The Lion Guard Season 3 Opener - Battle for the pridelands,

[Panpardus]

I'm not at the point where I can say "I can't express how impressed I was with this episode," but I did find myself pretty pleased with it. It's definitely one of the best episodes of the series so far, though I don't know if I'd necessarily recommend it to a first-time viewer who hadn't seen The Lion Guard before just because of how continuity driven it is. The whole thing has series-finale vibes and honestly I wouldn't be too surprised if the show ends with keeping the Guard out of the Pride Lands for good (giving them happy endings of course). Only thing keeping me from saying that is that I know Kovu and Kiara are set to appear again (per something one of the showrunners said on social media) and Nala's comment about being back in time for Kiara's first hunt; seems like a thread they wouldn't write her to bring up if it wasn't to set some sort of time point to loop back to in the last episode.

Scar is very clearly the standout character here given that we finally get to see the clearest idea of his backstory that we'll probably ever actually get. (And it's the best song of both the episode itself and the whole first batch of Season 3 stuff released so far.) Granted, it's a musical number montage of a single incident told by an unreliable narrator, but it's still something. I loved the expression on Scar's face as he watched Mufasa walk off; the telling of the story in isolation plus what happens to Kion later on paints the bite itself as the reason he turned bad, but you can tell just by the look that this was merely the final straw of a lifetime of resentment and Scar was always jealous and inclined towards vying for recognition through the throne. It's interesting to see how much of Scar's story has actually been told through Kion's experiences so far, but that's a bit I don't feel like writing out right now. Hopefully this isn't the last we'll get of him in terms of info and this sort of secondhand characterization.

Also, like aforementioned in a prior comment, holy crap, the show actually killed a character -- (in a pretty gruesome way too, and directly caused by one of the main characters nonetheless) -- and the one I really wasn't expecting at that. I actually didn't realize it happened until the next day when I was thinking about the show. Good on the writers; they planted the seed for that conflict throughout the series' run, right from the opening number in "Return of the Roar".

I also loved the consequences inflicted; for so long I've been wondering if the show would ever depict the guard not just losing a mission but actually suffering a potentially career/life-ending injury in the process, but I figured that'd be too heavy for a preschool show and they'd never do it. Obviously(?) things will resolve themselves but still, that moment in the lair of the guard was great, especially the bit where Ono loses his mark. It's so bittersweet and I love it; I wish more of the episodes had something like this.

[PridelandsPhantom]

All in all, I thought it was a pretty good episode and had a lot of good conflict that went unresolved. I wish they had dug a little deeper about the unknown lion that tempted Scar, but I guess that is what fanfiction is for. I was very pleased to see Mufasa in physical form. I don't think Mufasa was being intentionally cruel to Scar (some people do), but more teasing in a big brother way. I don't think Mufasa really understands the depth of Scar's resentment towards him. I like Kion's development including struggling between his good impulses and bad impulses and Fuli being the moderator with Kion (yes, I am a Kion and Fuli shipper). I liked the chemistry between Jasiri and Janja and am glad to see Jasiri will be the new leader of the hyenas.

I was surprised at how Kion defeated Scar, but I really enjoyed it and thought it was a creative way to defeat Scar including having the lions of the past judge Scar. I wonder how Scar hid that he killed his guard from the rest of the pride? I did like that Nala mentioned that she hoped Kion would be home before Kiara's first hunt (he isn't, so the journey will take a long, long time).

[SimbasGuard]

Like most everyone has said. I loved this episode for the following reasons.

I thought all the songs were great.

I always assumed that Simba knew about Jasiri. I was glad to see that I was right. I know several people wanted some conflict over this, but please give Simba some credit. He is wise and understanding. Assuming Kion told him about meeting Jasiri I can easily see Simba accepting Kion's point of view on her.

It's is great to see The Lion Guard somewhat aged up

I like how Janja (and his clan) turned good. Jasiri is also clearly pleased by this.

However when Janja went to Jasiri for help when The Lion Guard and His Clan were trapped in The Lion Guard Lair. I thought it was Stupid as heck of him to not get right to the point. Needless to say I thought it was great when Jasiri busted his chops for that very reason.

I was also shocked to see Reirei's young pups in the final battle. Attacking from a distance or not, They could have been crushed when Shuja returned Their fire.

Was anyone surprised that Kenge was not among Scar's Army?

It was great to see Part of Scar's backstory. Also having gotten a look at Scar's Lion Guard I think it is safe to assume that none of them was Nala's Father as none of them had a red mane.

I think killing off Ushari was a bold move that I though they would never be gusty enough to do.

I never expected Scar to be defeated the way he was. That was awesome.

I certainly did not expect Jasiri to become Queen (So to speak) of The Outlands. I would have to say the other Villains are not reformed, but rather operating under a truce agreement.

I was Surprised that Rafiki did not have an antidote for Cobra venom. However being that said venom is driving Kion mad rather than killing him likely has something to do with that.I guess Ushari (and the other Cobras in The Lion King Universe) had(have) at least 2 different types of venom.

I Like Anga being part of The Lion Guard and the fact that Kion put Ono right back on The Guard right after releasing him from it was great.

I know that Simba was addressing the entire Guard and that Fuli is Kion's 2nt in command, but it really seemed to me like he placed Fuli in charge of Kion's safety.

Thurston's name finally being mentioned and the somewhat inside joke that went along with it. Was another great touch.

Nala's comment about Kion hopefully making it back in time for Kiara's 1st hunt further fuels my belief that we will see The Lion Guard as Adults before the series is over.

I had expected Rani and The Night Pride to be introduced, but clearly we will meet them when The Guard gets to The Tree of Life.

This was a great way to close Season 2's story arch and set up the rest of Season 3