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Fables 27 Totenkinder
"In that one story they simply won't forget, at least they never knew my name"
This article is about a subject whose real name is unknown, and is known only by a title, nickname, alias or description


Then the Kingdom of the Great Lion fell, and again we did nothing, because we always found the old lion to be a bit too pompous and holier-than-thou for our tastes.
~ From King Cole Remembrance Day speech in Fables #4 — "Chapter Four: Remembrance Day"


The Great Lion is an animal Fable who first appears in a brief flashback from the Homelands in Fables #4 — "Chapter Four: Remembrance Day." The Kingdom of the Great Lion was among the earliest Fable Homelands to succumb to the conquest of the Adversary's conquest.

History

The Kingdom of the Great Lion was one of the Fable Homelands that was conquered early on by the Adversary. The lion himself was felled and killed by arrows.[1]

On Fabletown's Remembrance Day, King Cole reads the history of the Fables as part of the ceremony, and mentions the fate of the Great Lion's kingdom. Cole points out that "we always found the old lion to be a bit too pompous and holier-than-thou for our tastes," and points to this as yet another excuse utilized by the remaining Fable lands to avoid intervention.[1]

As the ghost of Sir Lancelot knights Ambrose, he endows him with the privilege to carry arms and dispense justice, "by the blood of every true king." Among those kings, he references "the Great Lion on his stone," referring to Aslan's sacrifice on a stone table in The Chronicles of Narnia. The lion appears in the background via memory, accompanied by King Arthur and John the Presbyter.[2]

The Great Lion once again appears via memory, alongside King Arthur and John the Presbyter, as King Ambrose proclaims that the King and his law are one, and sentences Prince Brandish to death.[4]

Appearances

Fables

Original source

The Great Lion is a reference to Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia.[3]

Due to the book series being under copyright, the lion and the kingdom could not be officially named in Fables. Bill Willingham has commented on the panel where the Great Lion appears in Fables #4 — "Chapter Four: Remembrance Day," saying: "Narnia is my favorite fantasy series, bar none. Better (for me at least) than the remarkable Lord of the Rings and any other contender you might like to trot out. Problem is, Narnia isn't in the public domain, so we couldn't use it in Fables. So who is the lion mentioned in that one panel and what kingdom is depicted? I can't say it's Aslan and I can't say it's Narnia. But that doesn't stop any of you from looking at the first lines of this paragraph and coming to your own conclusion".[5]

Fables #73 — "War and Pieces, Chapter One: Voyage of the Sky Treader" appears to be a reference to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the fifth book in The Chronicles of Narnia, using the internal chronology.

In Fables #137 — "An Early Winter: Part Six of Camelot," Winter Wolf refers to a book her mother reads to her and her siblings all the time, about a land where there is always winter, but never Christmas, a reference to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, in which Narnia has become a land of despair, where there is always winter but never Christmas.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Fables #4 — "Chapter Four: Remembrance Day"
  2. 2.0 2.1 Fables #62 — "The Good Prince, Chapter Three: Knighthood"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Fables Encyclopedia pg. 240
  4. Fables #150 — "Farewell"
  5. The Great Lion/Comments from a new reader, 2005, Clockwork Storybook (now closed down; archived from the original). "by Bill Willingham » Thu Dec 01, 2005 11:23 am (...) First some general background: Narnia is my favorite fantasy series, bar none. Better (for me at least) than the remarkable Lord of the Rings and any other contender you might like to trot out. Problem is, Narnia isn't in the public domain, so we couldn't use it in Fables. So who is the lion mentioned in that one panel and what kingdom is depicted? I can't say it's Aslan and I can't say it's Narnia. But that doesn't stop any of you from looking at the first lines of this paragraph and coming to your own conclusion."


See also

Fables
Series FablesJack of FablesFairestFables: The Wolf Among UsEverafter: From the Pages of Fables
Specials Fables: 1001 Nights of SnowfallPeter & Max: A Fables NovelCinderella: From Fabletown with LoveCinderella: Fables Are ForeverThe LiteralsFables: Werewolves of the HeartlandFairest: In All the LandThe Unwritten FablesBatman vs. Bigby! A Wolf in Gotham
Characters Bigby WolfSnow WhiteRose RedPrince CharmingBeautyBeastBoy BlueFlycatcherKing ColeFrau TotenkinderGeppettoSnow QueenNorth WindJack HornerBufkin
Video games The Wolf Among UsThe Wolf Among Us 2 (unreleased)
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