S1 Ep21: Never Roar Again Review

Episode Description

Kion uses the Roar of the Elders in anger when Janja's clan attack Nala. As a result, Kion loses control of the Roar and its power almost harms her. Worried that he nearly hurt his mother, Kion feels that he should never use the Roar again. Meanwhile, Ono feels self–conscious after the Roar blows off his head feathers. Overhearing Kion's plans to never use the Roar again, Makuu and his float of crocodiles take advantage of the opportunity and take over the Flood Plains. With some convincing from Mufasa and Nala, Kion gains the confidence to use the Roar when he confronts Makuu.

Song: "Stand Up, Stand Out"

Pros

-First off, I love the animation of the Lion Guard chasing Janja's clan out of the Pride Lands. I realise Nne and Tano are back in his clan without any explanation, but, I think Janja probably welcomed them back in to have numbers on his side, and their expulsion was probably short-lived. I suppose Janja, Cheezi and Chungu all made sure they didn't get out of line. Anyways, I love the shots of the Guard and Janja's clan running across the Pride Lands.

-"Oh c'mon Kion, it was just one gazelle!" I first thought was, wait, did the hyenas actually get one casualty? First off, because I know people are going to bring up the argument of "the Lion Guard are unfair to predators". Firstly, I strongly disagree with it. This is Janja we're talking about, it's very possible he was just pulling this out of his ass and they were trying to take down a whole herd of gazelles, but, also, given his track record in previous episodes, I don't think I would trust him to be in the Pride Lands even if he is hungry. If anyone wants to agree or disagree with me, you're welcome to do, but, I do think if it was me, I wouldn't allow him into the Pride Lands, either.

-I don't know why, but, I just adore the animation of Bunga shouting at Janja to stay in the Outlands! I don't know what it is that was so satisfying, but, whoever animated that should get a raise!

-"Yeah and since when do we take orders from the Lion Guard?" I see, Janja is a lot more determined to outwit the Lion Guard since the last time he appeared. I mean clearly, he's a lot braver this time around and clearly has a serious overconfidence problem. But, I like the drama of the situation.

-"If I wanna go into the Pride Lands, we go into the Pride Lands!" Janja is more fixated on being able to eat whatever he wants in the Pride Lands, compared to other episodes where he submits to the Lion Guard almost immediately.

-"The Outlands are that way! So go!" It's nice to see someone in the Royal family actually doing important stuff for the Pride Lands and not just lazing around, as African Lions are known to do in the wild. Also, Janja being like, "Relax! She ain't so tough. Out here all alone. Outnumbered." Accurate hyena reaction. Hyenas and lions actually fight all the time in the real Savannah.

-Now let's talk about the Nala argument. Because I've seen people make the argument that Janja shouldn't stand a chance against her and this only happens for the sake of Kion coming in. First off, just because Nala has fought bigger and stronger hyenas before, it doesn't mean she wouldn't struggle against Janja's clan. It's simple math. 5 is greater than 1, so, Janja's clan are still more dangerous than her in this particular moment. Even though Janja got cocky in this particular moment, he was still smart enough to recognise that Nala was at a disadvantage against them. This fight scene and the fight scene in the original movie are drastically different. In the first film, Nala was fighting alongside Sarabai and the other lionesses against Scar and his minions. She was probably enraged in that moment, seeing Simba being overpowered by the hyenas and having just learned that Scar blamed Simba for Mufasa's demise. She was probably more outraged than ever before and ready to fight to the death. Plus, she had an army of lionesses to back her up if things got tough. She was ready to defend Simba and the rest of her pride from Scar's wrath. In this scene in The Lion Guard, the stakes are much lower, so, Nala is much calmer and more relaxed, seeing that Janja's clan are not that threatening. She's not in a battle rage on this occasion. I mean, sure, she could lay a dent in a few of them, but one wrong move would leave her in a dangerous position. Plus, she probably didn't want to put up much of a fight, knowing that Janja's clan are still younger, I don't think she would want to needlessly injure them out of respect towards all the animals in the circle of life. Plus, Nala, unlike Jasiri and the Lion Guard, lacks the experience in fighting Janja's clan. Jasiri has most likely been putting up with Janja for ages, and so, fighting him off isn't seen as risk to her because she's used to beating him and his clan. Whereas Nala hasn't had the experience of fighting him off and so, she was careful not to make a wrong move and endanger herself. Because every hyena would have a different way of fighting. I know this is really long, but, this my in-universe argument for Nala needing the Lion Guard's help in this moment.

