Interview with Simba, Son of Mufasa

INTERVIEWER: On the show tonight we have someone very special with us: Someone who overcame all obstacles that came his way, who accepted himself for who he really was and faced up to his responsibilities despite what had happened to him. He is a very worthy leader of a great savannah kingdom in the open heart of Kenya, Africa. He is full of nobility, courage, strength, wisdom, and bravery. He is also a wonderful father to both his child and his adopted child. We know him as “The Restless Warrior”. My guest this evening: The Lion King of the Pride Lands: SIMBA, SON OF MUFASA!!!

SIMBA: Good evening.

Hi Simba; great to have you with us on the show. Thank you for coming down. First tell us a bit about your family and where you live.

I was born at Pride Rock in the middle of an open savannah in Southern Kenya just south of Kilimanjaro. My father was Mufasa; my mother was Sarabi, her sister was Sarafina. Both Mufasa and Sarabi have now passed on and I have my mate and current queen Nala, daughter of Sarafina; my daughter Kiara; and my adopted son Kovu. I am sad to say that my best friends Timon and Pumbaa passed away some months ago. It was their time. They were like family to me and I am really going to miss them.

I am sorry to hear about that. Anyway let me ask you some questions about your life.

Not a problem. Shoot.

When you were just a cub you seemed very excited about one day becoming king. What were your thoughts at the time?

Well, you know, when you are at a young age you are not very matured; so I guess that I was a bit young to understand the main responsibilities of being a true leader. I was just excited about one day becoming someone who can do what they like and not being told what to do by anyone else. But my father told me that there is more to being king than getting your way all the time. It is about understanding a balance that all living creatures exist in and respecting them; even the animals who we eat, because when we die, our bodies become the grass and our certain prey eat the grass. Therefore we are all connected in the great Circle of Life. I realized then that once I understood the balance of life, I would become a better and more respected king.

You decided to visit the elephant graveyard even though you knew that it was dangerous and forbidden and your father told you not to go there. You even decided to take your best friend Nala. What led you to such a decision?

At first I had no idea what that place was when I first saw it, but I was very curious. I wanted to investigate the area all the same just so I would know, and I was feeling a bit bummed that I wasn’t allowed to. But when my uncle Scar told me that it was an elephant graveyard, it got me really excited and I thought that it would be such a cool place to visit. Scar also mentioned to me that only the bravest of lions would dare venture there. That got me thinking that maybe dad would be proud of such a brave cub. So I decided to investigate after all. I just couldn’t help myself. I took Nala along because I thought that it would be cool for her to see as well. I didn’t want to go alone; that would have been no fun. Then after our encounter with the hyenas, we were lucky to escape with our lives when dad came and saved us. He wasn’t impressed because I had disobeyed him and I knew that I disappointed him; not to mention making the situation worse by putting my best friend in danger; but at the same time he admired me for my courage and he couldn’t scold me for long, and so he was proud of me. I then learned afterwards that being brave is not about looking for trouble; it is about using your courage to help others. And that no matter how cool something might be to venture or how curious you are about it, it is not worth risking your life. I might add that at the time I had no idea that my uncle Scar was planning a trap to rid me forever as the future king. So it was really because of him that I had the urge to venture the elephant graveyard.

I realize of course that it must have been difficult for you, enduring the loss of your father; and I would like to express my sympathy for you. What was more traumatic for you? Loosing your father or the fact that you thought that you were responsible for your father’s death?

I would have to say that it was more the fact that I thought that I was responsible for what happened. That stampede; well I thought that I had started it when I was practicing my roar down in the gorge and it echoed around the entire place. Dad rescued me but he had trouble getting back up himself when he climbed that wall. Then I saw him fall back down. He seemed to be falling miles before he hit the ground. When I saw him lying dead I started to feel guilty because of what I thought I had done. At the same time I was heartbroken for loosing my father because he meant the world to me and I didn’t know how I would get through without him. I thought that loosing him meant loosing my way. Then Scar told me to run away and never return because if anyone else ever knew what really happened, I would not know what they would think of me. I thought to myself at times: was I to face the responsibility for what happened, I wouldn’t know what to do. So it was more traumatic being the one responsible. I mean, loosing a father is tough, but you eventually manage to live with it as long as there is always someone there for you; and thank God for Timon and Pumbaa, I might add. They were the only family that I had when I lived with them. But when you think that you are responsible for something shocking, you may never forgive yourself.

