Beshte

Beshte is a male hippopotamus. He is the former strongest of the Lion Guard. He currently serves as a member of the Night Pride.
When Kion became the leader of the Lion Guard, he appointed Beshte to be its strongest member. At first, Simba was loath to accept Kion's new team, as it was not comprised of lions, but when the new Lion Guard drove Janja's clan out of the Pride Lands, he finally embraced and accepted them.
Later, the spirit of Scar emerged and began waging war on the Pride Lands. Along with the Pride Landers, the Lion Guard launched an invasion of the Outlands, defeated Scar's army of Outlanders, and destroyed Scar for good.
In the wake of the battle with Scar's army, Kion suffered from a snake bite and had to seek healing at the Tree of Life. The Lion Guard accompanied him there and ended up assisting the local Night Pride in fighting off an army of predators. Ultimately, the Lion Guard chose to forfeit their roles as the protectors of the Pride Lands to Vitani's self-formed Lion Guard and joined the Night Pride instead.
==Biography==
===Early life===
Beshte was born to Basi. He lived in the Pride Lands as a member of Basi's pod.
As a youngster, Beshte befriended Kion, Bunga, and Fuli. One day, Janja and his lackeys, Cheezi and Chungu, attempted to steal an egret egg and take it back to the Outlands. Beshte suggested that they tell Simba, but Kion insisted that they did not have time and that they had to save the egg themselves. The four friends rushed to confront the hyenas, and Kion ordered Beshte to take out Cheezi. Once the hyenas had been defeated, Beshte and his friends gathered around the egg, which hatched into Ono.
===Calfhood===
====Dawn of the Lion Guard====
Seasons later, while playing Baobab Ball, Kion and Bunga hopped across a river using the backs of several hippopotamuses, including Beshte. As the two bounded past, Beshte greeted them warmly.
Later, after Kion became the new leader of the Lion Guard, he resolved to speak with Beshte. Along with Bunga and Ono, he journeyed to the watering hole and watched as Beshte created a water slide for several other hippopotamuses. Bunga asked if Beshte was going to be the strongest member, and Kion confirmed this.
Afterward, Beshte joined Kion, Bunga, and Ono as they moved on to recruit Fuli. Upon finding her being chased by baboons, Kion ordered Beshte to lie down in their path. Then, as Fuli jumped over Beshte's back, Kion yelled, "Now!" and Beshte stood up, blocking the baboons' path.
After the incident, Kion gathered his friends and invited them to join his new Lion Guard. He attempted to show them the Roar of the Elders, but it came out as a squeak, to his shock and confusion. Just then, Simba arrived and chided Kion for his choice of Lion Guard members. He insisted that the Guard must be comprised of lions only and berated Kion for treating his role as leader like a game. Upset and conflicted, Kion left to think by himself.
While Kion was away, the rest of the team witnessed Janja's clan attacking a herd of gazelles. Kion reconvened with his friends and declared that only the Lion Guard could stop the hyenas. Beshte reminded Kion of what Simba had said, but Kion countered that they were the best Lion Guard, regardless of what species they were. He then bestowed the mark of the Guard on Beshte, Bunga, Fuli, and Ono.
Together, the five friends attacked the hyenas and drove them back into the Outlands. Kion finished the fight by using the Roar of the Elders to blow the clan out of the Pride Lands. Simba happened to witness the fight from a nearby ridge and realized that his son had been wise in his choice of teammates. He congratulated his son on the Lion Guard's victory and accepted the team as the new protectors of the Pride Lands.
====Journey to Flat Ridge Rock====
When Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu invaded the Pride Lands and chased after a herd of oryx, the Lion Guard raced to the rescue. As the hyenas fled toward the Outlands, Kion gave chase, while the rest of the Lion Guard calmed the herd. However, as Kion was crossing a river on a log, it broke beneath his weight, and he fell into the raging waters below.
The rest of the Lion Guard ran alongside the river after Kion, and Bunga even jumped into the river himself, only to start drowning. Beshte quickly leaped after Bunga and bore him to safety. Meanwhile, Kion managed to pull himself to safety on the opposite bank of the river, which was in the Outlands. Ono swooped down to check on his friend, and Kion admitted that the river was too rough for crossing. He then instructed his friends to meet him at Flat Ridge Rock while he attempted to navigate the Outlands and return home. Bunga claimed to know where Flat Ridge Rock was, but Kion sent Ono after the Guard to ensure they made it there safely.
Bunga led the Lion Guard into an area of dense jungle. After a few mishaps, including a run-in with Ushari, the friends realized that Bunga was lost. Beshte suggested that they talk to Mbeya, who knew the Pride Lands very well, and the Lion Guard agreed to the new plan.
Upon arriving at the watering hole, Beshte engaged Mbeya in conversation while his friends waited on the edge of the water. Eventually, the friends grew impatient and insisted that Beshte wrap up his conversation. Realizing that he had forgotten to ask about Flat Ridge Rock, Beshte rushed back to ask Mbeya for directions.
With Beshte in the lead, the Lion Guard continued to search for Flat Ridge Rock until Ono located it on a nearby ridge. Fuli speeded ahead of her friends, and the Lion Guard scrambled to catch up with her. Once the others reached Flat Ridge Rock, they complained that Kion never would have left them behind, and Fuli apologized for being over-eager.
While at Flat Ridge Rock, the Lion Guard overheard Kion using the Roar of the Elders and rushed to his defense. However, when the Lion Guard confronted Jasiri, Kion insisted that she was a friend, and Beshte declared that any friend of Kion's was a friend of his. Together, the Lion Guard and Jasiri walked to the border of the Pride Lands, where Kion and Jasiri exchanged fond farewells.
====Conflict with Makuu====
Upon hearing an animal's cries for help, the Lion Guard rushed to the rescue. However, when the team arrived at the scene, they found Pim stuck in a thorn bush. Annoyed by the false alarm, the Guard proceeded to free Pim, only for him to get immediately swallowed by Ushari. Bunga saved Pim and tossed Ushari away, only to nearly hit Beshte. In an attempt to get out of the way, Beshte hopped into a nearby mudpit and got covered in mud and flowers.
Along with his friends, Beshte went to Big Springs for a bath. While cleaning off, he showed his friends his home and demonstrated how the fish could lick his body clean. Just then, the friends overheard Makuu challenging his leader, Pua, to a mashindano. Beshte asked his father, Basi, for an explanation, and Basi explained that a mashindano was a crocodile tradition that determined their leadership hierarchy.
Later, the animals of the Pride Lands gathered at Lake Matope to witness the mashindano. With relative ease, Makuu managed to pull a victory over the aged Pua. After Pua's defeat, the Lion Guard gathered in the Lair of the Lion Guard. However, in the midst of the gathering, Kiara appeared and warned Kion that the giraffes had moved into the baboon's forest. The Lion Guard rushed to the rescue, and Kion discovered that Makuu had invaded Big Springs, which had forced the other animals to switch habitats.
The Lion Guard confronted Makuu and asked him to leave Big Springs. However, Makuu refused and mocked Kion for being unwilling to fight. Though Beshte, Bunga, Fuli, and Ono encouraged Kion to use the Roar of the Elders, he decided against it, as he did not want to be like Scar and lash out in anger.
The Lion Guard returned to Pride Rock, where Kiara revealed that there had been an invasion of baboons. With this added chaos, the Lion Guard was forced to make a choice, and Kion decided to demonstrate his power to Makuu. Beshte suggested that he use the Roar of the Elders on a grove of trees, and Kion agreed. Once at Big Springs, Bunga, Fuli, and Ono cleared the grove of animals, while Beshte and Kion confronted Makuu. When Ono gave the signal, Beshte informed Kion, who roared into the trees, clearing them all of their branches. Shocked by Kion's power, Makuu backed down and led his float out of Big Springs.
After Makuu left Big Springs, the animals returned to their usual habitats, and Basi invited the crocodiles to return to Big Springs once the fish population spiked. The Lion Guard watched in satisfaction.
====Bunga the Wise====
During a rainstorm, the Lion Guard attempted to keep a troop of baboons from falling off a cliff in the branches of a loose tree. While Beshte used his strength to keep the tree upright, the Lion Guard attempted to reason with the baboons, to no avail. Eventually, Kion sent Bunga up to scare the baboons down with his stink, after which Beshte let the tree fall over the cliff.
After the rescue, the Lion Guard took a breather. Not long into their break, they spotted a wall of floodwater rushing across the plains toward them. Kion ordered Ono to take a look, and Ono informed the Guard that Lake Kiziwa was flooding. Bunga proposed that they knock a pile of large rocks into the way of the floodwater, and the Lion Guard did so, momentarily stopping the flood.
As several Pride Landers gathered around, Rafiki approached and started to compliment honey badgers on their wisdom, only to drop a piece of fruit and not finish his sentence. Bunga extrapolated that he was the smartest animal in the Pride Lands, then took off to tell his uncles, Timon and Pumbaa.
As the Lion Guard raced after Bunga, they encountered animal after animal who needed their help due to the flood. The Lion Guard was about to check on the cobras when Ono flew up and proclaimed that they had to see what was going on at Hakuna Matata Falls. Upon arriving at Hakuna Matata Falls, the Lion Guard saw animals lined up to meet Bunga, who had proclaimed himself to be a sage. While the rest of the Lion Guard entered Bunga's tree to try and reason with him, Beshte remained outside due to his size.
After the Lion Guard failed to dissuade Bunga, Fuli commented bitterly that Bunga was the last animal who should be doling out advice, to which Beshte pointed out that Bunga had stopped the lake from flooding. Kion agreed but admitted that he had a bad feeling about the situation.
Just then, the Lion Guard saw Mbuni with her head in the sand and helped free her. Once free, she explained that "Bunga the Wise" had advised her to hide from hyenas by sticking her head in the sand. Shortly afterward, the friends encountered more and more animals who had taken Bunga's bad advice and were forced to rescue them. Finally, Kion admitted that they needed to stop Bunga before it was too late.
Just then, the Lion Guard noticed Bunga at the head of a parade, celebrating his great wisdom. Kion approached and once again attempted to make Bunga see reason, but Bunga argued that everyone loved his advice. Timon added that Bunga had fixed the dam. However, no sooner had he said this when the dam broke, and the animals were forced to flee across the plains. The Lion Guard rescued what animals they could, with Beshte blocking floodwaters to allow a herd of zebras to escape.
With Kion in the lead, the animals ran into a canyon, only to get trapped at a dead end. The animals looked to Bunga for wisdom, but he told them to listen to Kion, who truly did know how to handle bad situations. Thinking quickly, Kion ordered the others to stand behind him and used the Roar of the Elders to send the floodwaters surging backwards.
With the Pride Lands safe, the Lion Guard relaxed at a new water hole that had been created by the floodwaters. While Kion and Fuli laid on the bank, Beshte rested in the water with Ono on his back.
====Kiara's temporary queenship====
When Simba left Kiara in charge of the Pride Lands, Beshte believed that she would make a nice queen. Kion, however, was miffed. While the Lion Guard waited for Ono to join them for their morning patrol, they spotted him flying toward Pride Rock and scrambled to catch up with him. Once at Pride Rock, the Lion Guard witnessed Tiifu and Zuri giving Kiara a royal introduction and Ono delivering the morning report to Kiara.
After listening to Ono's morning report, Kiara sent the Lion Guard to divert a herd of elands from running into some bees who were building hives along a path. However, Kion refused to listen to Kiara and tried to move the bees himself. The plan ended up backfiring, and the bees chased and stung the Lion Guard.
After the disaster, Kiara chided Kion for his disobedience. Later, she decided to meet Janja alone at Broken Rock, for she believed that she knew better than Kion. Knowing that Kiara was making a mistake, Kion assembled the Lion Guard, and they helped save Kiara from Janja's clan.
====Ono's injury====
The Lion Guard tried to calm a wildebeest stampede but struggled to see through the thick dust. Kion called to Ono, who could see from overhead, and he helped the Lion Guard pinpoint where Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu were. Beshte and Bunga took down Cheezi and Chungu, Kion fought Janja. However, as Ono was watching the hyenas flee into the Outlands, he got sand in his eye and fell to the ground.
Acting quickly, the Lion Guard brought Ono to Rafiki, who constructed an eye patch for him and told him to stay out of action for three days. Though Kion tried to reassure Ono that the Lion Guard could get by without him, Ono insisted on proving himself and attempted to show off his keen sight to his friends. However, as he was flying over the Pride Lands, he bumped into Mwoga, who observed the chaos of the Lion Guard down below and decided to report back to Mzingo.
Later, Beshte rushed up to his friends and told them that he had important news. However, in trying to explain how he had gotten the information from Kulu, he forgot to include the most crucial part, and Fuli had to remind him to continue his tale. Beshte then reported that Janja had been spotted on a ledge near a herd of grazing zebras. Kion deduced that the hyenas must be after the zebras, and so he took the Lion Guard, minus Ono, to investigate.
As Kion led the Lion Guard into a canyon, Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu dropped rocks on either side of the Lion Guard, trapping them in the ravine. After gloating to Kion, Janja rushed off to pick off the zebra herd. Though Beshte and his friends attempted to escape the ravine, they continually failed. Just in time, Ono appeared, and Kion instructed him to move the zebras so that he could safely blast the rocks with the Roar of the Elders.
Ono did as he had been instructed, and Kion broke the Lion Guard free. With the Lion Guard now back in commission, the hyenas fled, and the Lion Guard returned to Pride Rock. Once there, they reconvened with Rafiki, who had redone his painting of the Lion Guard so that Kion was among his friends, not just his teammates.
====Kupatana====
On the day of Kupatana, Simba overheard a choir practicing for the upcoming celebration. He complimented Basi's voice, and Beshte proclaimed that his father had been practicing extensively for the upcoming celebration. The other members of the Lion Guard expressed their excitement for the "party," to which Simba reminded them that Kupatana was a day of peace where all the animals in the Pride Lands gathered together.
In the midst of the conversation, the Lion Guard overheard a jackal pup being chased in the Outlands by Janja and his clan. Though Kion was hesitant to interfere with Outlands business, Simba encouraged him to save the jackal pup in the spirit of Kupatana.
With Kion in the lead, the Lion Guard entered the Outlands and fought off the hyenas. To Kion's surprise, instead of putting up a fight, Janja simply let the Guard take the pup without a fight. Though confused, Kion checked on the jackal pup, who introduced himself as Dogo and asked if he could go to the Pride Lands with the Lion Guard. Kion hesitated, but when Dogo made a cute, innocent expression, he allowed the pup to join them.
Once in the Pride Lands, the Lion Guard explained what Kupatana was to Dogo and invited him to join the celebration. They then granted him a hillside to use as his new home, and Kion led the Lion Guard away for their daily patrol.
While on patrol, Beshte and Bunga spotted Dogo's brothers making themselves at home in some aardvark warrens. When the amount of jackals became too much for them, they called for Kion, and he raced to the rescue. Once with Beshte and Bunga, Kion attempted to find Dogo among the jackal pups, and Reirei stepped forward, introducing herself and Goigoi as Dogo's parents. She then appealed to Kion to let her family stay in the Pride Lands, for Dogo could not stay on his own, away from his family. Though miffed, Kion reluctantly agreed to her demands and made her promise to stop stealing food from the aardvarks.
After wrapping up business with Reirei, the Lion Guard rescued Mbeya from a mud pit. No sooner had they done this when they heard several Pride Landers crying out in distress. The Lion Guard followed the noise to where the jackals were surrounded by angry Pride Landers, and Kion lectured Reirei for having stolen from other animals. Reirei claimed that the customs of the Pride Lands were so different from the jackals' own ways and asked if her family could participate in Kupatana. Kion reluctantly allowed them to join, but only if they treated the other Pride Landers with respect.
That evening, the Kupatana celebration began, and the animals witnessed the blooming of the baobab blossoms. However, in the midst of the proceedings, Reirei and her family broke through the crowd of animals and began to attack. Kion and Simba implored the Pride Landers to work together and fight off the jackals, and Kion jumped down to join the Lion Guard in wrangling up the jackal family. Together, they cornered Reirei and her family in the midst of Mizimu Grove, and Kion ordered them to return to the Outlands. Reirei pleaded for a second chance, but Simba stepped forward and roared, which caused the jackals to flee.
With the jackals gone, Kion apologized for his mistake, and Simba reminded him that it had been he who had encouraged the Lion Guard to rescue Dogo. He then pointed out that all the Pride Landers had stood together in fighting off the jackals, just as the spirit of Kupatana encouraged. Bunga began to eat the fallen baobab blossoms, and many of the Pride Landers joined in.
====Disturbing Fuli's hunting====
The Lion Guard was leading a herd of cape buffalo away from a mudslide when Bunga got flung on top of Ushari. Out of pure reflex, Ushari bit him, and Ono exclaimed that the bite was venomous. Beshte asked Ushari why he would bite Bunga, and Ushari explained that Bunga had landed on his head and that he was lucky to have only gotten bitten once.
With Bunga on Beshte's back, the Lion Guard raced to Rafiki's tree. However, Rafiki explained that Bunga was immune to snake bites. Relieved, Timon and Pumbaa resolved to throw a feast in celebration of Bunga's immunity, but none of the other Lion Guard members could attend, save Fuli, who had originally had plans to hunt by herself. As Fuli walked away with Timon and Pumbaa, Beshte, Kion, and Ono wondered if they should involve her more in their activities.
Later, Fuli ran into Beshte, who convinced her to take a dip in the water with him. Despite her aversion to water, Fuli crept to the edge of the pool, only for Beshte to accidentally knock her into the water. Annoyed, Fuli returned to shore and said a hasty goodbye to Beshte.
After their encounters with Fuli, Beshte, Kion, and Ono met up with one another and related how they had each tried to involve Fuli in their daily activities. Upon hearing each other's stories, they realized that Fuli may just want to be left alone, and so they resolved to find her and promise to let her be herself from then on.
Meanwhile, Bunga and Fuli got cornered by Janja's clan in the volcano. Just in time, the rest of the Lion Guard arrived and helped Bunga and Fuli escape. Beshte knocked over a dead tree, and Bunga and Fuli raced across it to escape the hyenas. Once safely back in the Pride Lands, the Lion Guard decided to cool off at the water hole, and Kion reminded Fuli that she did not have to come. Fuli thanked Kion for understanding but reassured him that she still enjoyed the company of her friends and that she thought of them as her family. The five friends then joined in a group hug.
====Search for Utamu====
While checking on a herd of cape buffalo, the Lion Guard realized that the herd was grazing near a geyser. The geyser exploded, and the herd took off in a panic, but Fuli circled them until they calmed down. The rest of the Lion Guard caught up to her and expressed that they were impressed. No sooner had this danger been abated when three galagos cried out for help. Before Kion could instruct his team on what to do, Fuli rushed to the rescue and saved them on her own. Kion lectured her for having rushed ahead of her teammates, but Fuli reminded him that she had known that she could handle it by herself.
Shortly afterward, the team stumbled across Mapema Rock, and Bunga resolved to hunt for Utamu grubs. Just then, the Lion Guard heard a cry for help, and Ono reported that a serval had tried to jump across Big Ravine. Once again, without waiting for instruction, Fuli made the save on her own, and Kion confronted her in a fury.
After the argument, Kion instructed Fuli to rest while the rest of the Lion Guard helped Bunga find Utamu grubs. During the search, the group got lost, but Bunga instructed them to follow the dung beetles. The friends proceeded to slowly follow a few dung-rolling beetles.
While following the dung beetles, Bunga told his friends about the day that he had met his adoptive uncles, Timon and Pumbaa. After the story, Bunga attempted to climb a tree to fetch some Utamu grubs, but the branch broke beneath him, and the Utamu fell into the ravine below. As Bunga grieved over the lost grubs, Kion pointed out that there were vultures circling over the savanna and that an animal may need their help.
As the Lion Guard raced to the rescue, they realized that it was Fuli who had been set upon by Mzingo and his parliament. Just in time, the Lion Guard fought off the vultures, and Kion used the Roar of the Elders to blow them out of the Pride Lands. Once the vultures were gone, Fuli thanked her friends for having saved her and promised to wait for them on the next mission.
After Fuli's rescue, the Lion Guard traveled to Hakuna Matata Falls, where they shared in a feast of Utamu grubs with Timon and Pumbaa.
====Mentoring Mtoto====
When the Lion Guard got alerted to a hyena attack, they arrived on the scene and demanded to know where the hyenas were. At Kion's cry, a group of young animals emerged from the thicket and explained that they had simply been playing "Lion Guard." Kion reminded them that pretending to be hyenas was dangerous, and the young animals vowed to never play such a game again.
Afterward, Mtoto approached Beshte and suggested that the real Lion Guard play with them. The other young animals were excited by this idea, but Kion admitted that they had business elsewhere. However, Mtoto begged Beshte to stay, and so Beshte invited Mtoto to watch the Lion Guard train. On the way to the training session, Mtoto gushed about his love for Beshte and admitted that Beshte was the reason that he liked the Lion Guard so much.
Once at the training grounds, Beshte told his teammates that he had brought along Mtoto, and Kion agreed to let the young elephant train with them. First, the team did an obstacle course, but when it was Mtoto's turn to dash through the water, he got water in his trunk and sprayed it all over Fuli. After Mtoto's mistake, Kion decided to run a stealth-surround drill, during which the team attempted to sneak up on him without alerting him to their presence. However, as they were drilling, Mtoto accidentally fell down a steep cliff and landed on top of Bunga.
After the disaster, Beshte volunteered to walk Mtoto home. On their way home, Beshte tried to encourage Mtoto by reminding him that he would grow up someday and that he should embrace his inner hero. Encouraged, Mtoto returned to his friends and continued playing "Lion Guard" with them. Meanwhile, Beshte got delayed by a group of Pride Landers, who complained to him about the hyenas, and Beshte promised to take care of the hyenas.
Unbeknownst to Beshte, Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu were attacking Mtoto and his friends. After a brief skirmish, the hyenas targeted Mtoto as the slowest. Across the savanna, Beshte continued to comfort the worried Pride Landers until Mtoto's friends rushed up to Beshte and begged him to save Mtoto from the hyenas. Beshte immediately raced to the rescue, going underwater just as Ono swooped past.
Beshte showed up in time to save Mtoto from the hyenas, and the two escaped into a nearby river. Together, Beshte and Mtoto managed to avoid the hyenas, who skulked on the edges of the river, trying to catch a bite of them as they passed. However, the two ran into a float of crocodiles, and Beshte encouraged Mtoto to be stealthy as they snuck past.
Ono happened to catch sight of Beshte and Mtoto, and raced back to alert the rest of the Lion Guard. Too late, Beshte and Mtoto got spotted by the crocodiles, and Mtoto fended them off by spraying water with his trunk. Just then, the rest of the Lion Guard appeared and dispatched of the crocodiles. In the chaos, the hyenas got knocked into the water, where they were chased in circles by the crocodile float.
After the rescue, Mtoto related his tale of rescue to his friends, who reacted with amazement and awe. Kion approached the youngsters and volunteered to give each of them a muddy mark of the Lion Guard, to which they crowded around him eagerly. Mtoto, who already bore his muddy mark proudly, proclaimed to Beshte that he was his hero, and Beshte, in turn, proclaimed that Mtoto was his.
====Encounter with Tamaa====
The Lion Guard was alerted to the presence of three predators: Goigoi, Janja, and Makuu. The animals who had overheard the three predators rushed up to Kion, begging him for help, and the Lion Guard set out to resolve the problem. While Kion looked for Janja, Beshte and Bunga searched the river bank for Makuu, and Fuli and Ono tracked down Goigoi. Despite investigating the sites of the incidents, the Lion Guard failed to yield any results, save for the thievery of the victims' food. Confused, Kion pressed the animals for more information, and he discovered that Goigoi, Janja, and Makuu had all said the same thing to their victims.
Just then, the Lion Guard overheard Janja and followed his voice to where a drongo named Tamaa was sitting in a bush. The Lion Guard pressed him for information, and he pointed them in the right direction. However, as the Lion Guard was following Tamaa's instructions, Ono suddenly instructed them to turn back.
