MovieChat Forums > The Lion King (1994) Discussion > What happens to the hyenas after Scar's ...

What happens to the hyenas after Scar's death?

posted 8 years ago by TM1617-2 (643)
12 replies | jump to latest

Do some of the hyenas accidentally kill themselves when they pounce Scar? Even extremely wild creatures with ludicrous impulses like hyenas would know better than to leap into a fire. Of course they want to kill Scar, but why don't they wait until it is safe for them to surround him? If we are supposed to ignore that part, then why do the surviving hyenas immediately disappear? Do they feel too misguided without Scar? Nothing would stop the hyenas from tearing Simba and his friends to shreds, and it surprises me that they would instantly give up the locale of all of their power.

[–] Visualize (91) 8 years ago

...it's a children's cartoon, I think a hyena bloodbath was meant to be glossed over.

If you wished for Disney cartoons to be realistic or completely accurate to the origin stories, you wouldn't recognize them anymore.

Suspended belief is part of what makes the wonder of Disney.
One must sometimes view it with childlike innocence to appreciate it - that, logically, wouldn't involve hyena psychology.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (14486) 6 years ago

I think, based on what we saw, that some tore each other apart in the battle, some got burned alive by the fire, and the few survivors ran away, never to be seen again.

[–] twinA (4921) 6 years ago

I think the whole sequence was meant to drive home the fact that Scar's reign of terror had come to end, symbolic of what may have actually happened.

~~/o/

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

They probably figured that with Scar being dead and Simba taking the crown, they'd be doomed and have no purpose there.

So they left

[–] twinA (4921) 5 years ago

They certainly had no bargaining chip left to deal with once the lions were put back in charge again.

You're right, the hyenas had burned their bridges.

It would be up to the other animals as to how they would be treated.

~~/o/

[–] TM1617-2 (643) 2 years ago

Thank you, AmeriGirl26. I apologize for missing a reply to you in the early days of your post. Your theory just might be what the movie doesn't have. It would explain why the hyenas merely leave at the end. They would be too annoyed with each other to control the rest of the animals, and that would be much more difficult if half of them were dead.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (14486) 2 years ago

Thanks :) I was just thinking about it, based on what they were like, what we saw in the shadow silhouettes, and what they would have done if they survived, and the heroes were now in charge. I sincerely think that if they hadn't run off immediately, Simba and his friends would have made sure they were banished.

[–] TM1617-2 (643) 2 years ago

You're welcome. It sounds as though you think that the hyenas would just give up at the end. This makes me realize something. Maybe, after the thrill of killing Scar fades, the hyenas are bored and drained.

[–] Matildawormwood (1545) 2 years ago

According to the sequel, they "ran off".

[–] TM1617-2 (643) 2 years ago

Thank you, Matildawormwood. If that is the case, then maybe the hyenas just don't know what to do without Scar leading. I find that hard to believe, though, because the animals look so cocky and intimidating when the wrong king introduces them to Simba.

[–] loser (348) 2 years ago

They went back to their land.

[–] kenburke (2377) 2 years ago

I think the hyenas had Scar for supper.