did in Lion King 2 he will still sound like a cub.

I'm calling it now: Zira's new voice actress is Nika Futterman, well known for her work in The Clone Wars as Asajj Ventress.

Listening to it again I think you are right