Once the Lion Guard returned to Tamaa, they witnessed him mimicking Janja's voice in order to scare off a hyrax and steal its food. Kion confronted Tamaa for his wrongdoing, and Tamaa admitted that he had been the one scaring off animals in order to steal their food. He proceeded to show off his voice mimicry to the Lion Guard. Despite Tamaa's impressive skills, Kion remained unimpressed and made him promise to only use his own voice from then on.
No sooner had Tamaa made his promise when the Lion Guard overheard the real Janja chasing down a herd of impalas. They raced to the rescue and put a stop to the hyena's schemes, forcing Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu to return to the Outlands. After the incident, the Lion Guard ran into Thurston, who was fervently trying to escape danger. Upon being questioned, he revealed that he and the impalas had heard Kion instructing them to go to the Outlands for safety. Suspicious, Kion surmised that Janja was forcing Tamaa to herd impalas into the Outlands for his own satisfaction, and the Lion Guard rushed off to put a stop to the danger.
Just as the hyenas were cornering Tamaa in the Outlands, the Lion Guard arrived and chased the hyenas away from Tamaa and the impalas. Together, they escorted the impalas back to the Pride Lands, and Tamaa vowed to only use his voice for good from then on. After making his promise, Tamaa imitated Bunga's voice and swooped away.
====Bunga's prediction====
The Lion Guard resolved to rescue an infant gazelle whose hoof was stuck under a large rock. Beshte rushed down and lifted the rock off the gazelle's hoof, but the moment Bunga pulled him free, they both went tumbling over the edge of a steep drop. Just in time, Kion grabbed hold of Bunga and pulled both animals to safety.
After the rescue, Ono escorted the gazelle home while the rest of the Lion Guard headed to the Lair of the Lion Guard. Shortly afterward, Ono swept in and reported a zebra stampede, and the team took off to sort out the problem. However, as they were running alongside the stampede, Bunga recognized a nearby pile of rocks as being similar to one in Rafiki's paintings. Horrified, he realized that the rocks were going to fall on the zebra herd, and so, with the Lion Guard's help, he steered the zebras to safety, and the rocks fell harmlessly to the earth.
With the mission successfully sorted, Bunga showed Beshte some of Rafiki's paintings. While spectating the paintings, the two spotted a painting of a cub who resembled Kion. When Bunga touched Rafiki's staff to the painting, it showed the cub begin to plummet from a tree. Terrified for their friend's safety, Beshte and Bunga resolved to warn Kion of the danger.
thumb|250px|Bunga shows Beshte some of Rafiki's paintings.
Beshte and Bunga attempted to warn Kion of the cave's foresight, but the cub scoffed at the idea that Rafiki's paintings could predict the future. No sooner had he denied their worries when Ono swept in from overhead and warned the team of a hyena attack. With no time left to worry over Rafiki's paintings, the Lion Guard rushed away to deal with the problem.
Once at the scene of the attack, Kion instructed his teammates to take on Cheezi and Chungu while he handled Janja. As Janja chased a zebra around a large rock, Kion decided to climb an overhanging tree branch in order to ambush him, but Bunga raced after him and tackled him to the ground. Together, the two fell on top of Janja, who promptly fled back to the Outlands.
thumb|left|250px|Beshte, Bunga, and Fuli attempt to stop Kion from climbing a tree.
After the awkward rescue, Kion questioned Bunga as to why he had tackled him, but Bunga simply whispered to Beshte that Kion had fallen from the tree, just as the paintings had predicted. Beshte, however, noted that it had been Bunga who had knocked Kion from the tree, so the cub might still be in danger. Just then, Ono reported that three zebras were stranded on the other side of Maji Baridi Falls.
Along the way to the falls, Bunga attempted to save Kion from tripping over a tree branch, but the branch turned out to be Ushari. Suspicious, Fuli confronted Beshte and Bunga, and they explained the danger that Kion was in. Though reluctant to believe their theory, Fuli decided to help them for the sake of Kion's safety. Just then, Ono called for Kion to climb a tree and take a look around, but Beshte, Bunga, and Fuli leaped after Kion and caused the tree to collapse on the ground.
thumb|250px|Beshte, Bunga, Fuli, and Ono worry after Kion loses his grip.
Kion demanded to know what his friends had been doing but got interrupted when Ono spotted a shortcut through the trees. Bunga quickly suggested a different route, and Beshte and Fuli supported him. Thus, the team ended up taking a new route through a neck-deep, muddy river. While paddling through the river, Bunga explained to Ono that Kion was in danger, and Ono agreed to help his friends keep Kion safe.
The Lion Guard eventually arrived at Maji Baridi Falls, where Beshte, Bunga, Fuli, and Ono became so distracted worrying about Kion that they failed to notice him crossing a large log over a raging river. In a panic, they crossed the log to save him, but the log tipped and threw all four of them to the other side of the river. Furious, Kion demanded to know why his friends were acting so strangely, and Bunga reminded him that Rafiki's paintings had predicted his fall from a tree branch. Kion, however, refused to believe the theory.
thumb|left|250px|Rafiki explains the true meaning of his paintings to the Lion Guard.
With Kion in charge once more, Beshte rose to his feet and accidentally sent a rock rolling toward some zebras, who panicked and fell into the river. The Lion Guard raced alongside them until they reached the end of the falls, where Kion resolved to climb down on an overhanging tree branch and roar the zebras to safety. Bunga protested adamantly, but Kion denounced the paintings once and for all and climbed down to save the zebras. From the tip of a tree branch, Kion used the Roar of the Elders to blow the zebras to safety. On his way back up, he slipped and fell but managed to catch himself and rejoin the team.
After the rescue, the Lion Guard returned to the Lair of the Lion Guard, where Rafiki showed the friends that the paintings had been depictions of the past, not the future. With his staff, he showed that the zebra herd had not been running toward the rocks, but away from them after they had fallen. He then explained that the cub that they had thought was Kion was actually Nala's father. After the revelation, Rafiki forced Bunga to clean up the spilled paints, and Bunga commented that he liked the other paintings better. This caused his friends to laugh.
====Mbali Fields migration====
The Lion Guard rushed to stop a herd of gazelles from fighting with a herd of zebras. Upon recognizing the herd leaders as Muhimu and Swala, Beshte wondered why they were fighting, as they were friends. The Lion Guard rushed toward the two herds, and Beshte cleared a path through the crowd. Kion then roared for attention, and he and Beshte pointed out that the grazing grounds in the Pride Lands were open to everyone. However, Muhimu and Swala explained that there was only one small patch of grass left for both of their herds to share.
thumb|250px|Beshte assists two gazelles during the Mbali Fields migration.
After talking with his father, Simba, Kion decided to lead the herds to Mbali Fields with the rest of the Lion Guard. After getting a route to Mbali Fields from Ono, Kion announced to the herds that he would be leading them to Mbali Fields, and the two herds cheered for him. With Kion in the lead, the herds set out, and the Lion Guard protected them along their way.
Eventually, the herds made it to a canyon. However, as the herds paused to behold Mbali Fields, Muhimu lost patience and charged down the canyon with her herd. Not to be outdone, Swala and her gazelles tore after them. Frantic, the Lion Guard attempted to stop the herds, but, too late, a huge pile of rocks fell into the midst of the canyon and blocked the way into Mbali Fields. Kion quickly realized that they must scout out another route, for the rocks were unmovable. Ono scouted out the area and reported to Kion that the only other way to Mbali Fields would take them through the Outlands. Grimly, Kion accepted their fate.
thumb|left|250px|Beshte rescues two zebras from a flash flood.
As the herds set out, a storm broke over the canyon, and the combined herds began to complain about Kion's leadership. Just then, a flash flood forced the herds to race toward higher ground. While Ono led the bulk of the herds to higher ground, the rest of the Lion Guard rescued those who were still trapped in the rising waters.
Once the herds were safe, they began to complain about Kion, criticizing his choice to take them through the canyon. However, Muhimu spoke up and took the blame for having started the stampede. She then promised to make things easier from then on, and Kion thanked her for her support. Due to Muhimu's words of encouragement, the herds trusted Kion to lead them into the Outlands. However, just as they entered the Outlands, Muhimu began to go into labor, and Kion was forced to make a difficult choice. While he sent Beshte, Fuli, and Ono ahead to keep leading the herds, he and Bunga stayed behind to help Muhimu give birth. Eventually, the Lion Guard regrouped in Mbali Fields, where Beshte welcomed Muhimu's son to the Circle of Life.
====Sinkhole====
The Lion Guard was helping a sable antelope out of the mud when Ono reported that Simba had fallen into a sinkhole. While Kion and Ono raced ahead to check on Simba, the rest of the Lion Guard stayed behind to finish their duty. Once they had rescued the sable antelope, Beshte, Bunga, and Fuli reconvened with Kion and Ono at the sinkhole, and Bunga dove into the sinkhole after Simba.
Beshte asked how deep the sinkhole was and tried to get a closer look. However, his weight caused more ground to crumble, and Nala ordered everyone to stay away from the ledge. After the scare, Kion asserted that he did not want anyone else to fall into the sinkhole, as Bunga and Simba being trapped was bad enough. Beshte pointed out that at least Bunga and Simba had each other.
Eventually, the Lion Guard got the idea to haul a log to the edge of the sinkhole, but when Beshte pushed the log into the sinkhole, it broke apart upon impact with the ground. Though Beshte worried that he had hurt Bunga or Simba, they both emerged unscathed. Before long, Bunga and Simba discovered a tunnel to Nandembo Caverns, and the rest of the Lion Guard agreed to meet them in the underground network. Once Bunga and Simba had gone, Fuli pointed out that the Lion Guard could get completely lost in the tunnels, and Beshte added that hippopotamuses were not experts when it came to tunnels. Kion realized that Timon and Pumbaa could help them, and so Ono rushed off to retrieve them while the rest of the Lion Guard proceeded to Nandembo Caverns.
Upon entering Nandembo Caverns, Timon and Pumbaa wept over Bunga and Simba's predicament. Ono remarked that they were not inspiring much confidence, but Beshte argued that they were merely worried about their adoptive nephews. All of a sudden, the group heard Bunga and Simba's voices and followed the sound to where the two were stranded on the far side of a ravine. In order to get across, Bunga rode on Simba's back, and Simba leaped across the divide. Beshte then quoted his father: "Live long enough, and you'll see everything."
After the rescue, the Lion Guard, Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa traveled to Mizimu Grove, where they performed "Hakuna Matata" for Ma Tembo's herd.
====Friendship with Ajabu====
While playing hide-and-seek with his friends, Beshte attempted to hide, but Kion found him easily. Despite this, Ono praised him for being an unusually good hider for a hippopotamus. During the group's next game, Beshte hid in a bush, where he encountered an okapi named Ajabu. The two introduced themselves, and Ajabu explained that he was from a faraway land, where okapi were forced to live in hiding from leopards. Beshte assured Ajabu that there were no leopards in the Pride Lands and proceeded to give the okapi a tour of the kingdom.
Meanwhile, the Lion Guard continued to play hide-and-seek, unaware that Beshte was missing. While playing, Fuli spotted leopard tracks, and the team traced the leopard, Makucha, to where he was stalking a herd of gazelles. The Lion Guard attempted to chase Makucha off, but he escaped by jumping across Big Ravine.
After Makucha got away, the Lion Guard resolved to stop him, since no one in the Pride Lands knew that leopards were hunters. Kion started to break his team up into groups when he realized that Beshte was still in hiding. Bunga and Ono volunteered to find him and soon spotted him overlooking the plains. Beshte started to introduce them to Ajabu, only to realize that the okapi had disappeared. Beshte tried to explain that Ajabu was half-giraffe and half-zebra, but Bunga and Ono theorized that Beshte had made up an imaginary friend.
Just then, the rest of the Lion Guard showed up, and they set out in search of Makucha. As the team was searching, Beshte caught sight of Ajabu and led the team in a frenzied chase across the Pride Lands. When the chase ended in failure, Bunga and Ono criticized Beshte for trying to make them believe in such an unbelievable animal. Hurt, Beshte walked off by himself, and Kion chided Bunga and Ono for having hurt their friend's feelings. Bunga and Ono saw the wisdom in Kion's words, and so they apologized to Beshte and assured him that they believed him. With Beshte's feelings amended, the team set out in search of Ajabu so that they could warn him about Makucha.
Unbeknownst to the team, Ajabu had worked up the courage to introduce himself to a herd of zebras. While grazing with the herd, Ajabu caught sight of Makucha and raced away in a panic. Makucha attempted to catch Ajabu but got delayed by the zebras. The cries of the zebras alerted the Lion Guard to the situation, but they arrived too late to spot Ajabu. After noticing that the zebras had been left unharmed, Kion theorized that Makucha was after Ajabu alone, and so the team vowed to protect the okapi from harm. Just then, Ajabu raced past with Makucha on his heels, and the Lion Guard took off in pursuit. Together, they forced Makucha to leave the Pride Lands, and he reluctantly departed in search of easier prey.
With Ajabu safe, Beshte introduced his friends to the okapi. He then asked Ajabu what he would do next, and the okapi admitted that he must return home, even if Makucha was waiting for him there. Suddenly, Kion got an idea and brought Ajabu before his parents, Simba and Nala, who allowed him to take up residence in the Pride Lands.
To celebrate Ajabu's new status as a Pride Lander, the Lion Guard decided to play hide-and-seek with him. No sooner had they made this suggestion when Ajabu disappeared, and Bunga commented that he was quite good at disappearing. This made Beshte chuckle.
====Termite infestation====
While the Lion Guard was patrolling the Pride Lands by night, Muhangus and Muhanga alerted them to a clan of hyenas that was scrounging around their dens. With Kion in the lead, the Lion Guard confronted the hyenas, and Kion used the Roar of the Elders to banish them back to the Outlands.
Several days later, the Lion Guard was lounging in the Lair of the Lion Guard when they noticed that the den had become overrun with termites. Just then, Ono flew in and informed the team that a tree in Mekundu Cliffs was about to collapse with a colony of bats inside. Together, the Lion Guard rushed out of the Lair to save the bats.
Along the way, the Lion Guard crossed a log, which snapped and fell into a ravine behind them. The team wondered why it would do such a thing, since it had always been able to hold their weight before, but Kion reminded his friends that they had no time to lose. They proceeded to the tree, where Bunga climbed inside the trunk and woke up the bats. No sooner had the bats flown out when the tree collapsed, and the Lion Guard realized that termites had been the source of the collapsing trees. Just then, all the other trees in Mekundu Cliffs collapsed, and Kion resolved to ask his father about the situation.
Once the Lion Guard reached Pride Rock, Simba suggested that they ask the aardwolves about the problem. When Fuli questioned what an aardwolf was, Simba explained that aardwolves kept the termite population under control. Kion asked where they could find the aardwolves, and Simba suggested that they look in old aardvark dens, since that was the aardwolf's favorite place to sleep. Fuli and Kion immediately began to suspect that the problem was their fault, and their suspicions only deepened when Simba told them that aardwolves strongly resembled hyenas.
After following the aardwolves' scent into the Outlands, the Lion Guard began to search for them. From a nearby hiding spot, the pack spied on the Lion Guard and overheard them musing over whether they should sneak up behind or surround the aardwolves. Terrified, they fled, and the Lion Guard raced after them.
Eventually, the team gave up on the chase, for they realized that the aardwolves were afraid of them. Though the friends were shocked at being perceived as villains, Kion resolved to earn the aardwolves' trust before trying to lead them home. Just then, Ono spotted a lone aardwolf, Mjomba, and yelled down to his team that the aardwolf was running straight for a cliff. Bunga raced ahead of his friends and tackled Mjomba to the ground, saving his life.
The rest of the Lion Guard approached, and Kion explained to Mjomba that they needed the aardwolves back in the Pride Lands to take care of a termite problem. Mjomba retorted that they should never have driven the pack out to begin with, and Kion apologized for the mistake, admitting that he had mistaken the aardwolves for hyenas. He then told Mjomba that he needed the rest of his pack to return home, since the Pride Lands had become infested with termites. Mjomba was hesitant to comply until Bunga and Ono reminded him that he would get to come home and feast on a kingdom overrun with termites. Ravenous, Mjomba complied and raced ahead of the Lion Guard to find his pack.
Meanwhile, the other aardwolves hid in a cave, during which they alerted Reirei to their presence. She fetched Goigoi, and the two resolved to eat the aardwolves for dinner. Together, they approached the pack and introduced themselves as their new neighbors. The aardwolves expressed relief that Reirei and Goigoi were not the Lion Guard, and Reirei assured them that they were nothing like the Lion Guard.
Eventually, the Lion Guard reached the aardwolves' cave, and Kion sent Mjomba ahead to calm the aardwolves into trusting him and his friends. Mjomba entered the cave and told his pack that the Lion Guard could be trusted, but before the pack could leave with him, Reirei and Goigoi trapped them in the cave and launched an attack.
From outside the cave, Kion sensed that something was not right and ordered Ono to peek through the cracks in the rocks to see what was going on. Ono rushed back with a report that the jackals had attacked the aardwolves, and the Lion Guard forced their way into the cave to save the pack. While Fuli led the aardwolves to safety, Kion pinned Reirei to the cave floor and ordered her to go home. When he released her, she and Goigoi fled the cave.
With the jackals defeated, the Lion Guard led the aardwolves home, then relaxed in the Lair of the Lion Guard. Beshte asked Bunga if he missed the termites, and Bunga admitted that he did. Just then, Ono delivered a gift from the aardwolves: a leaf full of termites. As Bunga tucked in hungrily, the rest of the Lion Guard laughed.
====Training Badili====
While lounging at Hakuna Matata Falls, the the Lion Guard watched Bunga perform several dives into a pool at the base of the falls. In the middle of the game, a group of galagos sprinted onto the scene, yelling for help. Beshte questioned one of the galagos, Laini, on why they were so upset, and Laini explained that a leopard had settled in their tree. Kion resolved to help the galagos. However, before the group could leave, Ono informed them that Shingo was stuck in a tree in Ukuni Woods.
After promising to come back for the galagos, the Lion Guard set out to free Shingo, whose neck was stuck in the branches of an acacia tree. Bunga climbed up the trunk and carefully pried Shingo's neck and tongue free, which enabled him to escape the branches of the acacia. Just then, the galagos reappeared, having been frightened away from the falls by Pumbaa's flatulence. The Lion Guard reassured the galagos that they were safe and tried to convince them to return to the falls, but Laini insisted that they remain with the Lion Guard.
With the galagos riding on Beshte's back, the Lion Guard proceeded to the galagos' tree, where they saw the leopard resting in its branches. While the galagos sheltered in a nearby bush, the Lion Guard confronted the leopard. Initially, the leopard put up a brave front, but his courage soon failed him, and he cowered before the team. Confused, the Lion Guard questioned whether he was the ferocious leopard who had driven out the galagos, and the leopard, who introduced himself as Badili, explained that he had not realized that he had been stealing their home.
The Lion Guard questioned whether Badili had territory of his own, and he admitted that he lived in Mirihi Forest, a patch of woodland in the Back Lands. He continued that he would rather share the galagos' tree than leave, but Kion insisted that Badili return to where he belonged. Though Badili tried several tactics to stay in the Pride Lands, he eventually gave in and followed the Lion Guard back to Mirihi Forest.
Along the way, Badili stalled for time, and Kion demanded to know why he was not keen on returning home. Instead of answering, Badili forged ahead of the Lion Guard and returned to his tree alone. As the leopard disappeared into the brush, Kion decided to follow him and see why he was acting so strangely. Together, the Lion Guard hid in the bushes near Badili's tree and watched as he got bullied by another leopard named Mapigano. Outraged by Mapigano's cruelty, the Lion Guard rushed to Badili's defense and forced Mapigano to give Badili his territory back. Mapigano begrudgingly left, and Badili thanked the Lion Guard profusely for their help.
The next day, the Lion Guard was patrolling Embamba Canyon when the galagos approached them in a tizzy once more. The team returned to the galagos' tree, where they found Badili resting in its branches. The team asked him why he had left his territory again, and he confessed that Mapigano had driven him out again. At Badili's words, Kion realized that he had made a mistake in having chased off Mapigano himself. He informed his team that Badili must face Mapigano alone to show that he was not afraid, then offered to teach Badili how to stand up for himself. Though hesitant, Badili agreed to train with the Lion Guard.
At the start of his training sessions, Badili struggled to act confidently. Beshte tried to train him how to push over a boulder, but he was too weak to move it. However, over time, Badili learned to face his fears and be strong and swift. Upon pushing the boulder over a cliff, Beshte smiled in delight. Once fully trained, Badili got tested by the Lion Guard, who questioned him on what he would do if Mapigano challenged him. Badili passed every test, and the Lion Guard expressed their confidence in his newfound determination.
Together, the Lion Guard and Badili returned to Mirihi Forest, where the Lion Guard waited in hiding as Badili confronted Mapigano. With newfound determination, Badili demanded that Mapigano leave his territory, but Mapigano simply sprung into attack mode and laughed when Badili's confidence began to wither. The bigger leopard continued to taunt Badili until Badili took a deep breath and declared that he was not afraid. He proceeded to dodge all of Mapigano's attacks, then roared at him. Thoroughly intimidated, Mapigano fled, and the Lion Guard cheered for Badili's bravery.
With Mapigano gone, Badili admitted that he had been terrified, but the Lion Guard assured him that he had looked nothing short of brave. Badili thanked the Lion Guard for believing in him, but Kion reminded him that he had believed in himself. The Lion Guard then left to inform the galagos that they were free to return home.
Once back in the Pride Lands, the Lion Guard took a break at Hakuna Matata Falls. However, they got interrupted by Laini, who informed them that someone else had invaded her tree. The Lion Guard rushed to the scene, only to find Bunga resting in the tree branches with Laini's galago friends.
====Nne and Tano's attack====
After a rainstorm hit the Pride Lands, the Lion Guard patrolled the kingdom for any signs of trail blockage. While Beshte enjoyed the feeling of mud under his feet, Fuli disagreed sarcastically. Unbeknownst to the Lion Guard, Janja and his clan were watching from the shadows, waiting for the team to get out of sight. Once they were gone, Janja attempted to ambush a herd of wildebeests, but mid-attack, he slipped on the muddy ground and fell straight into the Lion Guard's paws. Though Janja attempted to lie his way out of trouble, Kion used the Roar of the Elders to blow him and his clan back to the Outlands.
After the confrontation, the Lion Guard continued to patrol the Pride Lands for blocked trails. During their search, they got caught in a mudslide, which blocked the trail from Big Springs to Mekundu Cliffs. Upon escaping to the sidelines, the Lion Guard resolved to clear the blocked trail so that the other Pride Landers could use it once more. Kion ordered Bunga and Ono to keep the Pride Landers from using the trail while he, Beshte, and Fuli cleared the scattered debris off the path.
Meanwhile, Cheezi and Chungu, who had been banished by Janja, got caught up in a mudslide in the Pride Lands. Not recognizing Cheezi and Chungu, Beshte jumped into the mudslide and caught the two hyenas on his side, then helped them reach dry ground. Once Cheezi and Chungu's identities were revealed, Kion sent Ono to search for Janja, only for Cheezi and Chungu to explain that they were no longer affiliated with Janja.
Ono soon arrived with news that Janja was nowhere to be seen, and Kion ordered Cheezi and Chungu to return to the Outlands without him. The hyenas protested that they would just get kicked out again, to which Beshte opined that Cheezi and Chungu would not make much trouble. Kion questioned whether they would continue to attack the herds, but the hyenas declared that they only wanted to eat leftovers. Ono pointed out that this would benefit the Circle of Life, and so Kion reluctantly agreed to let the hyenas stay in the Pride Lands.
Just then, Ono spotted a herd of stampeding antelope, and the Lion Guard rushed off to alleviate the problem. In the midst of the stampede, Janja and his new seconds-in-command, Nne and Tano, scared the antelope off. However, Nne and Tano pulled to a halt and forced Janja to hide from the Lion Guard with them. They then took off in a different direction, while the Lion Guard continued to pursue the herd of stampeding antelope.
