The Gorge

The **gorge** is a dry canyon located within the Pride Lands. It is the location of the stampede that kills Mufasa; the ambush set off by Zira that results in Nuka's death; and the last half of the battle between the Pride Landers and the Outsiders that ends with Zira's death.

## Background

The gorge is a dry canyon found within the confinements of the Pride Lands. It is bordered by cliffs on all sides, and in the sequel, it has a river running through it. Less vegetation is known to be grown there, as the gorge is known for its searing heat and dry soil. Above one end of the gorge, a herd of wildebeests can be seen grazing.

## Appearance

### *The Lion King*

“**Simba**: *Hey, Uncle Scar. Will I like the surprise?*
**Scar**: *Simba, it's to*die*for.*

—Simba and Scar[src]”

The gorge is first seen after "Be Prepared" when Scar takes Simba there, with Mufasa and Zazu not too far away. Scar tells young Simba of a surprise Mufasa has for him, to which Simba eagerly wants to know. Scar tells him to wait at a shady tree, so he can get Mufasa for him. To pass the time and keep Simba busy, Scar tells him to work on his "little roar."

At the top of the gorge, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed are near a herd of wildebeests, waiting for Scar's signal to release the herd into the gorge. Meanwhile, Simba practices his roar on a small lizard, scaring it off, and notices a massive wildebeest stampede hurling toward him. The wildebeest stampede chases Simba deeper and deeper into the gorge, drawing the attention of Mufasa and Zazu. Not a second later, Scar informs the two that Simba is in the stampede. The two lions and the hornbill run toward the stampede and see Simba dangling on a dead tree limb, crying for help. Mufasa saves Simba in time and places him near a ledge but struggles to save himself.

Simba watches in horror as his father is carried away by the stampede. Luckily, Mufasa jumps from the stampede onto a cliff and climbs up. On top of the cliff, Mufasa requests Scar's help, but Scar digs his claws into his older brother's paws and says, "Long live the king!" When Scar releases his claws, it sends Mufasa to his death among the stampede. Watching his father fall, Simba screams in agony and then climbs down the cliff to search for Mufasa. Simba later finds his father's corpse and tries to wake him up until Scar informs Simba that he's dead and that his death was Simba's fault. Feeling guilt-ridden, Simba runs to the end of the gorge and notices the hyenas behind him, waiting to kill him. However, he manages to escape via a thorny hedge.

### The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

The gorge appears in the film in Simba's nightmare where he tries to stop Mufasa from falling off a cliff into the stampede, but is stopped by Scar who turns into his adoptive son Kovu and throws Simba off the cliff into the stampede. It later appears when Kovu's mother Zira and the Outsiders throw Simba down after ambushing him. The Outsider lionesses chase Simba towards a steep hill filled with logs. With no other way out, Simba climbs up the logs and Zira's older son Nuka, wanting to please his mother, goes after him. Nuka grabs Simba's ankle, but loses his footing when Simba pushes a log on the log on him and falls, getting trapped under a large log. Simba clambers up the logs, knocking some onto Nuka, and trapping him inside the logs. Kovu attempts to dig him out, but Zira pushes him away and she removes the remaining logs, and is kind to Nuka for the first time in the movie before he dies. Zira takes her anger out on Kovu giving him a scar across his eye, and blames Nuka's death on him. Kovu runs away because of the accusation and Zira rallies her pride to declare war on Simba and the Pridelanders.

On top of the gorge, Zira and the Outsiders battle Simba and the Pridelanders until Kovu along with Simba's daughter Kiara intervene and cease the fighting. After seeing Kiara's revelation of "we are one," Vitani and the Outsider lionesses abandon Zira and join Simba's side. Refusing to let go of her hate, Zira leaps for Simba, but is blocked by Kiara, and sends herself along with Kiara down a cliff with a rushing river below them. Kiara offers help to Zira, who is dangling off a cliff, aid, but Zira refuses which causes her to slip and fall into the river.

### *The Lion King 1½*

―Timon[src] | ”

Timon and Pumbaa try to make the gorge their permanent residence despite its immense heat. However, they encounter a brief wildebeest stampede of their own which causes them to fall to the side of the gorge to where they fall near a waterfall.

### Prior to *The Lion Guard*

When Scar tricks Simba into the gorge by practicing his roar, he gives a signal for his henchmen of hyenas to cause a herd of wildebeests into a stampede. Scar arrived "out of breath" to Mufasa, warning that Simba was in trouble. Mufasa and Scar race at the gorge to save his son. When Mufasa saves him just in time, but only to be pulled into the herd, he climbs on a ledge for dear life and begs his younger brother to help. But Scar refuses, digs his claws into Mufasa's paws, whispers "*Long live the king...*", and tosses Mufasa back into the gorge, falling to his death. Simba recognizes his father's lifeless body, and shouts for help, but no one came and the cub mourned over Mufasa's death. Scar orders Simba to leave the Pride Lands and never return.

### Battle for the Pride Lands

During the musical number of "When I Led the Guard", Scar explains to Ushari how he got his scar. After his first plan backfired when he lost the Roar of the Elders forever at his Lion Guard, Scar's second plan succeeded when he murdered Mufasa into the gorge full of the stampede of wildebeests years later.