How Second-Born Royal Cubs Are Treated

            Some fans have stipulated that the second-born royal cub is always treated worse than the first-born and heir to the throne. I’ll be analyzing Taka’s and Kion’s experiences to try and determine whether or not this is true. This post will heavily reference the Six New Adventures books and The Lion Guard (TLG) in addition to The Lion King (TLK).

Second-Born Royal Cubs Are Treated Worse

           

            Based on Taka/Scar’s experience, it would appear that the second royal cubs aren’t treated as well as the first cubs. Young Taka was made to feel left out by his brother Mufasa and his father Ahadi, as evidenced by the events in A Tale of Two Brothers. He feels so dejected that he comes to spend most of his time hanging out with the hyenas. Taka doesn’t feel welcome or appreciated the way Mufasa is, suggesting that his family has made less of an effort to support him because he wasn’t the direct heir to the throne. When Mufasa, Taka, and Ahadi first meet Rafiki, he tells them that he has learned a lot in his travels across Africa. Taka seems unamused but Ahadi says Taka “might profit from such a quest,” which almost sounds like a dig. While Taka’s attitude factors in, Ahadi definitely seems like he doesn’t want much to do with Taka. Mufasa, on the other hand, is Ahadi’s golden boy (pardon the pun). This might be one of the reasons he comes to resent Mufasa.

Second-Born Royal Cubs Are Not Necessarily Treated Worse

            Kion’s experiences are quite different. Despite Simba and Kion’s relationship being a bit rocky in Return of the Roar, Simba has treated Kion with love and respect throughout TLG proper. After Simba’s initial upset over Kion’s choice of different species for the Guard, he realizes that Kion knows what he is doing and allows him to fulfill his birthright as the leader of the Lion Guard. He gives Kion just as much responsibility as Kiara (if not more, at times) and he always praises Kion when he does a good job. In “The Mbali Fields Migration,” Simba entrusts Kion (and the rest of the Guard) with leading the zebra and gazelle herds to the very edge of the Pridelands, where there are bigger grazing grounds. Assigning him such a big project shows that Simba has a lot of faith in Kion and is willing to give him important tasks, just like he does with Kiara in “Can’t Wait To Be Queen.”

Taka/Scar Experiences Are An Anomaly

            After examining both Taka/Scar’s experience and Kion’s, I’ve come to the conclusion that Taka’s treatment as a second cub was unusual and that Kion’s experiences are what most second-born royal cubs would be able to expect. Taka was probably partially responsible for his situation because he let his jealousy and lust for power stop him from enjoying time with his family. He probably also made himself very annoying and aversive to them by always being so mopey, rude, and cynical. This would be one explanation for why neither of them wanted to spend a lot of time around him. Ahadi and Mufasa not wanting to spend time with him likely just worsened Taka’s outlook on them because it may have led him to believe that they didn’t care about him at all. In contrast, Kion has a pretty healthy attitude toward his family and his position in the pride so Simba, Nala, and Kiara have no reason to not want to be around him. I think most cubs would have an attitude like Kion’s. Everyone is always remarking how there was a darkness deep within Scar and it’s possible that it was present from an early age and that it poisoned his relationship with his family. 

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