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This fan theory database is designed for Lion King fans and assumes that readers have a working knowledge of the original movie, as well as Simba's Pride and The Lion Guard. Some posts will also reference characters from the Six New Adventures books.

If you're not very familiar with any of these, I would suggest brushing up before reading any of the posts on this website.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

How Sarabi Died

            Sarabi, Simba’s mother and Mufasa’s mate, is one of the most well-loved characters in the Lion King universe. The real-world reason that she doesn’t appear in Simba’s Pride (SP) is that the woman who voiced her died and, out of respect to her, they didn’t attempt to find a replacement. However, within the Lion King universe there are multiple fan theories about why she is no longer there by the time SP starts. Unfortunately, all of the realistic explanations involve Sarabi dying. I’ll be discussing some of these theories.




Sarabi Died of Infection

            While we can definitely rule out Sarabi dying in the actual fighting that happened when Simba took back Pride Rock (because she’s there when he ascends the rock and roars in victory), it’s possible that she was injured in combat and eventually succumbed to infection. This theory is supported by the fact that she doesn’t appear in the closing scene, in which the Pridelands have been restored to their former glory and all of the animals have gathered to view the new royal cub. Given that multiple months would have passed between Simba reclaiming the throne and the birth of his first cub, it is entirely possible that Sarabi had a wound that got too infected for even Rafiki to fix and said infection killed her before the end of TLK.



Sarabi Was Murdered

            Another theory is that Sarabi was killed by Scar’s followers, maybe even Zira herself, before Simba exiled them. In fact, such an act could have been the inciting incident that made Simba banish them in the first place. This would not only explain Simba’s general distrust of Outlanders but his specific hatred for Zira (assuming she was the one who killed Sarabi). Simba also doesn’t seem like the type to banish his animals from the Pridelands without a good reason (until SP). If he tried for a peace agreement at first and then Zira murdered Sarabi, it would make sense for him to pass judgement with little provocation in the future (like he does when he first meets Kovu) because he is afraid of the Outlanders taking advantage of his mercy again.


Sarabi Died of Old Age


            The life expectancy for African lions in the wild is 10-14 years. Given that Sarabi and Mufasa were probably somewhere between 4 and 6 years old (full maturity) when Simba was born and that he was gone for another 4 to 6 years or so (as he reached full maturity), Sarabi would be somewhere around 10 years old by the time TLK ends. It’s possible that she wasn’t injured or murdered and that it was just her time to go. This is one of my personal favorites because it means that, after all she went through, she got to live the fullest life she could and the only thing that cut it short was nature itself.




            What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

8 comments:

  1. I think she did not die because i saw her when the pack of lions came to fetch kiara as a cup the fist time she met kuvo

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  2. Female lions live up to 14 years of age whilst males live up to 12.

    Mufasa and Scar, (in lion years) appear to be 5 or 6 years old given how they appear very grown into their manes. And Simba is shown to spend at least 3-5 years in the jungle in order to grow his mane in.

    So Sarabi would be 11-12 years old. She’d still have 2 years left, so she would definitely live long enough to see Simba’s cubs grow up and expect children before dying.

    But at the same time, we don’t know if the lions age like actual lions or humans. And if we go by human aging in TLK, Sarabi would likely be in her 70’s.

    So if she were to die, she’d likely die from infection or an accident.

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  3. Sarabi didn’t die

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  4. If scar is in love with sarabi then why did he hit her?

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  5. And I am a HUGE fan of the lion king

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