The Lion Guard S3 E18

## Plot

Some time after the cliffhanger at the end of the previous episode, Kion is talking to Mufasa about whether or not he should stay at the Tree of Life. It's a difficult decision. He has a duty to the Pridelands, and his whole family is there, but he still has more to learn about the Roar, and the Night Pride could use the Guard's help. Rani wants him to stay. Mufasa asks Kion what he wants. The decision is his to make. He has to choose the path that's right for him. Rani shows up and asks him if he's thought about what she said. He makes a joke about never being welcome at the Tree of Life, which she laughs at. It's funny how things can change once you get to know someone. They really do make a good team. Kion thinks she's referring to the Lion Guard and the Night Pride, but this time, she clarifies that she was actually talking about the two of them specifically. They sing the most adorable song ever. Yes, it's a love song, and yes, it takes some cues from *Can You Feel the Love Tonight?* And yes, it's a great song even if their voice actors don't provide their singing voices for whatever reason. Production of the show wrapped on July 19 in 2019, and the first episode aired on TV around two weeks later, with it and the first eight episodes after that premiering on DisneyNOW, and then a month after that, the remaining episodes also show up on that website. That's very little time for any post-production stuff, so it's possible that at least Aaron was just meant to be the scratch voice for Kion's singing, and then Max would dub over him, but then they ran out of time to do it. Or they decided to give Kion a more adult singing voice because he gains a love interest, which is weird to me. Replacing the singing voice but not the speaking one runs the risk of creating a disconnect between the two, unless the voices sound incredibly similar, like Jim Cummings and Chris Diamantopoulos, or Ming-Na Wen and Lea Salonga. Or maybe Max couldn't sing as Kion anymore for whatever reason, so they had no choice but to find a replacement? But then why couldn't they find someone with a more similar voice? Or change it somehow to make it sound the same? Apparently Kion's singing voice was only changed for "aesthetics". Okay. What the hell does that even mean? And what is it with certain networks and bombing episodes after long hiatuses? You're not a streaming service! Sometimes people need a week or two to process things. I didn't do that for the season 2 finale of Tangled: The Series, and it shows in my writing how shocked and devastated I was. The emotions that I was feeling were still really raw and fresh. I also didn't always do that for RWBY once I caught up and started reviewing volume 3 as it aired. I was a mess of tears, denial, dread, and fear. It's like I was emotionally crippled every week. I've learned my lesson, and now I wait for things to calm down a bit first, or at least watch the episode two or three times before I start writing about it. Anyway, *Of the Same Pride* is still a really cute love song. It's too bad that I accidentally spoiled myself on Kion and Rani's romantic relationship. I may also like Kion and Fuli together, but I'm okay with this. I just wish I could've found the willpower to allow myself to go in blind for the second half of season 3. It was amazing. It's impossible for me to pick a favorite episode. I wish I could go back in time and see if I could pick up on the budding Kion and Rani relationship on my own. Anyways, Rani says that ruling the Tree of Life is harder than she thought, and basically *asks Kion to marry her and help her rule over it as her king*. Oh my god! However, the moment is interrupted by the rest of the Guard showing up. Rani says she'd like them all to stay too. Everyone but Fuli seems to find it tempting. Ullu tells them that she spotted a cheetah heading up the mountain pass. Cue a familiar catchphrase in a familiar voice. It's Azaad. It turns out that Rani knows him too. Queen Janna healed him long ago after he had a nasty fall. He was escorting two travelers to the Tree, but he was too fast for them. They turn out to be Janja and Jasiri. They tell them that Zira and her pride of evil lions are back, and are planning to attack the Pridelands. The Lion Guard has no choice now but to go back home to try and stop Zira. Makini tells them that she's staying at the Tree of Life. She's realized that this is her place in the Circle of Life. The Guard says goodbye to her. Rani thanks them for their help defending the Tree of Life, and considers each of them a member of her pride. She puts her paw on their right shoulders, possibly literally marking them as members of the Night Pride, except for Kion, who her grandmother already marked. She tells him that he and his friends are always welcome at the Tree of Life, and hopes that the Roar will return again someday. Ono still remembers all the moja kwa moja stones to get back to the Pridelands. It'll take them a long time to get back though. Azaad knows a faster way they can take, but only cheetahs can get through all of the obstacles. Kion decides to at least check it out. They have to go through a narrow canyon, but Beshte wouldn't be able to fit, so Kion uses the Roar to widen it. So cool. They have to cross a ravine. A cheetah can jump over it, but the nearest land bridge could take days to reach. Kion uses the Roar to fly the others across, including himself. That's cool too, but we know Anga can carry a lion of Kion's size and weight by herself, at least for a short time. Plus there was that time when she carried four snow monkeys and Bunga all at the same time. Beshte and Bunga notice that Fuli seems really happy that Azaad is with them, and Beshte says they seem like really good friends, like Kion and Rani. They have to follow a riverbed to its mouth, but it's really far away. If they were all cheetahs, they could get there before the sun sets, but Kion has an even faster way. First, they need to get a dead tree into the riverbed. Before Beshte can push it, Kion uses the Roar instead. Bunga says that he's basically a one lion Lion Guard. I thought this would make the others feel insecure and doubtful about their own abilities, or worry that their place in the Guard wasn't permanent or in danger of ending once they got back to the Pridelands, but that's not what happens. Kion uses the Roar to create a storm, which creates a river. They ride the dead tree until it stops. There's a beautiful montage set to a great song as they keep heading back. I wish we could've seen new environments, like the moja kwa moja stones and landmarks that were skipped over, or the new animals that the Guard met along the way, like Yun Mibu, Tupp, Lumba-Lumba, Tenuk, the snow monkeys, the red pandas, the peacocks, the geese, the mongooses, etc. We do see old environments like the desert and the marsh though. Kion continues to make their journey easier by using the Roar. They reach the Great Stone Wall. It's too large to climb. They have to run around it, but Kion says he can make them another way. Bunga says the Roar can do anything. Fuli tells him that it can't solve all their problems, and they don't even know what's on the other side of the wall. Bunga says it doesn't matter because the Roar can handle it, and Kion tells Fuli that they have to get to the Pridelands as fast as they can. He uses lightning to start tearing the wall down, but Anga sees that it's actually holding back a lake. She tells Kion to stop roaring, but no one can hear her. The top part of the wall breaks, and water starts heading for them. Kion says he can handle this. He uses the Roar to hold the water back, but he also has to stop and breathe at some point. He doesn't know what they should do now. If the valley floods, a herd of klipspringers and a group of hyraxes will be in danger. Fuli takes charge and tells Ono and Beshte to try and fix the wall. Anga and Bunga will save the hyraxes while the others handle the klipspringers. Ono tells Beshte to move the rocks from the Great Stone Wall into the path of the Roar so they can use them to fix it. The others head back to help, and manage to block the hole just in time. Kion thought he could solve all their problems himself, but he was wrong. Nothing can replace the Lion Guard working together as a team, not even the Roar. They all make a great team. They go around the wall and reach the Outlands. They see Pride Rock in the distance and keep going.