My Lion King Forum

Obviously the reason why she was never mentioned in TLK is because nothing about SP (plot, characters, etc.) had been written at that point, but for the sake of some fun theorizing on a question that we will never actually have the answer to: Did Zira and Mufasa know each other?

Here are some reasons why I think it might be possible that they did.

1) Right before "My Lullaby", Zira says to Kovu, "You have the same conniving mind that made Scar so ... powerful." This line suggests to me that she not only heard about the plot to kill Mufasa and take the throne for Scar, but also that she may have even played a role in it.

2) As crazy as Zira is, I assume that she must have known Scar for a decent amount of time before he died in order to build up such a fanatical devotion to him.

3) We know that Simba was the one who banished Zira and the rest of the Outlanders. Before that, it is assumed that she lived in the Pridelands. As king of the Pridelands, I would be very surprised if Mufasa didn't at least have minor interactions with her.

What do you think? Did Zira and Mufasa know each other? This is obviously all just crazy speculation on my part, but I'd be curious to know what other people's thoughts are on this as well.

That is an interesting question. Since Zira's relationship with Scar was purposely obscured (according to the director's own words), we may never know. It also doesn't help that Scar had Mufasa's name banned from being said during his reign. But knowing Zira as crafty as she is, she probably learned that Scar had killed Mufasa from the hyenas or Scar telling her, but she didn't care. Scar was the rightful king to her, and that's all that mattered. So, my answer is that there is about as much evidence that she did know him as she did not know him. It all depends on whether Zira and the Outsiders were Pridelanders before or after Mufasa died.

Personally, I believe Zira and the Outsiders entered into the Pride Lands during Scar's reign, and enjoyed some sense of power going by Zira's line, "I now see the path to our glorious return to power!"

TheSpiritofLife wrote:1) Right before "My Lullaby", Zira says to Kovu, "You have the same conniving mind that made Scar so ... powerful." This line suggests to me that she not only heard about the plot to kill Mufasa and take the throne for Scar, but also that she may have even played a role in it.

That is an interesting interpretation. Another one is that Zira is referring to Scar executing the plot, and having nobody (outside of the hyenas) suspect him of having some involvement in it, as well as consolidate so much power for his kingdom.

TheLionPrince wrote:Personally, I believe Zira and the Outsiders entered into the Pride Lands during Scar's reign, and enjoyed some sense of power going by Zira's line, "I now see the path to our glorious return to power!"

TheSpiritofLife wrote:1) Right before "My Lullaby", Zira says to Kovu, "You have the same conniving mind that made Scar so ... powerful." This line suggests to me that she not only heard about the plot to kill Mufasa and take the throne for Scar, but also that she may have even played a role in it.

That is an interesting interpretation. Another one is that Zira is referring to Scar executing the plot, and having nobody (outside of the hyenas) suspect him of having some involvement in it, as well as consolidate so much power for his kingdom.

I can probably sense the idea of Zira knowing Mufasa but for a short period of time. I mean, why else would she say, "I now see the path to our glorious return to power!"? Behind that line, Zira felt that Scar's future reign actually had an impact on her and meant something to their pride. If it just Scar alone as an only child going into the throne without having a brother to kill to gain that position, then his reign wouldn't have been as important to her as it actually was. She wouldn't have cared if he just got the position because he never had to work for it or even try something bizarre such as murdering your own family member. Like Scar, Zira is also intimating and is willing to go to the extremes to gain whatever she wants.

Yes they did know, some of the lionesses were banished (including Zira) and Scar was about the same age as her. Some sources say that their son is Nuka and Vitani is their daughter (I don't know was this canon or non-canon source but I believe it is, according to Lion King Wikia it's true)

Really, there's no way of knowing, as TLP pointed out, because she could have come around after Mufasa's death and simply learned about it. However, for her to know of his conniving, she'd probably have had to have been around before Mufasa's death, though this is not necessarily the case.

In my fantheory, Zira is actually Scar's half-sister. The rape of Uru resulted in her birth not long after that of Mufasa's and Scar's, and due to that cause of the child, Uru has difficulty paying attention to Zira or treating her fairly. In this verse, Ahadi is Mohatu's heir, and so, Zira has no royal blood. Scar, also not being able to acquire the throne, is sympathetic towards Zira and eventually, his care for her as a sister makes him detach from his parents and Mufasa, and they sort of concoct the plan together. Scar offers to let Zira rule alongside him, because it's the throne she really wants, in order to prove her worth and power to herself and her mother. The only legal way for that to happen is for them to be mates however and that's what she wants, for her powerhungry purposes, but Scar refuses to mate her. She instead becomes his right hand advisor and is satisfied-ish with that position, but continually tries to impress her half-brother and become as a queen next to him.

I figure that explains her resemblance to Scar, her children's resemblance to him, and her devotion to him, without making as obvious incest with Kiara and Kovu. They'd be more distantly related than Simba and Nala most probably were. It also helps to showcase the extent of her insanity, which I think is fun. Eh, it's just a weird theory I have. There's no evidence for any of it, so I don't want anyone going, "you're wrong because there's no evidence." It's just a fun theory since everything was obscured, that I think makes sense.

And in that case, yes, Zira would have known Mufasa, and that's what I was getting to with all this, lol.

juhouh wrote:Yes they did know, some of the lionesses were banished (including Zira) and Scar was about the same age as her. Some sources say that their son is Nuka and Vitani is their daughter (I don't know was this canon or non-canon source but I believe it is, according to Lion King Wikia it's true)

The only thing that's official is that Zira was a loyal follower of Scar and that Kovu is not his son. No one knows for sure about Vitani and Nuka, though the popular assumption is that at least Nuka is Scar's son.

Gah, I do believe she was actually -somewhat- in that generation of the, (Sarabi, Mufasa, Sarafina, etc.) However my mind is to boggled currently to type out why I think that.

However, I do heavily believe she's older than Simba. Which is one of my main reasons for thinking so. Plus consider Nuka! At the beginning of the movie he's already a teenager, there's only one gap of age difference between him and Simba at that point. So I definitely believe she was in Mufasa's generation, probably just later in it.