-"Mom! GET AWAY FROM MY MOMMMMMM!!!!!" Oh, Jesus Christ, Kion! His poor little youngster eyes had to see that. How would a kid recover from seeing their mom almost go down! My boy sees his mom being attacked by hyenas, led by his evil arch-nemesis (and possibly much more than that), loses control of his temper and his inner power, almost destroys the area around them and then saves his mother from an earthquake that he created. Jesus, I don't know how Kion was able to focus on anything. That's too much stress for a 10 year old kid to have on his plate. I feel for the poor little guy.

-We got to learn more about the Roar's powers in this episodes. The Leader of the Lion Guard, when enraged, can summon the worst lions of the Pride Lands' past. I love this mechanic because all superheroes have weaknesses and have a darkness to their power when it is misused. I thought it was a genius move by the writers to implement an idea that changes the main character's perspective. The main character essentially fears themselves and, in turn, they fear their power is too much for them altogether.

-Kion's arc in this episode was really interesting and also really complex for a kid's show. I found his inner worries about his Roar really compelling. He's a kid who's still inexperienced and he's had to become a leader far too young, so it's normal for his to have fears and doubts and feel completely lost. In this case, he's having doubts about the sacred power he's been gifted to protect the Pride Lands with, but, after an incident he feels like it's too overwhelming. I feel for the kid. It's a huge power being granted to a young child, for a big responsibility. He's understandably nervous to use it again. I found his moral dilemma about the Roar really engaging and I'm sure we've all had moments like that in our lives.

-Without going into detail, let's talk about the placement of this episode. It came out after "Lions of the Outlands", but was scheduled to come out roughly 6 months before it (instead of "Bunga and the King"). Disney held off on releasing it to the public due to the presence of Makuu and his Float at the end, in light of an incident at Disney World, Florida in the Summer of 2016, where an alligator seemingly dragged a 2 year old boy into a lake and killed him. Why do I think this delay works better? Well, I think it fits Kion's arc better.

-Why? Well, I think it re-contextualizes Zira's manipulation from the previous episode. One of Kion's biggest flaws in the early episodes is the fact that he has to sacrifice some of his childhood in order to lead the Lion Guard effectively, and so, as a result, he puts himself in charge of a security team where everyone is constantly looking up to him and asking him for solutions to problems, at a young age. So, this is bound to make him get stressed out in certain situations. He also, as a result of this huge responsibility, puts himself on a pedestal at a young age. Zira tries to use this to her advantage to manipulate him and get him on her side. She was obviously wrong to point out that Kion's actions will have the same consequences as Scar, but, it is true that Kion is only a kid and that he will make mistakes that do have dire consequences that will effect him, like in this episode when he uses the Roar in anger, but, it does not mean he will be like Scar.

-Also, I know this was a big mistake on Kion's part, but, I just love the animation for the "Dark Roar" in this episode. It looks even more epic and menacing. I like the animation for the dark clouds and the roaring lion heads. It gives the whole situation more of a scary theme. And boy, what I wouldn't give for Disney to release a "Dark Roar" theme tune. I wish they used it for the official soundtrack. Wasted potential. They could've release a Beau Black song for this episode. The music in this whole scene is freaking awesome!

-I freaking LOVE the animation of the "Dark Roar" rebounding and turning towards Nala and the Lion Guard. Whoever animated the Roar rebounding at the cliffs deserves a raise. It's just plain cool animation of the Evil Lion Spirits going towards our heroes!!!! Also, Janja is absent for the next two episodes of the series, so the "Dark Roar" must've scared the crap out of him. I'm not surprised!

