The Usurper

The Usurper (originally titled The Usurper (A Lion King Series Mini-Movie)) is an American film produced and released by Kanyanta Mwansa on January 11th, 2020, based on Disney's The Lion King, and its sequels and spin offs. It was originally uploaded on the YouTube Channel, KANYANTA MWANSA, but banned in all countries due to copyright issues, and as a result, was downgraded from its theatrical live premiere to a straight-to-Vimeo release. The film was rated by the uploader as PG due to some suggestive tones, swearing, and violent undertones.

The film's plot is inspired by a YouTube series by Kelly Horner (also known as Kiara LionessTM {Kiara Fray Fairchild}) known as Asha, which also is based off of the original film.

The Usurper serves as an alternate universe interquel to ''The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. ''Kovu, the heir to Scar, kills Simba, and takes over the Pride Lands. After defeating Simba's daughter Kiara in a bloody battle, Kiara is exiled, where she goes on a journey to the legendary Tree of Life, ruled by Queen Rani, and King Kion, Kiara's younger brother who left the Pride Lands prior to Simba's death, to find the help she needs to save her home and family before it's too late. But in the tension, Kovu's elder brother Nuka is exiled for staging a coup against him, and soon finds himself joining forces with Kiara. Now the two must put their differences aside, and stop Kovu's reign of destruction before he becomes too powerful.

The Usurper gained a mostly positive reception from critics and fans alike, praising it for its editing as well as it's complex story, with it being a "New and different take on an already amazing original film", but others not making any reviews due to the link to the Vimeo account being inaccessable to some of them. On Google Hangouts, Kelly Horner watched the film, and reacted to it on the site, praising the creator, Kanyanta Mwansa for the inspiration, calling it the next Leah's Destiny and promoted it on her YouTube channel.

Previously, a series which had sequeled the film's plot-line, but not the film itself that released before the film, known as Kiara's Reign, had been published to YouTube in August 2019, as well as gaining 2 other sequels; Scarlett's Reign and Taka's Journey.

Plot
The film picks up directly within the second film. King Simba wakes up from a terrible nightmare of Kovu overthrowing him, to take a drink in the pond. In the peacefulness, Kovu sneaks up on him, waiting for the attack. Once the time comes, he leaps at Simba, scracthing him in the face. Thinking quickly, Simba scratches Kovu back on the face, giving him a facial wound identical to Scar's. Simba glares in horror, realizing who Kovu truly is, but before he can act, Kovu leaps at Simba again, pushing him down a nearby cliff. As Simba slowly comes to his feet, his last sight is Kovu leaping at him teeth bared. After the bloody fight, Kovu walks off just in time for Kiara to notice her half-dead father. Despite her best efforts to comfort him and nurse him back to health, he only finds enough strength to tell her about Kovu, bringing her to tears. Instantly recognizing Kovu's scent, and believing her father, she banishes Kovu from the Pride Lands, despite his attempts to weasel out of it. In the Outlands, Kovu arrives to Zira, telling him of the news of Simba's death, and Kovu's exile, leading to Zira declaring war on the Pride Lands, whilst Kiara is still mentally weak and heartbroken from her father's death.

That night, the Outsiders, lead by Zira make their assault on the Pride Lands. Taking her father's place, Kiara leads the counterattack against the army. After a brief confrontation, the battle erupts, lit by lighting, and fueled by fire. (All About Us). After several Pridelanders fight off numerous Outsiders, Nala and several other lionesses surround and attack Kovu, giving Kiara some time to knock him out. Once the Usurper is down, Kiara sneaks through the bloodshed and finds Zira. After a vicious fight, Kiara strikes Zira, knocking her to the ground, presumably dead. While Simba's followers Roar, Kovu, who woke up offscreen, is angered and attacks Kiara, who is still weak from the fight, and is ultimately defeated. After nearly being ripped apart by lionesses, Zira sentences the Princess into exile, leaving Kovu to take the throne.

