The Lion King is a franchise that has a lot of deep lore about the history of the Pride Lands, something that has been expanded in supplementary material like novels, video games, and TV shows. However, it seems that Mufasa: The Lion King is throwing all that lore out to weave a fresh story, which may include a plot point that recontextualizes the entirety of The Lion King.
The teaser for the film came with a lot of clues as to what the story of the film is going to be, but it seems to retcon quite a bit of established lore of Disney’s The Lion King. To begin with, it indicates that Mufasa will not be of royal blood in this iteration of The Lion King, as spoken by what a young Rafiki narrated in the trailer.
Mufasa being an outsider could not only change Lion King‘s history, but it would also change the story of Lion King itself
Mufasa has been very clearly implied to be an outsider in all the material that has been released for the film. One theory has emerged in the wake of this information, posited by X(formerly Twitter) user @Olessan, who pointed out the possible ramifications of Mufasa’s status as an outsider in the Royal family of the Pride Lands. The theory suggests that Taka (Scar) is actually the true heir of the Pride Lands.
To begin with, this would put Scar in a position of being the actual ruler of the throne of the Pride Lands, which would mean that the plot of The Lion King would change to Scar trying to reclaim the throne that was taken away from him. This not only paints Scar in a sympathetic light but also makes Mufasa the usurper rather than the rightful king of the Pride Lands.
Mufasa being an outsider who has been given the throne of the Pride Lands changes the story of The Lion King completely, with the focus shifting from restoring the rightful king to the throne, to a tragedy that sees the rightful heir of the Pride Lands be thoroughly deposed by two generations of usurpers.
Was Scar ever in line for the throne of the Pride Lands?
In the original animated film, Mufasa was depicted as Scar’s full-blooded brother, considered to be older than him. Mufasa was always in line for the throne, with Scar’s responsibilities lying elsewhere. As depicted in the Disney Animated series The Lion Guard, the second born of the Royal Family takes up the responsibilities of the Lion Guard, wielding the Roar of the Elders to protect the Pride Lands, which Scar was a part of, before the role was taken away from him.
This seems to have been retconned, along with the parentage of both Mufasa and Scar. Instead of Ahadi and Uru being the parents of the young princes (as revealed in The Lion King: Six New Adventures), the two are depicted in the film to be of separate families, of which one is the Royal Family of the Pride Lands, while the other is not.
As depicted in Lion King: Simba’s Pride, there have been two separate prides of lions in the Pride Lands and the Outlands, which were united in the wake of Kiara’s union with Kovu, Scar’s protege. However, the divide shown in the film seems to be wholly different, following a new mythology for the established canon of the films.
The depiction of Scar being royal and Mufasa being the outsider is a major deviation from all the material that Disney has released since the release of the original animated film, way back in 1994. Scar was never in line to rule according tot he film, or even in any of the expansions that were released. This wholly new invention is the first time fans will hear of Scar being in line to rule the Pride Lands, which would be his birthright.
