My Lion King Forum

Just something that kind struck me as odd is that if the Roar of the Elders is such a powerful tool, why don't kings have it? Not only is it a very nice weapon to have should things go bad, but it also gets rid of the requirement of having a second-in-line to the throne.

Just look at the main Lion King movies: When Simba is a cub, since he is the only son of Mufasa and Sarabi, he doesn't have a brother to be in charge of the guard. It has been already established that Scar lost his ability to use the roar in a failed coup, so it would only make sense for Mufasa to move that position to the next generation... except that his only son was Simba, making it impossible.

Then when Simba finally becomes king, it is still a long time where he is in control, but with no one to use the Roar of the Elders. Imagine if he was able to use it against the hyenas during the battle for Pride Rock? Or what about using it against the Outsiders? It is only after Kion is born that there suddenly is someone capable of using the roar, so in many ways, that position was left vacant - therefor the Pride Lands very vulnerable - for just about an entire generation.

Let's ignore the obvious real-world reason: that the roar is made up for The Lion Guard specifically. So of course the movies, which came before, won't have it, and The Lion Guard needs to come up with a reason why it won't be Simba who would be able to use the roar, so Disney came up with the second in line thing.

Ignoring that, what could be a possible reason why the king would not be allowed to use the roar, despite it being a very good thing to have, especially for the king?

I am going to go with how they described it in the 16 minute presentation: that the Roar is so powerful that it is also a very tempting thing to use, even when inappropriate. So especially for a king, they will all too often be pressured by their duties to use it when they should not, so it was decided that rather than the king be the one with the ability, someone close to them should - the second in line in this case.

I think it's because it's only given to the second born cub of the royal family, who is tasked to lead the guard.

Which points to the first born cub being the real ruler of the pride, no matter what the gender.

Which also points to Nala NOT being mufasas cub, because she would then be the leader of her guard.

[quote="Elton John"]I think it's because it's only given to the second born cub, who is tasked to lead the guard.
[/quote]

Yes, but why is it tasked to the second born, and not the first born? It is like the President of the U.S. not being allowed to control the country's nuclear arsenal, but the Vice President instead having that power. There are very good reasons why the main one in charge should have these abilities/powers/tools, as seen in real life. So what makes The Lion Guard so different that it goes to #2?

Ok now that's kinda answering my question about Scar rejecting his guard responsibility

[quote="DGFone"][quote="Elton John"]I think it's because it's only given to the second born cub, who is tasked to lead the guard.
[/quote]

Yes, but why is it tasked to the second born, and not the first born? It is like the President of the U.S. not being allowed to control the country's nuclear arsenal, but the Vice President instead having that power. There are very good reasons why the main one in charge should have these abilities/powers/tools, as seen in real life. So what makes The Lion Guard so different that it goes to #2?[/quote]

Maybe it's explained in the movie?

Maybe it's also to keep the king or queen in check in case he or she strays away from the path of a good ruler?

The lion guard is meant to protect and preserve the pridelands, and in the past that could also mean protecting itself from its own ruler.

You both have very good points DGFone and Elton John. I agree that the reason the King does not have The Roar of the Elders is because A King (or Queen) already wields a form of absolute power, having The Roar of the Elders on top of that would prove to be the absolute power that would corrupt absolutely. It could also be that because In most cases since the Leader of The Lion Guard would still be subservient to the King. It would give the leader of The Lion Guard someone to potentially seek guidance and counsel from, if they themselves are unsure if whatever situation they are in would justify the use of the roar.

With Great power comes great responsibility , and also (going off topic a bit) this is kinda like what happened to Defense against the Dark arts teachers in Harry Potter. Am I right?

Especially due to the way the Disney guys were talking about the role of the Guard as well as the Roar, I really got a feeling that the Lion Guard serves most as a form of Praetorian Guard for the ruler of the Pride Lands, and their chief weapon being the roar, perhaps that's why the king doesn't have it - so that it can be used to protect him/her by others.

But I also think the fact that kingly powers combined with unprecedented 'weaponry' is also just a too easily abused combination as I mentioned above, and keeping the two separate is a safety feature.

Perhaps they might even have an early flashback episode where they describe the origins of the Roar, an how perhaps early on, the king did in fact have it, until one king went all crazy and made the lands hurt, possibly worse than what Scar did, so in the future, the king and Roar got separated to avoid having a similar incident in the future. Would make a good story, I think.

So this means that the Roar of the Elders has yet to be officially added to the TLK's History files and documents, because every single TLK fan can has not known about this to begin with from the release of the first movie, it was never mentioned, till now

To me it's a nice bit of lore that doesn't conflict too much with other characters or the other movies.