Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Mufasa: The Lion King!
Mufasa: The Lion King sets up a fairly straightforward origin story for Scar’s hatred of his тιтular brother, but one particular aspect of the narrative may prove misleading for some viewers. Although The Lion King seems to establish Scar as a bitter loner who feels himself the more worthy heir to rule the Pride Lands of Milele, Mufasa digs much deeper to establish the true roots of Scar’s motivations.
Mufasa‘s story details do establish that Scar was raised with the expectation of becoming king, back when he was a young cub named Taka; however, the film suggests the origin of Taka’s hatred actually begins with his perceived betrayal at the hands of Mufasa. Rafiki even foreshadows this when explaining the motivations of Mufasa: The Lion King’s Outsiders to Simba’s daughter Kiara, telling her that hate stems from the denial of love. While he’s not entirely wrong, taking Rafiki’s words at face value only serves to minimize the true complexity of Taka’s character.
Scar’s Origin Story In Mufasa Falsely Equates Taka With Kiros
The Outsiders In Mufasa Have Far More Right To Feel Unloved
Rafiki explains that the Outsiders, including Mufasa’s main villain Kiros, hate other lions because they were cast out of their prides for having white fur and can’t forgive those who betrayed them, thus learning to hate their own kind. This seems to establish a parallel between Kiros and Taka, the only problem being that Mufasa never actually forsakes Taka’s trust. Sarabi comes close when she declares Mufasa the true king, adding insult to injury by ᴀsserting that Taka’s only real destiny was to keep Mufasa alive. Throughout this conversation, however, Mufasa consistently defends Taka’s royal birthright.
It’s then strongly suggested that Scar’s real villain transformation is sparked by jealousy over Mufasa and Sarabi’s romance, but this still doesn’t parallel the familial love denied to the Outsiders. Mufasa didn’t fall in love with Sarabi on purpose, and he tries to suppress those feelings out of loyalty to Taka on several occasions. The only reason for Taka to feel unloved or betrayed by Mufasa is simply that Taka wasn’t raised to understand the difference between loyalty and obedience. This doesn’t equate Taka with Kiros, but it does, unfortunately, add another layer of tragedy to Scar’s origins.
Rafiki’s Interpretation Of Scar’s Origin Story Isn’t Entirely Wrong
The Denial Of His Father’s Love Is What Truly Turned Taka Into Scar
If any character truly deprives Taka of love in the whole of Mufasa: The Lion King, it’s Taka’s father, Obasi. It’s clear that the two purest sources of love in Taka’s life are his mother, Eshe, and adopted brother, Mufasa, but Obasi banishes Mufasa to live with the lionesses and keeps Taka segregated with the male lions whenever possible.
Taka and Mufasa do see each other enough to develop a bond, but Obasi’s segregation of the pride clearly takes its toll later on when Taka voices jealousy that Mufasa spent more time with Eshe than he did.
Obasi then sows the seeds of distrust, claiming that Mufasa will betray Taka one day. Taka later recalls this prediction in his villain song, “Brother Betrayed,” in which Taka painfully retracts his earlier sentiments from “I Always Wanted A Brother” by concluding that Scar and Mufasa aren’t truly brothers after all.
Obasi never even allows Taka to properly love himself. Taka shows several signs of innate goodness, but Obasi teaches Taka to suppress his moral compᴀss in favor of lazy self-interest. After Taka abandons Eshe and Mufasa to battle the Outsiders themselves, Obasi convinces Taka to lie, so the tribe won’t doubt that pre-Scar Taka will be a good king, but Obasi’s actions also imply what Taka secretly fears: Mufasa would be a better one. This plays a major role in Taka’s decision to hand Mufasa over to Kiros when Taka recalls Obasi’s teaching that great kings know the value of deceit. Even before Taka experienced hatred, Obasi taught him how to best weaponize it by rejecting any accountability for his actions.
Mufasa: The Lion King Benefits From Scar’s Complex Origin Story
Mufasa Doesn’t Need To Actually Betray Taka For Scar To Make Sense
A face-value interpretation of Rafiki’s lesson to Kiara may have drawn a great parallel between the movie’s main baddie and classic Disney villain Scar, but it also would have ruined Mufasa as a protagonist. The entire point of the movie is to show how Mufasa became the wise, noble leader portrayed in The Lion King. Nothing would hurt that nobility greater than seeing Mufasa betray his adopted brother, especially when Scar saves Mufasa’s life at least four times throughout the film.
Two of these rescues do occur after Taka’s attempted fratricide, but he technically never tries to kill Mufasa by his own hand. He’s at least that good a brother.
Seeing Taka’s initial moral similarities to Mufasa as a cub adds another interesting layer to the narrative. Had Obasi not segregated his own pride and denied Taka full access to Eshe’s love, it’s arguable that Taka could have turned out much more like Mufasa than he did. Taka even attempts to redeem himself at the end by leaping between Mufasa and what might have been a killing blow from Kiros, explaining how Scar got his scar in the first place. Unfortunately, it’s too late at that point to save Taka and Mufasa’s relationship.
Mufasa: The Lion King never sees Taka banished like Kiros, but his fate is still tragic. Mufasa allows Scar to stay after his betrayal but refuses to call him by name ever again. This brings Rafiki’s lesson full circle back to Scar’s motivations in The Lion King. Scar has nothing left but to bitterly rule over a pack of hyenas while lamenting the days he thought he would be king, having lost both his name and royal birthright to the same brother. And for Scar, thanks to his poisonous upbringing by Obasi, to lose either is to lose everything.