Far away from Pride Rock, Kiara reunites with Nala and Sarabi, and discovers that Kovu has not only banished some members of the Pride, but has kidnapped others, with the few escapees risking death. Kiara convinces them that she needs to go off on a journey to find help and does so, strengthened by the Roar of the Pride.

Weeks later, the Outsiders have taken residence in the Pride Lands, with Kovu's bride, Bianca, and her daughter Leah (whom are both stated to be allowed by Kovu into his Pride) taking control of the Pride Lands. Leah, and Nunka, Nuka's estranged son, have a conflict, prompting Kovu to come to Leah's defense. After fighting his brother, Kovu orders Nuka to remember his place in the Pride as his soldier. This marks the last straw for the evil lion, as he soon remembers his abusive past with Zira, and his lack of love, which soon eminates into enough strength for him to attempt to become the Pride Lands' chosen one. Finally he attacks Kovu, knocking him out and leaving him for dead, and takes the throne within the moonlight, laughing maniacally (Nuka's Vent/The Sun Rises).

The following day, Kovu wakes up to find himself surrounded by Bianca, Leah, and some mercenary lionesses, who attempt to kill him, but not before revealing Nuka's usurpation. After being aided by Vitani, Kovu heads his way to Pride Rock, where he attacks and throws Nuka off a cliff. Nuka is surrounded and nearly killed by Zira's lionesses, but escapes just in time with his son. After the violence is over, Nuka sets off with his son to plot revenge against the King.

Meanwhile, Kiara has continued to travel for weeks on end, but runs into a wildfire. She runs for her life. Nearby, Nuka and Nunka see the fire, and Nuka agrees to save whoever is trapped in exchange for their servitude. Nuka saves Kiara from her death, but the lioness rejects his good deed. Hurt, Nuka begins to vent about his past and poor life, gaining Kiara's sympathy. At this moment, Kion arrives, and notices the two, sparking fear and anger out of him, but the lioness convinces him to allow them in with them. The King of the Tree of Life agrees, and he guides them to his Kingdom.

After Kiara breaks the terrible news of Simba's death, and the Pride's exile, Kion and Rani are enraged at Nuka, while the lion remains sarcastic, but ultiately abides knowing that he'll be accepted once he plays by their rules. As punishment for aiding and abetting a Usurper, the Queen of the Tree of Life senteces Nuka to imprisonment in the Tree of Life, stating he shall only exit when training for the battle. Later that night, King Kion hosts a funeral for his father. Nuka sneaks to the event, and sees how much he has hurt everyone, which causes him guilt. Words are spoken for him, but the pain is too much, as Simba's daughter runs off into the field to cry. But right at this moment, the ghost of Simba arrives in the clouds, comforting his daughter, and convincing him that she has what it takes to save the homeland. Heartwarmed, Kiara bids her father farewell. Kion, who saw this all go down, sits on a nearby rock near the stars, and has a simple conversation with his sister, where he reveals his guilt about staying at the Tree of Life rather than returning, with Kiara forgiving him, and stating that once The Usurper is defeated, Kion and Rani's pride could move in with them as family to which the King abides. Meanwhile, in the spirit world, Simba sulks, saddened at the fact that he will no longer see his children again, but then bumps into Mufasa, his father whom he had lost as a cub years ago. They embrace, finally together once more.

Faraway, at Rafiki's Tree, the old mandrill receives a message in the wind from Simba, and is suddenly sent a vision. The vision contains Vitani betraying her mother and the Outsiders and joining the Pride Lands. Rafiki, knowing what this means is ecstatic at the future of the Pride Lands, and marks Kiara on his tree, stating "It is time."