What do you miss about your father?

Mainly his love and affection; because he was a wonderful father, and an extremely worthy leader of such a valuable kingdom like the Pride Lands. Everyone respected him for who he was; a true leader who did not have too much pride in himself and who knew the important priorities to leading a kingdom. He had this deep, warm voice that made me feel safe. I looked up to him as someone who loved the ones he really cared for, and who was very wise and noble. He was very patient; he barely ever lost his temper; he helped those in need; and he never backed down from anything. He was capable of just about anything. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep the Pride Lands in peace and prosperity; and that’s probably why he died to save my life. He would probably rather die than see terrible and horrific changes to our kingdom, or even the breaking of the Circle of Life. There is probably no one else who I would rather look up to. He was an inspiration to everyone. His leadership, love, nobility, and determination are the things that I am going to miss most about him. What I wouldn’t do to see his face one last time before I die.

What was it like living in the jungle in a un-lion-like way?

It felt kind of weird at first being that if I was going to live with my friends Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog, I had to eat like them and live their lifestyle. Living on grubs wasn’t a bad diet, really. They tasted pretty good to me. I think that they had some good fat and protein; and as you know lions need fat in their diet to keep in good shape. Unlike a normal lion’s meal, it was the easiest thing in the world finding food. All you needed to do was move a log and there it was. Hunting became out of the question. Pumbaa once said, “Why move mountains to get your chow when you only need to move a log”. I even loved swimming in the water. I am really used to it and it is so much fun. Most others say that cats hate water, but I have been swimming in the water for years and I really love it. I would have to say that the four years that I lived with them was like living in paradise. I developed a lot of un-lion-like behavior and others thought that I was crazy, but I’m used to that.

During that time in the jungle, you lived with Timon and Pumbaa that whole time. Again it must have felt a bit unusual living with what you might describe as your “prey”; and yet you all created a spiritual friendship. What is it that you see in Timon and Pumbaa that makes your friendship was it has been and still is?

Well, they were very important friends to me growing up. They took care of me when I needed someone to help me get through my childhood. Technically speaking, they were really the parents I barely ever had. It was difficult for me as a cub to be alone without parents, but they were there for me. They both showed me the life outside of my normal life; and that was the fun life filled with enjoyment and the least amount of worries. They would always make me feel better whenever I was feeling sad or lonely. Their sense of humor really rose to the top of the humor hierarchy, metaphorically speaking. That is what I loved about them; they were so funny. They would always make me laugh, even in the “not so best” of times. This just made our friendship even greater. But what I really saw inside them both is the spirit of friendship, and how sometimes you cannot make it on your own; when that is exactly what friends are for: If you stick together with your friends or family and work together, you will make it through. Even in the most difficult of situations, as long as you stick together, there is always a way. You all rely on each other to survive. So it was that spiritual connection that we all shared that helped us through our lives. It is something that we continued to share even after I became king, and it has not been and never will be forgotten. It really breaks my heart to see them gone, but I know that their spirit will continue to live within my heart forever.

You and Nala fell for each other when she returned. What is it that you see in her?

There is more than just pure beauty and a beautiful signing voice that I see in her. I see someone with a real open heart, wisdom, nobility, love and care. We share a long connection together ever since we were just cubs. She was my best friend and one of the only ones who I could count on to help me in life. Her friendship meant so much to me as did everyone else’s. I mean, everyone liked me because I was the prince at the time, but there was something in Nala that I saw completely differently; and that was how to get through life in the way of wisdom and nobility and the way your heart tells you. She once said that if you follow your heart and look deep inside yourself, you will find what you are looking for. She also said that if you have faith in yourself, you can do anything. That is another thing that I see within her: her faith; which is something that I never truly understood most of my life, up until now. And it is those very characteristics in her that I see; the correct path in life; and that is why I love her. I will always love her, and I don’t think that many others could ever compare to her. Nala reminds me so much of my mother, Sarabi. She is just as sweet, noble and caring as my mother. Well, Nala’s mother Sarafina was in fact my mother’s sister, so she and Sarabi were very much alike; and it is what is in both my mother and my mother’s sister that made Nala what she has become. When she dies, I want her to be known as the noblest queen ever to have lived.

Even though it would have been tough to put behind, you thought that you lost your father but you eventually discovered that you lost yourself. Is that true?

