Did the hyenas think that they killed Mufasa?

[FriendlyHyena]

For a while, I wondered why Shenzi or one of the others didn't threaten to expose Scar for murdering Mufasa when they were hungry and Scar callously told them to "Eat Zazu!".

I'm wondering, did they actually see that Mufasa was thrown by Scar to his death or did they think that Mufasa either got trampled directly or that he lost his grip on the rocks and fell to his death and that it was totally on them?

If so, it would explain why they didn't try the blackmail. Also, it would explain why they were SO angry when Scar called them the enemy and told Simba to blame them.

They realized, with his confession plus that remark, that they had been nothing but pawns and perhaps Scar had been even threatening to expose them for the murder they didn't commit (It would be just like him!) all of these years to keep them in line.

Now that it looked like he was going to try and tell the rightful king that they were at fault for Mufasa's death, now after knowing the truth, that they had had enough of him and planned to kill him (whether he won the fight with Simba or not, though I think they may have initially backed off because they thought Simba might do the job for them.)

[TheLionPrince]

The hyenas didn't see Mufasa get thrown off the cliff because the hyenas were out chasing the wildebeest down the cliff, and probably had already passed the area where Scar killed Mufasa. Granted their participation in "Be Prepared", the hyenas knew Scar had killed Mufasa.

As for the idea to blackmail Scar, they didn't think of it. It was already established that the hyenas weren't the sharpest tool in the shed. Also, revealing that Scar murdered Mufasa could potentially backfire and not help their situation. Scar could retaliate with the revelation that the hyenas had helped him, and the hyenas would then have angry lionesses targeted at them.

[FriendlyHyena]

[quote="TheLionPrince"]The hyenas didn't see Mufasa get thrown off the cliff because the hyenas were out chasing the wildebeest down the cliff, and probably had already passed the area where Scar killed Mufasa. Granted their participation in "Be Prepared", the hyenas knew Scar had killed Mufasa.

As for the idea to blackmail Scar, they didn't think of it. It was already established that the hyenas weren't the sharpest tool in the shed. Also, revealing that Scar murdered Mufasa could potentially backfire and not help their situation. Scar could retaliate with the revelation that the hyenas had helped him, and the hyenas would then have angry lionesses targeted at them.[/quote]


If the hyenas were too busy chasing the wildebeests to see Scar THROW Mufasa to his death, they might have thought Mufasa lost his grip and FELL to his death, thus making his death THEIR fault, as far as they knew.

That actually would work in Scar's favor. If they got too uppity, he could threaten to "expose" them. He could simply deny any role in the stampede. In fact, he was the one who got Mufasa there to the gorge and so could establish an alibi, to which he had a living "witness": Zazu. If the wildebeests recalled who attacked them, it would point to the hyenas, not Scar. If Simba had somehow not left the Pridelands but had gone a different route when fleeing from the hyenas and gotten to another member of the Pride, the hyenas would take the fall for the attack on him and Scar could easily pin the death of the Mufasa on them too.

There were a bunch of entities which could have identified the hyenas as causing the stampede but the only one that would know that Scar did it, other than Scar himself, was Mufasa, and Mufasa is dead.

I don't even think Scar intended to directly kill his own brother. There was nearly a point when both Simba and Mufasa were overwhelmed by the stampede but luckily Mufasa was able to use enough strength to get out of the rampage and get Simba to safety. That, I believe, was when Scar was forced to improvise.

[TheLionPrince]

While all angles do point to the hyenas as potential culprits, Scar is just as guilty for creating a conspiracy to commit murder. He did openly admit that they would kill both Mufasa and Simba. It was his idea, and he was the one who benefited the most from Mufasa's death. Given the lionesses took Scar's confession to killing Mufasa with no questions asked in the film, I don't think it would take much to turn the lionesses against Scar.

You also raise a good point that Scar probably didn't intend to directly kill Mufasa.