My Lion King Forum

In the first film when Simba returns, Scar initially mistook Simba for Mufasa and backed away in disbelief saying: "Mufasa? No, you're dead."
Why do you think he said it? Do you think he said it because he regretted what he had done?

My opinion: I don't believe it. Scar backed away in disbelief because he thought it was Mufasa, he was a bit scared about how a dead lion could be alive again. And he was also scared about his reign would be over by Mufasa's return and if it had been Mufasa, he probably would have told everyone that Scar wanted to kill him. He was scared about his "little secret" would turn out. He was just worried about his own life. (just as in the scene with Simba on the top of the Pride Rock)

I think he was scared simply because he knew that Simba would want to exact revenge.

And as to why he said "Mufasa? No, you're dead"

Well I think that may be because after all these years he genuinely thinks that Simba wouldn't return and challenge him and also, his abiding memory of Simba would have been as a scared cub-not a confident and assertive adult. This is why, when he sees a lion that looks exactly like Mufasa, he initially thinks that it is indeed Mufasa.

Just my thoughts on it.

[quote="it means no worries"]
Well I think that may be because after all these years he genuinely thinks that Simba wouldn't return and challenge him and also, his abiding memory of Simba would have been as a scared cub-not a confident and assertive adult. This is why, when he sees a lion that looks exactly like Mufasa, he initially thinks that it is indeed Mufasa.[/quote]
Yes, I agree with you. His memories of Simba were totally different from what he saw there: a confident male lion who came to help Sarabi up. That's why Scar's first thought was Mufasa's return and not Simba's. And he was worried about himself because he knew that Mufasa would hold him accountable.

Scar doesn't regret anything, he was just surprised at simbas return and thought simba was mufasa for a moment.

I also agree with 'it means no worries'.

I'm a huge Scar fan and back in the day I always subscribed to the thought that he does indeed regret killing Mufasa.

That's really just my own interpretation though, for use in fanfics and the like. I think it adds an interesting facet to his character. But in terms of what we see in the movie, yeah, it's not really shown. I don't think he's even really acutely aware of it, if he does in fact hold some regrets. I think the scene in the movie could just as easily be interpreted as him fearing punishment.

But I think he was honestly driven a bit nuts by that point anyway and probably wasn't thinking straight.

Definitely not and he may never have gotten there. In the films he never really connects his own actions with the poor condition of the pride lands and this is really the door through which he must pass to really start to regret what he did to Mufasa. Though you might imagine there to be some deep brotherly love bubbling up later it really seems unlikely that he'd get to that thought without otherwise wanting some aspect of Mufasa around, namely his success in ruling. Right to the end Scar is seen as having no regrets and not really processing the impacts of his own actions, he's much more about the power to make the decision then concerned about making the right one.

[quote="Amur_Tiger"]Though you might imagine there to be some deep brotherly love bubbling up later it really seems unlikely that he'd get to that thought without otherwise wanting some aspect of Mufasa around, namely his success in ruling.[/quote]

I don't think Scar had ever loved Mufasa, so yes, this is unlikely.

Considering the emotional trauma that Scar underwent after killing Mufasa, I doubt that Scar didn't have at least some regret. Even if he likes being in power, there would at least be that small part that is constantly worried that the truth will be found out, and his new power taken away. Also, I doubt that Scar liked imagining seeing Mufasa around every corner.

While he might like being king and considered his actions worth it, there has to be at least some part of him that longed for the easier days gone bye.

In terms of feeling ashamed or guilty about his actions, no I don't think he did. There is nothing in canon to suggest Scar would ever come to feel in such a way. Everything he does is self-serving, so anything close to regret he may have felt was related to fear of his actions being found out.

We don't know of Scar and Mufasa's cubhoods. We can't say for sure that Scar never loved Mufasa; he may certainly have in his younger days. It's entirely possible, too, that Mufasa wasn't always a nice and considerate person. Pre-teen and Teenage years do generally drive people to be more negative and mean, before we mature and mellow out. Mufasa may well have done something, possibly even many things, to create a rift between himself and Scar in the first place. Perhaps nothing too big, maybe being bratty and egotistical about becoming king with some slight disregard for Scar's feelings. We can't say for certain, as no film has been made on the subject, and even books, semi-canon they may be, don't often go over Scar and Mufasa's cubhoods.

Heck, we saw how much cub Simba relished in the thought of becoming king, even at such a young age, to the point of being quite in-your-face about it. A sibling acting that way about it for years would definitely cause a divide to start forming. Especially if Mufasa did things on top of that, while possibly unintentional, that hurt Scar's feelings.

So, I think it's definitely possible that deep down, Scar wished things had never gotten as ugly as they did between himself and Mufasa. There probably was some part of Scar that regretted what he had done, especially if we take his paranoia from the musical into consideration. And heck, guilt could have been part of the reason why Scar confessed to Simba (though I know it was mostly to hurt Simba). It's just that, Scar was too much of an egomaniac and psychopath to admit his wrongdoing to anyone who would still be around to judge him for it (he assumed he would successfully off Simba, after all). He couldn't accept anyone thinking less of him, and was far too prideful to even begin to atone for what he had done.