Yes it is. The fact that I had lost my father made me think too much of what I thought was the terrible truth. But there was something that I had forgotten. I now realized that my father gave everything up for me. I knew that my father never turned his back on anybody, never ran away and never thought twice about giving. For a long time I thought I had lost him, but it was actually me. I now have to accept myself for who I am in spite of the things that I had done. I got some sense knocked into me and I have the bump to prove it when our shaman, Rafiki, hit my head with his stick. It was kind of a funny but good metaphor: Having something bad happen to you in your past is like being hit by something and feeling the pain: It can still hurt later on, but you must learn from it. The next time you are attempted to get hit, you must be able to counter it. So from that, I have now learned from my past and faced my main responsibilities. From an old saying: You can’t dwell on your mistakes; you must learn from them and then move on.

As soon as you knew the truth about your father, you felt enraged and said that Scar did not deserve to live. Yet you decided to let him go. What was that all about?

Well, killing someone is not something that the side of good usually ever does. I felt humiliated that he betrayed my entire family, tried to kill me, killed my father and framed me for murder just so that he could get rid of me. I knew that he didn’t deserve to live, but I am the king; so I can never do something like murdering someone else. I tried to save him by telling him to run away, because I knew that the rest of my pride would have killed him instead. I might also add that, under my father’s law, if the death penalty is in fact the decision for the offender, someone else of the king’s pride must kill the offender; not the king himself. He died anyway because he betrayed his own pride of hyenas and they killed him in revenge. So I let him go because the king does not kill, and I knew he was going to die anyway because he betrayed his pride.

After all that happened; the betrayal and the lies that he made you believe, what was that darkness that you saw in Scar?

I saw him as a dark and twisted black hearted animal that might have killed just about anyone who would have gotten in his way. I would sometimes like to think of him as the Prince of Darkness. His pure evil heart took over him and made him do the most terrible things that the world would probably not expect to see. I could not believe that he, a member of the royal family, would turn his back on his own flesh and blood. The truth is; although he may have been apart of the family, he may have been different in terms of his race. The color of his fur was darker than my father’s and he was slimmer is size. He also wasn’t as strong as my father. That is probably why my father’s father; Ahadi; chose his strongest son, Mufasa, to take his place instead of his weakest son, Scar. So from all this it may have been that although we were the same kind, we might be different sub-species. My kind might be a different sub-species to his kind. So maybe my sub-species, if existent at all, might have dominated in terms of fitness and survival over his sub-species for generations. Therefore he might have taken over the crown to ensure that his sub-species would dominate and reduce the risk of extinction in future generations to come. Maybe he believed that neither sub-species could live while one survives. But here’s the truth: That can only be the case if both sub-species do not learn to work together to survive; such as sharing vital resources including food, water and appropriate habitats. That is exactly what being “one” is all about: We unite together and assist each other to live in peace. Plus if only one sub-species could survive, then it would be the dominant sub-species. Scar just didn’t understand that. If he did, conflict would never have risen between us. I think that his own kind understands that now ever since they joined our pride.

Shortly after your daughter Kiara was born you became very protective of her. Were you a bit afraid that you were going to lose her?

I knew that she was exactly like I was when I was just a cub: Curious and mischievous. I didn’t want her to be that way because I remember the dangers that I put myself in that almost got me killed. She was the future queen and I didn’t want to lose her. If anything ever happened to her I didn’t know what I was going to do. I will not be here one day and I need her to carry on in my place to continue the great Circle of Life. I got even more cautious shortly after I became king when Scar’s mate, Zira, tried to take over the Pride Lands because of her fury over Scar’s death. She killed my mother Sarabi in the attempt and therefore I exiled her and her pride from the lands and into the forbidden Outlands, which are off-limits to us. If Kiara ever got near the Outlands, God only knows what could have happened to her. Then over time she got frustrated for me sending Timon and Pumbaa watching over her all the time. She kept on running away as a result, and I almost lost her a few times. So I think that it was my own fault that I almost lost her. I just learned that over protectiveness does not help a situation. It just makes it worse. I know that she knows about responsibility and caution and so I let her run free now.

I understand that again it must have been hard for you to see both your parents leave you since your mother died. What did you believe that your mother was feeling after loosing her mate and what were you feeling after loosing her?