After calming the herd, Kion voiced his suspicions that a hyena was behind the stampede, as he had caught a whiff of hyena scent while pursuing the herd. He instructed Ono to find Cheezi and Chungu, and Ono located them sleeping in the path of the stampede. Upon waking up, Cheezi and Chungu denied having started the stampede. Just then, they overheard Janja yelling for Nne and Tano, and the Lion Guard took off to investigate the situation.
Once the Lion Guard located Janja, they questioned him on why he had started the stampede, and Janja explained that Nne and Tano were tricking the Lion Guard. Meanwhile, in a canyon, Nne and Tano trapped a herd of oryxes and moved in for the kill. Just in time, the Lion Guard arrived, and Kion used the Roar of the Elders to force Nne and Tano away from the herd. Across the Pride Lands, Janja rejoiced at the sound until the ledge beneath him gave way, and he, Cheezi, and Chungu fell to the bottom of a cliff. The Lion Guard arrived to aid them, but Janja insisted that he was all right and told Cheezi and Chungu to follow him. Overjoyed, the hyenas took off after their leader, and Beshte commented that he loved a happy ending.
====Rescuing Tiifu and Zuri====
During the Lion Guard's patrol, Ono reported that rain clouds were moving in and that Mzingo and his parliament were circling in the distance. Suspicious, Kion led his team to ensure that the parliament was not up to trouble. Upon catching up to the vultures, the Lion Guard forced them to stay away from a baby baboon. Shortly after the rescue, the baby baboon got swept away by floodwaters, and Kion ordered Fuli to follow him down the river and pull him to safety.
Later, Ono spotted Kiara, Tiifu, and Zuri trapped on an island and warned Kion of the situation. In the meantime, Fuli returned to her teammates with the baby baboon, who was clinging to her affectionately. Beshte commented that the baby baboon liked Fuli, and Kion instructed her to take the youngster to Nyani Grove. Fuli protested that she should help the Lion Guard save Kiara, but Kion assured her that they could handle the rescue on their own.
Once with Kiara, Tiifu, and Zuri, Bunga encouraged Kion to use the Roar of the Elders to get rid of the floodwaters, but Kion pointed out that the island might get destroyed in the process. After a moment of thought, he told his teammates that they should try to make a bridge instead. Beshte pushed a tree into the midst of the river, but it got swept away by the current. Kiara, Tiifu, and Zuri tried to push a rock into the river, but it simply rolled the other way and sunk into the floodwaters.
Ono reported Kiara's failed plan to Kion, and he pondered if they should combine their plans. He ordered Beshte and Bunga to push a large boulder into the floodwaters, while Ono instructed Kiara, Tiifu, and Zuri to collapse a dead tree. The plan went into action, and, to the Lion Guard's delight, the bridge they made held. Kiara, Tiifu, and Zuri then crossed safely to shore.
After the rescue, Beshte, Kion, Bunga, and Ono watched the Royal Buffalo Wallow. Before long, Fuli approached and reported that the baby baboon was home safe.
====Hunting the Zimwi====
A group of young animals gathered at Rafiki's tree for a story about the Zimwi, a legendary creature that stalked the Pride Lands during the full moon. Just then, the group heard a loud bellowing noise, and Kion demanded that the maker of the noise show himself. After a beat, Beshte emerged from the brush and explained that he was simply practicing his bellowing for his audition with the Bellow Fellows.
With the young ones' fear abated, Rafiki continued his story about the Zimwi, describing the Zimwi as being an eight-legged creature as tall as two giraffes, with long spikes and large teeth. Though the young animals were frightened by Rafiki's story, Kion scoffed at the notion of the Zimwi being anything more than a tall tale.
On the way home, Mtoto questioned whether the Zimwi was real or not, and Kion pointed out that an animal could not have eight legs. No sooner had he spoken when a gust of wind howled past and frightened the group. Kion assured his friends that it was just the wind and suggested that the little ones sleep together that night in order to feel safe. Beshte proposed that they do the same, and Bunga invited the rest of the Lion Guard to sleep with him at Hakuna Matata Falls.
Later that night, a rustling in the underbrush scared Mtoto and his friends, who awakened the Lion Guard and told them that they had sighted the Zimwi. Kion doubted their claims but asserted that he and his team would find the Zimwi in order to keep the Pride Lands safe.
Together, the Lion Guard set off in search of the Zimwi. Along the way, they debated whether the Zimwi was real or not, with Kion retaining his disbelief that such a creature could exist. As the team searched, they got startled by a group of genets, whom Bunga frightened with descriptions of the Zimwi. After the genets ran off, Kion chastised Bunga for having unnecessarily frightened the genets, then instructed him to not tell anyone else about the Zimwi.
The Lion Guard's search continued, during which they ran into a panicked Thurston. Bunga assumed that Thurston was running from the Zimwi, but Thurston explained that the Zimwi was nothing more than a story and that he had been spooked by the genets. The very thought of the genets spun him into a panic, and he took off again into the forest.
The Lion Guard moved on. Along the way, they got frightened by Beshte's continued bellowing practice. Kion reminded his teammates that there was still no sign of the Zimwi, and Ono jokingly commented that he did not know who was scarier: Beshte or the Zimwi.
As the hunt persisted, Kion paused and remarked that he felt like something was watching them from the bushes. He ordered his team to fan out, and they surrounded the underbrush. Kion shouted for his team to move in, which frightened some gazelles who were sheltering in the bushes. They begged the Lion Guard not to hurt them, for they had simply been hiding. Beshte asked what they had been hiding from, and the gazelles replied that they had spotted the Zimwi and taken shelter in the vegetation.
The gazelles pointed out a shadow against a nearby ravine, and the Lion Guard saw the outline of a tall, spiked figure. Together, the Lion Guard strode into the gorge, where they came face-to-face with what appeared to be the Zimwi. In a panic, they fled the ravine and startled the gazelles, who began to gallop about the clearing. Kion instructed Beshte to flatten a patch of bushes to allow escape from the glen, and the gazelles poured out into the open, where they ran about without threat of hurting themselves.
With the gazelles safe, Kion expressed shame for having run from the Zimwi. He admitted that he had not been frightened of the monster because he had not believed it could exist. However, the moment that he had seen the Zimwi for himself, he had reacted like a coward. He reminded his friends that they were the Lion Guard and could not run away, to which the others braced themselves for the coming confrontation with the Zimwi.
As one, the Lion Guard faced off against the Zimwi. To their horror, the Zimwi's head fell off its body and split into two, revealing two young porcupines. Kion asked if the porcupines had been hiding from the Zimwi, and the rest of the Lion Guard pieced together that Mtoto and his friends had seen the two porcupines huddling together and mistaken them for the Zimwi. Ono added that the Zimwi's "body" had been nothing more than a giant termite mound.
The next day, Beshte braced himself for his audition with the Bellow Fellows. He admitted to being scared, and Kion pointed out that he had had the bravery to face the Zimwi. In better spirits, Beshte came before the Bellow Fellows and completed a series of bellows. The Bellow Fellows reacted with delight, and together, they bellowed with Beshte.
====Conflict with the Outsiders====
In the Lair of the Lion Guard, Bunga told the Lion Guard that Kion had entered the Outlands with Jasiri to sort out a problem. However, he got distracted by a race between Fuli and Ono. After Fuli bested Ono, Bunga asked Beshte if he would like to give it a try, but Beshte declined the offer.
Just then, Rafiki noticed that Kion was missing, and Bunga explained that he had gone into the Outlands with Jasiri to deal with a pride of lions. Horrified, Rafiki informed the Lion Guard that Kion had encountered the Outsiders. He took the Lion Guard to a wall of paintings and explained that Simba had banished the Outsiders to the Outlands after they had retained loyalties to Scar. Zira, their leader, had insisted that her son, Kovu, was the king since he was Scar's chosen heir, but Simba had asserted that Scar was not the true king. The two had engaged in a battle, and Simba had banished Zira and her followers to the Outlands after a crushing defeat. Rafiki warned the Lion Guard that there would be trouble if Zira found out that Kion was Simba's son, and so the Lion Guard took off to save their friend.
In the Outlands, the Lion Guard encountered Jasiri, who told them that Kion had joined forces with the Outsiders. The Lion Guard insisted that Kion would never be a part of Zira's family, and Jasiri berated herself for having believed Zira's lies. Meanwhile, Zira's pride surrounded Kion in a pit. Upon catching sight of Ono overhead, Kion yelled out the start of the Lion Guard's catchphrase, and the others finished it as they rushed into the pit. Together, the Lion Guard and Jasiri fended off the Outsiders and cornered them against a wall of the pit.
Realizing that this was Kion's Lion Guard, Zira mocked them for only having one lion and asserted that her pride outnumbered them. Bunga urged Kion to use his Roar, but Kion worried that he would lose the Roar as Scar had, since he had used it against other lions. However, Bunga argued that Scar had not lost his Roar because he had used it against other lions, but because he had used it for evil. Sensing Kion's change of heart, Zira claimed that she knew the Roar's powers better and that Kion must listen to her. Kion, however, was not swayed and used the Roar to blast the Outsiders out of the pit.
After the fight, the Lion Guard convened with Jasiri's clan at their watering hole.
====Makuu's invasion of the Flood Plains====
When Janja and his clan invaded the Pride Lands, the Lion Guard drove them back into the Outlands. However, once the Lion Guard departed, Janja led his clan back into the Pride Lands, and the Lion Guard rushed back to stop them. Before the team could reach the hyenas, the clan ran into Nala, who ordered Janja to return to his territory. Instead of heeding Nala's warning, Janja surrounded her with his cronies and ordered an attack.
Just then, Kion arrived and, seeing his mother in danger, used the Roar of the Elders in a rage. The blast was so powerful that it not only knocked the hyenas back into the Outlands, but rebounded off a cliff and fractured the earth beneath Nala. As Nala struggled to keep from falling into the divide, Kion reached down the cliff and pulled her to safety.
Once on solid ground, Nala thanked Kion for having saved her life, but he lamented how he had nearly lost her. The rest of the Lion Guard approached and affirmed that they were all right, though Ono's crest feathers had been blasted off. Kion surveyed the damage done by his Roar and expressed shock that his rage had brought on such destruction.
Back at the Lair of the Lion Guard, Beshte, Bunga, and Fuli encouraged Ono to embrace his new look. Beshte tried to compliment Ono's head by saying it looked "smooth, like a hippo's backside," to which Ono commented sarcastically that he should celebrate his head looking like a "hippo bottom."
Just then, Zazu flew into the Lair and delivered news that a rockslide had blocked up the giraffes' access to their water hole, and the Lion Guard set out to clear the wreckage. Once at the blockage, Bunga suggested that Kion use his Roar to clear the rocks, but Kion insisted that Beshte use his strength instead. Though confused by Kion's reluctance to use the Roar, Beshte obediently pushed several rocks aside and cleared the path to the water hole.
Shortly after the rescue, the Lion Guard encountered a klipspringer who was trapped on a rock in the midst of a raging river. Once again, Bunga told Kion to use the Roar to solve the problem, but Kion insisted that they use a different plan. He commanded Beshte to knock over a dead tree so he could cross it in order to save the klipspringer. However, as Kion was walking across the log, the wood snapped beneath him, and he nearly fell into the river. The rest of the Lion Guard tried to save him, but their combined weight broke the log, and they fell into the river with a splash. Startled, the klipspringer hopped safely to shore, and the Lion Guard rejoiced at their victory.
Across the savanna, Makuu became emboldened by Kion's disuse of the Roar and invaded the Flood Plains. A mongoose who had been chased from the Flood Plains happened to run past Fuli and let her know about Makuu's invasion. She hastened to the Lair of the Lion Guard and related what had happened. While Ono flew off to fetch Kion, the rest of the Lion Guard departed to save the Flood Plains.
Once at the Flood Plains, Fuli ordered Makuu to leave, but he simply laughed at them for having a leader who refused to use the Roar of the Elders. Despite her confusion at Makuu's claim, Fuli told the crocodiles that the Lion Guard did not need Kion's Roar to defend the Pride Lands. She then attacked Makuu and ordered Beshte and Bunga to take on the rest of the float. There was a brief struggle, during which the crocodiles overpowered the Lion Guard and trapped them in the midst of the water.
Just then, Kion, Nala and Ono arrived, and two of Makuu's cronies knocked Nala into the water and carried her into the midst of the float. Kion nearly used the Roar in his fury but stopped himself, and Nala called for him to trust himself. Heeding his mother's advice, Kion used the Roar to specifically target Makuu's float and keep Nala from being harmed. With the crocodiles defeated, the Lion Guard praised Kion for his efforts, and Fuli commented that she had not known that he could use the Roar in such a way. Kion stated that he had just needed to have faith in himself, to which Nala asserted that she had always had faith in him.
Ono interrupted the Lion Guard and exclaimed excitedly that his crest feathers had begun to grow back. No sooner had he said this when the other egrets in his flock showed off their missing head and tail feathers, and Beshte commented that Ono had started a trend.
====Journey to the Theluji Mountains====
When Zazu got his bill stuck in a beehive, Bunga climbed into the tree to free him. After the rescue, Zazu thanked the Lion Guard for their help and informed them that the pangolins had been spraying excessively elsewhere in the Pride Lands. Kion agreed to scout out the situation, and the Lion Guard departed to deal with the problem.
Once the Lion Guard arrived, they found two gorillas holding the pangolins hostage and using them to spray each other with the pangolins' stink. Furious, Kion tackled the gorillas, which enabled the pangolins to escape, and refused to let the gorillas up until they promised not to hurt the pangolins again.
After the gorillas vowed to leave the pangolins alone, Kion let them up and demanded to know who they were. The two introduced themselves as brothers Hafifu and Majinuni, and told Kion that they were looking for a lion named "King Zimba." Bunga informed the gorillas that Kion was Simba's son, and the brothers reacted with shock that Kion was a prince. They then excitedly declared that they were princes as well. Kion was confused, so Majinuni explained that they were in the Pride Lands to deliver a message from their father, King Sokwe. Before the Lion Guard could question them, the brothers took hold of Ushari and tossed him at a baobab fruit for fun. Kion reprimanded them for their foolishness, but the gorillas simply replied with their catchphrase, "Kuishi ni kucheka," which meant "To live is to laugh."
After the fiasco, the Lion Guard led Hafifu and Majinuni to Pride Rock, where Kion explained the situation to Simba. To Kion's surprise, Simba agreed that the message was important and explained that every wet season, King Sokwe informed Simba if their two kinds were still at peace or not. Hafifu and Majinuni came before Simba, but when prompted to relay their message, they admitted that they had forgotten it. With this news, Simba asked Kion to deliver the gorillas back home and find out what Sokwe's message was. Kion wondered if the brothers should return home themselves and bring back the message again, but Simba pointed out that peace with the gorillas should not rely on Hafifu and Majinuni.
Together, the Lion Guard and the gorilla princes set off on their journey to the Theluji Mountains, where King Sokwe and his troop lived. Once they reached the base of the mountain range, Kion asked Hafifu and Majinuni how to reach their father, but the brothers admitted that they had only come down the mountain once: to deliver Sokwe's message to Simba. Kion looked instead to Ono for guidance, and he led them down a path through the trees at the base of the mountains.
As the group traveled deeper into the woods, Kion questioned the gorillas once more on where they should go, but they remained as unhelpful as before. Just then, Beshte spotted a chameleon, which prompted Hafifu and Majinuni to launch into a game of "chameleon hide-and-seek." The gorillas took off into the forest, and the Lion Guard attempted to locate them. However, when their efforts were unsuccessful, they decided to follow the sound of the brothers' voices. However, the gorillas deliberately circled the Lion Guard, until Kion realized their game and yelled that the game was not working. Hafifu and Majinuni decided to change the game to "forest hog chase," during which the Lion Guard had to chase the gorillas as they snorted like forest hogs.
With the Lion Guard in pursuit, the gorillas raced away into the fog, where they encountered a real forest hog. The Lion Guard rushed to save the brothers, and Kion tackled the forest hog just before it could harm Hafifu and Majinuni. With the danger abated, Kion suggested that they continue up the mountain, but the gorillas tried one last tactic to stall the Lion Guard.
The Lion Guard realized that Hafifu and Majinuni were deliberately prolonging the journey and confronted the gorillas over the matter. The brothers admitted that they had originally agreed to deliver the message in order to prove to their father that they were good prince material. However, now that they had failed, they did not want to disappoint him. Kion admitted that he sometimes felt the same way about his father and encouraged the brothers to act like princes so that they felt like princes.
The journey continued. Before long, the Lion Guard arrived at the foot of the Theluji Mountains. To their shock, they saw the landscape covered in snow, a substance that they had never encountered before. Hafifu and Majinuni encouraged the Lion Guard to play with them, and Kion allowed the team a brief break in the snow. During the festivities, Bunga constructed a giant snowball for Timon.
While playing, Kion slipped on a steep patch of ice and began to slide down the mountain toward a perilous drop-off. Just before he could fall off, he managed to catch on to the edge of the cliff with his claws, and the gorillas pulled him to safety.
The group continued on their journey until they met the brothers' father, King Sokwe, who questioned his sons on their activities. Though Sokwe initially appeared to be displeased, he complimented the two for their bravery in having saved Kion's life. Kion interjected to ask about Sokwe's message for Simba, but Sokwe instead focused on the snowball that Bunga had collected for his uncle. Kion wondered if the souvenir was a problem, to which Sokwe replied that the snowball was perfect.
When the Lion Guard returned to the Pride Lands, they reported back to Simba at Pride Rock. Simba prompted the Lion Guard to relate Sokwe's message, to which Kion said, "Kuishi ni kucheka," as Bunga threw the snowball over Simba's head. Instead of being angry, Simba laughed and commented that no one delivered a peace message quite like King Sokwe.
====Simba's temporary leadership of the Lion Guard====
In the Lair of the Lion Guard, Kion informed the Lion Guard that Simba intended to lead them while he was away on a trip. He then bid his friends goodbye and left them to wait for Simba. Though Ono began to anxiously preen and fret over the state of the Lair, Bunga assured him that he had nothing to worry about and explained what Simba was really like.
Simba happened to overhear Bunga and clarified that he had gotten one thing right: that Simba was excited to lead the Lion Guard. Simba then gathered the Lion Guard for their morning patrol and led them out of the Lair. Along the way, the Guard tried to correct him on his route, but Simba insisted that they take his chosen path. Though hesitant, the Guard agreed to his wishes.
Before long, Ono spotted a mudslide heading toward a nest of ostrich eggs. However, before Ono could finish his report, Simba cut him off by finishing the report himself, then instructed the Guard to follow him while he moved a log into the path of the falling mud. Though confused, the Lion Guard followed him, and Simba ordered them to jump from rock to rock in order to avoid getting caught in the mud. Beshte commented that Kion usually had him walk through the mud, but Fuli reminded him that Simba was in charge, not Kion.
Beshte did as Simba had commanded but accidentally slipped on the rocks and fell into the mud. As he plummeted down the slope, he knocked into Bunga, Fuli, and Ono, and the four tumbled down the slope until they dislodged Simba's log and sent it rolling toward the ostriches' nest. Before the log could reach the bottom of the slope, Beshte leaped forward and stopped it from crushing the eggs. Ono warned his teammates that the eggs were about to get caught up in the mud, so the Lion Guard rushed to save them. After collecting the eggs, the Lion Guard returned them to the ostriches, who thanked them for their help.
Simba expressed elation at the Guard's first rescue with the king and wondered what their next challenge would be. As he started to lead the Guard further into the kingdom, Beshte commented that at least he had not been mad about their nearly losing an ostrich egg, to which Fuli countered that it was not Beshte's fault that he could not jump like a lion. She asked why they were a team if they were all going to be tasked with doing the same thing, and Bunga reminded her that Simba was the king and knew what he was doing.
Just then, Ono flew up and started to report trouble when he got interrupted by Simba, who declared that a herd of gazelles needed their help. The Lion Guard followed his lead down the slope to rescue the gazelles. As they got closer, Ono reported that the gazelles were trying to reach a patch of grass above an unstable pile of rocks. Simba commented that the rocks would fall if the gazelles tried to ascend them and shouted for the Lion Guard to follow him. As Simba raced away, Beshte asked the others if they should warn Simba that gazelles were easily spooked, but Bunga assured him that Simba knew what he was doing.
The Lion Guard streaked across the plains toward the gazelles, who shied away at the Guard's rapid advance. The herd began to climb the rock pile, dislodging stones, and Ono yelled for the Lion Guard to halt their approach. Simba, however, continued to run and got his tail stuck beneath a massive boulder. The rest of the Lion Guard gathered around him, and Simba assured them that he was uninjured.
Just then, the Lion Guard overheard some ostriches crying out in fear, and Ono reported that the gazelles were stampeding toward the ostriches' nest. The Lion Guard turned to Simba for instructions, and he ordered them to leave him behind and save the ostrich eggs instead. Just then, a large boulder tumbled down from the top of the rock pile, and Fuli saved Bunga from being crushed.
After the rescue, Fuli declared that they could not leave Simba, for he was in danger from the falling rocks. Simba got the Guard's attention and told them that he had been ordering them around all day when he should have figured out how their team worked. He then asked what they would do if Kion were in Simba's place, and Fuli explained that she and Ono would go after the herd, while Beshte and Bunga would stay behind to assist the king. Simba submitted to these orders and started the Lion Guard's chant as the team raced away to fulfill their separate duties.
Together, Fuli and Ono caught up to the gazelles, and Fuli ordered Ono to speak with Swala while she calmed the ostriches. Both were successful, and the gazelles pulled to a halt before they could trample the ostrich eggs. At the same time, Beshte and Bunga worked together to free Simba. No sooner had they freed him when the rock pile began to collapse, and the three escaped to safety. They reunited with Fuli and Ono, and Simba complimented the Lion Guard on their success and declared that Kion would be proud of them.
====Royal Mud Print Ceremony====
Mtoto was playing with his friends when a massive flock of birds flew overhead. The Lion Guard arrived on the scene and decided to scout out the situation. From a nearby ridge, they spied the birds gathering in a clearing, but before they could investigate, Ono called them over to a spot at the front. He explained that the birds had gathered for the return of Hadithi, a legendary eagle who was famous for his "Hadithi Spin."
Just then, Hadithi arrived to much cheering from the gathered birds. Bunga decided to ask Hadithi about his famous spin, but Ono blocked his path and insisted that no one could simply talk to Hadithi. He began to list off Hadithi's many accomplishments to Bunga, which prompted Hadithi himself to chime in with another example. Hadithi commented that Ono seemed to know a lot about him, and Ono declared that he was Hadithi's biggest fan. Hadithi admired Ono's devotion but pointed out that he had many adoring fans.
As Hadithi and Ono were talking, Simba and Nala arrived and told Hadithi that he was a hero to many animals in the Pride Lands, not just birds. Simba then invited Hadithi to attend a Royal Mud Print Ceremony. Bunga wondered what this ceremony was, and Ono explained that Hadithi would press his talons into mud and have his prints forever preserved alongside those of other heroes. Simba continued that it was tradition for the hero to mentor a younger member of the Pride Lands. Kion nominated Ono to the position, and Simba accepted Kion's suggestion. With business concluded, he and Nala began to depart, but Hadithi stopped them and requested that a ceremonial nest be built in his honor. Ono volunteered the Lion Guard to perform the service, and Kion assented.
After Simba and Nala left, Hadithi thanked the Lion Guard for having accepted the job and told them to build his nest with leaves from the highest tree in the Pride Lands, as was tradition. Fuli expressed irritation at this latest request, but Ono defended his mentor by pointing out that the fronds at the top of the trees were the softest. The Lion Guard relented and took off to perform their latest duty.
On the way to the tallest tree in the Pride Lands, Fuli wondered whether they should be doing more important work than building a ceremonial nest, but Beshte reminded her that Hadithi was Ono's hero. Bunga volunteered for the task and clambered his way to the top of the tree. From there, he overlooked the Pride Lands and spotted an even taller tree across the savanna.
