The Drought In The Lion King

I remembered being such a fan of The Lion King as a child. As an adult, I don't know if the remake will still hold up to the original classic movie -- this is coming from someone who thinks Aladdin (2019) is an interesting remake! One whole thing in Lion King is that remember it's not entirely science but the supernatural is hugely involved. Remember when Mufasa talks to Simba via the clouds or when it suddenly rains after Scar is defeated? It just feels so weird!

So here's a really good theory considering that Lion King is full of supernatural elements...

The idea that the clouds follow the rightful king may make sense. The drought started immediately like so shortly after Simba left and Scar became king. Scar wasn't even meant to be the rightful king so the clouds didn't follow Scar. The very statement that Mufasa made that the past kings join the stars may also account for that. I always found it funny that it rains after a more mature Simba finally defeats Scar. Like WTF did Simba carry along the rain clouds? As a child, it didn't matter but as an adult, it does matter.

Okay, one can accuse Scar of poor mismanagement and it's real. Scar himself by allowing the hyenas to enter the Pride Lands caused a population explosion. The ecology would start to ruin. I always thought Scar isn't the cause of the drought. Rather, his incompetence led people to starve because he had no backup plans when the drought occurred. Scar could've considered migration away from the Pride Lands until the drought was over but his pride always got the best of him. Food was running out because the hyenas were allowed to over-hunt. But that's just part of the problem. Scar couldn't prevent the drought even if he could have put effective measures during the drought.

Was it just a coincidence? Well, savannahs do have wet and dry seasons. Probably, Scar chose the wrongest time to drive Simba away from the Pride Lands. Scar probably didn't check his calendar or what that the drought was coming soon when he planned to take over. Scar should've chosen a less dry time to take over and maybe let the hyenas stay in the Elephant Graveyard -- all the while they are still his enforcers. Probably, Simba's return was meant to coincide with the end of the dry season as Mufasa's ghost would've planned it. Probably, Nala knows the wet season was coming after she fled the Pride Rock (and thankfully, that scene where Scar tries to woo her is cut out of the animation) but plans to stay somewhere until it rains.

So Simba's return was probably just too perfectly planned. Probably, Rafiki knew the cycles in whatever ways he has when the drought will end. But not even the rainy season will do the Pride Rock any good with Scar as its king. Scar's incompetence showed how he wasn't ready for the drought and the imbalance caused it to go worse. Simba's return when the drought was coming to an end represented to restore the balance as it should be.