Meanwhile, at the Pride Lands, Vitani is called upon by the King, where she confesses to secretly meeting up with a rouge lion, Ni. Kovu proclaims there will be consequences, but Vitani, as his older sister, demands Kovu lets her family go. But Kovu's refusal results in Vitani attacking Kovu, but then being thrown off him into the ground. Ni reveals himself, and comforts his secret lover. After which, the rouge attacks Kovu and throws him off a cliff, but is badly wounded and surrounded by Zira. The evil Queen then gives Vitani a choice to either run off with her lover, or stay here with the Pride she' grew up with, to which Vitani responds with the latter. Zira then forces Vitani to kill Ni, with his dying wish to be to take care of their daughter, Shetani. Vitani attacks, and off-screen, rips Ni apart as the rains consume the land. Shetani stumbles across her father's fallen body, and mourns, as her mother sits there in guilt.

Back at the Tree of Life, Kiara goes on her hunt, which serves as her daily training for the war to take back Pride Rock. Nuka sees Kiara, and offers to teach her how to hunt to which the Princess refuses despite Nuka's best efforts. Dejected, Nuka gives up and walks away, apologizing for everything. Kiara apologizes back, stating she was afraid to trust any other Outsider after Simba's death. The two comfort each other in pain, but Nuka pushes her away, revealing his wife's death, and his inability to move on, to which Kiara nuzzles him again. We then see Nuka and Kiara spending quality time together, with their newfound trust in each other guiding the way, which at one point implies a romantic relationship, while [off-screen] Kion is training the Night Pride.

[Off screen] Once the Night Pride is ready for the attack, they go retrieve Nala and the others, who trust Nuka's new position. They then find a way to return to the Outlands to find Jasiri and Janja, the new rulers of the Outlands, and recruit them in the battle. After training some more, they finally get some rest early, planning to attack Kovu at the stroke of midnight.

But rather than train, Nuka and Kiara spend a romantic night with each other, in which they confess their love (Rewrite the Stars).

Near the border of the Pride Lands, Vitani spies on the romantic couple, and reports back to Zira about the ongoing attack. Kovu orders them to assemble the lionesses for the war, to which Vitani objects, reminding him that they nearly lost Zira to Kiara in the first war, as well as still grieving Ni's death. When Zira scolds her for this, Vitani then proceeds to verbally disown her mother to both their shock and madness. Vitani, heartbroken, runs into the cave, sobbing at her confusion as to whether or not she wants to change sides, but ultimately decides that she must do this for justice, and put her pain aside, for it will end after all the violence, and manages to gain back Kovu and Zira's loyalty (Let Me Make you Proud/They Will Pay). The Pridelanders and hyenas, now aided by the reformed Nuka, and the Outsiders prepare for their finale battle, with everyone making their final stand and statement on their last night (Ready as I'll Ever Be)

At the strike of midnight, Kiara leads the attack against the Outsiders, with Zira once again leading her army with Kovu by the sidelines. The two leaders mark their attacks, prompting an all out war, which only escalates when Kion and Janja send out their respective armies against the Outsiders. The lionesses, Timon and Pumbaa, all work together against the enemy Pride. Meanwhile, Vitani starts a fire which engulfs the battle, stirring up more chaos. In the heat of the war, Kiara is surrounded, and attacked by the enemy Pride, and knocked to the ashy ground. When she wakes up, she sees Kovu leaping foward over to kill her, but the young Princess manages to defend herself long enough to knock Kovu on his back. The Usurper manages to gain strength and knock Kiara out himself. Weakened by the lioness' attacks, and not having much training due to her time with Nuka, she gains enough strength only to see the Usurper looking down on her with a murderous glare. He then leaps toward Kiara, preparing to murder her, but just as she is about to die, Nuka catches glimpse of this, and rushes towards his fallen Princess. Thinking quickly, he throws ashes in the Usurper's eyes, temperarily blinding him, while at the same time, clawing him in the face, giving Nuka enough time to attack him. Kiara wakes up to see Nuka and Kovu battling to the death, watching in fear along with Vitani who sees her brothers ready to kill each other. The battle makes its way up a rocky ledge, and Nuka leaps to deliver the final blow, but the Usurper defeats him, and throws him off the cliff into the flames below to his death. The two lionesses, and Nunka go down to the base of the cliff to see Nuka, who manages to find the strength to open his eyes and say his last words. He forgives his sister for all she has done and makes Kiara promise to stop this war once and for all to which she agrees. Finally, Nuka closes his eyes softly, as the flames rise around him, taking him and his mourning son with them. Kiara cries over the loss of her love, but her dismay turns into anger towards Kovu, and determination to stop the war. After a final confrontation with the Usurper, he attacks Kiara, but she manages to throw him off a nearby cliff to his near death. As Kovu looks up weakily, Kiara leaps on him and pins him down violently to the burning ground, claws bared. In her vengeance, she sinks her teeth and claws into the evil Prince, scratching at him multiple times, emitting screams of pain. With one final hit, Kiara knocks the murderer into the flames where they consume him, burning him alive. As the flames consume the battlefield, a final cry of death is heard amongst the scorches, followed by an echoing roar. The Outsiders and the Pridelanders look towards the fire to see Kiara emerging from the bloody flames, having won the battle. The Usurper has finally been defeated, and the Pridelanders roar in favor of their new Queen.