After fetching leaves for Hadithi's nest, Bunga carried them to Pride Rock. Not far away, Mtoto graciously gave up a spot at the front, and Beshte complimented him on his kindness. Mtoto replied that Beshte would always be his favorite hero. Before long, Hadithi arrived for the ceremony and lied that Ono was still trying to perfect the Hadithi Spin, when in fact he had been trapped by Janja and his clan. The ceremony continued, and Simba praised Hadithi for his heroics, his bravery, and his selflessness. During Simba's speech, Hadithi became so overcome by guilt that he confessed his cowardice to the crowd and admitted that Ono was the true hero. He then called the Lion Guard to follow him and help rescue Ono from Janja's clan.
Once at the scene of the crisis, Fuli fended off Cheezi and Chungu, and started to help Ono free his wing. However, Ono urged her to save the klipspringers first. Bunga and Kion confronted Janja, while Beshte pushed a boulder down for the klipspringers to use as an escape. As Fuli guided the klipspringers to safety, one slipped and fell, which prompted Janja and his clan to spring an attack. Just in time, Ono and Hadithi flew past and began to circle the hyenas until they got dizzy and toppled off the cliff into the water below.
That night, Ono marked the mud at Pride Rock with his own talons. Hadithi called Ono a natural hero, and the gathered Pride Landers cheered for him.
====Making hippo lanes====
After a big rainstorm, Beshte and Basi forged across the Flood Plains, creating paths called "hippo lanes." Basi explained to his son how it was a tradition for hippopotamuses to clear the way after a storm, since it was easy for animals to get lost trying to cross the Flood Plains. He commented that a hippo lane should be "straight and true," and told Beshte that it would one day be his job to make hippo lanes through the Flood Plains.
Just then, Beshte and Basi heard a young rhino crying for help. They arrived in time to rescue him from Makuu and his float, whom they chastised for not honoring the rule that no animal was to be attacked while trying to cross the Flood Plains after a rainstorm. Makuu relented but insulted hippopotamuses for always following the rules.
With Makuu gone, Beshte and Basi worked to free the young rhino from the reeds. In the midst of the rescue, the young rhino got spooked by a flock of egrets and accidentally speared Basi with his horn. Beshte and Basi eventually managed to free the young rhino from the reeds, and he promised to not cross the Flood Plains again until the hippo lanes were complete.
Shortly after the rescue, the rest of the Lion Guard arrived, and Kion explained that they had heard an animal shouting for help. Beshte assured him that he and his father had saved the young rhino, and Basi commented that it was now time for him to return to the job. However, as he started to walk away, he found himself too injured to move. He tried to continue making hippo lanes, but Kion insisted that he not put weight on his injured leg, and Beshte added that it was just not possible for Basi to be making hippo lanes in his condition.
Bunga commented that the Flood Plains would dry up soon. No sooner had he spoken when thunder rumbled in the distance. With a storm imminent, Basi tasked Beshte with creating more hippo lanes, since Basi himself was too injured to walk. Though Beshte was hesitant to accept the task, Kion reminded him that he was the strongest in the Pride Lands and that the Lion Guard believed in him. Beshte accepted the responsibility and headed out to clear paths through the Flood Plains, while the Lion Guard led Basi to solid ground.
After the Lion Guard delivered Basi to safety, Ono arrived with news that Bupu's herd was refusing to leave their grazing grounds, even though another storm was on the way. Basi suggested that they lead the antelope to the other side of the Flood Plains, but Ono wondered how they would be able to cross the reeds. Basi reminded him that, by the time the antelope arrived at the Flood Plains, Beshte would be done creating hippo lanes. The Lion Guard thanked him for the idea, then left to save the herd.
In the meantime, Beshte worked to create hippo lanes across the Flood Plains. In the midst of his work, he ran into Laini, who asked him for a ride to Ndefu Grove. Beshte accepted the job and commented that helping other animals was what the hippo lanes were all about. Along the way, Beshte picked up more passengers, and Chura praised Beshte for his efforts and defended him in the face of critiques from other Pride Landers. Beshte happily conceded to his passengers' requests and emphasized the importance of creating paths through the Flood Plains.
Across the Pride Lands, the rest of the Lion Guard led the antelope herd to the Flood Plains. Once there, Ono spotted Beshte's hippo lanes and reacted with confusion and shock. As Beshte approached, Ono questioned him on the completion of the hippo lanes, and Beshte explained that he had been crossing the Flood Plains all day, delivering animals from one side to the other. Ono led Beshte to a high vantage point where he could see the entire Flood Plains, and Beshte realized that he had been cutting twisty paths throughout the area, not "straight and true" lanes like his father had instructed him to make.
Horrified, Beshte realized that his hippo lanes were not useful at all. His distress deepened when Ono notified him that Bupu's herd was waiting to cross to the other side of the Flood Plains. Beshte hurriedly rushed back to the water and resolved to make a new hippo lane, one that would help the sable antelope reach the other side of the Flood Plains. However, as he started to make a new lane, Ono warned him that he was making another windy trail, and Beshte began to despair. He then realized that he could ask his father for help and took off to speak with Basi.
As a storm began to break over the savanna, Beshte admitted his mistake to his father, who comforted him and confessed that he had been wrong to send Beshte into the Flood Plains alone. He attempted to stand, and Beshte rushed to his aid. Together, the two entered the Flood Plains, and Basi asserted that they could make a straight and true hippo lane together. As the two worked their way across the Flood Plains, Basi struggled to keep up and told Beshte to go on ahead of him. Beshte exclaimed that he would create a straight and true hippo lane and that he would make his father proud, to which Basi said that he had always been proud of his son. Unbeknownst to the two, Makuu and his float were watching from the reeds and plotting to get rid of Basi.
Before long, Beshte arrived at the edge of the Flood Plains, to the excitement of his teammates. He started to compliment his father on a job well-done when he noticed that Basi was missing. Concerned, Beshte raced back into the hippo lane in search of his father. Ono monitored Beshte's progress and marveled at the perfectly straight and true hippo lane that had been created. Meanwhile, Bunga announced to Bupu's herd that they could cross the Flood Plains safely.
In the midst of the hippo lanes, Makuu and his float cornered Basi, but Beshte arrived in the defense of his father. However, Makuu gloated that he and his float had numbers on their side this time. Basi encouraged his son to stand strong against the float, but Beshte reminded Basi that he was injured. He then told his father to follow him through a new hippo lane.
With Beshte in the lead, the hippos began to weave a winding trail through the Flood Plains, leading Makuu and his float on a wild chase. The two managed to cross over another hippo lane, and as the crocodiles moved to follow them, they got trampled by Bupu's herd. The crocodiles pulled back, winded, and Beshte chastised them for having endangered the animals of the Pride Lands. In defeat, Makuu and his float swam off into the Flood Plains.
Later, Beshte and Basi overlooked Bupu's herd grazing on the other side of the water. Kion arrived and complimented the hippopotamuses, with Bunga adding that everyone loved the new hippo lanes. Ono told Beshte that he was good at making hippo lanes after all, and Basi asserted that he had never had any doubt.
====Reconciling Kifaru and Mwenzi====
The Lion Guard followed a trail of devastated trees to where Kifaru had his horn stuck in the baboons' tree. The Lion Guard recognized him as a well-tempered Pride Lander and wondered why he was acting so destructively. Together, they approached Kifaru, and Kion ordered him to stop shaking the baboons' tree. At first, Kifaru was defensive, but he softened when Beshte calmed him long enough for the Lion Guard to free his horn from the tree.
Once unstuck, Kifaru thanked the Lion Guard for their help, and Kion questioned him as to why he had caused so much destruction. Kifaru reacted obliviously, and the Lion Guard explained that he had shaken the baboons out of their tree and trampled every tree in his path. Bewildered, Kifaru admitted that he had wondered why there were so many trees on the path to Lake Matope. He started to amble off, only to head straight for another tree. Ono shouted that Kifaru did not know where he was going because he did not have his tickbird, then darted in front of the rhinoceros and warned him to keep back.
Ono asked Kifaru where his tickbird was, and Kifaru admitted that his tickbird, Mwenzi, had left him earlier that morning. Though the Lion Guard was confused, Ono explained that rhinoceroses had poor eyesight and used tickbirds to help with navigation. In exchange, the tickbirds ate the ticks off the rhinoceroses' backs. Kifaru lamented being unable to reach Tamasha, an event in which rhinoceroses gathered near Lake Matope to spar together in the mud. The Lion Guard was touched by his sorrow, and Kion resolved to find Mwenzi and convince him to return to Kifaru. Bunga volunteered to lead Kifaru to Lake Matope so that he would arrive in time for Tamasha, and Kifaru hesitantly accepted.
However, as he was leading Kifaru, Bunga became so distracted with eating the ticks on Kifaru's back that he failed to notice a cliff in their path. Just in time, Ono stepped in and halted Kifaru, which impressed the rest of the Lion Guard. Ono explained that birds and rhinoceroses had a special connection, and Kion suggested that he become Kifaru's temporary tickbird instead of Bunga. In the meantime, the Lion Guard would search for Mwenzi and convince him to return to Kifaru. Ono protested the assignment but gave in when Kion reminded him that helping Kifaru would keep the Pride Lands safe.
While Ono stayed with Kifaru, the rest of the Lion Guard tracked Mwenzi's scent to a tree. Bunga climbed into the tree to search for Mwenzi but found it vacant. However, as he was climbing back down the trunk, he caught sight of a bird flying nearby, and Beshte recognized him as Mwenzi. He called out to Mwenzi, but the bird did not reply and flew away. Kion then got an idea. Per Kion's instructions, Beshte lured Mwenzi into the open by pretending to be a rhinoceros in need of a tickbird. When Mwenzi landed on Beshte's back, Bunga tackled him to the ground and held him hostage while the rest of the Lion Guard gathered around.
Fuli explained to Mwenzi that Kifaru was causing damage all over the Pride Lands, and Kion encouraged Mwenzi to return to his duties. However, Mwenzi recounted how Kifaru had blamed him for running late to Tamasha and explained that every year, it was Kifaru's fault that they were late, yet he continuously blamed Mwenzi for their tardiness. Beshte reminded Mwenzi that Kifaru was his friend and explained that Kifaru was lost without his tickbird. Mwenzi admitted that he was used to having a job to do, and Beshte encouraged him to talk to Kifaru about the situation. Reluctantly, Mwenzi conceded and left with the Lion Guard to speak to Kifaru.
Meanwhile, Ono fanned Kifaru with his wings, to the rhinoceroses' delight. Kifaru commented that Mwenzi was too small to use his wings as a fan, unaware that Mwenzi and the Lion Guard had just arrived and were listening from nearby. Mwenzi angrily accused the Lion Guard of having misled him and confronted Kifaru in a fury. Though Kifaru begged him to stay, Mwenzi flew away, and Kifaru called after him despairingly. He then stated that Ono must serve as his tickbird from then on. Desperate to escape this fate, Ono took off after Mwenzi, leaving Kifaru in the care of the Lion Guard.
With Ono gone, the Lion Guard gathered around Kifaru. While Bunga climbed atop his back and pondered where all the ticks had gone, Kion checked on Kifaru's well-being. Kifaru admitted that with both his tickbird and his back-up tickbird gone, he was not in a great mood. To cheer him up, Kion reminded him about Tamasha and volunteered to lead him there with the help of the other members of the Lion Guard.
Eventually, the Lion Guard led Kifaru to Tamasha. However, before Kifaru could take part in the activities, Ono arrived with news that Mwenzi was in trouble. In a panic, Kifaru took off to save his friend. The Lion Guard followed him to where Makuu and his float were attacking Mwenzi. In the commotion, Mwenzi hopped down from his tree and told Kifaru how to free himself from a tree stump. Once free, Kifaru used the tree stump as a weapon and helped free the other Lion Guard members from their various entanglements.
After the fight, Kion thanked Kifaru and Mwenzi for their help, and the two attributed their victory to each other. Kifaru informed Ono that he did not need him to serve as a tickbird anymore, and Ono happily obliged. Along with Kifaru and Mwenzi, the Lion Guard attended Tamasha. While there, Bunga asked Ono if he would be his tickbird, but Ono declined and declared that his tickbird days were over, which made the Lion Guard laugh.
====Reirei's attack====
Reirei and her pack plotted to attack Muhimu's herd. Nearby, Kion picked up the pack's scent, and the Lion Guard rushed to rescue the zebras from their attackers. Too late, the pack attacked, and Reirei's children, Dogo and Kijana, managed to isolate Hamu from the rest of the herd. Ono spotted the double attack, and Kion ordered Bunga and Ono to save Hamu while he, Beshte, and Fuli rescued the remainder of the herd. Upon being defeated, Reirei tried to blame Hamu for his attack on Dogo, but Kion forced her and her pack to return to the Outlands.
With the danger abated, the Lion Guard prepared to leave, but Muhimu begged them to stay and watch over the herd. Beshte suggested that she take some time for herself, but Muhimu reminded him that she had her son to attend to. Just then, she noticed Bunga playing with Hamu and suggested that he take care of her son for the day, and Bunga agreed to the task.
Later, Ono told Kion that he was worried that the Lion Guard would be at a disadvantage due to Bunga's absence, as Bunga was their best climber. This worried Kion, who decided that the team should practice climbing while Bunga was away. He ordered Fuli to climb a pillar of rock in the Lair of the Lion Guard, but she failed to reach the top, to Beshte and Ono's amusement. Ono made an attempt next but failed. Finally, Beshte tried to climb the pillar but ended up rolling down the pillar and landing on top of Ono.
Back in the Pride Lands, Reirei and her pack overheard Muhimu and Twiga discussing Bunga's babysitting duties at Hakuna Matata Falls. Reirei decided to attack the little ones while they were separated from their parents and ordered Goigoi to think up a way to distract the Lion Guard and keep them away from the falls.
Once separated from Reirei, Goigoi overheard the Lion Guard heading to Hakuna Matata Falls and frantically tried to come up with a plan. In the midst of his panic, he accidentally stepped on his own tail and howled in pain, which alerted the Lion Guard to his presence. The Lion Guard began to chase Goigoi, but while they were doing so, Beshte wondered who Goigoi was chasing.
Just then, Goigoi accidentally fell halfway into a pit, and the Lion Guard gathered around him. Suspecting Goigoi of foul intentions, Kion offered to help him out of the hole if he revealed where the rest of his family were. Goigoi begrudgingly agreed, and Beshte pulled him out by his tail. Once free, Goigoi told the Lion Guard that his family was at Hakuna Matata Falls, and the Lion Guard charged off to rescue Bunga and Hamu.
The Lion Guard raced to Hakuna Matata Falls, only to discover that the jackals had already been defeated by Bunga and his young charges. Reirei complained to Kion that she and her children had been severely abused, but Kion only agreed to let her go if she promised to never harm another young Pride Lander again. Reirei delivered her promise, and the jackals took off for the Outlands once more.
====Savannah Summit====
The Lion Guard was playing Baobab Ball when a dry ledge collapsed beneath Kion and Bunga. Beshte, Fuli, and Ono rushed forward to check on their friends, and Kion assured them that they were fine. Fuli added that the dry season was well on its way.
Just then, Mtoto approached with the Lion Guard's baobab fruit. He informed them that, via a special hearing technique called infrasound, he could hear that several Pride Landers were heading toward Pride Rock. Kion realized that it was time for the Savannah Summit, a yearly event in which leaders in the Pride Lands discussed how they were going to proceed during the dry season. No sooner had he revealed this when Mtoto overheard a crocodile heading to Pride Rock, and Ono spotted Makuu en route to the Summit. Kion deduced that Makuu must be trying to spoil the event, and so the Lion Guard took off to thwart the danger and warn Simba.
Once at Pride Rock, Kion tackled Makuu. Makuu protested that he had been invited, and Simba confirmed to Kion that he had invited Makuu to Pride Rock himself. With Simba's support, Makuu promised to take his duties seriously, though the Pride Lander leaders remained uncertain and suspicious. Kion attempted to convince his father that Makuu was untrustworthy, but Simba insisted that all animals must be treated equally in the Pride Lands, no matter their past transgressions. He then tasked the Lion Guard with watching over the event in case the other animals decided to treat Makuu unfairly.
Together, the party proceeded to Mizimu Grove, and Simba and Zazu emphasized the importance of equality and unity. Once at Mizimu Grove, the Lion Guard commented on how well the animals were behaving, though Kion remained unconvinced of Makuu's reformation. As they were speaking, the Lion Guard noticed that Makuu was missing from the event. Mtoto ran up with news that Makuu was speaking angrily near the watering hole. The Lion Guard took off to stop the danger and arrived on the scene to find Makuu arguing with Bupu. Without asking for an explanation, Kion ordered Makuu to back off, and Beshte stepped in-between the feuding leaders. Despite the Lion Guard's presence, Bupu attacked Makuu, and Makuu attempted to defend himself. Kion chastised Makuu again and declared that he would not let anyone ruin the Savannah Summit, "especially" not Makuu. Though Makuu was bothered by Kion's bias, he obediently backed off.
After the fight, Kion admitted his doubts to the Lion Guard about Makuu's intentions and asserted that every member of the Lion Guard must be braced for trouble. While patrolling the Pride Lands for trouble, Mtoto overheard Twiga speaking about Makuu and informed the Lion Guard of what he had heard. Worried that Makuu would ruin the Summit, the Lion Guard took off to protect Twiga. However, when they arrived on the scene, Makuu was nowhere to be found, only Twiga and Vuruga Vuruga. Bunga proclaimed that Mtoto had heard Makuu, but Mtoto clarified that he had only heard Twiga speaking about Makuu. Twiga quickly denied this assertion, and Vuruga Vuruga backed her up. Suspicious of the two's behavior, the Lion Guard left and privately deduced that Twiga and Vuruga Vuruga were too afraid to tell the truth about Makuu because he had threatened them.
Just then, the Lion Guard heard Zazu squawking for help and followed the noise to where the baboon leader, Mbeya, and Zazu were in an argument with one another. After the situation got resolved, Mtoto rushed up to the Lion Guard and proclaimed that Makuu was yelling at Bupu at Pride Rock. The team rushed to Pride Rock, where Kion tackled Makuu to the ground. Simba approached, furious, and exclaimed that Bupu and Makuu had been about to come to an agreement about sleeping situations for their respective species. Makuu stalked off, enraged, and Simba called after him desperately. As the rest of the Lion Guard looked on, Simba turned on Kion and accused him of having ruined the Summit, not Makuu. He then left to salvage what he could of the Summit at Mizimu Grove.
After Kion got advice from his grandfather, Mufasa, the rest of the Lion Guard approached and informed him that Mtoto had heard of another attack, which most likely involved Makuu. Kion warned his friends not to jump to conclusions and asked Mtoto to listen more closely to what was being said. Mtoto did as he had been told and explained that someone was making a plan to strike just after sunset. Though the Lion Guard suspected Makuu of foul intentions, Kion thought more deeply about the issue and realized that it might be the other Pride Lander leaders who were at the root of the problem. The Lion Guard rushed to Mizimu Grove in time to save Makuu from falling into a pit full of rotten fruit. Makuu realized that someone had set a trap for him, and Kion proclaimed that he knew how to find out who was to blame.
Later that day, Kion announced to the Summit that Makuu had fallen into a pit and lost his life in the struggle. Horrified, Twiga and Vuruga Vuruga exclaimed that they had never intended for Makuu to get hurt, only to fall into a pit of rotten fruit. Just then, Makuu revealed himself and announced to the gathered animals that he had come to the Summit with the intention of helping his float and the Pride Lands but had only received distrust and hostility. Makuu then prompted Simba to let the Summit go on.
With negotiations reinitiated, the other animals acted graciously toward Makuu. Bunga commented that he was glad that he could not hear as well as Mtoto, else he would know everyone else's business. Fuli joked that he would look horrible with ears that big, which made the rest of the Lion Guard laugh.
====Traveling Baboon Show====
While patrolling the Pride Lands, the Lion Guard noticed several animals taking off in the same direction. They followed the commotion to where a large group of Pride Landers had gathered beneath a tree. Beshte questioned Mbeya about the ruckus, and he explained that the animals had gathered to see a troop of performing baboons.
Just then, Mwevi and Mwizi leaped out of the tree and began performing tricks for their spectators. Uroho soon joined them and formally introduced his troop as the Traveling Baboon Show. The group proceeded to show off their various feats and talents. After the show, the Lion Guard approached Uroho and congratulated him on an entertaining show. At first, Uroho was receptive to their thanks, but when Kion mentioned that he was the son of King Simba, the baboon became uncomfortable and took off in a hurry.
With the troop otherwise occupied, the Lion Guard returned to their patrol. Along the way, they heard Ma Tembo crying for help and followed her voice to where a tree had been completely stripped of its flowers and leaves. Ma Tembo declared that there was a food thief in the Pride Lands. The Lion Guard resolved to find the thief and restore order to the Pride Lands. Once Ma Tembo had left, the Lion Guard lingered to inspect the stripped tree. Ono flew to the topmost branches and declared that even the highest flowers and leaves had been taken, and the other members of the Lion Guard speculated as to which species could have pulled off such a feat.
Just then, the Lion Guard heard the Traveling Baboon Show making a clamor in the distance and decided to watch the show in order to see if the thief was in attendance. While the other Lion Guard members gathered around the show, Ono patrolled from the air. After witnessing Mwevi and Mwizi stealing food, he returned to the crowd and declared that the troop was guilty of stealing the Pride Landers' food. Kion commanded Beshte to shake the troop's tree, and he did so, revealing the mounds of fruit and leaves that the baboons had been stealing.
In the face of their guilt, the troop fled, and the Lion Guard chased them across the Pride Lands. In the midst of the chase, the baboons scared a herd of antelope into scattering, and two of the antelope fell into a nearby river. The Lion Guard halted their chase in order to save the antelope, and the baboons managed to escape into the Outlands.
Later, the Lion Guard reflected on how the baboons had turned out to be thieves. In the midst of the conversation, Ono spotted Mwevi and Mwizi being chased by Janja and reported what he had seen to Kion. Ono pointed out that the troop had only entered the Outlands because they had been being chased by the Lion Guard, and so Kion decided to save the troop. Together, the Lion Guard took off for the Outlands.
Upon arriving at the scene, the Lion Guard chased off Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu, and the baboons thanked the Lion Guard for having saved their lives. As repayment for their past crimes, the troop agreed to hand out food to the Pride Landers. As the baboons handed out food, the Lion Guard watched contentedly.
====Saving Ona====
While on patrol, the Lion Guard witnessed a stampede of hyraxes. They wondered what the source of the stampede was, only to look up and see a harrier hawk circling overhead. Kion exclaimed that hawks were not allowed to hunt in the Pride Lands, and Ono volunteered to talk to the intruder. As Ono raced after the hawk, Kulinda worried what would become of her egg with such a dangerous predator in the area.
Meanwhile, Ono caught up to the hawk, Mpishi, and distracted her long enough for her to run head-on into a cliff face and let go of Pim. Ono rushed to save Pim but was not strong enough to lift him. Just in time, Beshte ran up beneath the struggling duo, and Ono dropped Pim safely onto his friend's back. After the rescue, Kion approached Mpishi and told her that she must hunt in her own territory in order to uphold the Circle of Life. Though reluctant, she agreed.
With Mpishi gone, the Lion Guard congratulated Ono for his heroic rescue. Unbeknownst to the group, Kulinda was watching and decided that Ono would make the perfect babysitter for her egg. Without consulting Ono, she carried her egg to his nest and deposited it among the twigs.
Later that day, the Lion Guard led Ono back to his nest. Ono was about to settle down in his nest when he felt Kulinda's egg and realized that a hamerkop had left an egg in his nest. Confused, he wondered why a hamerkop would abandon its egg, and Kion resolved to find the mother and clear up the confusion. Bunga volunteered to keep the egg warm, but Ono worried that he would be too rough with it. As a result, he decided to sit on the egg himself.
In the meantime, the rest of the Lion Guard tracked Kulinda's scent across the Pride Lands. In the midst of their search, they stumbled across a group of hares who were standing in the path of a dangerous mudslide. One of the hares approached the Lion Guard and informed them that the other hares were hiding in empty aardvark dens, and the team resolved to save them before they could get buried in mud. While Beshte stood in front of the mud, slowing its flow, the rest of the Lion Guard got the hares out of the aardvark dens.
