The golden lion was the king of beasts and the ultimate guard over Valanice as she was kept prisoner by Hagatha in the Crystal Tower.
Background
The beast itself was a prisoner of the witch, held bondage by a powerful spell. Before returning to Daventry, King Graham and Valanice traveled through the magic door to the enchanted isle and freed the great golden lion from its chains. He took it to its jungle home and released it. Just before the lion disappeared into the foliage, it was joined by a tall man, wearing nothing but a loincloth. Both the lion and the man roared to the heavens, the man beating his chest, and then they were gone.
Derek Karlavaegen has no idea where the location of the jungle was, since Graham never said just where that jungle is.[1] One of the only known locations of jungles is The Island that lies to the north of Serenia. However, they had actually travelled to Africa and saw Tarzan.
Behind the scenes
The backstory for the lion is a reference to Tarzan. Specifically, the story Tarzan and the Golden Lion by Edgar Rice Borroughs. In the story Tarzan raises a lion cub which they name Jad-bal-ja ("The Golden Lion" in the language of the lost land of Pal-ul-don).
This would suggest that Graham travelled to the jungles of Africa where he met Tarzan.
Lion (unofficial)
The lion appears in King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones but was given a much different backstory, in which it was actually an enchanted human, see Hagatha's Suitor.
References
- ↑ KQC, 2nd Edition, pg 479