Queen Janna (or simply Janna) is an elderly lioness and a character introduced in Season 3 of The Lion Guard. She served as the Queen of the Tree of Life until her death due to old age as her granddaughter Rani becomes the new queen of the Tree of Life.
Background[]
Janna is a wise leader and the Queen of the Tree of Life. She is the mother of either Sãhasí or Ãnanda, and had a second-born cub, Surak. She is also the grandmother of Rani and Baliyo.
Personality[]
Queen Janna is kind, caring, and helpful to any animal she interacts with.
Role in the Series[]
Journey of Memories[]
Queen Janna stands beside Rafiki as he meets Makini when she was younger in a flashback during the musical sequence "As You Move Forward" where Makini's parents take their daughter to see Rafiki.
The Tree of Life[]
Rani decides to ask Janna what happened as she tells Surak and Nirmala to comfort over Baliyo. She then tells her that the Lion Guard caused a rockslide blocking off the mountain pass as she explains that the Roar of the Elders has finally returned. She also tells Rani to welcome Kion and his friends to the Tree before they are banished forever from the Tree. Later when Rani talks to her deceased parents, they tell her that one day that Rani will become queen when Janna passes away. The Lion Guard, however, are finally welcomed to the Tree of Life.
The River of Patience[]
When Janna hears that the Roar of the Elders has returned, she asks Rani to welcome Kion and his friends, Kion tells Janna that he and Ono have come to be healed. Seeing that Kion and his friends have the Mark of the Guard she knows that they are from the Pride Lands. She asks Nirmala, the healing expert, to take a look at them. Janna explains that while healing Ono will be simple, with his remedy being ready in a few days, Kion's ailments will take both time and patience. Wanting to start right away, Kion is led away by Nirmala to begin his healing. In the meantime, Janna asks Rani to show Kion's friends around.
As the rest of the Lion Guard leaves with Rani, she asks Makini to stay. Janna says that she remembers Makini as a little monkey when she came with her parents. Makini tells Janna that Rafiki started her training to become a Royal Mjuzi. Janna says that Makini will continue her training at the Tree of Life.
Janna shows Makini a painting of Askari the first Lion Guard leader using the Roar of the Elders for the first time. Remarking its been a while since she's had a Royal Mjuzi with her, Janna gifts Makini with the Bakora Staff of her former Mjuzi. At that point, Kion and Rani show up in the chamber arguing. Rani angrily accuses Kion of leading an army of predators to the Tree of Life, believing they should never have allowed him to enter it. Remorseful, Kion apologizes for the trouble he has caused as the Queen notes the predators won't leave now that they've found the Tree of Life.
When Kion offers to let the Guard help, Rani loses her temper, yelling that they can handle it. Janna firmly reprimands Rani, who immediately calms down and apologizes. While Janna appreciates Kion's offer, she agrees with Rani that it's the job of the Night Pride to deal with threats to the Tree of Life, telling Kion he must help himself before he can help others. She advises him to continue his healing, pointing its the reason he came in the first place. Back at the Dirisha, Kion gets frustrated waiting for the log, telling Nirmala he'd finish quicker doing things his way as his scar pains him. Nirmala tells Kion to trust her like Janna advised him to.
Little Old Ginterbong[]
Janna welcomes Mama Binturong to the Tree of Life to be "healed" as she was pretending to be a animal with a hurt leg so she can get info on the Tree of Life. However, it is later figured out that Mama Binturong has been playing dirty tricks on the Night Pride all the time. Janna later also heals Ono's eyes to which she warns the egret that the eyesight will never be strong as before.
Long Live the Queen[]
Janna dies at a very old age and tells Rani that it's time for her to become queen. Her family, Nirmala, and Kion are with her during her final moments as she asks Baliyo and Surak to support Rani once she takes over, and entrusts the power of the Tree of Life to Nirmala. She also grants Kion the Mark of the Night Pride as a final gift from her in the hopes he'll choose to stay at the Tree of Life after she passes on. After giving some encouraging words to Rani upon seeing how her heart is breaking over her grandmother being on death's door, once Rani accepts her destiny and promises to make her proud, Janna says her final words before completing her journey through the Circle of Life. Upon dying in her sleep, the Night Pride mourns over Janna. Rani, Baliyo, and Surak are heartbroken over her passing, and Kion comforts Rani during her grief.
Makini tells the other animals outside the Tree of Life the sad news about Janna's passing to which, as a tradition, all the animals will gather for her funeral at the Willows to bid a final farewell to the deceased queen and matriarch of the Night Pride. At the Willows, all the other animals have a funeral for Janna, bidding a farewell to her while the attendees (Baliyo, Surak, Nirmala, Anga, and others) share their condolences to her. Afterwards, Rani becomes the new queen of the Tree of Life as she walks over to her grandmother's grave telling her she is ready to be the new queen.
Journey to the Pride Lands[]
While Janna does not appear in this episode due to her death in "Long Live the Queen", Azaad mentions that he was once healed by Queen Janna after an unexpected fall, to which Azaad explains that Janna was already dead before he could arrive to the Guard.