After the rescue, the Lion Guard followed Kulinda's scent to where she was building a new nest in a tree. Kion questioned Kulinda as to why she had left her egg in Ono's nest, and she explained that she had been building a new nest in preparation for her egg hatching. They then offered to escort her back to Ono's nest.
The Lion Guard arrived at Ono's nest to find it empty. Kulinda began to frantically call for her baby, and the baby hamerkop followed her mother's cries to Ono's nest, where the two finally met each other for the first time. Kulinda thanked Ono for his help, and he warned her that baby hamerkops could get very distracted by insects. No sooner had he said this when he realized that the baby hamerkop had gone missing again, and he and the rest of Lion Guard rushed to save her from danger.
Ono scoped out the area for the baby hamerkop and spotted her wandering near the river. Fuli attempted to save the baby hamerkop from danger but arrived too late to stop her from falling into the raging water. With no time to lose, the Lion Guard and Kulinda pursued the baby hamerkop down the river, only to watch in horror as Mpishi grabbed the baby in her talons and took off for the safety of the skies. Along with Mwoga, Mpishi worked to keep the baby hamerkop from falling back into the Lion Guard's grasp. Eventually, Bunga climbed a tree in order to reach the feuding birds and managed to knock Mwoga from the sky. However, Mpishi merely took the baby hamerkop from him and swooped out of harm's way once more.
Meanwhile, Ono worked out how he and Kulinda could work together to outsmart Mpishi. The two flanked Mpishi from the front and the back and forced her to drop the baby. Mpishi then crashed to the ground, where the Lion Guard surrounded her and forced to return to her own territory. Afterward, the Lion Guard watched in contentment as Kulinda embraced her daughter, whom she named Ona.
====Scar's resurrection====
The dry season began, and the Lion Guard became busier than ever. During a patrol, Ono informed his friends that Janja's clan was attacking Ma Tembo's herd. The Lion Guard arrived at the scene and were shocked that the hyenas were risking hunting elephants. After the Lion Guard helped drive the hyenas away, Ma Tembo explained that the hyenas had been desperate because of the dry season. She added that she was trying to find a new water source for her herd.
Later, Ono informed the rest of the Lion Guard that Janja and his clan were attacking the baboons who had started following Ma Tembo's herd. The Lion Guard arrived on the scene, and Kion blasted the hyenas away with the Roar of the Elders. With the hyenas gone, the baboons revealed that they were following Ma Tembo to a new water source.
After the rescue, at the Lair of the Lion Guard, Beshte met Rafiki's new apprentice, Makini, and looked on as she asked Rafiki if there was a way to talk to Scar. Rafiki explained that it depended on if the Great Lion was good or bad and that the Evil Lions of the Past like Scar appeared in fire if they were unleashed by the Roar and a bakora staff.
Shortly afterward, Makini told the Lion Guard that the hyenas had kidnapped Kiara. The Lion Guard followed Janja's clan to the Outlands volcano, where Kion confronted Janja while his teammates rescued Kiara. Upon getting Kiara on his back, Beshte and his teammates took off to reconvene with Kion. Meanwhile, Janja tricked Kion into using the Roar out of anger, which caused the volcano to erupt.
Back in the Pride Lands, Kiara thanked the Lion Guard for the rescue. The Lion Guard then met up with Ma Tembo, who at last found a new water source. As the Pride Landers drank from the new water hole, the Lion Guard looked on contentedly.
====Attempted assassination of Simba====
When a rockslide startled a herd of antelope into stampeding, the Lion Guard resolved to calm them down. From overhead, Ono spotted a canyon into which the Lion Guard could chase the antelope, and Kion led the Guard in herding the herd into the canyon. Unbeknownst to the Lion Guard, Makuu and his float were slumbering underground and got awakened by the loud disturbance of the stampede.
After the Lion Guard calmed the antelope, Makuu and his float emerged from down below and explained that crocodiles could not go back into hibernation after being woken up. Though Makuu was willing to reason with the Lion Guard, Kiburi blamed Ono for the dilemma and suggested that they deal with him in the "crocodile way." Makuu ordered Kiburi to back down, then agreed to meet with Simba in order to discuss water rations for his float.
At Pride Rock, Makuu spoke with Simba about the water situation, and Ono got tasked with finding a new water hole for the crocodiles. However, while overlooking the Pride Lands, he saw that Makuu's followers had invaded the water holes of the Pride Lands. Makuu insisted that whoever was leading his float had defied a direct order from him. He tried to leave in order to settle the situation, but Simba ordered him to let the Lion Guard deal with the problem instead. Makuu begrudgingly agreed, and Kion led the Lion Guard to the rescue.
When they arrived at the scene, Kion attempted to stop Kiburi from hurting the animals in the water hole, but Kiburi refused and engaged Kion in a fight. In the midst of the brawl, Makuu arrived and chastised Kiburi for defying his orders. Simba added that they had a found a new water hole for the crocodiles to live in, then tasked the Lion Guard with leading the float to their new home.
The Lion Guard escorted Makuu and his float to their own private water hole, but the water hole proved to be too crowded and uncomfortable for the crocodiles. Kiburi challenged Makuu about the poor situation, but Makuu insisted that they must compromise with Simba in order to survive. Appalled at Makuu for being so willing to share with the other Pride Landers, Kiburi called for a mashindano.
At sunset, the Pride Landers gathered at Lake Matope to watch the mashindano. During the fight, Ono grew tired of the violence and flew away to avoid watching the fight. As he hovered over the battlefield, he noticed several crocodiles leaving the event. He reported what he had seen to Kion, who led the rest of the Lion Guard in figuring out what was going on. Just then, Ono realized that the crocodiles were attempting to ambush Simba and warned Kion of the danger. Just in time, the Lion Guard arrived and thwarted the crocodiles' efforts to assassinate Simba.
Simba overheard the fight and arrived to find Kiburi's lackeys defeated. He studied the crocodiles and recognized them as being too dim-witted to have come up with such a scheme on their own. Just then, Makuu defeated Kiburi in the mashindano. However, when he stood up, Kiburi declared to the onlookers that his followers had killed Simba and that he was now the ruler of the Pride Lands. Simba interrupted Kiburi's speech, and Kiburi realized that the Lion Guard had outsmarted him. Makuu declared that Kiburi was no longer a part of the float, so Simba banished Kiburi and his lackeys from the Pride Lands.
Later, Ono lamented having caused Makuu's float to awaken early. Though the rest of the Lion Guard attempted to reassure him, Ono refused to accept their comfort and went before Makuu to apologize. At first, Makuu seemed to be furious, but then he forgave Ono. Kion explained that Makuu had learned of Ono's part in foiling Kiburi's scheme, and Simba added that everyone made mistakes.
====Lost in the Outlands====
When Thurston and members of his herd got stuck in a dry riverbed, the Lion Guard arrived to help. Beshte warned the team that they must rescue the zebras quickly, else the sun would dry the mud faster, so Kion decided to use the Roar of the Elders to make a rainstorm that would loosen the mud. To the rest of the Lion Guard's shock, the Roar turned a nearby cloud into a thunderstorm, and the falling rain loosened the mud, freeing some of the zebras.
At first, the Lion Guard believed the zebras to be safe, but when the rain did not stop, a flood formed and rushed down the riverbed. Kion ordered Beshte to stop the water flow while he and the rest of the Guard freed the stuck zebras. Though the Guard successfully rescued the zebras, Beshte got swept away by the floodwaters and found himself trapped in the Outlands.
As Beshte tried to find his way home, he began to suffer under the intense heat and desperately searched for shade. While trekking through the Outlands, he met Shupavu and her fellow skinks, and believed them to be kind and well-intentioned creatures. He admitted his worries about the sunlight, and Shupavu offered to lead him to an area of shade. Beshte agreed, and the group departed, with the skinks in the lead.
Beshte continued to follow the skinks, during which he expressed his concern about getting burned in the sun. However, Njano declared that he knew a shortcut that would spare Beshte from the sun. Shupavu was dubious of her minion's claims, but Njano insisted that they must trust him, and so the group followed him into a cavern. From afar, Janja and his cronies, Cheezi and Chungu, watched.
The skinks continued to lead Beshte through the cavern until they reached a dead-end. From above, the hyenas revealed themselves, and Beshte warned the skinks of the danger. Just then, the hyenas pushed a large boulder into the pit's exit, trapping Beshte, and the skinks escaped by slithering into crevices in the rock. Without his guides, Beshte was left at the mercy of the hyenas, who continued to push rocks into the pit in the hopes of crushing him.
The Lion Guard overheard Beshte's desperate cries of "Twende kiboko!" and rushed toward the noise. As Beshte continued to dodge the hyenas' boulders, he explained his situation to the Lion Guard through the rocks, and Ono pinpointed his exact location. The Lion Guard then rushed off to deal with the hyenas, while Beshte continued to dodge the falling boulders.
Ono guided his teammates to Rocky Plateau, and Fuli raced ahead to stop the hyenas from dropping a massive boulder on Beshte. As she teetered carefully atop the boulder, keeping it from falling into the pit, the other Guard members rushed in and engaged the hyenas in a fight. Down below, Beshte started to clear a path through the fallen rocks. Eventually, Kion used the Roar of the Elders to clear the hyenas, and Beshte made his way to safety.
Back in the Pride Lands, Kion apologized to Beshte for the situation, but Beshte insisted that Kion had only been trying to help. Bunga started to place a comforting paw on Beshte, but the hippopotamus reacted with pain and realized that his skin had been burned by the sun. He promptly leaped into a mud pool, but in doing so, he accidentally showered his teammates with mud. Though Fuli was annoyed, the rest of the Lion Guard shared in a laugh.
====Dry lightning====
Near Pride Rock, Beshte and the Lion Guard struggled to put out a brush fire. Together, they managed to dig trenches around the fire, effectively ending the danger, but the commotion frightened Thurston's herd and caused them to stampede across the grasslands. The Lion Guard raced after them and helped to calm them. Once the herd slowed, Ono learned from Thurston that dry lightning had caused the brush fire.
After the rescue, the Lion Guard noticed Rafiki meditating in a nearby tree. They questioned him as to why he was not training Makini, and he admitted that he was trying to escape his noisy new neighbors. Kion wondered why three young animals would be on their own, and Rafiki suggested that the Lion Guard return them to their own kind.
With Rafiki in the lead, the Lion Guard traveled to Rafiki's tree, where they found Makini having a bug-eating competition with Chama, Furaha, and Mzaha. The team broke up the commotion, and Kion questioned the three young animals as to why they were not with their herds. The three admitted that they were outcasts, but Rafiki insisted that they must return to their families. Seeing the importance of Rafiki's words, the three young animals agreed to return to their herds. Beshte and Ono escorted Furaha back to his troop, where he received a lukewarm welcome from his leader, Tumbili.
At Pride Rock, the Lion Guard regrouped and expressed relief that the three young animals were back with their herds. No sooner had they done this when Kion spotted a dry lightning storm in the distance and ordered his team to protect any nearby Pride Landers. Ono suggested that they clear the watering holes first, and the Lion Guard set off to avert the danger.
Across the Pride Lands, the Lion Guard attempted to save a pair of hippopotamuses as well as Zito from dry lightning. As the team began to lead their charges away from the watering hole, dry lightning struck, trapping the animals in a ring of fire. Zito attempted to spray the fire out, but to no avail. Before long, sparks from the flames began to drift across the savanna and ignited the grass beneath Rafiki's tree. Ono happened to notice the danger and warned Kion of the situation. Beshte pushed a boulder into the flames, which allowed his teammates and their charges to safely cross the ring of fire. Kion then used the Roar of the Elders to put out the fire, and the Pride Landers thanked him for saving them.
With their charges safe, the Lion Guard took off to save Makini and Rafiki, only to find that Chama, Furaha, and Mzaha were battling the fire themselves. The Lion Guard joined in, and together, the two groups put out the fire. Rafiki thanked them profusely for their help.
That night, the Lion Guard watched as Makini painted for the royal family.
====Rescuing Jasiri====
A herd of cape buffalo stampeded across the Pride Lands, fleeing a cloud of tsetse flies, while Beshte and the Lion Guard attempted to calm them. In the midst of the chase, Ono pointed out that tsetse flies detested water, and so Kion ordered the team to steer the herd toward a nearby water source. After clearing Thurston and his herd from their path, the Lion Guard successfully led the cape buffalo to a watering hole, where the tsetse flies were warded off. No sooner had they done this when Mbeya cried out for help, and the Lion Guard rushed off to save him.
The Lion Guard found Mbeya upside down in a dry ditch. Beshte freed Mbeya, and the team escorted him back to the watering hole. However, in doing so, the Lion Guard found themselves plagued by tsetse flies. In frustration, Beshte ordered the flies to leave, and to the team's shock, the cloud disappeared. Just then, Thurston and his herd appeared, and Ono realized that the zebras had been the ones driving off the tsetse flies. This gave Kion an idea, and he, Beshte, and the rest of the Lion Guard decided to escort Mbeya and the zebras to a new watering hole.
Later, Madoa approached the Lion Guard and told them that Janja's clan had trapped Jasiri and two hyena pups in a steam vent. Kion attempted to lead the Lion Guard on a rescue mission, but they got caught in a cloud of tsetse flies, which prevented them from moving quickly. Kion suggested that Thurston accompany them to ward off any remaining flies, and the zebra agreed to the mission.
In the Outlands, Kion realized that the tsetse flies had vanished, and so he ordered Thurston to return to the Pride Lands. The zebra departed, and Kion suggested that Madoa leave as well so she could protect her clan. She agreed and departed, leaving the Lion Guard to assess Jasiri's predicament themselves. Before they could launch their rescue, Thurston reappeared, asking for directions, and the Lion Guard frustratingly pointed him in the right direction. However, Thurston got turned around again and continued to follow the team deeper into the Outlands.
The Lion Guard became irritated when they realized that Thurston was still with them, but they had no choice but to proceed with their attack. The team engaged in a fight with the hyenas and effectively steered them away from the edge of the steam vent. With the hyenas out of the way, Kion ordered Beshte to push a large rock into the lava flow, which allowed Jasiri and the pups to clamber to safety. By then, all of the hyenas had fled, save Janja. Jasiri emerged from the steam vent and challenged Janja to take on both herself and the Lion Guard, and Janja reluctantly gave up the fight. With Janja gone, Jasiri thanked the Lion Guard for their help. Kion blamed the dry season for Janja's odd behavior, and the two groups parted ways.
Back in the Pride Lands, the Lion Guard thanked Thurston for his help, which led Thurston to believe that he had been invited to join the Lion Guard. He excitedly announced his new status to his herd while the Lion Guard looked on in amusement. Just then, the tsetse flies reappeared, and the team decided to hang out with the zebras.
====Ukumbusho Tradition====
At Mizimu Grove, the Lion Guard practiced their lines for the upcoming Ukumbusho Tradition. In the midst of the preparation, Makini arrived to help paint the elephants for the ceremony. Just then, Timon and Pumbaa arrived to help the Lion Guard with their lines. However, before they could start, Ma Tembo pointed out that the Lion Guard was traditionally composed of lions only, and Makini suggested that she paint each Lion Guard member to resemble a lion. Though Fuli was reluctant, Makini dressed up the Lion Guard as lions.
Once Makini had gone, Timon and Pumbaa helped the Lion Guard practice their lines since, by their own admission, they knew best how lions acted, since they had raised Simba. Beshte tried to speak while holding the symbolic Branch of Peace in his mouth, but Timon and Pumbaa were dissatisfied with his muffled voice. Timon suggested that they throw the branch away, but Kion protested that it was essential for the ceremony.
Just then, Simba arrived with his pride. The ceremony began, and the Lion Guard performed "May There Be Peace" for a crowd of Pride Landers, during which they commemorated the peace established between the elephants and lions of the Pride Lands.
However, in the midst of the ceremony, a horde of bees attacked the elephants and chased them from the grove. Kion ordered his team to chase down the elephants before they could hurt anyone, and the Lion Guard took off to halt the stampede. While following the elephants, the Lion Guard worked out that the bees were attracted to the flower paint on the elephants' foreheads. They then worked with Mtoto to spray the paint from each elephant's forehead.
Once the elephants had recovered from the bee attack, they returned to Mizimu Grove with the Lion Guard, and the Ukumbusho Tradition continued without the ceremonial paint.
====Skirmish with Kenge====
The Lion Guard caught Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu attempting to steal a supply of Tikiti melons from the elephants, who needed the fruits' moisture to survive the dry season. The team managed to fend off the hyenas and save most of the melons, but Kion decided to monitor the melon patch to ensure that no more fruits were stolen.
Later that day, Ono spotted a skirmish at the watering hole, and the Lion Guard arrived to find Kenge making a scene. The team leaped into battle, but Kenge managed to bite Beshte, Fuli, and Kion, paralyzing them. Just in time, Bunga stepped in and broke wind in Kenge's face, which caused the monitor lizard and his hyena minions to retreat.
With the danger abated, Ono realized that Kenge was a monitor lizard and therefore had a venomous bite. The Lion Guard urged Ono to fetch Rafiki for healing, but when Ono arrived at Rafiki's tree to get help, only Makini was at home. She offered to accompany Ono instead and use her minimal healing skills to assist the Lion Guard. However, once at the scene of the fight, she forgot what the antidote, ponya flowers, looked like. Ono recalled what the flowers looked like and managed to locate a patch of them. At the same moment, he saw the hyenas returning to the melon patch with Kenge. Hearing this news, Kion ordered Bunga and Ono to deal with the thieves while Makini collected the flowers.
Meanwhile, Makini attempted to use the ponya flowers to heal the Lion Guard. At the same time, Bunga arrived and declared that he must face Kenge alone. The Lion Guard insisted that Makini accompany him to the fight, and, though reluctant, she agreed to the task. Kion then declared that he had a plan as to how they could defeat Kenge and the hyenas.
Bunga and Makini followed Kenge and the hyenas to Embamba Canyon, where Bunga distracted the thieves while Makini stole their melons back and hid them behind rocks. Just then, a fully healed Lion Guard approached. The hyenas attempted to run but were hindered by their paralyzed legs. Taking advantage of their prone position, Kion used the Roar of the Elders to blast them and Kenge back into the Outlands. With the danger abated, the Lion Guard and Makini rolled the stolen melons back to the patch, where Bunga complained that the labor of moving the melons had been worse than taking on Kenge alone. The Lion Guard then shared in a laugh.
====Christmas====
One day, Bunga assisted Timon and Pumbaa in decorating an acacia tree with colored gourds. Timon attempted to place a star fruit at the top of the tree, but in doing so, he accidentally snapped a branch and began to plummet toward the ground. Coincidentally, the Lion Guard arrived at the base of the tree, and Beshte caught Timon on his back.
The Lion Guard inquired about the oddly decorated tree, and Bunga explained that they were decorating their tree in honor of Christmastime. They added that Christmas was about gift-giving and that a mysterious creature called Dandy Claws often left presents for the animals of the savanna. Despite Bunga's enthusiasm for the holiday, Timon wept over Dandy Claws's continued absence, and Pumbaa explained that Dandy Claws only brought presents if animals performed a special song called "The Twelve Ways of Christmas" under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. This only worsened Timon's mood, and not even Bunga and Pumbaa could cheer him up.
Later, while on patrol, Beshte noticed Bunga's somber mood, and Bunga admitted that he wished he could help his uncles meet Dandy Claws for Christmas. Kion asserted that the Lion Guard could help make this happen, to which Bunga excitedly began listing all the creatures and items that they must gather in order to properly perform their Christmas song. Though the list was vast, the Lion Guard decided to split up in order to cover more ground and gather the necessary components quickly. Beshte asked Ma Tembo to be involved. Though she was hesitant, Mtoto expressed interest in the performance, and Ma Tembo consequently acquiesced to the Lion Guard's wishes.
That night, the Lion Guard's animal recruits gathered in a canyon to practice for the celebration. Simba questioned Bunga as to what they needed to do in order to practice for the show, but Bunga remained unsure as to where he should begin. Seeing the animals' confusion, Ono stated that it was going to be a long night.
At sunrise, Kion expressed satisfaction with the animals' performances, but Bunga declared that they still needed more practice. Ma Tembo pointed out that they would never be able to live up to Bunga's expectations, and Simba agreed. The group started to break up and leave, but Kion called them back. Simba questioned his son as to why Christmas was so important, and Bunga explained that he wanted to make up for his uncles' good deeds over the years. This ultimately convinced Simba to devote himself back to the cause, and he called the others back to continue practice.
Later that day, the Lion Guard and their Pride Lander recruits performed "The Twelve Ways of Christmas" for Timon and Pumbaa. After the song, Timon and Pumbaa wept with joy, and Timon thanked the gathered animals for making his Christmas vision come true. Just then, Pumbaa appeared dressed in white flowers and a gourd hat, and proclaimed that he had hoped to make Timon's Christmas better by dressing up as Dandy Claws. The two concluded that this had been their best Christmas yet, and the Lion Guard decided to make Christmas an annual holiday in the Pride Lands. The gathered Pride Landers then yelled, "Merry Christmas!" in unison.
====Zazu's kidnapping====
The Lion Guard gathered around Bupu, whose horns were stuck in the branches of a tree. Kion suggested that they break the branch off the tree, to which Bupu reluctantly agreed. However, as Bunga began to bounce on the branch to weaken it, Nyuni revealed his presence and explained that his nest lay at the end of the branch. Beshte questioned Nyuni as to why he had moved his home, and Nyuni explained that he liked to see different parts of the Pride Lands.
Just then, Zazu arrived and commented that he would be including the incident in his morning report to Simba. Kion suddenly got the idea to break the branch off at the end so that Bupu could carry the rest of the branch as well as Nyuni's nest in his horns. Once the incident had been resolved, Fuli critiqued Zazu's nosiness, to which Kion reminded her that it was part of his job to know the business of the Pride Landers. He then reminded her about the time that Zazu had saved him and Bunga from crocodiles. After the story, Beshte commented on Zazu's bravery.
At Pride Rock, Simba expressed concern that Zazu was late for his morning report, as he had never exhibited such behavior before. The Lion Guard inquired about Zazu's whereabouts to Bupu and Nyuni, but both denied having seen Zazu since their earlier entanglement. Kion subsequently ordered his teammates to track Zazu through other methods.
Eventually, Ono located some of Zazu's tail feathers, which still carried his scent. The Lion Guard spotted nearby hyena tracks and followed them to the Outlands. Once there, the Lion Guard overheard Zazu singing and rushed to the rescue. Just in time, they stopped Janja's clan from eating Zazu and engaged them in a fight. The Lion Guard eventually triumphed and took Zazu home.
====Water treaty with Dhahabu====
Due to a severe drought, the Lion Guard had to break up a fight between Twiga's herd and Vuruga Vuruga's herd. Kion took the problem to Simba, who instructed the Lion Guard to journey to a watering hole in the Back Lands and ask the zebras there for permission to use it.
Kion led his team into the Back Lands, where they were intercepted by Makucha. The leopard attempted to drive them out of his territory, but the Lion Guard defeated him easily and forced him to back off. The team carried on until they encountered two zebra siblings named Raha and Starehe, who led them to their leader, Dhahabu. Upon meeting Dhahabu, Beshte commented that she was "different" and "pretty."
Dhahabu took the Lion Guard aside and showed them the whole of Dhahabu Grove, which she called the "happiest place in the Back Lands." Kion explained to Dhahabu that the Pride Lands was experiencing a major drought, then requested permission for his fellow Pride Landers to use the zebras' watering hole. However, Dhahabu was evasive and demanded that the Lion Guard first bring her her herd's favorite food, a Tamboa plant.
Despite a Tamboa plant being incredibly difficult to find, Ono spotted one behind a tangle of thorns. Beshte promptly cleared a path through the thorns, and the Lion Guard worked together to unearth the enormous plant. Beshte bore the plant back to Dhahabu on his back, and the Lion Guard presented it to her, adding that they had now fulfilled their end of the bargain. To their shock, Dhahabu called off the deal and even forbid her own herd from using the watering hole. Suspicious, Kion sent Ono to investigate the situation, and Ono returned with news that the watering hole had dried up.