Well I knew that my mother was finding it hard loosing her one true love; but even harder the thought that she lost her only son; me. Throughout the years that I was away, I really started to worry about how my mother would be able to put behind the trauma that she had had to put up with in my absence: Loosing her son, her mate, and seeing the Pride Lands destroyed under evil power. I thought that she was going to kill herself because everything was getting too much to bear. But knowing her, she has faith; and from what I was told; she once said to Nala that if you have faith in life, you can make a difference. It is all about believing. From that, it must have been her belief that kept her alive. When I returned and took over the kingdom, she started to feel better, but she was still finding it hard after all that happened. Deep down inside, I knew that she was missing her mate, and she wanted to be with again so bad. She said to me just before she died that she was going to see Mufasa again, and this would make her happy; while at the same time sad to leave me; but whatever made her feel better I was happy for her. As for me, it was really hard seeing her go as I was going to be parentless. It is hard enough loosing one parent, but to lose both of your parents is worse; especially seeing them die in such an unfair way. It still hurts me to think about it, but I have learned that it is important to look towards the future and slowly let the past go. I was broken at the time, but I did manage to mend, metaphorically speaking. As Timon and Pumbaa once said: “You have got to put the past behind you”. I might just add that their parenthood and Nala’s love helped me through all this, and I deeply appreciate all that they have done for me. Bottom line, at least I know that both my parents are happy now that they are together. Whatever makes the ones I love happy is all that matters to me.

What is it that you see in your daughter, Kiara?

Curious and mischievous as I said before when she was young. I knew that she had a lot to learn about life, but this is all just part of the learning experience of growing up. It happens with everyone. On the outside I see the beauty that she inherited from her mother. On the inside I see a true open heart, wisdom, and faith; like her mother. She has inherited most of her mother’s genes. When she grew older she had a few things that I did not have enough of; and that was faith and trust. I didn’t have enough faith when she went off to do her own things, when she was positive that she could handle things on her own. Well, she was certainly old enough to do so, and she did just that. She never doubted what she was capable of; and she was capable of just about anything. As soon as I saw that I felt better about her. She also trusted those who seemed a little less worthy of being trusted, when I didn’t always trust them for who they were; especially the outsiders. I think that I learned from my own daughter that you must give others time and observation before you can trust them. You can’t just judge someone immediately before you know who they really are both on the outside and on the inside. You cannot get far in life if you lack trust. All in all, I see someone who is just like her mother; noble, wise, trustworthy, patient, and faithful. If there is anyone who I could love more than I love Nala, it will always be my daughter, Kiara. I love her for who she is and from what she has learned in life. I am proud of her and I will always love her.

You once told your daughter the phrase “We are one”. What does this mean?

This means that we, as lions, are brought together all as one group that fits into this sort of “belonging in family” if you will. Being “one” means that our place is with our pride. That is what lions prides are all about. If we have a sense of belonging with each other in our own kind, we will become family. As long as we stay together, it is who we are. That goes for all other living creature in this world. I told this to my daughter Kiara when she was a cub, but she didn’t quite understand what I meant. She finally understood when she was older; and because of her, peace was settled and the difference between us and the outsiders was finished. We are now all together as one.

You felt a bit untrustworthy after an outsider rescued your daughter from a wildfire. Why did you seem reluctant to let Kovu into your pride?

Kovu was the son of Zira, Scar’s mate. There was still the darkness in Scar that I couldn’t escape and I based that on Kovu himself because Zira once told me that Kovu was chosen to follow in Scar’s paw prints. I was scared that he was going to threaten the entire royal family, and it was a difficult decision for me because Kovu was an outsider, but as he saved my daughter’s life, it was hard for me to turn down his request. Therefore I decided to reserved judgment for three days and accept him; but I wouldn’t let him sleep with us in the den that night, just to be sure of him. So it was tough for me.

Shortly after Kovu joined your pride, you got ambushed by Zira and the outsiders; but you managed to escape. How did you feel after the attack and what where you thinking at that point?