-Kion caused an earthquake with the Roar's powers! Poor kid has to rescue his mom from dying! I couldn't imagine being in Kion's position at a young age. I wouldn't be able to so calm, I would get too anxious to continue leading a security team. I mean, the animation is impressive yet again! The animators had a field day with this episode! Also Kion is going to have one heck of a family reunion in Heaven, "Like, hey, remember that time you accidentally summoned evil spirits to cause so much destruction. As a cub. Yeah, me too." (I wanted to crack a joke or two, so you guys can see I'm not biased. This episode is just really good).

-"Well obviously, he didn't look," I don't know why I found that so funny, tbh. Also, there's something wholesome about the Lion Guard just hanging in the Lair and chatting, as kids do.

-"Yeah, good thing," Kion, feeling dejected. Kion's plight in this episode is really complex for a preschool show. Like, more so than any preschool show I've ever seen. He's not in a good head space after seeing how much destruction he caused. I found it so relatable because I've definitely felt dejected before in my day-to-day life and I've definitely felt stressed out as well, I think we all have. I'm glad the writers had decided to show Kion at his most vulnerable for a change and I'm glad his whole "fear giving into his anger and ending up like Scar" was explored upon in this series.

-I thought it was interesting seeing Zazu in Ono's position temporarily. I think it's kind of awesome to see Zazu being the temporary "Keenest of Sight" while Ono is feeling self-conscious, because Zazu is super loyal and hardworking, both to the Royal Family and the Lion Guard. Before Season 3 ruined everything, I had a headcanon of Ono taking up Zazu's position and becoming Kiara and Kovu's majordome, in the future, with Zazu giving him on-the-job training.

-"Zazu can be pretty persuasive." I mean, Kion and Fuli are not wrong in any way. Zazu can be persuasive when he needs to be. Enter the king's majordomo to take no crap from children, and exit the king's majordomo.

-I know Kion was having a lot of mental health issues, but, in fairness, I prefer his solution of having Beshte push the boulders away, to open up the giraffe's watering hole. I mean, we've seen in other episode, where Kion doesn't use the Roar unless it's absolutely necessary to do so. In other episodes, he has only ever used the Roar for emergencies, or when no other plan works. But, in this case, Beshte was able to move the rocks.

-"So, just stop the water. You could do it with the Roar." Okay, so, in any circumstance, putting Kion's anxiety aside, the Roar would've completely wiped out the klipspringer and then the rescue would've been unsuccessful as a result. Even though Kion's plan about using the dead tree to make failed, it was inevitably much safer than Bunga's idea.

-Speaking of Bunga, oh my gosh do I love his characterisation in this episode. It's perfect. Probably one of his best moments in the entire series. I do need to confess that I am a self-proclaimed Bunga fangirl, but I can vouch that I particularly love this moment because he's showing some real maturity and development in this episode. I love the really sweet, best friends moment between Kion and Bunga in this episode. Kion opens up to Bunga about his worries, and Bunga takes it completely to heart, reminding him that didn't mean to lose control of the Roar and also telling him that, as Leader of the Lion Guard, it's his duty to use the Roar, as that's the whole reason he got the Roar. That's what I call true friendship. It's a really sweet moment.

-"Another problem solved by Bunga the Wise..." I mean, I hate the reference to probably the worst Bunga episode of the entire series, but, I can't even be mad about it because he literally was "Bunga the Wise" in this specific moment by giving Kion actual good advice. I wish we got more of these moments with him throughout the series, instead of the shoddily written character we got in Season 3.

-Mufasa’s sky-phone is used effectively in this episode. I mean, I know people love to criticise it, but, you cannot ignore that Mufasa is a good character in this episode in particular. I mean, Kion is a kid, he’s feeling lost about what he should do, he’s worried about the Roar granted to him, he’s in a position of responsibility, let him have this sky-call with his wise grandfather. Mufasa also helps to deliver the episode’s main moral to Kion and, by extension, the young audience watching the show. I think it’s one of the best lessons I’ve seen in any cartoon, about “Not letting your own anger or fear stop you from acting. Anger can be important when used correctly”. This episode delivers another moral about “Controlling your anger, but also not being afraid to stand up for your loved ones.” I think they are both great lessons for kids, but also for adult viewers as well. In the age of social media and video games, it’s so important to teach kids that they should try not to let their anger out on other people, but, at the same time, they stood always stand up for their loved ones in constructive ways. It’s kind of a similar moral to “The Rise of Makuu”, but it’s also different in that regard.