Zira's shock at Kiara's victory turns into horror as her two sons are both dead. Angered, Zira strikes Kiara, accusing her of taking her sons from her, and blaming her for their deaths. But just as Zira prepares to kill Kiara,, the Princess rebounds, telling her to stop, and then proceeds to tell the Outlander that as lions, they are one. Zira, disgusted by this, orders Vitani to attack, but the Outsider refuses, not wanting any more death and joins with Kiara, prompting the other lionesses to join with her. Defeated, the evil queen accepts defeat to Simba's daughter, before throwing herself off the fiery cliff. Kiara leaps forward to save her, but ends up joining the tumble. Kion attempts to aid his sister, but looses his footing and falls off the cliff, managing to grab onto a branch.

Kiara manages to save herself, and offers Zira safety, but the deranged Queen refuses, after multiple rejections, she whispers to Kiara, "No..... never.." before letting go of the cliff, falling to her death in the flames below, much to Vtani's dismay. Kiara then finds her brother, about to fall to his demise, but grabs him just in time, and pulls him up to safety, reuniting him with his wife who are finally together after the war. Kiara then proceeds to mourn Nuka, praising his respect and his loyalty to the end.

That very sunrise, when the Usurper is gone with the flames, the Outsiders and the Pridelanders are united as one Pride, and Kion and Rani move in to Pride Rock with their pride by their side. Kiara is greeted by Nala, Kion, and Vitani, who are all proud of her for her victory over Kovu, and support her as her coronation commences. As the ghost of Simba watches his united Pride rejoice, Kiara climbs up Pride Rock up to its peak, and roars over her new Kingdom, with her family roaring in approval of their new Queen, and the spirit of Simba watching down as her daughter has finally taken her place in the Circle of Life (Two Worlds).