Return to the Pride Lands[]
Janna is seen in the sky next to Askari and Mufasa as a spirit watching Kion's coronation and marriage to Rani as the Great Kings roar in celebration.
Relationships[]
Family[]
Rani[]
Rani is Janna's granddaughter. Rani told Janna everything that was going on around the Tree of Life since she could not leave the Tree. When Janna was about to complete her journey through the Circle of Life, she told Rani that it was time to take her place as queen. Rani tells her that she's not ready. Janna says that she would have the rest of the Night Pride with her to help. Rani was devastated when Janna died.
Baliyo[]
Baliyo is Janna's grandson. Baliyo loved his grandmother and did not want to enter the Tree of Life at first, simply because he couldn’t see her die. During her last moments, Janna encouraged her grandson to stay strong and to continue supporting his sister. After her death, Baliyo was heartbroken.
Surak[]
Surak is Janna's younger son, and the two cared for each other very much. During her final moments, she requested her son to give Rani his wisdom but allow her to find her own way. He was very sad when Janna passed away.
Sãhasí[]
Sahasi is either Janna's son or son-in-law. He completed his journey through the Circle of Life already, though she still loves her as a member of her pride.
Ãnanda[]
Ãnada is either Janna's daughter or daughter-in-law. She completed her journey through the Circle of Life already, though still loves her.
Kion[]
Kion is Janna's grandson-in-law. Janna told Rani to invite Kion and his friends to the Tree of Life. Janna asked Nirmala to take care of Kion's scar. During her final moments, she expresses joy to Kion for bringing the Roar back to the Tree of Life though was sad that she would not see his healing completed. She bestowed the Mark of the Night Pride onto Kion, hoping that he would find peace and that he would stay. Kion eventually does decide to stay at the Tree of Life, and rule alongside Rani. Janna now watches over Kion as one of the Great Lions of the Past alongside Kion's grandfather Mufasa and Askari.
Friends[]
Rafiki[]
Janna and Rafiki were good friends. In "Journey of Memories", Janna was there when Makini first met Rafiki who is happy for Makini to see her go to the Tree of Life.
Nirmala[]
Janna and Nirmala were good friends. Nirmala was very sad to see Janna end her journey in the Circle of Life. During her final moments, Janna expressed the Night Pride's good fortune that Nirmala joined them long ago, and then passed the healing powers of the Tree of Life to Nirmala and requested she continue to help all who are hurting.
Makini[]
Janna and Makini were good friends. Janna met Makini when she was really little at the same time when Rafiki was meeting her. Makini becomes Rani's Royal Mijuzi and stays at the Tree of Life. She was there when Janna completed her journey through the Circle of Life.
Bunga, Fuli, Beshte, Ono, and Anga[]
Janna became good friends with all of the members Kion's Lion Guard. They were all sad when she completed her journey through the Circle of Life. She even healed Ono's eyes.
Mufasa[]
Mufasa and Janna's relationship is unclear, though Janna had heard stories about Mufasa's death at the hands of Scar, which she conveys to Rani. She also was in the sky with him watching Kion's coronation and marriage to Rani alongside Askari.
Askari[]
Askari appears in the sky with her watching Kion's coronation and marriage alongside Mufasa.
Acquaintances[]
Binga[]
Binga and Janna were on good terms. Along with the other animals outside the Tree of Life, Binga was sad when she completed her journey through the Circle of Life.
Pinguino[]
Pinguino and Janna were on good terms. Along with the other animals outside the Tree of Life, Pinguino was sad when she completed her journey through the Circle of Life.
Fikiri and Kitendo[]
Janna was on good terms with Makini's parents. She meets them when they bring Makini to meet Rafiki during the musical number "As You Move Forward".
Enemies[]
Makucha's Army[]
In the episode "Little Old Ginterbong", huge-hearted Janna fell for Mama Binturong's weak old lady act. Ono realized the truth before too much damage was done such as scaring away an innocent pika and lying to everyone she met.
Trivia[]
- Her name means "paradise" in Arabic and Urdu.
- Not counting her appearance when she was a spirit in the series finale, the only time she was seen alive outside the Tree of Life was in the episode "Journey of Memories". All of her other appearances featuring her alive before her death in "Long Live the Queen" featured her staying in the Tree of Life.
- Janna slightly resembles Kion's paternal grandmother Sarabi.
- Upon her death in the episode "Long Live the Queen", Janna is the second character to die in The Lion Guard. This also makes her the second character to die in a Disney Junior show; the first was Ushari. Unlike Ushari who died gruesomely, Janna died peacefully.
- In that same episode during the scene where the animals attend Janna's funeral at the Willows, the music played during it is the same music that plays in the Season 1 episode "Can't Wait to be Queen" where Simba's pride attends Aminifu's funeral at Kilio Valley.
- Furthermore, the scene where she dies peacefully could be the reason why a warning is shown at the start of the episode, where the warning tells viewers that the aforementioned episode contains scenes that deal with the Circle of Life.
- While it is confirmed that Surak unknown who Janna's first-born child is: It could either be Sãhasí or Ãnanda.