-“Scar never cared for anyone else the way you do, Kion….” Mufasa drew parallels between his grandson and his brother who murdered him. I’m actually impressed by the way the writers were able to draw Kion & Scar parallels, but also differences. Like, Scar was just a ruthless dictator who was selfish and bent on having power over the whole kingdom, and lost his position as Leader of the Lion Guard because of it, whereas Kion is a lion cub who makes mistakes that are normal for a kid his age, but, he doesn’t take it out on his friends and family, he also cares for his friends and family and their wellbeing.

-“….his selfishness fuelled his anger,” Mufasa sums up Scar’s true motivation in a nutshell that is probably a difficult thing to say and for members of his family to hear. I mean, it would a sore subject if you did have a family member who was a criminal.

-Also, Makuu is back and I’M LIVING FOR IT!!!!! Makuu is an awesome character in this series because he’s not really evil in any way in Season 1, he’s just kind of a thug who wants to test what he can get away with, and considered himself above the law, but, I never got the vibe that he was really evil. Anyways, more importantly, he’s back and more menacing than ever before. Blair Underwood’s voice acting was flawless, as usual. He was so perfect for a ferocious and scary crocodile.

-I love everything about Makuu’s character, from his design, to his voice, his ego, his brusque and menacing exterior, his charisma and the fact that he’s not good in this episode, but he’s not a pure villain either. But, he has some awesome lines to match, “Without your fearless leader. Or should I say, your Roarless leader!”

-The Kion and Nala dynamic is really sweet. “There’s nothing to forgive. You were saving my life.” I mean, I’m not sure Janja would’ve killed her. She would’ve been able to lay down some attacks on him, but, it’s the fact that Kion came to her rescue when she was outnumbered. But, either way, the Mother/Son moments warmed my heart, and continue to warm my heart to this day.

-Nala ruffling Kion’s Mohawk is super cute, I wanna cry. Kion feels like he would be a Mommy’s Boy more than anything, whereas, Kiara feels like she’d be a Daddy’s Girl. I also love Gabrielle Union’s Nala voice. Also, the little nuzzle between a mother and her son at the end is my serotonin.

-I love the dialogue between the members of the Guard in this episode, and the way it really shows that they are really looking out for each other. Also, this is the first instance of Fuli being Kion’s second-in-command when he’s away.

-Let’s talk about the Makuu argument as well. Nala’s disadvantage towards Janja’s clan was based on logistics, as is the crocodile conundrum. In this situation, 12 crocodiles (I counted them, you’re welcome for that) Vs. 3 young animals is an easy win for Makuu. Bunga, Fuli and Beshte are severely outnumbered here. With Bunga and Fuli barely making a dent and Beshte being able to put up a fight, but still being overtaken by Makuu’s float.

-The crocodiles grabbing and tackling Nala into the water with them was a dick move on Makuu’s part, but also an ingenious move because Nala is in water at this point, so she’s at a considerable disadvantage yet again. And if Kion didn’t get the self-confidence he needed to send Makuu and Co. flying, Nala would’ve continued to be stuck there.

-I love the animation of the water and the different shots of the Floodplains. I also love the animation of Kion directing the Roar and, in turn, hitting the water, sending Makuu and his Float flying. That’s not surprising since this episode came out at a time where Disney were really good at animating realistic water and it shows. I do love the score when Kion finally defeats Makuu, in the end.

-Now onto the B-Plot, Ono’s plight in this episode is good too. Unlike The Rise of Makuu, his character arc connects to main story very nicely because it’s all linked back to the Roar and has Kion and Ono both going through their own difficulties. In Ono’s case, he is very self-conscious over losing his head-feathers to the “Dark Roar”, and becomes understandably insecure and embarrassed over not looking like a normal egret, and he worries about what the other egrets will say him. I’m sure we’ve all had our fair share of embarrassment in life.

