#she's the first to really understand and accept Kiara's offer of peace and she does it without any change in character

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

there's this mother who's hell bent on revenge and wants it to be Violent revenge,

(zira vitani rant incoming, lion king 2 will never let me rest)

there's this mother and she has one oldest son who's mostly useless but throws himself 100% into her bloodthirsty goals in hopes of getting her to notice him, and she has this other son who isn't so keen and eventually defects BUT his challenge to her is still in the end a challenge to fight- the promise that she'd have to go through him to get to her enemies

the first son she mourns after he dies trying to accomplish her revenge. the other son she scars and blames and tells to move and get out of her way, calling him weak, shocked and furious when he refuses

then there is her daughter.

her daughter is vicious and loyal and disciplined, she's the mother's second in command, a soldier who doesn't connive for attention or waver from the cause out of a desire for softness and affection. she's ruthless in battle and strong. she doesn't LOOK like her mother but she feels hard like her, edged in a way her brothers weren't

the daughter is the only child left at this mother's side when she finally goes into battle.

and she's the only one of her children the mother threatens

to kill

gleefully. with a wide, satisfied and bloodthirsty smile

her sons died or challenged her authority yes, but the daughter does something worse, something so deep and sickening it breaks any bond between them in an instant

because Vitani, the daughter, reached out to her mother with peace.

she uses only her words to rebel against Zira, no threat, no snarl or claws, no challenge to a fight. just a quiet plea and an earnest, honestly look begging her mother to stop

now they have a way to end things without fighting, Vitani doesn't want to fight anymore

it's the antidote to everything Zira is.

the whole twisted core that Zira's been surviving off of all this time, the one thing that helped her, soothed her, gave her hope and drove her on is the idea that VIOLENCE is the way to end things.

Scar's song spoke of ambition and lies, power and betrayal, but Zira's lullaby was full of the dying screams of her enemies and their loved ones. the lynchpin of her identity is tearing apart the people she hates, the ones that hurt her, and anyone else standing in her way

Nuka died for it. Kovu stands in her way but he keeps to the rules she understands, and she only tries to move him aside

Vitani. Rejects her.

And doesn't.

Vitani ignores the order to kill and tells her no and leaves her side and chooses to trust in Kiara and goes to stand with Kovu and says Enough, but she also looks to her mother with this plea on her face, searching for Zira, asking her to understand, offering her another way

That's not how. things work. according to Zira. That's- wrong. betrayal, yes betrayal is understandable, but this reaching out with softness and hope is

unforgivable.

Zira does not need anyone to help her. She would rather fall to her death swatting at Kiara's offered paw than accept help

Vitani's peace rejects the very core of Zira's being

she threatens Zira in a way no one else ever has, not even Simba oh so ready to meet her in battle-

Zira molded her children, she raised them and taught them. Kovu who accepted her world, Kovu was ready to fight, Kovu only understood love in being ready to tear apart anyone who threaten the people he cared about- Nuka DIED believing violence would get him what he wanted- Vitani was her perfect soldier, trusted by her, and

and Vitani says no.

her own child- HER weapon- raised by her and yet she

she strikes at the very core of Zira's world, rips control from Zira's claws without even touching her

Zira's rules don't apply to Vitani anymore.

Nuka died and Kovu was ready to fight and Vitani says no, I don't have to do either, there is another way

the loss of control, Hurts. and anyone who hurts Zira must Die.

Control though. Vitani really had taken it all away in that one moment, with those few, WEAK, words. Zira grins in answer and tells her daughter that if she will not fight then she will die as well, not realizing her own power here is already gone

until it's proven to her, when all her other lionesses look at her with Disgust and Disdain, and leave her to follow Vitani's lead instead

power keeps you safe from pain, and power comes from fear and the causing the pain of others, controlling them. so Zira believes, the idea that she digs her claws into and clings to

power is given by others. Vitani never even asked for it. she only asked for peace

power, sometimes, is the word for when you don't want to see someone you know be hurt, and realize you can't stand by and let it happen

like when a pride of lionesses go to stand with their former enemies, protecting a daughter from being killed by her own mother

words won. peace won.

violence and revenge were weaker in the end.

Zira lived just long enough to see it, look away, and die refusing to understand. and in a way, Vitani had already killed a part of her, even before then

... or maybe this movie has finally melted my brain. either way

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

the most important part of sketching vitani is remembering how she cackled and grinned when attempting murder. both times