Characters

 * Kiara - The main protagonist of the film. She is the daughter of Simba and Nala, the older sister to Kion, the sister-in-law of Rani, Nuka's lover, and the Princess-turned-Queen regent of the Pride Lands. After defeating the Usurper, Kiara takes her father's place as the next Queen of the Pride Lands.
 * Nuka - One of the two tertiary antagonists alonside Vitani -turned deuteragonist. The eldest son of Zira, the older brother to Vitani and Nuka, the widow of Dotty, and the father of Nunka. Initially on the side of Zira in the plan to destroy Simba, Nuka betrays his family in favor of Kiara, whom he falls in love with. After fighting alonside the Pridelanders in the final battle of the Pride Lands, and saving Kiara, Nuka is defeated and killed by his brother, the Usurper, and falls to his death in the flames below.
 * Kion and Rani - The trionagists. They are the rulers of the Tree of Life. Prior to the film, Kion had left the Pride Lands in search of healing for his scar, but fell in love with Rani and began to rule the Kingdom alongside him. They aid Kiara and Nuka in the final battle against Kovu, and in the end, move in with Kion's old pride, under the new Queen's rule.
 * Simba -  The secondary trionagist. At the very beginning of the film, he is the King of the Pride Lands, and Nala's mate before being killed by the Usurper, Kovu. Simba soon returns as a ghost and convinces his daughter to take his place in the Pride Lands. After Kovu is defeated and killed, Simba watches as Kiara becomes the new Queen, with the two Prides united as one.
 * Kovu - The titular antagonist, the son of Zira, and the brother to Vitani and Nuka. Prior to the film, Kovu befriended Kiara, but was soon trained by Zira to become a fierce warrior. He, with the help of the Outsiders, kill Simba, and take over the Pride Lands. Later, after killing Nuka, Kovu is defeated and killed by Kiara, and his tyrannical reign comes to an end.
 * Zira - The secondary antagonist, who by the end of the film, becomes the brief main antagonist. She aids Kovu in taking over Pride Rock, but following the death of Kovu and Nuka, is betrayed by Vitani and her Pride. Unable to let go of her hate, Zira commits suicide by throwing herself over the cliff into the flames below, ending her reign of hatred.
 * Rafiki - A wise mandrill, who is close friends with Simba, and is given a vision of Vitani making peace with Kiara and the Pridelanders.
 * Vitani - One of the two tertiary antagonists - turned supporting character alongside Nuka. The daughter of Zira, the sister to Nuka and Kovu, the mother of Shetani, and the secret lover of Ni. After loosing her true love, and her brothers, Vitani finally betrays Zira and joins Kiara's pride, but witnesses her mother kill herself, to which she is comforted by Kiara.
 * Nala - Former Queen of the Pride Lands, mate of Simba, mother to Kiara and Kion. After Simba's death, and the Usurper's defeat, Nala steps down as queen in favor of her daughter.
 * Leah - Daughter of Bianca, adoptive daughter of Kovu, and the former heir to Pride Rock. Whilst she lives an abusive life under Kovu's wing, her pain comes to an end with the death of her evil-step father and is seen alongside several other lionesses during Kiara's coronation.
 * Bianca - Mother of Leah, wife of Kovu, and ex-Queen of the Pride Lands. She appears mid-way in the film, abdonishing Kovu for his abuse of her daughter and later seen during Nuka's revolt. While she is not present anywhere else in the film, it is implied she took part in the battle against Kovu, and soon following his death, lived under Kovu's rule
 * Ni - Love interest of Vitani, illigitamate father to Shetani. Ni is killed by Vitani after Kovu discovers their relationship.
 * Shetani - Daughter of Vitani and Ni
 * Nunka - Son of Nuka and Dotty. After Nuka is exiled, Nunka follows his father in his plot for revenge. Eventually, after Nuka is killed, Nunka rests alongside his father's fallen body, allowing the flames to consume them both, killing them.

Production
The film has a long history of ups and downs. Originally, it was published as a fanmade video on Kanyanta Mwansa's secondary YouTube account "Grey Paw." According to Mwansa himself, his editing program, iMovie was far too terrible, and he felt like remaking it, which was the birth of his short film "Kovu's Reign" which spawned a sequel series "Nunka's Reign" which was a separate universe from The Usurper. A few months later, Kiara's Reign (A Lion King Series) was released as a sequel to the original series. However, mid-way through the series' run, Mwansa confirmed on his Community Tab that he would remake The Usurper into an hour long-film as a high-quality prequel to Kiara's Reign. However, 2 weeks later, he had reportedly cancelled it due to issues with his computer not being able to render the full project. However, prior to this, he had uploaded samples of the film, which he continued to do, hoping he would make it into a series. But one day, he had uploaded an unfinished version of the finale, claiming it was too much work. Weeks later, Mwansa announced that his old computer was restored, and announced that the movie would be complete. As a result, the samples were added into iMovie with some new story elements added, and as a result was uploaded as a straight-to-Vimeo release.

The samples of the film are the only known footage, with the rest being lost forever.