-I can’t stress how much I love Bunga in this episode. I just adore his friendship moments with Kion and Ono in this episode. For Ono, I adore the way he attempts to help Ono feel better about himself and be more comfortable in himself. I just love the way Bunga tries to boost Ono’s self-esteem so he can feel less embarrassed. That’s what I call through friendship. But more importantly, Bunga got some much needed character growth in this episode. This just proves that while Bunga can be annoying (I will admit that as much as I love him, he’s not perfect), he can also an intelligent, creative, inventive, mature, reliable, honest, kind-hearted and sincere guy, when he needs to be. This is easily one of Bunga’s best moments in the entire series, right up there with “The Search for Utamu” and “Babysitter Bunga”.

-The song “Stand Up, Stand Out” is one of the best songs of Season 1, in my opinion, and overall, one of the best Bunga songs in the entire series. Not only is it a complete bop that kids can dance around to and sing-along to the beat, but, it has a great lesson about “Not being afraid to stand out from the crowd and how there’s no need to feel embarrassed about it.” I actually think older viewers would appreciate that. Little kids tend to have it easy because they seem to be more confident in general, but then, kids from like 9 to 14, and teenagers are more likely to be self-conscious. This song has a good message about why it’s okay to “stand out from your peers”. I mean, it’s in the words of the song, “Stand up, stand out. Let the Pride Lands hear you shout. Be proud, be free. To be the way that you wanna be.” In addition to that, it was lovely to see Fuli and Beshte joining in, because Bunga was at his absolute best in this episode. I’ll give it a 9/10.

-"His head looks more like a hippo bottom!" That was funnier than it had any right to be. I also just love Bunga and Fuli sticking up for Ono, and, at least, Bunga tried to make Ono feel good about himself. Plus, Bunga only mentioned it because Beshte mentioned it first. I do like that Ono is kind of a perfectionist, though, where he likes things to have symmetry, but then he overcame in the end.

 -"Careful Ono that's a Bunga original," I love Bunga so much in this episode. He's been such friend the way he's trying to help Ono and Kion out with their respective struggles, Kion with his moral dilemma about the Roar, and Ono with feeling more confident in himself. Also, Timon's Ma would've totally taught Bunga a thing or two about hairdos, LOL!

-Bunga, in the pilot, "I not be the biggest honey badger, but, I know what's my heart....." I mean, he does have a point and in this episode he really shines at being a good friend.

 Overall

So, overall, this episode is really good and probably one of the best out of Season 1. It's just perfect in every single way in my opinion. From the animation, to the sound effects of the "Dark Roar", to the different shots of the Pride Lands and the music. I loved all the character interactions between Kion and the Lion Guard, Nala and Kion and then Makuu's Float. I was engaged the whole time. This episode is surprisingly dark and complex for a Disney Junior show. Kion's character arc is surprisingly complex and intense storytelling. I love the idea that he's worried about the power he's been gifted to protect the Pride Lands. I'm glad the writers did something with Kion's fear of turning into Scar this early on in the series. I really like the lesson about anger and not being afraid to be assertive that Kion learns. It serves as really good character development for him. It's rare that we get to see Kion and Nala interacting 1 on 1 in this series. This kind of feels like a Mommy and Son episode for kids. Their relationship is really sweet. Makuu is back and he's an awesome villain in every single way. He's so scary for little kids and I love him and I love the voice acting. I just adore Bunga in this episode too. His heart-to-heart moment with Kion was one of the most beautiful interactions I've seen in this whole show. This is how he always should've been. I love his interactions with Ono in this episode and how he tries to teach him how to feel good about himself. The only thing that I have some gripes about is Ono's crest feathers just starting to grow back at the end. But, other than that, I consider Never Roar Again a 10/10. I genuinely don't have any faults with this episode. This review is dedicated to Lane Graves, the kid who tragically got killed by an alligator at Disney World (R.I.P. Lane Graves 2013 - 2016).

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