Timon's betrayal

[Animal of the Wild]

Yes, there is.

Timon did something terrible, and yet everyone is acting like it was nothing. Some are even DEFENDING him, because apparently movie Timon can do no wrong in their eyes.

Yet no one gives crap about TV series Timon.

[Ninaroja]

The movies are more popular than the series here on MLK - that's probably why, but you're making it sound way over-dramatic.

And yet again you're so against people giving their own opinion (which everyone has, and is entitled to) whilst bashing them over the head with your own.

[Animal of the Wild]

OK...

[DGFone]

Why are you all being so defensive of him for what he did? Does anyone see this from my POV?

To put it bluntly, nope.avi

A lot of people, myself included, don't really care about the TV version of Timon and Pumbaa because they are so different from their movie counterparts. They are so different that I don't even consider the TV show to be TLK at all. Heck, I never even saw a single episode until after I joined MLK.

After all, Mufasa in the movie died after being dropped off a cliff edge. Pumbaa in the TV show survived having an Apollo capsule without parachutes land on his head. The TV show is not meant to be taken seriously, and I seriously doubt that it was even considered to be part of the TLK universe. It just "burrowed" a few characters.

Again, most people do in fact see Timon's flaws, they just don't consider it as some sort of unforgivable sin.

[Animal of the Wild]

Everyone can make mistakes, but not everyone can fix the problem. It is very difficult to admit that there was something wrong. This can be done only by those who have kindness. Timon was able to do it because of the fact that he found Pumbaa, he admitted that he was mistaken.

Another very important moment is that he suffered because of he became alone and made something wrong. If he was selfish, he would not be upset, but continued to live alone and would not thought about feelings of Pumbaa.

In a way I can understand why he was upset when Simba went away: he did not ask personally Timon to help, but it did Nala. So he could be a bit offended. But he still helped him. Because Simba - his friend. It is real friendship.

If you call getting mad at your friends for five minutes abandonment and betrayal, then sure, Timon committed the unforgivable sin of betraying his friends. But look at it from his point of view: He was living the Hakuna Matata life with Simba and Pumbaa, and all of the sudden a lioness shows up, tries to eat Pumbaa, only to leave with Simba, and Pumbaa following the two. If anything, Timon was the one who felt abandoned and betrayed. All relationships face hardships. To call an argument, even say a large one, betrayal... I really don't see how that's possible short of living a VERY sheltered life.

As soon as Rafiki taught him what Hakuna Matata really meant, Timon quickly realized that he needed his friends just as much as they needed him, so off he went. If it was real abandonment, he would have stayed behind.

I still feel that everyone is being too defensive of him. I'm not going to look at it from his point of view, seeing as no one is really going to look at it from mine.

I guess I'll just have to accept that either I'm off my rocket or the only one who actually sees what Timon did.

[ScarLoyal]

Well, from Timon's POV it was just him and his best pal. But just as they were 'bowling buzzards' they became 'semi parents' and raised a lion cub on their own! He disagreed with the idea immediately but he begins to see Simba as a 'hakuna matata' buddy, though after a while of Paradise and no worries. A lioness shows up and attempts to 'hunt' one of his friends. And when it was then known that she was Simba's childhood best friend.. well he didn't really trust Nala and rather despised her for 'breaking up the trio'. He really didn't betray his friends, he just needed to realize what mattered most. 'Hakuna matata' or helping his friends.

[Animal of the Wild]

But he briefly chose it over helping his friends, which was bad.

[DGFone]

^ Like you always agreed with your friends on everything 100% of the time.

The reason why you are seeing so much "defending" on Timon is not because we think he was doing the right thing by insisting to stay in the jungle. It's just that we see it as nothing more than a simple disagreement between friends, and can acknowledge that he changed his mind early enough that it didn't really matter that he disagreed in the first place. These things happen, and true friends forgive and forget. End of story.

A betrayal would be much more along the lines of Timon being so mad at being run off on that he would either remain in the jungle, or worse, run to Scar and help him. Simply insisting that he wants to stay in the jungle instead of running to kill some Scar is not betrayal. Especially because he didn't know what Hakuna Matata really meant until his friends left, and he learned that it wasn't about the jungle, but about his friends.

[Timon the great]

Personally, this is kind of ridiculous that a topic about a minor character behavioral flaw has this many replies because of the topic poster's. I've should've known in the beginning that this "betrayal" thing is no more than about the part where Timon decides to temporarily not follow his friends and stay behind in his jungle paradise.

Now, I'll fully admit that this isn't good what Timon does and this is probably one of his lowest points from the films. But the fact of the matter here is that he redeems himself and quite substantially after Rafiki comes back and helps him realize where he messes up, while I can clearly see that Timon already realizes inside that he isn't doing the right thing, when he argues with Pumbaa. But unfortunately, this is where I see that such behavior from Timon is what causes people to easily take him out of context.

With redemption, he risks his own life to save Pumbaa, Ma and Uncle Max from the hyenas at Pride Rock and is nearly eaten by Shenzi when he determinedly runs and dives into a rock opening to break the last support of the hyena trap.

For a character who is commonly known for laughs, comic relief and wisecracks especially from the previous LK films, this is uniquely and heroically substantial to see and dramatic, which goes back to the scene when Ma tries to keep Timon from leaving his meerkat colony and still believes that he can fit in, in the beginning and a little more drama ensues because Timon knows that it would no longer work and wants to change how a meerkat only survives in this film (instead of a meerkat actually living or wanting to live).

I like the fact that these small dramatic events of Timon in this film of his are there to show the seriousness involved in Timon's own conflicts and that the reality of life is not always bright and sunny for everyone, whether generally comical, serious or whatever their character may be. Even for this meerkat who is also the lead protagonist of this film. Which also makes him that much more interesting to me.

All in all and in the end, Timon does do the right thing in this film and he also brings his family, friends and his own colony (who actually despised and bullied him according to this film's media like this image, in the first place), to the jungle paradise. And to me, despite his occasional little self-centeredness, it doesn't define his true character at all from this film.

What it all comes down to here is that Timon is the main and true hero of this film, even though he isn't perfect. None of the lead LK film protagonist are (Simba and Kiara in the other two).

Timon ultimately realizes what he does wrong, quickly corrects his mistakes, then wants to and does do the right thing when all is set and done, and so he does have a true heart.

[Animal of the Wild]

I just want to say that you guys are all overrating him. Like you said, TimontheGreat, he KNEW what he was doing was wrong!

With redemption, he risks his own life to save Pumbaa, Ma and Uncle Max from the hyenas at Pride Rock and is nearly eaten by Shenzi when he determinedly runs and dives into a rock opening to break the last support of the hyena trap.

Speakign of the hyenas...why do you guys never look this deep into them? Why are you never willing to give them an out or herald them like you do Timon?