Hi there! Id like to ask a question.
I like your idea that the kingdoms Legend went off to adventure to (Holodrum, Labrynna, Hytopia and Lorule) are all in the same place or era rather haha, like they all coexist. Its rather genius!
But that makes me curious, do you have an idea where the kingdoms are located? I know Lorule is a whole other place entirely, but what about the others? Which kingdom is from the north? South? Etc. I'm just curious how far or near each kingdom is, and where Hyrule is between all of them. (Also am I missing other kingdoms?)
Yep— the five kingdoms currently entering an alliance in Legend and Fable’s era are Hyrule, Labrynna, Holodrum, Lorule, and Hytopia.
Technically, Legend (and sometimes Fable) have seen even more: Subrosia is a separate kingdom beneath Holodrum, past Labrynnans can visit the present with the Harp of Ages and have canonically traveled to other countries, and Koholint… was as real as a dream can be 🥲. And that’s not counting independently governed countries that are part of the larger conglomerates, like Hyrule’s river Zoras ruled by Queen Oren, or the Tokay island beside Labrynna.
So, background— as you may know, there are four types of non-Hyrule worlds in the Zelda franchise.
Independent government, but owes allegiance to Hyrule (Ex: Every Zora’s Domain and Gerudo Town in the series)
Actual, independent other country (Ex: Spirit!New Hyrule, Hyrule!Calatia (Calatia is not canon to the games, but is a popular fan-canon based on Link’s homeland in the Valiant Comics adaptation))
Parallel world (Ex: Time!Termina)
Dream world (Ex: Wind!Ocean King’s Realm)
The question is: which of these are each of the kingdoms Legend has visited, and if they’re physical, where are they located with relation to Hyrule?
Koholint is a dream world, and is therefore not in this alliance. However, I love Link’s Awakening too much to ignore it entirely in the Wisdomverse. What happened to Koholint will be addressed in The Secrets We Keep :).
As you said, Lorule’s different. No need to place it geographically; it’s a parallel world to Hyrule.
Hytopia seems to be confirmed North of Hyrule according to the (admittedly non-canon) Hyrule Encyclopedia. Apparently it’s also confirmed in ALBW? I don’t remember that, but it’s been a while since I’ve played ALBW so I’d believe it. According to the Encyclopedia, the Hytopians wear frilly clothing to brave the cold northern climates. That’s hilarious and I love it. I’m going with north for this one.
Hyrule is where Hyrule is :)
Finally, Holodrum and Labrynna are claimed by the Encyclopedia to be parallel worlds, but I disagree with this. The Encyclopedia is non-canon, and iirc also says Termina stopped existing after Time left, which I refuse to believe as well. Sure, it looks like Legend gets teleported to Holodrum/Labrynna by the Triforce in the beginning, but later, Impa, Fable, and a bunch of Hylian knights make it over there just fine and I doubt they did so using anything other than normal physical means. In the Hyrule Historia timeline (which I pretty much mostly follow), the Oracle games happen before Link’s Awakening, which means Legend sails home from Holodrum/Labrynna. But Legend is also pictured riding somewhere on a horse at the beginning. Therefore, we can deduce that perhaps one of the two countries borders Hyrule on land, and the other is a separate continent— or both are connected by land, but you could take a boat back to Hyrule if you wanted. My money’s on Labrynna being off to the West so far— the eastern Labrynnan forest border connects to Hyrule’s woods, and this leaves the southeast ocean of Labrynna open for Legend to sail back to Hyrule to, through the Sea of Storms where the storm at the beginning of Link’s Awakening seems like it could work (Legend has already shipwrecked there once before, but he’s totally the kind of guy to want to brave those waters again either as a test of strength, challenge, or punishment.) Jury’s still out on Holodrum!
UPDATE: After the Echoes of Wisdom and Adventure of Link connection, I maintain most of what I said, but I’m swapping sides. Labrynna is to the East of Hyrule. This matches with where the Zoras are in EoW, since the Ocean Zoras migrated from Labrynna at the end of OoA; and where the raft takes you at the halfway point of Adventure of Link. Holodrum, I believe, is to the Northeast of Hyrule, closer to North Hyrule and Hytopia/Calatia (relevant post). This is why I imagine Calatians to have slightly darker skin, like Din and some of the people of Holodrum.
I’m actually playing Oracle of Seasons for the first time right now (on Wednesdays and Fridays! 😇) and just finished Oracle of Ages last week— so I may update my views on Holodrum as I unlock more of the game’s map!
Tl;dr: Fable’s got a whole intricate mess of a chronospatial geopolitical situation to deal with here. Mad respect to our diplomat Zelda <3