Well I really felt like I was going to die slowly and horribly like crucifixion on the cross. The outsiders attacked and bit me in many places on my body. I had tooth mark-like cuts and scratches on my back; I sprained my left foreleg from falling into the gorge; I felt bruised in my chest and abdomen; and I felt near concussion from being butted in the head. How I was even able to stand and walk after the attack, I have no idea. I eventually collapsed and almost passed out from the pain. However, members of my pride took me back to Pride Rock and nursed my wounds. I felt a bit better afterwards, but I was still feeling my foreleg, and I knew that I needed to rest for a while without running or fighting; but what was to occur would not allow it: The next attack from the outsiders. I then knew that after what happened, Zira and the outsiders would immediately ambush our pride and attempt to take over for good. But what I also thought of was Kovu betraying us; that he was just using my daughter to get to me. So I exiled him without knowing what really happened and that Kovu was indeed innocent. I think that Kiara and Nala were the only ones who believed in him.

What were your thoughts heading into the battle against the then outsiders?

I have to admit I was feeling really nervous. I would never back down from a fight, like my father, but I knew that Zira had been training her pride just like she trained Kovu, and our pride was no match for their fighting experience. I knew that we were going to lose, but we had to fight anyway. Like my father, there was nothing we wouldn’t do to prevent the Pride Lands from falling under evil power. As expected, they gained the upper hand in the fight. Their attack wasn’t just powerful and painful, but their defense was so good that we could barely get them to bleed. More than half of us were bleeding profusely from the vicious attacks, and less than a quarter of them had signs of crimson red. If Kovu and Kiara hadn’t intervened and stopped the fight, there would have been none of my pride left; or even me for that reason.

Before Kovu and Kiara intervened, you were about to fight Zira. If you two did fight, what do think it would have come down to?

Well I know that it would have been a very interesting battle. She was a professional fighting trainer, and the only skill that I have in fighting is my strength in attack pretty much. I am not fast like her and I am not great at defending. Even Nala has better fighting technique than I do; because she would always pin me when we were cubs. She was very skilled. I knew at the time that I still needed to learn how to fight better; with defense technique. Zira had all that, and she would certainly have won the fight in such short time. The only thing that would have kept me going would have been my endurance. If I was able to withstand her attacks, I might have been able to tire her out and use my strength to deliver strong attacks. But seriously, to tell you the truth, I really think that she would have had higher chances over me quite easily. I knew that I would have been as good as dead.

What is it that you see in Kovu?

Well, he is sort of an interesting character in my point of view. It really wasn’t easy getting to know him when I accepted him as I never really got time to question him in-between battles between his kind and ours. I thought that he had set me up when I got attacked by the outsiders; but later on I figured out that it was really Zira who wanted me dead, not Kovu. That’s when I realized that she was the one who had been training Kovu to become a killer; and Kovu had become brainwashed. It is interesting that he goes from being an innocent cub to being trained to kill to meeting someone who really has touched his heart; my daughter; to finally feeling manipulated. I am just amazed that he managed to figure that out. Scar wasn’t even his father; and I was told that he never knew his biological father. Apparently he was killed just as he was born. He is really one of the most interesting characters that I have ever met. On his personal side he seems very sweet. He is a really nice guy and he has a very open heart. He treats my daughter very well and gives her the love and support that she deserves. I look at him and Kiara and I see such a spiritual connection between them. Kiara really does love him. I therefore chose him to follow in my footprints; and I know that one day he will make a really worthy king. One of these days I would like to see how he fights. I don’t want to kill him now and I know that he doesn’t want to kill me, but I still want to fight against him in a friendly battle just to see how he fights; and also to see how the battle that we would have had back then might have come down to. It would be a very interesting battle. All in all, he is like a son to me and that is why I decided to adopt him as my own son. I know that one day he will make everyone proud.

Before you die, what are you hoping for the future of your kingdom and your family?

I hope that my family will lead as well as my father and mother would have ever done and that the future generations of my family will inherit the same characteristics as my father, mother, daughter, mate, and adopted son: Wisdom, loyalty, nobility, respect, love, and friendship. The legacy of our family will be more important than ever, and it will be important for the future generations of our family to follow all the characteristics that I mentioned to honor our legacy. I also hope that their will be no more conflict or battles within the Pride Lands, and that each and every one of us learns the ways of the Circle of Life so as to not upset the balance of each and every living creature and their families.

Well, Simba, it has been more than a pleasure having you with us. I wish the best of luck to you, your family and for their family to come. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for having me. Goodbye.

Goodbye.

THE END

Author’s comment: This is my first fanfic. Hope you all enjoyed it. Any comments that you would like to make or improvements that you might suggest to this fanfic (including grammar), please do so by all means.