Once her herd had cleared, Dhahabu admitted to Kion that she had noticed the water disappearing several days ago but had not wanted to make her herd unhappy by sharing the bad news. Kion offered to assist her with her water problem in exchange for the Pride Landers' access to her watering hole, to which Dhahabu delightfully agreed.
The Lion Guard followed Dhahabu to the watering hole, where she explained that there used to be a waterfall that spilled into the pool. Ono investigated the dried-up falls and informed Kion that a rockslide had caused a blockage upriver. Once at the scene of the blockage, Makucha and his friends confronted the Lion Guard, and the two groups engaged in a fight. Though the Lion Guard chased off Makucha's friends, Makucha managed to trap Dhahabu and warned the Lion Guard that he would harm her if they did not surrender. In answer, the Lion Guard dropped hints to Dhahabu that she could be a good leader by fighting back, and Dhahabu quickly took action, knocking over Makucha and kicking him into the dam.
The force of Makucha's hit caused the rocks to break apart, and the river swelled once more, filling Dhahabu's watering hole. With Makucha defeated and her watering hole restored, Dhahabu offered the Lion Guard access to her water. Shortly afterward, Kion led the Pride Landers to Dhahabu Grove, where they joined the zebras in enjoying the water. Dhahabu invited the Lion Guard to join in, and they gladly did so.
====Friendship with Hodari====
The Lion Guard noticed Makuu training his float to fight and accidentally mistook it for a real fight. They started to break up the sparring, but Hodari told them to stop and explained that it was merely a training session. The Lion Guard apologized to Makuu, who then continued his float's training. As they did so, Hodari mimicked their movements and professed to Beshte that it was his dream to be a crocodile, or at least an honorary one.
Just then, Ono spotted a herd of cape buffalo stampeding toward the crocodiles, and Kion yelled for the float to take cover. Though the crocodiles managed to reach safety on a nearby cliff, the stampede caused a rockslide, which injured Makuu. Despite his injuries, Makuu insisted that he was fine and continued to train his float.
As the Lion Guard continued their patrol, Hodari halted Beshte, and Beshte told his teammates that he would catch up with them. Hodari then told Beshte that Makuu would need help since he was injured and that this could be his chance to join the crocodile float. He asked Beshte if he would introduce him to Makuu, and Beshte happily agreed to do so. After Beshte introduced Hodari to Makuu, Hodari boasted about his strengths and skills despite his small stature, but the crocodiles merely laughed at him, and Makuu dismissed him as "ridiculous." Horrified, Hodari fled the scene, and Beshte lambasted Makuu for having hurt Hodari's feelings.
After the incident, Beshte lamented Hodari's predicament to the rest of the Lion Guard. At that moment, Ono spotted Kiburi's float marching through the Pride Lands, and the Lion Guard rushed to stop them. Upon being confronted by the Lion Guard, Kiburi claimed to simply be visiting, then introduced the team to his float's newest member, Hodari. He attempted to use Hodari's friendship with the Lion Guard to his advantage, but Kion was adamant about Kiburi's banishment and commanded the float to return to the Outlands. Kiburi reluctantly gave in, and the float left the Pride Lands.
As the crocodiles departed, Beshte confronted Hodari and asked him why he would be taking up with Kiburi's float. Hodari took Beshte's comment to mean that he was wrong for trying to follow his dream and declared that they were no longer friends, to Beshte's devastation.
The Lion Guard tried to warn Makuu that Kiburi was lurking in the Pride Lands, but Makuu insisted that his float could care for itself. Kion submitted to Makuu's request and led his team away from the float, unaware that Kiburi was watching from the shadows. The moment the Lion Guard departed, he and his float attacked Makuu, using Hodari's lessons to evade their attacks and seize an effortless victory. Ono spotted the attack, and Kion led the Lion Guard into battle against the Kiburi's float. During the fight, Beshte spotted Hodari in a nearby tree and expressed concern for him. This shocked Hodari, who had not thought that Beshte would still consider them friends.
Meanwhile, Kiburi pinned down Makuu, and Tamka overpowered Kion, which prevented him from helping Makuu. Worried for Makuu's safety, Hodari told Beshte to carry him closer to the fight, as he had an idea. Beshte did so, and Hodari came close enough to leap onto Kiburi's snout and distract him. He then yelled for Makuu to use the Wide Tailspin move, and Makuu obeyed, knocking Kiburi into the mud and freeing himself from his prone position. With Kiburi's float incapacitated, Kion used the Roar of the Elders to banish them back to the Outlands. Beshte then watched, pleased, as Hodari was accepted into Makuu's float.
====Alliance with Tamaa====
When Janja and his clan started to chase Twiga and Juhudi, the Lion Guard rushed to their defense. In the midst of the chase, Ono spotted Reirei's pack attacking a group of pangolins on the other side of the Pride Lands, and Kion was forced to split up his team. While Bunga, Fuli, and Ono broke off to deal with the jackals, Beshte and Kion continued chasing the hyenas. Janja ordered his lackeys to stop them, and Beshte and Kion quickly became overwhelmed. Beshte suggested that Kion use the Roar of the Elders to stop the attack, but Kion refused for fear of harming Twiga and Juhudi. Up ahead, Twiga kicked Janja away from her, and he called for a surrender. Beshte and Kion checked on the status of the giraffes, then ensured that the hyenas had left the Pride Lands.
After the jackals were defeated, the Lion Guard regrouped at the edge of the Outlands. Kion expressed concern that his team was weaker when split up and wondered why both groups had given up so easily. Though Beshte tried to dismiss the situation as a coincidence, Ono caught sight of the hyenas and jackals converging in the Outlands. Unaffected, Bunga commented that all they had to do was be in two places at once, which gave Kion the idea to recruit Tamaa.
Later, Ono spotted the jackals chasing down a herd of gazelles, and Kion ordered his team to pursue them. Shortly into the chase, Ono caught sight of the hyenas stalking Rafiki, and Kion quickly changed course, sending Tamaa ahead to deal with the jackals, while the Lion Guard defended Rafiki from the hyenas. The Lion Guard soon joined forces with Rafiki and defeated the entirety of Janja's clan. Just then, Reirei's pack arrived to help, and a fight broke out, during which the Lion Guard and Rafiki beat back against the combined force of the hyenas and the jackals. Upon their defeat, the Outlanders fled, and Rafiki thanked the Lion Guard for having saved his life.
====Sumu's attack====
In the Lair of the Lion Guard, Makini and the Lion Guard discussed how Simba had defeated Scar, which had inspired the creation of the Kumbuka celebration. Bunga tried to argue that Timon and Pumbaa were the true heroes, since they had distracted the hyenas, but the rest of the Lion Guard credited Simba with the victory.
At Pride Rock, the Pride Landers honored Simba for the Kumbuka celebration. However, in the midst of the festivities, Sumu stung Simba's tail, and Simba collapsed to the ground. Rafiki rushed to the king's side, examined the sting, and determined that it had been inflicted by a scorpion. Kion sent Ono to find the scorpion, and together, the Lion Guard chased him back into the Outlands.
With Sumu gone, the Lion Guard returned to Pride Rock and learned that Simba had weakened severely. Rafiki explained that the only cure was volcanic ash, then tasked the Lion Guard with retrieving it from the Outlands volcano. Bunga offered to carry the gourd that would hold the ash, but when he almost broke it, Rafiki ordered Makini to accompany the Lion Guard and carry the gourd instead.
Meanwhile, Scar received word of Sumu's success and directed his army to intercept them. The plan worked, as Janja, Kiburi, Reirei, and their respective clans slowed down the Lion Guard's progress through the Outlands. At last, the Lion Guard reached the inner volcano, where Makini placed a pinch of volcanic ash in her gourd. As the team started to leave, Scar arose from the flames, revealed himself to Kion, and admitted his part in Simba's predicament. Despite Scar's confession, Kion directed his team to leave, as he was worried about arriving too late to save his father. Scar then called his army forward, and they cornered the Lion Guard at the edge of the lava. With no option left, Kion used the Roar of the Elders to carefully blow away Scar's army, after which the Lion Guard escaped the volcano. Scar sent Mzingo and his parliament after the Lion Guard, and the vultures nearly wrestled the gourd from Makini. Just in time, the Lion Guard fended off the vultures, and Kion used his Roar to blow the parliament away.
The Lion Guard continued racing across the savanna. Fuli told Kion that she could reach Pride Rock in time but that she could not carry the gourd herself. Bunga volunteered to ride Fuli and carry the gourd, and so the two raced ahead of the rest of the Lion Guard.
Eventually, the rest of the Lion Guard arrived at Pride Rock, where Simba was weak but recovering. Rafiki ordered everyone to leave Simba to his recovery. Kion reconvened with the rest of the Lion Guard and declared that their duty was to protect the Pride Lands. They then stared out over the kingdom as Kion reminded them that they could defeat Scar.
====Fire at Poromoko Crevasse====
At Pride Rock, Rafiki tasked Makini with finding Kongwe, who was the oldest and wisest animal in the Pride Lands, as they needed her wisdom in light of Scar's return. Beshte commented that Kongwe lived near the Urembo River, which was a half-day's walk from Pride Rock. Simba worried that this was too long of a delay, so Fuli volunteered to lend her assistance in order to speed up the trip. While she and Makini departed to find Kongwe, the rest of the Lion Guard set off on patrol.
Before long, the Lion Guard spotted a group of hyraxes attempting to cross a rock bridge. Ono realized that the bridge was unstable, and the Lion Guard warned the hyraxes to back off moments before the rocks gave way and collapsed. The team worried that the hyraxes would be unable to reach a watering source, so Beshte made a bridge by hoisting a rock onto his back and holding it up for the hyraxes to cross.
Just then, Ono spotted a herd of elands trapped in a wildfire at the Poromoko Crevasse, and the Lion Guard rushed off to rescue them. Ono guided the rest of the Lion Guard through the smoke to where the elands were, and the team led the elands away from the fire to a canyon. However, as Beshte started to lead the herd down into the canyon, a spark set nearby bushes on fire, blocking the path. Ono worried that the narrowest part of the canyon was not short enough of a distance for the elands to jump, so Kion ordered Beshte to make another bridge, just as he had for the hyraxes. Beshte did as he had been told, and the elands crossed safely to the other side.
At sunset, Fuli, Makini, and Kongwe converged with the rest of the Lion Guard. Together, they went to Pride Rock, where Kongwe advised Simba to be patient and asserted that good always triumphed over evil in the end.
====Kilio Valley fire====
At Kilio Valley, the Lion Guard struggled to put out a widespread brush fire. The team spread out, accepting help from several of Ma Tembo's herd members, while Ma Tembo led the rest of her herd out of the valley. However, she got cornered among the flames by Janja, Kiburi, Reirei, and their respective followers. Ono overheard Janja's cackling and reported what he had heard to Kion, who suspected Scar of having caused the trouble. He then ordered his team to protect the elephants, and they did so, leaving Kilio Valley to burn in the process.
Once to safety, Ma Tembo mourned her destroyed home. Zito blamed the Lion Guard for their failure to save Kilio Valley, and the Lion Guard guiltily accepted the criticism. Ma Tembo appealed to Kion for help in finding her herd a temporary home, and he resolved to do so.
Kion first led the elephants to the galagos, then to the giraffes, but both groups turned the herd away. Frustrated, Kion ordered Bupu to be patient with the elephants until the Lion Guard could come up with another solution. He asked Ono for a report on Kilio Valley, and Ono told Kion that Scar's army had remained in the valley. This made Kion realize that he had helped enable Scar's plan to take over the Pride Lands.
Just then, the Lion Guard discovered that Ma Tembo had been forcibly outed by Bupu. Kion approached the herd and assured Ma Tembo that he would find them a new home, but she insisted that they must leave the Pride Lands, as none of the other Pride Landers wanted them.
As the elephants departed the Pride Lands, Ono alerted Kion to a new fire that had broken out at Ndefu Grove. The Lion Guard rushed to the grove, where Laini begged them to save her galagos. Kion, Bunga, and Fuli quickly pinpointed the galagos, who were trapped in a tree, and saved them from the flames. However, as they were delivering them back to Laini, Beshte informed his teammates that the fire was not being put out fast enough. Kion resolved to find help, while the rest of the Lion Guard stayed behind to combat the fire.
After fetching Ma Tembo's herd, Kion led the elephants to Ndefu Grove, where they worked together to put out the fire. As a token of gratitude, the galagos allowed the elephants to stay in Ndefu Grove with them.
====Alliance with Kinyonga====
The Lion Guard was waiting on the border of the Outlands when Ono suddenly appeared, with Mzingo and Mwoga on his tail. Ono landed safely among his teammates and reported that Janja and his clan were paying a visit to Scar.
Just then, Thurston's frightened brays attracted the Lion Guard's attention, and they approached him and asked him what was wrong. Thurston reported that a nearby rock had been talking to him, but the team had its doubts. However, when Twiga made a similar claim about a tree, Kion vowed to figure out what was going on.
The Lion Guard investigated Twiga's tree. While doing so, they spotted a chameleon, who appeared briefly, then raced away, blending in with her surroundings as she went. The team took chase, and Ono was able to spot her with his keen sight. The chameleon eventually revealed herself to the team, as she realized that they were the Lion Guard, and introduced herself as Kinyonga.
After parting ways with Kinyonga, Ono apologized for having been spotted by the vultures. Kinyonga overheard the Lion Guard's dilemma and offered to sneak into the Outlands and spy on Scar for them. Kion reluctantly agreed to her plan, and she took off for the Outlands. When Kinyonga delayed in returning, the Lion Guard worried over what was keeping her. Ono soon spotted her being chased by the skinks in the Outlands, and Kion worried that a battle would not save her. He then declared that he had an idea as to how they could enter the Outlands unseen.
In the Outlands, Shupavu heard a mysterious voice and turned to find that the Lion Guard had snuck up on her and her skinks by using foliage and mud to conceal themselves. The skinks retreated, and Kinyonga explained that Scar was planning to cut off the Pride Lands' water source at Hakuna Matata Falls. The team resolved to return to the Pride Lands and foil Scar's plot. Come nighttime, Janja's clan attempted to block up the river at Hakuna Matata Falls, but the Lion Guard once more camouflaged themselves and launched a surprise attack on the clan.
The next morning, the Lion Guard noticed Thurston speaking to a rock and figured that it must be Kinyonga at work. They approached Kinyonga and questioned her, and she admitted guilt over having scared Janja and his clan the night before. Bunga assured her that it did not matter if the hyenas had gotten spooked, but she still vowed to never scare anyone again. Just then, Thurston got frightened by her appearance, and he and his herd fled from her. The Lion Guard quickly took off after the stampeding zebras.
====Test in the Lair of the Lion Guard====
The Lion Guard examined paintings in the Lair of the Lion Guard in the hopes of finding a way to defeat Scar. Kion noticed a boulder blocking a painting and instructed Beshte to move it. With the boulder out of the way, the Lion Guard found a secret passage that led deep into the heart of the Lair. Makini used her bakora staff to bring a painting to life, which detailed how the original Lion Guard had defeated a great evil by venturing deep into the Lair's chambers. Determined to find a means of defeating Scar, Kion led the rest of the Lion Guard into the caverns.
As the Lion Guard ventured deeper into the Lair, they reached a weak section of floor, and the ground collapsed beneath them. The team started to tumble toward some sharp rocks until Beshte planted himself in the way and prevented his friends from falling off the ledge. The Guard then set off in a new direction, only to continually run into dead-ends.
After the Lion Guard escaped the maze, they realized that the underground chamber was a test of the Lion Guard's worth. Just then, Makini arrived, having followed the Guard's pawprints, and Kion reluctantly allowed her to join their quest. Under Kion's leadership, the friends walked to another chamber, where Makini led the Lion Guard to a painting. She explained that a group of evil lions had attempted to overtake the Pride Lands, but Askari and his Lion Guard had foiled their plans by using an unstoppable force. She then led the Guard into another chamber where there was a pool of water and yet another painting.
At first, the team could not decipher where the unstoppable force was, but then Kion realized that it was their reflection - or the Lion Guard itself - that was the unstoppable force. Makini brought the painting to life, and it showed how Askari's Guard had worked together to defeat the evil lions. As one, the Lion Guard looked up at the painting, which shifted into the symbol of the Guard, and cried out their catchphrase in unison.
====Abnormal Outlander attacks====
The Lion Guard saved a pair of hyraxes from a dust devil. Nearby, Thurston got aggravated by the storm and told the Lion Guard that they should be putting a stop to the dust devils. Just then, Ono spotted another dust devil, and Kion led the team to the site of the storm. One there, the Lion Guard rescued a pangolin from a dust devil.
Later, the Lion Guard was helping the pangolins when Cheezi and Chungu attacked them with red flowers. Beshte used his strength to dispatch of the two, and Kion wondered why the attack had been so odd. The team then took off to deal with another dust devil.
The Lion Guard rescued Mbuni and two other ostriches from sand that had filled up a gully. Goigoi approached with berry stripes painted on his fur but got noticed by the Lion Guard. Disappointed, he retreated, and Fuli questioned the strange occurrences.
Tamka and Nduli attempted to tickle the Lion Guard's bellies, only to be blown away by Kion's Roar of the Elders. Kion voiced his concern that Scar was behind the attacks and ordered Ono to scout out the Outlands. Ono soon spotted Thurston being attacked by Cheezi, Chungu, Goigoi, Nduli, and Tamka. Since he was a Pride Lander, Kion decided that it was their duty to save him.
The Lion Guard raced to the Outlands and chased off the Outlanders. Thurston then revealed that he had been advising the Outlanders, and the Lion Guard realized why they had been the butt-end of so many strange attacks. Together, the team and Thurston left the Outlands to return home.
====Hyena Resistance====
The Lion Guard defended the Pride Lands from a three-way attack by Janja's clan, Kiburi's float, and Reirei's pack. Eventually, the Lion Guard defeated the Outlanders and drove them back to the Outlands. Just then, Jasiri tackled Kion and commented on how strange it was that all the Outlanders had been banding together. Kion explained that they were all fighting under Scar's banner. He then offered Jasiri and her clan a place in the Pride Lands for protection, but she insisted that they must protect their turf.
Back in the Outlands, Jasiri overheard Janja plotting with his clan to take over Mizimu Grove with Kiburi and Reirei's groups. She sent Madoa to warn the Lion Guard, while she and her clan intercepted Janja's clan. The plan worked, with the Lion Guard defeating Kiburi and Reirei in Mizimu Grove, and Jasiri and her clan blocking Janja's access to the Pride Lands with a rockslide. After the three failed attacks, Jasiri celebrated the Hyena Resistance's success with the Lion Guard on the border of the Outlands and the Pride Lands.
Later, Madoa informed the Lion Guard that Scar was planning their biggest attack yet on Mizimu Grove, unaware that it was a trap. She returned to Jasiri, only for the clan to be set upon by Janja, Kiburi, and Reirei. Across the Pride Lands, Ono scouted the Outlands and caught sight of Jasiri's clan being attacked. The Lion Guard rushed to the clan's aid and defeated the Outlanders.
====Kion and Bunga's mudpot trip====
The Lion Guard rushed to Pride Rock, following Tiifu and Zuri's cries for help. However, once they arrived, they found that the cubs were simply distressed about how the heat was messing up their fur. Beshte suggested that Tiifu and Zuri visit the mudpots at the edge of the Pride Lands to moisturize their fur. They agreed enthusiastically and invited Kiara to join them. Nala sent Kion and Bunga to watch over the cubs.
Later, Beshte, Fuli, and Ono put out a fire near the mudpots and feared for Kion and Bunga's safety. Eventually, the Lion Guard found them, and Bunga explained that they had gotten caught in a maze of underground tunnels.
====Alliance with Shujaa====
At the watering hole, the Lion Guard regulated when the giraffes and zebras took turns to drink. Suddenly, a gorilla appeared, smashing everything in sight. While Beshte and Ono calmed the panicked giraffes and zebras, Kion, Bunga, and Fuli confronted the gorilla. The gorilla introduced himself as Shujaa and explained that Sokwe had sent him to assist the Lion Guard. He then showed off his incredible strength. The Lion Guard explained that Beshte was the strongest in the Pride Lands, and Shujaa eagerly asked for a demonstration. Although reluctant, Beshte threw a large boulder at Shujaa, who caught it and threw it back, nearly hitting Beshte and Ono in the process.
Just then, Ono informed the Lion Guard that the crocodiles, hyenas, and jackals were attacking Big Springs. Alongside Shujaa, the team raced to the rescue and confronted the invaders. However, before the Lion Guard could step in, Shujaa heaved boulders and trees at the Outlanders, which effectively drove them away from Big Springs. In the process, he destroyed the nearby area, blocked several aardvark dens, trapped hares in mud, and tangled some oryx's horns. Though Shujaa was upset, the Lion Guard resolved to clean the mess.
No sooner had they finished when Ono alerted them that the crocodiles, hyenas, and jackals had returned to hunt a herd of sable antelope. Kion suggested cutting through Nyani Grove, and so Shujaa charged through the grove and began clearing a wide path. In doing so, he knocked the baboons from their trees, and they charged into a herd of cape buffalo, which incited a stampede. Beshte and Fuli rushed after the cape buffalo to calm them, while Kion, Bunga, and Ono followed Shujaa.
After Kion defeated the Outlanders, Beshte and Fuli returned, and the Lion Guard lamented the state of Nyani Grove. Kion explained to Shujaa that he did not know his own strength, and Beshte offered to teach the gorilla what he knew. Shujaa agreed, and the two moved off together to train.
Beshte and Shujaa encountered Laini and her galagos in a tree. The galagos complained about a serval in their tree, and the serval admitted to being stuck. Beshte questioned Shujaa on what they should do, and Shujaa suggested that they uproot the tree. However, when Beshte urged him to think more closely about the problem, he bent a branch on the tree so the serval could clamber to safety. The plan worked, until Shujaa let go of the branch, catapulting the galagos into a nearby tree.
Despite Shujaa's disappointment, the two moved on to help a butterfly whose wing was stuck under a mound of rocks. Shujaa thought on the problem, then removed the stones from around the butterfly's wing, which freed it. Elated at his victory, Shujaa pounded on the rest of the rock mound, and a large boulder got dislodged and fell to the ground. Just in time, Beshte saved Shujaa.
The two moved on to where Kifaru was lost in a canyon, blind and lost without the assistance of his tickbird. Shujaa realized that Kifaru wanted to reach a watering hole, which was just on the other side of the canyon, and so he punched a hole through the rock to allow Kifaru easy access. However, the rock gave way to reveal two hyraxes whose home had been built in the destroyed canyon wall. Beshte reminded Shujaa that they could find a new home for the hyraxes but Shujaa despaired over his inability to help other animals.
As Beshte delivered the hyraxes to their new home, Shujaa lamented his destructive nature and resolved to never help again, lest he hurt more animals. Beshte urged Shujaa to not give up, but the gorilla refused to move, even when Ono arrived with news that Big Springs was under attack and had been set ablaze. With Shujaa unwilling to help, Beshte was forced to leave for Big Springs on his own.
In the midst of the fight at Big Springs, Beshte injured his leg and collapsed on the ground. Ono begged Shujaa for help, and the gorilla agreed to fight for Beshte's sake. Upon finding Beshte on the ground, Shujaa thought carefully on the solution, then lifted Beshte in his arms and set him next to the water. He then defeated the Outlanders with his strength and used dust to put out the last of the fire.
After the rescue, the Lion Guard praised Shujaa for his quick thinking and commented that they were glad that Sokwe had sent him.
====Training the Pride Landers====
The Lion Guard rushed to stop Bupu's herd and the galagos from stampeding. Once calm, the groups admitted that they had been scared of a jackal attack, and the Lion Guard concluded that the Pride Landers must unite against the threat of the Outlanders. Consequently, they gathered Bupu's herd, Laini's group, Ma Tembo's herd, and Mbeya's crash.
At first, the Pride Landers were tense, but Kion worked to defuse the tension. He instructed the animals to race toward Bunga, but the event got out of hand, for the animals tripped over the galagos and ended up in a heap. Kion then got the idea to call Makuu for help. Makuu begrudgingly agreed to the assignment, but his training was too rigorous and ruthless for the other Pride Landers to master. Kion urged Makuu to be kinder to his fellow Pride Landers, but Makuu left in a huff and vowed to only look out for his own float should trouble arise.