Deleted Scenes
Several scenes were deleted from the final edit, which Mwansa accuses himself of deleting due to "laziness" as well as some changes to the storyline

1. Originally, there were going to be more scenes of Nuka training Kiara to take back Pride Rock. This was in the first draft of the film that got deleted. It was cut, presumably to showcase more of Nuka and Kiara's relationship progressing.

2. There was supposed to be a flashback to Nuka's wife, Dotty's death, but once again, it was cut due to time issues. However, Dotty's death is referenced in the sequel, Kiara's Reign.

3. In the original Usurper, Nuka sang "Why Me?" a deleted song from the 1992 film, Aladdin. The song was going to return in the film version, but it was replaced with a cover of The Moon Rises, a fanmade song/animation inspired by the 2010-19 Hasbro animated series, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (as of January 12th, the animation of the video has been taken down, making it no longer available).

4 In the original series, Kiara sang "Shadowland" which was from the Broadway production of the original film. It was reportedly cut due to Mwansa's fears of the film getting taken down due to copyright issues.

5. In the original draft for the final battle, Nunka was supposed to attempt to avenge Nuka's death by growling at Kovu, but Kovu ends up killing him. This was cut from the final movie due to wanting a more emotional end for Nuka and his son as well as Nunka's intended death halting the emotion of Nuka's demise.

6. In a scrapped ending for the original series, Nuka was supposed to survive the fight between him and Kovu, before killing him, saving Kiara. After Kiara attacks and kills Zira, the Outsiders are allowed into the Pride Lands, and Nuka is praised as a hero, and becomes Kiara's mate and King of the Pride Lands. This was scrapped as the director felt that Nuka dying a hero would be a much more fitting end than him living, plus they needed to attract attention to Kiara for defeating Kovu.

Editing
The movie was originally edited using iMovei 11 on Macintosh. The samples themsleves were edited in a similar manner, but the project failed due to the rendering issues. The remainder of the film was edited with iMovie 12 on MacBook Air. Several maskings from Animashers all over YouTube were used, including Isaac Molethu, founder of Molethu's Studios, and the creator of the Rise of Scar trilogy on YouTube, as well as SaraChanLionWolf, who provided the Rani maskings. All credit goes to them for the maskings.

Music
Kanyanta Mwansa had arranged for several songs either from different films, or from artists to be in the film, with him giving credit to the original owners and creators. As a result, 6 songs were introduced in the film.

Songs
These are the musical numbers of the film, listed in order of appearance.
 * All About Us - Originally written by t.A.T.u. - A background song which plays during the war between Kiara and Zira in which Kiara is exiled and Kovu takes over as King.
 * Nuka's Vent- Instrumental - The Moon Rises (remake) - Originally written by ponyphonic on YouTube - Sung by Nuka as he has had enough of living uner Kovu's shadow and plots to do whatever it takes to destroy Kovu's reign
 * Rewrite the Stars - From The Greatest Showman - Sung by Kiara and Nuka as they profess their love for one another
 * They will Pay - Originally Let me make you Proud (reprise) from Tangled: The Series - Sung by Vitani as she convinces herself to turn back on the straight and narrow and help Zira in the war
 * Ready as I'll Ever Be - Originally sung by the cast of Tangled: The Series - Sung by the cast of this film as they prepare for the final battle
 * Two Worlds - Originally Written and Sung by Phil Collins - Sung as background music near the end of the film after Kovu and Zira's deaths where Kiara becomes Queen of the Pride Lands.

Copyright Claim
The film was originally released on January 11th, 2019 as a premiere video. However, Mwansa later got a notifcation that the film was blocked worldwide on copyright grounds due to containing copyrighted content from The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. Whilst Mwansa did file a dispute, he soon took down the film, attempting to try another attempt at disputing the film. But unfortunately, it failed, resulting in the film being released on Mwansa's Vimeo Account. The YouTube film is currently going through a dispute and is yet to be updated.

Despite the low quality upload, the film still got a positive reaction from viewers.