The Lion Guard S3 E9

## Plot

While walking through a forest, Beshte makes another friend in Tenuk, a tapir. He's so cute! Normally everyone there is nice and helpful, but they run away in fear when Makini mentions Tuliza. A porcupine named Smun overhears them speculating on why the animals are scared of Tuliza, and tells the titular Mama Binturong. She's basically a "child-friendly" drug lord, addict, and mafia boss who hoards Tuliza and controls all the porcupines in a way that creepily reminds me of a cult, or an abusive household where the kids are suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Everyone else is scared of her. Her villain song is both hilarious and terrifying. It's in black and white, except for the purple Tuliza, with a grainy film effect, and it sounds like something Al Capone would sing. It's basically a gangster song. Bunga messes with a civet by yelling the word Tuliza. However, it scares him so badly that he falls into a river. Luckily, Anga saves him, and Bunga apologizes. Beshte asks him why everyone is afraid of Tuliza, but he runs away in fear. The porcupines catch him, and he insists that he doesn't know why the strangers were talking to him about Tuliza. Mama tells the porcupines to let the civet go, and sees the Lion Guard for herself. When Kion's scar hurts, Makini gives him some Tuliza. And sets down and forgets about her staff, allowing the porcupines to steal it. The first one was stolen and destroyed by Janja, then Kenge snapped the second in half, then the third also fell in lava, then what I assume is the fourth and current one was almost impaled by icicles, etc., and those are just the times in seasons 2 and 3 that I know about! At this rate, every stick in the world could be her new bakora staff. She should really get homeowner's insurance for that thing. It might just rival Fuli getting wet for the show's most used running gag, except it's not funny, intentional, or ever played for laughs. In my opinion, the funniest running gag title will always belong to Fuli, my favorite cheetah, and her **intense** dislike of water. Anyways, Makini realizes that her staff is missing, and tells the others. They see porcupine tracks, but they stop after a bit, and Fuli can't pick up their scent. Makini has a freak out over losing her staff, because it had the rest of their Tuliza, and it makes the moja kwa moja paintings come to life, which shows them that they're on the right path to the Tree of Life. She thinks the only place she can find a new bakora staff is in the Pridelands. She doesn't listen to Kion or Fuli telling her that it's okay and it's not her fault. Beshte gets her to calm down. As Nirmala would say, arama karo Makini. Anga can't see much from the sky with all the trees. Fuli says they need Makini's staff to get to the Tree of Life. Beshte suggests talking to the animals that live in the forest. They run away whenever they mention Tuliza, but they might know who took the staff. They ask a gibbon, but he claims that he doesn't know anything, and suggests that they talk to the mongoose. He says he can't help them, but he knows a civet that might. It's the same one Anga saved earlier. He tells them to talk to a mouse deer. He has a surprisingly deep voice. He's basically a mouse with deer legs. Why is that so creepy to me? He tells them to talk to the guy that lives in a nearby cave. It turns out to be the gibbon, who wanted some privacy before he told them what he knew, in case one of Mama's porcupines was listening in on them. He tells them who Mama Binturong is. She controls all the Tuliza, and she's very mean when she gets mad, so everyone is scared of her. If anyone gets caught with Tuliza or even mentions it, she sends her porcupines after them. Her hideout is deep in the stone forest, but only she and her porcupines can get through it safely. The rocks are super sharp. When Kion tries to enter, they tear off some of his fur and cut him. Ono says Beshte might be able to get through. Hippos have very thick skin. Unfortunately, he's too big to fit. Anga can't enter from the sky, but she does find Mama Binturong's hideout. They need someone who's not bothered by sharp rocks or porcupine quills. Bunga has to do it all by himself. He gets to the hideout and fights the porcupines. He's not bothered by their quills. He's able to get Makini's staff, and ruins all of the Tuliza with his pheromones. Now the only thing that Mama Binturong wants is revenge, and she leaves the forest to follow the Lion Guard to the Tree of Life, somehow never running into Makucha, Chuluun, and Ora on the way.