Unbeknownst to the Pride Landers, Shupavu and Njano had spied on the proceedings and reported what they had heard to Scar. In an effort to take advantage of Kion's fraying alliance with the crocodiles, Scar decided to attack Makuu's watering hole. Per Scar's orders, the Army of Scar besieged Makuu's float, and Ono witnessed the battle from the air. After Ono reported what he had seen to Kion, the Lion Guard and their Pride Lander allies stormed the watering hole and fought off the Army of Scar.
====Dhahabu's visit====
After meeting with Simba atop Pride Rock, Dhahabu got escorted on a tour around the kingdom by Kiara, Tiifu, and Zuri. The Lion Guard tagged along at Dhahabu's insistence. Before long, the Lion Guard ran into Raha and Starehe, who were depressed that their queen had no need of them. Ono offered to find her for them and soon discovered that she was being attacked by the jackals. Along with Raha and Starehe, the Lion Guard rushed to the rescue and fought off the pack. To the Lion Guard's surprise, Raha and Starehe let Dhahabu believe that Tiifu and Zuri had saved her instead.
Later, Dhahabu was freshening up in a water hole when the jackals attacked again, this time with crocodile allies. Ono informed the Lion Guard of the predicament, and Raha and Starehe raced off to defend their queen. After the fight, Dhahabu relieved Fuli, Tiifu, and Zuri of their duties and appointed Raha and Starehe in their stead. Together, the group returned to Pride Rock, where Dhahabu renewed her water treaty with the Pride Landers.
====Scar's attack on Mizimu Grove====
At Big Springs, Beshte asked Basi if everything was all right, and Basi admitted that the recent Outlander attacks had spooked the pod. At that moment, the water started to bubble, and Basi ordered everyone to get on dry land. Beshte jumped into the water and, after a moment, emerged with Kiazi on his back.
Just then, the Lion Guard approached, and Timon and Pumbaa wandered by on the trail of a slug. No sooner had they left when Makini arrived and showed off a plant root that would be part of her mpando mpaya, which was the traditional planting of a new baobab tree by a Royal Mjuzi. Getting an idea, Kion chased after Timon and Pumbaa, and asked them to perform at Makini's mpando mpaya. That way, he reasoned, the Pride Landers would treat it like a celebratory event and have their spirits raised. Unbeknownst to the Lion Guard, Shupavu and Njano overheard their plans and reported what they had learned to Scar.
That evening, Rafiki and Simba announced Makini's mpando mpaya at Mizimu Grove, and Timon and Pumbaa performed "Tujiinue". In the midst of the celebration, the Army of Scar attacked, and Kion ordered Beshte and Bunga to handle the jackals. Before beginning his attack, Beshte implored Mtoto to find a place to hide. As the Pride Landers began to fight off the Outlanders, Mzingo's parliament set fire to the grove, and Beshte ordered his pod to help him put out the flames. After extinguishing the fire with Basi, Beshte praised his father's work.
All of a sudden, Scar appeared in the flames and threatened to overtake the entirety of the Pride Lands. Frightened by Scar's unexpected appearance, the Pride Landers fled Mizimu Grove, and Kion ordered the Lion Guard to calm them. As the team chased after the stampeding Pride Landers, Fuli ordered Beshte to calm the hippopotamuses. Beshte soon caught up to Basi and told him that the pod could stop running, and the hippopotamuses subsequently pulled to a halt.
Meanwhile, Kion used the Roar of the Elders to defeat the Outlanders, and Simba deliberated what to do with Ma Tembo. The Pride Landers reconvened at Mizimu Grove, and Beshte told Kion that everyone appeared to be okay. However, Bupu retorted that they were not okay, and Basi asked why Scar's return had been kept a secret from the Pride Landers. At this, Simba admitted that he had had knowledge of Scar's return for some time but that he had ordered the Lion Guard to keep it a secret. Basi reminded Simba that his duty was to protect his pod, whether that be in the Pride Lands or somewhere else, and Beshte asked Basi what he had meant by "somewhere else." The rest of the herds started to deliberate whether they should leave the Pride Lands, and Simba told them to inform him of their decisions the following morning at Pride Rock.
The next morning, the Pride Landers gathered at Pride Rock to inform Simba of their decisions, and Beshte expressed concern at Basi's resolve. Just then, Kion interrupted the proceedings and implored the assembled Pride Landers to follow him before they left the Pride Lands for good. The herds followed Kion to Mizimu Grove, where he revealed that Makini's baobab seed had survived the fire. This caused Basi to change his mind about leaving the Pride Lands, and Beshte expressed joy at his father's decision. The other Pride Landers likewise decided to remain in the kingdom and work together to defeat Scar. Makini then planted her baobab seed while the Pride Landers looked on.
====Alliance with Anga====
When fire sticks began raining from the sky, the Lion Guard rushed to protect Twiga's herd. In the midst of the attack, Ono attempted to find the source of the fire sticks, but the high altitude forced him to return to the ground. This gave Beshte the idea to talk to Anga, a high-flying martial eagle.
The Lion Guard found Anga in a grove of trees, and she agreed to help them find the source of the fire sticks. Just then, another attack began, and Anga and Ono took off to investigate the problem. Anga reported back to the Lion Guard that the vultures were behind the attacks, and Kion suggested that they rally the Pride Lands' birds to help stop the fiery attacks. Ono suggested they ask Hadithi for help, and he and Anga departed to recruit him.
Ono implored Hadithi to help the Lion Guard, and Hadithi agreed and led his followers to where the Lion Guard had gathered to plan their next move. Once the birds and the Lion Guard had rallied, they took off to thwart another attack, this time over the Maumivu Thorn Patch. They rounded up the vultures, and Kion used his Roar of the Elders to banish them back to the Outlands. Kion then thanked the birds of the Pride Lands for their help.
===Adolescence===
====Battle for the Pride Lands====
One day, the Lion Guard visited Makini's sapling at Mizimu Grove. Seeing that the sapling had grown, Kion told his teammates that the Pride Lands would never end while they were defending it, and Beshte added that they would fight for what was right. Just then, Anga approached and reported that Scar's army had been spotted near Mapango Cliffs, and the Lion Guard rushed off to drive out the intruders.
Over the next several seasons, the Lion Guard kept Scar's army from invading the Pride Lands. Eventually, after many altercations between Scar's army and the Pride Landers, Simba approached the Lion Guard at Flat Ridge Rock and declared total war on Scar so as to put an end to his terrorism. Though initially surprised, Beshte offered to rally the elephants and rhinoceroses to their cause. As the Lion Guard and Simba left Flat Ridge Rock, Shupavu and Njano resolved to report what had transpired to Scar.
The gathered Prides Landers met up at Pride Rock, where they started to train for the upcoming battle against Scar's army. Beshte monitored Kifaru and Mwenzi as they trained their attack methods. After being nominated to lead the attack on the Outlands, Kion started to doubt his abilities to lead. However, the rest of the Lion Guard encouraged him to stand up and fight.
Come nighttime, Ono noticed that Janja's clan was entering the Lair of the Lion Guard. He gathered the Lion Guard, and they confronted the hyenas outside the Lair. Ono suspected that Janja's clan was looking for something inside the Lair, but Beshte questioned what they would be looking for. Just then, the hyenas entered the Lair, and the Lion Guard chased after them. At the same time, Goigoi, Kiburi, and their allies set fire to Pride Rock, trapping the unsuspecting Lion Guard inside. Meanwhile, the Lion Guard managed to defeat the hyenas, but Beshte noticed that the Lair was filling up with smoke. While Janja managed to escape the fire, the Lion Guard and the rest of the hyena clan remained trapped. Beshte noted that all of Pride Rock was on fire, and Kion sent Ono to help his family reach safety.
Once Ono had left, Bunga proposed that they use the water from Beshte's pool to put out the fire. Though Fuli dismissed the idea, Beshte noted that the water from his pool had to come from somewhere and surmised that it led to Lake Shangaza. After swimming out of his pool to find out, Beshte returned and informed his friends that the water did indeed lead to Lake Shangaza. He admitted that it was a bit of a swim and, noticing Fuli's discomfort, offered to give her a ride on his back. Joined by the rest of Janja's clan, the Lion Guard managed to swim to safety. Upon emerging from the water, Beshte comforted Fuli by saying that the swim had not been so bad. Fuli told Beshte to speak for himself, then thanked him for his help.
No sooner had the Lion Guard escaped when Scar appeared in the flames of Pride Rock and told the Pride Landers that the Lion Guard had perished in the fire. However, the team revealed their survival, to the Pride Landers' joy. Despite his failure to kill the Lion Guard, Scar urged the Pride Landers to abandon their home, then disappeared with a malicious laugh. Once Scar had gone, the Pride Landers despaired over their chances against him. However, Janja and Jasiri arrived with information about Scar, and Janja told Kion that he could destroy Scar's spirit by using the Roar of the Elders inside the volcano. Beshte expressed concern that Kion would not be able to make it to the volcano, so the Pride Landers resolved to assault the Outlands and clear a path for Kion to reach Scar. Back in the Outlands, Scar informed Ushari that he had lied to Janja, for if Kion used the Roar in the volcano, he would start a massive eruption that would destroy the Pride Lands.
The next morning, the Lion Guard assembled with the Pride Landers to assault the Outlands. Once the Pride Landers had broken through the ranks of Scar's army, the Lion Guard made their way up to the volcano. The skinks tried to stop them from reaching the caldera, but the Lion Guard defeated them with ease. Upon reaching Scar, Kion confronted him, with the Lion Guard backing him up. Meanwhile, Ushari snuck up behind Kion and slashed him across the eye, giving him a scar and injecting him with venom. Scar taunted Kion for being marked by evil and asserted that he now had the same destiny as Scar himself. Despite Scar's insistence that Kion could not destroy him, the Lion Guard urged Kion to believe in himself, and Kion summoned the Great Kings of the Past, who destroyed Scar with rain. In an attempt to avenge Scar, Ushari lunged at Kion, but Bunga knocked them both into the lava. While Ono managed to save Bunga, Ushari fell to his death in the lava. Once Bunga was safe, Beshte praised Ono for his bravery, then marveled at the appearance of the Great Kings of the Past.
With Scar defeated, the Lion Guard emerged from the volcano, and Jasiri became the new queen of the Outlands. Despite the Pride Landers' victory, Ono lamented how the smoke and volcanic fumes had ruined his sight, and Beshte offered to bring him before Rafiki for healing. Along the way, Kion's scar caused him so much pain that he accidentally used the Roar on Bunga. Though initially horrified, Beshte assured Kion that it had been an accident and hushed Ono when he tried to bring up the issue again.
At the Lair of the Lion Guard, Rafiki examined Ono's injury. Though Ono expressed sadness at his loss of vision, Beshte reminded him that he was the strongest for having pulled Bunga to safety. Rafiki attended to Kion's injury as well and deduced that, if uncured, Kion would no longer be able to tell right from wrong. Furthermore, only the Tree of Life had a cure for his scar. Kion agreed to go to the Tree of Life for healing, and Simba and Nala allowed the Lion Guard to accompany him. Since Ono was no longer the keenest of sight, Kion decided to appoint Anga as the new keenest of sight and Ono as the smartest. Bunga wondered if Kion could do that, to which Beshte reminded him that Kion was the leader of the Lion Guard.
Later, the royal family saw the Lion Guard off at Pride Rock. Fuli told Simba and Nala that they should be starting their journey, and Beshte added that the sooner they left, the sooner they would arrive. Just then, Rafiki appeared and informed the Lion Guard that Makini would be joining them on their travels. Beshte replied that she would be of great help, then asked Ono what he thought. The Lion Guard, joined by Makini, subsequently set off. Before leaving the Pride Lands, Beshte bid farewell to Mtoto, who wept over his departure.
====Journey to the Tree of Life====
=====Makucha's plot=====
While en route to the Tree of Life, the Lion Guard arrived at the first landmark of their journey: a waterfall in the Back Lands. With the help of Anga, they pinpointed the next landmark, an iroko tree, in the distance. The team started toward the tree, only to be thwarted by Makucha, who demanded that they leave his territory. He and his friends, Fahari and Jiona, attacked the Lion Guard until a dust storm called a harmattan interrupted the fight.
Anga used her eyesight to guide the Lion Guard to a cave by the waterfall, but Makucha and his friends had already taken shelter there. Kion implored his team to leave, but Makucha explained that a harmattan could last for weeks and that he did not want them staying in his territory for so long. He then offered to guide them out of his territory, and Kion accepted the offer.
Together, the leopards and the Lion Guard ventured out into the harmattan. Along the way, Makini chattered with Anga about the Tree of Life and revealed that many sick animals journeyed there for healing. Makucha drew his friends to the side and schemed to lead the Lion Guard off a cliff and force Makini to lead them to the Tree of Life.
Makucha led the Lion Guard to a canyon that ended in a cliff. However, the team could not see the danger through the dust. Ono got blown away in the storm and realized that the direction of the wind had changed, which meant that Makucha was leading them astray. Too late, Bunga fell off the cliff and only narrowly grabbed on to a branch. Ono arrived and warned his team members of the danger, and they turned to face the leopards. As the two groups fought, the winds began to pick up, and Ono warned the Lion Guard to take shelter behind some rocks. Not hearing Ono's warning, the leopards got blown away by the wind. Enraged, Makucha resolved to follow the Lion Guard to the Tree of Life, but his friends refused to join him.
Meanwhile, the Lion Guard arrived at the iroko tree. They then set off for a two-peaked mountain, the next landmark of their journey.
=====Befriending the snow monkeys=====
The Lion Guard struggled to climb up a mountain on their way to the Tree of Life. The team wondered if they should travel around the mountain, but Kion insisted that they climb over it to save time. However, he slipped on the snow and knocked the entire Lion Guard down the slope with him.
After the fall, Makini spotted a family of snow monkeys relaxing in a hot spring. Anga flew over to ask for directions, only to scare them, as they were afraid of birds of prey. Impatient, Kion decided to use the Roar of the Elders on the mountain in order to blow a hole through it. However, when he used the Roar, he started an avalanche that came barreling toward them. The Lion Guard managed to rescue the snow monkeys from danger, with Beshte saving Hitashi. However, the snow monkeys' home got buried in the process.
Kion apologized to the snow monkeys and vowed to find them a new home as repayment. Yuki, the matriarch, explained that they wanted a hot spring with plenty of available food and no trees for large birds to nest in. Anga spotted a hot spring but warned that it was out of their way and had many nearby trees. Even so, Kion insisted that they journey to the hot spring anyway.
When they arrived, the snow monkeys got scared off by flying squirrels and ended up falling into a deep hole in the snow. When the Lion Guard arrived on the scene, Bunga fell into the hole himself. Beshte nearly fell in too, so Ono warned the others that they could not get too close to the edge of the hole. Though the team looked to Kion for direction, he asked Fuli for help, as he was not thinking clearly. She agreed and ordered Anga to lift the snow monkeys out in her talons. Though the snow monkeys were initially frightened, they eventually allowed Anga to carry them and Bunga to safety.
After the rescue, Fuli told Anga to find a new hot spring for the snow monkeys. Anga followed Fuli's orders, and the Lion Guard led the snow monkeys to a new home. Once there, Fuli allowed the team to take a brief reprieve, as they had earned it.
=====Saving Domog's pack=====
The Lion Guard reached a bamboo forest. When Bunga attempted to fetch tuliza for Kion, he slipped and fell a great height to the snow below. After Bunga's fall, a pack of red pandas approached, hailing Bunga as "Songoson Khün." The Lion Guard approached questioningly, and a red panda named Dughi explained that a Chosen One was destined to fall from the sky and defeat the Ghost of the Mountain.
Just then, the pack's leader, Domog, approached and explained that their pack had been haunted by an invisible force that had driven them from their homes. Kion agreed to help the red pandas defeat the ghost in order to keep the Circle of Life in balance and added that, even though they were not in the Pride Lands anymore, they were still the Lion Guard.
The team journeyed up the mountain, where they were set upon by an invisible foe. The team struggled to catch the "ghost" until it leaped onto a rock, which allowed Anga to see that it was a catlike creature. Ono identified the "ghost" as a snow leopard, and the Lion Guard tracked its footprints up the slope.
Eventually, through teamwork, the Lion Guard cornered the snow leopard, Chuluun, against a rock. Kion warned Chuluun to leave the red pandas alone, but she asserted that she followed her own rules. However, before she could escape, Bunga tackles her, covering her in his orange paint. Chuluun managed to fight him off and escape.
No sooner had Chuluun disappeared when the team overheard fearful cries. Anga spotted Chuluun, marked by orange paint, attacking the red panda pack. The Lion Guard raced to the rescue, only for Chuluun to evade them again. Domog questioned if they had found the Ghost of the Mountain, and the team explained that Chuluun was behind the ghostly attacks on the red panda pack. They then implored the red pandas to join them in defeating Chuluun.
Together, the Lion Guard and the red pandas followed Chuluun and cornered her at the edge of a cliff. However, Chuluun rolled around in the snow to mask herself once more. Bunga ordered the red pandas to keep Chuluun surrounded, then released gas in her face. A shocked Chuluun subsequently lost her footing and plummeted off the cliff.
Back at the bamboo forest, Bunga was hailed as a hero by the red panda pack. Makini identified the next moja kwa moja stone, and the Lion Guard continued on their way. Meanwhile, Makucha recruited Chuluun to follow the Lion Guard to the Tree of Life with him.
=====Journey through the marsh=====
The Lion Guard traveled through a marsh. Along the way, they got attacked by mongooses, during which Makini bore Ono to safety. After the fight, the Lion Guard realized that Makini and Ono were missing and set out to find them.
As the team continued to travel through the marsh, the mongooses launched another attack, only to be swiftly defeated. Kion and Fuli proceeded to track Makini and Ono by scent. They eventually found Makini's footprints and were baffled that the prints led in circles.
Shortly afterward, the mongooses attacked again. During the resulting fight, Kion pinned one and demanded to know why they kept attacking the Lion Guard, and the mongoose explained that Bunga was eating their snails. Just then, Makini and Ono emerged from underground. Together, the Lion Guard journeyed toward the next moja kwa moja stone.
=====Dragon Island=====
The Lion Guard stumbled upon an island. Kion wondered where the next moja kwa moja stone was, and Anga explained that it was on a hill on the island. The team ventured toward it, only to stop at the edge of the sea. There, the team met a dolphin named Lumba-Lumba. Afterward, as the team started to cross a land bridge to the island, they got stopped by an old civet, who warned them about the dragons that inhabited the island. However, the Lion Guard brushed off his warnings and continued on their way.
Once on the island, the Lion Guard got attacked by a Komodo dragon named Ora and his minions. Kion used the Roar of the Elders to blow his foes away, but in doing so, he caused the water to recede from the island, then come back as a tidal wave. The Lion Guard struggled to escape the tidal wave, during which Beshte rescued Fuli from the floodwaters. After the tidal wave had receded, the Lion Guard realized that it had destroyed the island. They then heard Lumba-Lumba crying for help from the beach and found her stranded on the sand. While Anga, Makini, and Ono looked for the next moja kwa moja stone, the rest of the Lion Guard dug a tunnel from the sea to Lumba-Lumba.
While the Lion Guard worked to save Lumba-Lumba, a wave washed Ora and his friends back to shore. Together, the Lion Guard fended off the attackers. After the fight, Kion used his Roar to create a path through the ocean. The resulting waves washed Lumba-Lumba back to sea, and she thanked them for having saved her. The Lion Guard then journeyed across Kion's path through the waves, with Ora and his minions in hot pursuit. However, once the team reached the shore, Kion stopped roaring, and the waves crashed in on the Komodo dragons.
The Lion Guard journeyed toward the next moja kwa moja stone. Along the way, Beshte lamented how he had not been able to say goodbye to Lumba-Lumba. Just then, she appeared and bid the team farewell, and Beshte happily told her goodbye.
=====Crossing the desert=====
The Lion Guard found a moja kwa moja stone at a dry riverbed. Bunga questioned why the stone showed a river, and Ono explained that landscapes could change with the seasons. Makini recalled having visited the river before with her parents when they had journeyed to the Tree of Life to present Makini to Rafiki.
While reminiscing, Makini remembered a waterfall that she had visited with her parents. She implored the Lion Guard to take a brief detour to visit it, and Kion agreed. However, when the team arrived, they found that the waterfall had dried up. Anga spotted the next moja kwa moja stone, and the Lion Guard continued on their way.
Along the way, Makini excitedly pointed out a rock that had a hole in it. However, once she ventured closer, she realized that she must have made a mistake, for the rock had no hole. Shortly afterward, she tried to point out a mountain that looked like a monkey's face, but the Lion Guard could not see it. It was only after they had walked away that the sun revealed a face in the mountain.
Eventually, the Lion Guard reached the next moja kwa moja stone, which was located at a dry pool. Ono explained that the next landmark was a patch of four flowers in the shape of a diamond. Makini admitted that she did not remember any flowers and started to tell a story about another subject, but the team interrupted her in annoyance. Beshte comforted Makini and told her that her detours were fun, to which Makini recounted the first time her parents had told her that she might become a Royal Mjuzi.
Anga reported that she could not find any white flowers, only a desert. Makini exclaimed that she had to cross the desert in order to reach a series of cliffs. The team was doubtful of her memory, but with little else to go on, they let her take the lead.
The Lion Guard crossed the desert, during which they endured extreme heat and sandstorms. Beshte began to experience sunburn, so Anga shielded him with her shadow. In the middle of their journey, the team encountered a booming sand dune, or a sand dune that made a hollow, echoing noise when bounced on. Makini started to play on it but accidentally got sand in Kion's eye, which angered him. After Kion seemed to calm down, Bunga took a turn playing on the booming sand dune, but the disturbance awakened a jerboa named Tupp, who yelled at the team for having interrupted his sleep. Short-tempered, Kion growled and scared Tupp off.
After Tupp's departure, Kion decided to go back the way they had come. However, another sandstorm struck, erasing the Lion Guard's footprints and shifting the landscape so that they did not recognize where they were. Ono suggested that they build a shelter for the day and wait until nighttime to continue their journey.
That night, as the Lion Guard slept, Makini remembered her parents' life lessons. Beshte approached, and Makini vented her frustration about how poorly her memories had served the team. Beshte reminded her that things had changed since her childhood, to which Kion approached and agreed.
Just then, Tupp appeared and led them to a plant with water on its leaves. The Lion Guard drank, and Anga questioned how Tupp had found the plant. Tupp explained that desert creatures used the sky to navigate their surroundings. This caused the team to realize that the four white "flowers" were really stars. They then followed the stars to a series of cliffs, which confirmed that Makini's memories had been right all along.
=====Detour at Flamingo Beach=====
The Lion Guard struggled to cross the desert. Fatigued, Kion tripped, and Makini offered to help him. However, the irritation in Kion's scar caused him to snap at her and insist that he was fine. Fuli told Makini to give Kion a dose of tuliza, but Makini confessed that they were out. As a result, Anga left to search for more.
Meanwhile, Bunga pretended to be thirsty, which irritated Kion. Fuli tried to calm Kion down by pointing out that Bunga had just been fooling around, and Beshte added that Bunga was just being Bunga. Kion apologized to Bunga, who immediately forgave him and admitted that he was good at being annoying.
Just then, Anga spotted a patch of tuliza near a small sea. The team arrived at the sea, only to find that the water was extremely salty. Makini suggested that Kion relax in the water, and he relented. Once in the water, he calmed down and began to float on his back.
In the meantime, Fuli left on her own to collect the tuliza. At the sea, a flock of flamingos landed and began to cause a disturbance. In order to keep Kion calm, the Lion Guard steered him away from the commotion as best they could. At some point, the team lost track of Kion, and the flamingos began to prod him with their beaks. He awakened, agitated, and nearly used the Roar of the Elders on them until Fuli approached with some tuliza and gave him a dose. Immediately, Kion calmed, and the Lion Guard continued on their way.
