The Lion Guard

The Lion Guard is an American animated children's television series developed by Ford Riley and based on Disney's 1994 film The Lion King. The series was first broadcast with a television film titled The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar on Disney Channel on November 22, 2015, and began airing as a TV series on January 15, 2016, on Disney Junior. It is the second television series based on The Lion King following The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa (1995–1999). The first two seasons take place within the time-gap in the 1998 film The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. The majority of the third and final season takes place in parallel with the film's second act, with the final two episodes serving as an epilogue to the film. The second season premiered on July 7, 2017, followed by the third on August 3, 2019, with the series finale airing on November 3 the same year. The Lion Guard is a group that serves to protect the circle of life, traditionally led by the second born of the King and Queen. Simba and Nala's son Kion finds himself taking up the title last held and tainted by his evil great-uncle Scar. Despite the tradition that the Lion Guard has always been made of lions, Kion appoints his friends Bunga the honey badger, Beshte the hippopotamus, Fuli the cheetah, and Ono the egret, and together, they set out to keep their homeland safe and protect it from animals who disrespect the Circle of Life. As leader of the Lion Guard Kion is bestowed the Roar of the Elders, a powerful and devastating roar that can be corrupted when used in anger, and lost when used purposefully for evil. At the start of Season 2, the Lion Guard's mission becomes harder when Kion's evil deceased great uncle Scar returns as a fiery spirit and plans to destroy the Pride Lands. Scar forms an army consisted of animals from the Outlands. This eventually leads to an all-out battle between the Pridelanders and the Outlanders. By Season 3, the guard, now adolescents, successfully defeat Scar. Afterwards, they leave the Pride Lands to locate the Tree of Life in Asia to cure Kion and Ono's battle injuries, Kion having received a venomous scar from Ushari the cobra and Ono losing his eyesight from the poisonous volcanic fumes while rescuing Bunga. Kion's team also gets a new member, a martial eagle named Anga who replaces Ono's position as the keenest of sight after Ono temporarily loses his eyesight, while the latter gains a new position as the smartest. Once reaching the Tree of Life, the Lion Guard assists in defending the haven from intruders together with the Night Pride, the group and family who protects the Tree of Life. After Kion and Ono are healed and their enemies are defeated, hyenas Jasiri and Janja (the latter having reformed during the final confrontation with Scar) come looking for them and alert them that Zira and her pride are back. The Lion Guard returns to the Pride Lands, only to find out that the conflict has already been settled. Zira's daughter, Vitani, has formed her own Lion Guard in their absence, causing an argument between them and Kion's Lion Guard. However, after seeing Vitani's confidence in becoming a leader even without the Roar, Kion allows Vitani's Lion Guard to succeed his Guard as defenders of the Pride Lands. Kion and his friends return to the Tree of Life where Kion marries the Night Pride's leader, Queen Rani, and is crowned king of the Tree of Life.