Aurora's Castle

This setting has not had much of a role in the story, and the castle is only seen as a ruin, but it's interesting to me because of the sharp difference in landscape and building style between this and the other castles we've seen.

 

 The castle is in the middle of absolute nowhere. Is this the wasteland created by Maleficent's rampage of decades ago, when Briar Rose escaped her vengeance? There is no attached city, no farms or fields, nothing for those walls and towers to defend. It seems to be near the coast, and by implication a near neighbor to Eric's lands, but there's no port.

 

There's a definite aesthetic here, and one very different from the other lands we see. Tumblr user businesscasualprincess suggests that the style of architecture and Aurora’s costuming could be drawing on Iranian forms, and also that there is indeed a relative of Sleeping Beauty in the 1001 Nights.

Aurora and Philip were not included in the first Dark Curse; we can surmise that theirs is a neighboring kingdom, but not part of the Enchanted Forest per se.