=====Recovering Makini's staff=====
The Lion Guard journeyed through a forest. Along the way, Beshte befriended a tapir named Tenuk. Though at first friendly, Tenuk panicked at the mention of tuliza and fled into the underbrush. Other animals reacted similarly, which confused the Lion Guard. Unbeknownst to the team, they were being watched by Smun, who reported the incidents to a binturong named Mama Binturong. Mama Binturong declared that every tuliza flower belonged to her and that she would never let another animal have any.
Meanwhile, the Lion Guard attempted to question a civet named Tompok on why the forest animals were afraid to mention tuliza, but he fled in fear. After the incident, Mama Binturong approached and watched the Lion Guard from afar. She witnessed Makini fetching tuliza from her bakora staff and ordered her porcupine minions to steal the staff for her. The Lion Guard noticed the theft, but only after Mama Binturong had taken the staff and retreated to her hideout.
The team questioned a gibbon named Seisou on where the staff could be, but he panicked when they mentioned tuliza. However, after being cornered by Anga and Bunga, he advised them to talk to a mongoose. The mongoose, Bambun, referred them to another animal, and he to another animal, and so on, until at last, the Lion Guard met up with Seisou in a cave. Seisou explained that he could not have talked to them earlier, lest Mama Binturong's spies catch on to his activities. He proceeded to inform the team that Mama Binturong hoarded all the forest's tuliza in her hideout in the Stone Forest. The Lion Guard promptly took off to deal with the problem.
Once at the Stone Forest, the Lion Guard struggled to fit between the rock pillars. Only Bunga was able to squeeze through. As a result, he braved the Stone Forest alone and reached Mama Binturong's hideout, where he defeated her and took back Makini's staff. Bunga returned to the Lion Guard and gave Makini her staff back, after which the team moved on to find the next moja kwa moja stone.
=====Kion's breakdown=====
While en route to the Tree of Life, Kion pushed the Lion Guard to travel as fast as they could. Eventually, the team stopped for a break at a watering hole, but Kion cut the break short, insisting that they should keep moving. Fuli asked Makini to give Kion some tuliza, but the herb did not soothe his bad temper.
The team eventually reached a canyon, where they spotted several goslings jumping off a cliff. Beshte insisted on saving them, to Kion's annoyance. After the rescue, the mother goose arrived and lectured the team on having ruined her goslings' attempts to leave their nests. Kion chastised Beshte for the delay and declared that they would no longer be helping animals who did not need their help. Bunga blamed the scar for Kion's personality change, but Beshte defended Kion, asserting that Kion simply wanted to reach their destination.
Shortly afterward, the Lion Guard found their way blocked by a procession of peacocks. Impatient, Kion bulled his way through and purposefully knocked over one of the peacocks. The Lion Guard watched in shock, and Bunga repeated his position that Kion was taking a turn for the worst. Fuli rebuked him again, and the team continued on its way.
After leaving the canyon, Beshte befriended a clouded leopard named Yun Mibu, who was skilled at hanging from his feet. Kion got irritated by the delay and growled at Yun Mibu until he fled. He then turned his ire on Beshte and accused him of being too nice. Shocked, Beshte replied that he did not know how to be less nice. Fuli challenged Kion, and the two nearly got into a fight until Bunga broke it up and reminded Kion that Rafiki had warned them about the effects of Ushari's venom. Horrified, Kion ran off into the forest.
With Kion gone, Fuli lectured Bunga for believing that Kion was evil. The rest of the Lion Guard joined in, voicing their confidence in Kion's character. As they waited for Kion to return, Fuli began to worry about his safety and sent Anga to check on him. Anga eventually found Kion hanging perilously from a cliff and went back to fetch the rest of the Lion Guard. The team tried and failed to think of a solution until Beshte got the idea to summon Yun Mibu for help.
At first, Yun Mibu was afraid to help Kion due to their earlier encounter, but with some encouragement, he agreed to the task. Kion apologized for his rude behavior and promised to never growl at a clouded leopard again. Yun Mibu then hung by his feet over the cliff and, with some help from Anga, pulled Kion to safety.
Once to safety, Kion apologized for being so mean to his teammates. They forgave him, and Makini gave him some tuliza for good measure. Kion suggested that they head out again, but Fuli ordered him to get some rest first. He relented, and the team settled down for a break.
=====Arrival at the Tree of Life=====
The Lion Guard crossed a frozen lake near the Tree of Life. However, the ice began to crack beneath their weight, and the team scrambled to reach solid ground. Makini barely escaped, losing her bakora staff in the process.
Since the Lion Guard no longer had Makini's staff to activate the moja kwa moja stone, they relied on Ono's memory of Rafiki's map to find their way. Ono stated that the next stop on their journey was a pass through the mountains, and Anga used her keen vision to lead the team to the right location. Unbeknownst to the Lion Guard, Ullu the owl was spying on their activities and left to inform the Night Pride.
The Lion Guard entered the pass, but Bunga accidentally started a rockslide by climbing the walls to reach a beehive. The rocks ended up trapping Bunga and blocking the pass, to Kion's frustration. As the Lion Guard worked to clear the mountain pass, the Night Pride arrived, and Baliyo attacked the Lion Guard. A fight ensued, during which Kion lost control and used the Roar of the Elders on Baliyo. The leader of the Night Pride, Rani, condemned Kion and forbid the Lion Guard entry to the Tree of Life.
After the Night Pride had left, the Lion Guard continued to free Bunga from the fallen rocks. Kion admitted that it was his fault that they could not enter the Tree of Life. Beshte suggested explaining their situation to Rani, and Kion agreed, as he wanted Ono to receive healing for his sight.
Shortly afterward, Rani returned to the Lion Guard, only to find that they had cleared the pass. Kion apologized to her and implored her to accept Ono for healing. Impressed by Kion's selflessness, Rani allowed him to come to the Tree of Life. The Lion Guard then followed the Night Pride through the pass until they beheld the Tree of Life for the first time.
====Stay at the Tree of Life====
=====First skirmish with Makucha's army=====
As the Night Pride led the Lion Guard toward the Tree of Life, Beshte marveled at how huge it was. The Lion Guard entered the Tree of Life and met its matriarch, Queen Janna. After speaking with the Lion Guard, Janna ordered Rani to give the team a tour of the kingdom while Kion began his healing journey with Nirmala. Rani proceeded to show the Lion Guard the Tree of Life's various habitats.
Unbeknownst to Rani, Makucha and his allies, Chuluun and Ora, were sneaking into the Tree of Life's territory. Ullu overheard the group's activities and left to inform Rani. Upon learning of Makucha's invasion, the Night Pride confronted them in the mountain pass and defeated them easily, as they did not work well together. At the same time, the rest of the Lion Guard reconvened with Kion and told him how Rani had been called away to face down a threat to the Tree of Life. Kion fretted that the Night Pride was in danger, and the Lion Guard headed off to help defeat the unknown foe.
The Lion Guard arrived at the scene of the fight, only to find that the Night Pride had defeated Makucha and his allies. Baliyo mentioned Makucha by name, and Kion apologetically admitted that Makucha and his allies had followed the Lion Guard to the Tree of Life. Furious, Rani brought the Lion Guard before Janna and accused them of having let in an army of predators. Kion apologized and offered his services in defeating Makucha's army, but Janna advised Kion to heal before he helped the Night Pride.
The next day, the Night Pride battled against Makucha and his allies, but Baliyo got bitten and paralyzed by Ora. Just in time, the Lion Guard arrived and helped chase Makucha's army away.
=====Mama Binturong's plot=====
Beshte relaxed at a water hole with the rest of the Lion Guard as well as Baliyo and Rani. Meanwhile, Mama Binturong plotted to invade the Tree of Life by pretending to seek sanctuary from Makucha and his army. She added that she would have to avoid Bunga, as he was the only member of the Lion Guard who might recognize her. The army enacted the plan, and the Night Pride fell for it, accepting Mama Binturong for healing at the Tree of Life.
As the Lion Guard headed for the Tree of Life to check on Ono's healing, Bunga decided to find his new friend, Binga, instead. Together, the rest of the Lion Guard and Mama Binturong entered the Tree of Life, where Janna accepted Mama Binturong for healing. Janna then channeled the Tree of Life's powers to heal Ono's eyesight. Afterward, Anga used her vision to locate Bunga, who was still with Binga, and the Lion Guard left the Tree of Life to meet up with him.
On their way to meet Bunga, the Lion Guard ran into Mama Binturong. They invited her to meet Bunga, but she declined and climbed up a tree to rest. The team went on to meet Binga, to whom Beshte explained that Kion was still healing with Nirmala. Mama Binturong spied on the conversation and came up with a plan to defeat the Lion Guard and the Night Pride. She returned to her allies and instructed them to kill Janna while she distracted the Night Pride. The plan went into motion, and the Night Pride fell for Mama Binturong's cries for help. In the meantime, Makucha, Chuluun, and Ora snuck over the border.
Ullu informed the Lion Guard of Mama Binturong's peril, and they resolved to help her. However, Ono realized that Mama Binturong had called Chuluun by name in her cries for help, which indicated that they were working together. The Lion Guard headed to the Tree of Life instead and headed off Makucha, Chuluun, and Ora. Meanwhile, Bunga and Binga used their stench to defeat Mama Binturong.
After the incident, the Lion Guard gathered at the Tree of Life, where Kion noted that Ono was truly the smartest member of the Lion Guard.
=====Poa the Destroyer=====
Beshte had the day to himself, as all his friends were occupied with other tasks. Baliyo suggested that he tour the territory and meet new animals, which inspired and excited Beshte. He visited the snowy habitat first, where a polar bear named Tangaagim taught him to walk heavily in order to not slip on the ice.
Next, Beshte visited the penguins. In the process, he accidentally ruined their ice slide by trailing snow on it. Pinguino interpreted the action to be deliberate. After leaving the penguins, Beshte inadvertently sent rocks raining down on a pair of mountain goats and caused a tidal wave that wiped out a pair of shrews. As a result, all the animals believed Beshte to be a menace.
The animals who were victims of Beshte's mistakes ran into one another and resolved to report the incidents to the Night Pride, with Pinguino mistakenly calling Beshte "Poa the Destroyer." The animals reported on Beshte to Baliyo, describing him as a monster as tall as the Tree of Life who was on a path of destruction. Shortly afterward, Baliyo ran into Beshte and passed on the rumor. Horrified, Beshte decided to visit the animals again and check on their condition. On his way to the snowy habitat, he accidentally ruined a fox's den. When Beshte at last met all the animals again, they acted evasively, as they were afraid of offending him.
In the meantime, Baliyo and Rani searched the territory for the rumored monster. Pinguino intercepted them and filed a second complaint, explaining that "Poa the Destroyer" had returned to terrorize his home. This caused Rani to realize the monster's true identity, as its name was Beshte's catchphrase.
Rani interrupted Kion's healing session and told him to congregate with the Lion Guard at the Tree of Life. Once everyone had gathered, she explained that Beshte had been frightening the animals due to his accidents. A saddened Beshte exiled himself from the Tree of Life, as he believed himself to be a true destroyer. However, the Lion Guard decided to host a meeting at the Tree of Life where Beshte could earn the animals' trust back.
Bunga and Baliyo started leading the animals toward the Tree of Life, but Bunga let slip that Poa the Destroyer would be there. As a result, Pinguino refused to go and headed home. Along the way, he ran into Beshte and fled up a dangerous icy ridge. Ignoring Beshte's warnings, Pinguino climbed higher and slipped on the ice, falling from a dangerous height. Just in time, Beshte rescued him.
At the Tree of Life, Kion and Rani explained that Beshte was friendly, not destructive. Just then, Beshte approached with Pinguino on his back. Pinguino then declared that Beshte had saved his life, which effectively cleared Beshte's name. The animals promptly started up a chant of "Poa."
=====Rani's coronation=====
Mama Binturong and her army attacked a tiger named Varya and her cubs, who were seeking sanctuary at the Tree of Life. As Chuluun chased Feliks, Pasha, and Polina through the mountain pass, the Lion Guard and the Night Pride arrived in the tigers' defense. Rani ordered Kion to send Beshte and Bunga after the cubs, and they did as commanded. At first, the cubs regarded Beshte and Bunga as enemies, but Beshte assured the youngsters that they were there to help. Feliks asked about his mother, and Beshte asserted that they would help her as well. Once the predators had been defeated, Beshte and Bunga brought Feliks, Pasha, and Polina to Varya.
Just then, Ullu arrived and informed Rani that Janna wanted to see her, Kion, and the rest of the Night Pride immediately. While the Lion Guard stayed behind to care for Varya and her cubs, the Night Pride and Kion followed Ullu to the Tree of Life. As the Night Pride departed, Bunga shook off the tiger cubs, who were clinging to him, and Beshte asked him if he was all right.
Later, Beshte attended Janna's funeral at the Willows. During the funeral procession, he commented that Janna had made the Lion Guard feel welcome when they had first arrived at the Tree of Life. After the funeral, the Lion Guard and the Night Pride left to prepare for Rani's coronation. That night, Beshte witnessed Rani become the new queen of the Tree of Life.
=====Working with the Night Pride=====
Mama Binturong and her army launched an attack on the Tree of Life. The Night Pride challenged them, though Baliyo's yawning exposed how exhausted they were from a night of patrolling. The Lion Guard arrived in time to help, but Kion and Rani's dual leadership resulted in confusion. Because of the chaos, Beshte accidentally knocked over Baliyo and Surak.
Eventually, the Lion Guard and the Night Pride succeeded in driving off the army, though Rani criticized Kion for not following her lead. Fuli jumped to Kion's defense, but Kion admitted that he no longer had control of the Roar. Nevertheless, he offered to patrol the Tree of Life during the day in order to give the Night Pride time to rest, and Rani gratefully accepted his offer. Unbeknownst to the team, Mama Binturong was spying on their conversation from a nearby tree and schemed with her allies to attack the Tree of Life in-between the Lion Guard's and the Night Pride's shifts
Meanwhile, the Lion Guard patrolled the Tree of Life's territory and came across a dispute between Heng Heng the panda and Kely the lemur over a bamboo stand. The team decided to bring the two before Rani, who would decide who could claim the bamboo stand. The Lion Guard approached Rani with Heng Heng and Kely, and Rani decided that Heng Heng could have the bamboo stand when she was required to eat and that the lemurs could have it in-between those times.
As Kion returned to his reflections, Rani told Fuli that Kion might be unable to heal any more. She then related what Kion had said about his inability to lead the Lion Guard without the Roar. The Lion Guard returned to Kion, and Anga told the story of when a much younger Lion Guard had rescued Ono's egg from Janja's clan. After the story, Kion felt inspired and revitalized, as he realized that he did not need the Roar to lead his team.
After the story, Ullu arrived and warned the Lion Guard that Makucha's army was launching another attack. The Night Pride arrived, and Kion led the two teams in their attack. Because he was distracted by his exhaustion, Beshte got ambushed by Ora, who bit his leg and paralyzed him. Despite this, the teams succeeded, and Nirmala assured Beshte that he would recover.
=====Battle for the Tree of Life=====
Mama Binturong and her army snuck into the Tree of Life due to Ullu falling asleep. The Night Pride arrived, only for the Lion Guard to take over the shift and defeat the army.
After the fight, Bunga complimented Kion on his good leadership skills, and Nirmala agreed, adding that Kion's healing was complete. Rani worried that this would prompt the Lion Guard to return to the Pride Lands, but Kion assured her that they would help defend the Tree of Life from Makucha's army first. Kion then left to speak with Askari, and Fuli temporarily took charge of the Lion Guard.
After Kion left, the Lion Guard freed a camel who was stuck in the sand. Bunga worried that Kion could be in trouble and left to ask Rani for answers.
Across the territory, Mama Binturong brought in new allies for Makucha's army, including Fahari, Jiona, two Komodo dragons, and Smun and his prickle. The army invaded the Tree of Life, and Ullu warned the Night Pride of what was transpiring. They rushed to the Tree of Life, only to be shut in by a giant rock pushed by Ora and his minions. With the Night Pride out of commission, the army attacked the animals at the Tree of Life.
The Lion Guard arrived, having been warned by Ullu, and resolved to free the Night Pride from the army's trap. Beshte attempted to move the rock from the Tree of Life's entrance but got thwarted by Ora and his minions. Just then, Kion, Bunga, and Rani arrived, and Kion used the Roar to defeat the villains. He then struck the rock at the Tree of Life's entrance with lightning, destroying it and freeing the Night Pride. Finally, Kion swept Mama Binturong and her army into a tornado and sent them far away from the Tree of Life.
After the battle, Nirmala declared that Kion was truly healed, and Rani thanked him for having saved the Tree of Life. She then told him that he should stay at the Tree of Life.
====Journey back to the Pride Lands====
Kion sought advice from the spirit of his grandfather, Mufasa, about whether the Lion Guard should return to the Pride Lands or not. He explained that he could use more training with the Roar of the Elders and that the Night Pride needed help protecting the Tree of Life. However, Mufasa simply told Kion to choose the path that was best for him.
Later, the rest of the Lion Guard approached Kion and declared that they were ready to return home. Just then, Ullu approached, heralding the arrival of Azaad, Janja, and Jasiri. Jasiri informed Kion that Zira was invading the Pride Lands and that the royal family needed the Lion Guard's help. While the Lion Guard resolved to return home to help, Makini opted to stay behind and continue serving as Rani's Royal Mjuzi.
Azaad led the team to the fastest route home: a narrow canyon pass. Beshte was too wide to squeeze through, so Kion used the Roar of the Elders to widen the pass. Next, the team came to a canyon that was too wide to jump across, and Kion used the Roar to funnel his teammates to the other side. Finally, Kion created a rainstorm that filled a dry riverbed, which allowed the team to hitch a ride on a floating log.
The Lion Guard continued their journey, passing familiar landmarks, such as the marsh, the mountain, and more. Eventually, they reached the Great Stone Wall. Kion used the Roar to break apart the rock, not knowing that the wall functioned as a dam, and accidentally opened a fissure that began spurting water. Kion continued to Roar in order to hold the water back while the Lion Guard rescued nearby animals.
Suddenly, Ono got the idea to throw rocks into the path of Kion's Roar in order to cover the damaged section of the wall. The team worked together, heaving rocks into the Roar, until there were enough to fix the hole in the wall. Kion then stopped roaring, and the rocks fell, effectively blocking the dam.
Kion complimented his friends on their teamwork, and Azaad led the team around the stone wall. They eventually arrived in the Outlands, where they caught a glimpse of Pride Rock in the distance. The Lion Guard then entered the Pride Lands, determined to save their kingdom.
====Battle of the Lion Guards====
The Lion Guard entered the Outlands, where they ran into Madoa. Madoa, who had been in hiding with the rest of Jasiri's clan, explained that Zira's invasion of the Pride Lands had already begun. Mzingo arrived and agreed to help, per Jasiri's request.
Just then, Anga spotted Kovu standing on Pride Rock. Vitani arrived with a small pride of lionesses and launched into battle against the Lion Guard. Beshte took on Imara, who matched him in strength. Kion was about to use the Roar of the Elders to finish off Vitani and her pride when Kiara appeared with Kovu and explained that the Outsiders had joined Simba's pride. Though confused, Kion halted his attack.
Back at Pride Rock, the Lion Guard reunited with Simba and Nala. Afterwards, Rafiki explained how Zira's pride had changed allegiance due to Kiara and Kovu's intervention. However, Zira had clung to her hatred, and it had destroyed her. The Lion Guard then left to greet old friends and family around the kingdom. Beshte journeyed to Big Springs with his father, Basi, where he had a delighted reunion with Mtoto.
The next morning, the Lion Guard entered the Lair of the Lion Guard, only to find that Vitani and her pride were already within. Vitani argued that she should lead the Lion Guard, as she was the sister of the future king, but Kion retorted that, as the future queen's brother, it was his duty to lead the Lion Guard. Just then, Laini approached, begging for help, and both Lion Guards rushed off to assist her.
The two teams followed Laini to where Thurston was stuck in a hole. While the two Lion Guards argued over who should rescue Thurston, Azaad approached Thurston and told him to back out of the hole. Thurston did so, and Kion commented that they must sort out their problems in order to avoid quarreling. Thurston suggested a competition to determine which team was better, and both Lion Guards agreed to the challenge.
At Mizimu Grove, Rafiki announced the Battle of the Lion Guards to a crowd of Pride Landers. He explained that there would be five competitions to determine who was the fiercest, strongest, fastest, keenest of sight, and bravest in the Pride Lands.
The first competition was a battle of strength between Beshte and Imara, in which they each had to push a rock with an elephant on top to the finish line. Though Beshte initially had the upper hand, he had to pause and roll around in the mud due to a severe sunburn, which allowed Imara to win.
The competition continued, with Fuli and Bunga winning their contests and Anga losing hers. Since the two teams were tied, Ono announced that the win would be determined by Kion and Vitani's challenge. When it came time for her contest, Vitani called for a mashindano. Kion was appalled and warned her that she did not stand a chance against the Roar, but Vitani asserted that she could be the fiercest without the Roar. This caused Kion to recall Askari's statement that only one who could let go of the Roar could truly master it. As a result, he relinquished his team's duties to Vitani and her pride, and Vitani obtained the Roar of the Elders.
Askari appeared in the clouds overhead and praised Kion for his decision. He added that Kion had truly mastered the Roar, but Kion countered that he was no longer the leader of the Lion Guard. To this, Askari reminded him that the Tree of Life needed the Roar's protection as well, and the rest of the Lion Guard agreed to protect the Tree of Life alongside Kion. After Kion's decision, Vitani asked Kion what it meant to master the Roar, and Kion demonstrated by picking up Pride Rock with the power of the Roar. This amazed his audience, including Beshte.
====Kion's coronation====
Beshte attended Kion and Rani's wedding at the Tree of Life.
==Physical appearance==
As a calf, Beshte was large, stout, and powerfully built. He had gray skin, with a pale gray underbelly, dark gray toes, and several dark gray spots on his backside. His inner ears were pale pink, while his eye rims were purplish-gray. He had a small patch of dark gray hair on his head, a few stunt whiskers on his nose, and bright blue eyes. He also had a lion's head marking on his left shoulder due to his position as the strongest member of the Lion Guard.
Upon reaching adolescence, Beshte grew larger and more muscular. The patch of hair on his head grew longer, as did the whiskers on his nose. Upon his joining the Night Pride, his mark of the Guard disappeared and was replaced with the mark of the Night Pride.
==Personality and traits==
Beshte is friendly, happy-go-lucky, and sociable. He is endlessly optimistic, to the point that he will try to make the best of any dangerous or unfortunate situation, such as getting lost in the Outlands. He loves to make new friends and knows almost every animal in the Pride Lands. He is quick to befriend strangers and is willing to give others a second chance, even if they have made mistakes or caused trouble. At times, Beshte can be naively trusting. He put his faith in nefarious actors, such as Dogo, the Traveling Baboon Show, and the skinks, to his ultimate detriment.
Beshte is very easygoing and takes any order without question, even if he disagrees with it. He does not like to make ripples and adheres to any authority, competent or otherwise. He works well in groups and can even work in synchronism with teams that he is less familiar with, like the Night Pride. Brave, dutiful, and determined, Beshte can face down a variety of dangers, from fires to floods to predatory invasions.
Of his friends, Beshte tends to be the most sensitive. He was tactful when Kion was unable to use the Roar of the Elders and picked up on his need for space after Simba reprimanded him for his choice of teammates. He is also quick to forgive and does not hold grudges.
==Appearances==
==Trivia==
* Beshte was voiced by Dusan Brown.
* Beshte's name means "friend, pal, buddy" in Swahili.
* Beshte's catchphrase, "Twende kiboko!" means "Let's go, hippo!" in Swahili.
* Beshte's secondary catchphrase, "Poa!" means "Cool!" in Swahili.
* In The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, when Beshte stops a stampede of baboons, he is briefly shown with an ear notch. This animation error is fixed in the next few frames. However, this error is frequently repeated throughout The Lion Guard, such as in "Babysitter Bunga".
==References==
Category:Animals of the Tree of Life
Category:Canon articles
Category:Characters
Category:Hippopotamuses
Category:The Lion Guard characters
Category:The Lion Guard members
Category:The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar characters
Category:Males
Category:Night Pride members
Category:Pride Landers