The ending scenes in Hamlet and the Lion King are fairly similar in terms of what happens during the actual conflict, but are different in terms of what leads up to them and what the outcomes are. In the Lion King, Scar, the current king, believes Simba to be dead because the hyenas kept the truth from him. Because of this, he has no idea that Simba plans to return and claim his title as king. In Hamlet, on the other hand, Claudius knows exactly where Hamlet is. He also knows that Hamlet now knows the truth about his father and is seeking revenge. As a result, Claudius has ample opportunity to plan for Hamlet’s assassination attempt and takes advantage of this by conspiring with Laertes and poisoning both the blade and the wine. Both ending scenes play out in similar ways. The protagonist returns to challenge the king, the king attempts to kill him, and the protagonist manages to kill him anyway. What results from this scene, however, differs between the two. In Hamlet, the protagonist is killed by the poison and Fortinbras storms the castle only to find it empty and without a king. Although Hamlet is dead, Horatio promises to sing his praises and let everybody know his story, allowing Hamlet’s spirit to live on. The Lion King has a much happier ending: Simba leaves Scar to die and takes back his right to the throne. The movie then goes on to show how successful his rule was as the plants grow back and the animals return. It ends by showing Simba’s daughter, thus completing the “circle of life.” Both Hamlet and the Lion King share this idea of the ideas and spirits of the characters living on past the characters themselves.