Warriors: MEGA Review! Part Four

Image credit: Liu Ye

Spoilers Ahead!!

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six

Now onto The Broken Code, an arc that I have many mixed feelings on. Here, we see Working Partners’ focus on plot over character as well as their pandering to nostalgia. However, the characters this time around are much better than before. Not by much, but it’s something.

Massive Issue #7: Shadowsight’s Seizures

Before we get started, I have to talk about how seizures are portrayed in this arc. Shadowsight, the son of Tigerheartstar and Dovewing, has intense visions that cause seizures. Not only is this a tired, offensive cliche that I hate, but whenever he does have a seizure, the cats hold him down and wait for him to stop. Holding down someone while they are having a seizure is the number one thing you DO NOT DO! Literally every reputable source on the planet tells you not to do this. Holding someone down can injure them and you. This is one of the many horrible things the Erins have put into their books. They don’t even try to teach their child fanbase anything! The lack of self-awareness and self-critique is harming the series and Shadowsight is yet another example for that. DO NOT hold someone down while they’re having a seizure! My god, Warriors!

Here’s some sources explaining what to do when faced with this situation: Link 1, Link 2, Link 3 Also, please take the time to watch Sunney Rabbit’s video about this very thing.

Arc Seven: The Broken Code (2019-2021)

6.5/10

Lost Stars starts off with an unnamed spirit following Puddleshine and Shadowpaw as they head toward the Moonpool. The spirit thinks about how Shadowpaw has a destiny. We then go back an hour or so where we see Shadowpaw prepare for his first half-moon meeting with Puddleshine and his parents. It’s been a very cold leafbare (winter). At the Moonpool, the medicine cats find the pool freezing over much to their horror. They are unable to communicate with StarClan that night. In SkyClan, Tree’s and Violetshine’s kittens, Rootkit and Needlekit, become apprentices. Rootpaw is embarrassed of Tree because “Tree is weird” and his weirdness brings a lot of unwanted attention toward Tree and his kin. Rootpaw is bullied by the older apprentices, Turtlepaw and Kitepaw. While out collecting herbs by the lake, the older cats tease Rootpaw so much that he launches at them. They dodge and he falls in to the water. In ThunderClan, Ivypool’s daughter Bristlepaw is out hunting with her mentor Rosepetal. She has a crush on Stemleaf and wants to bring back a piece of prey to impress him. Bristlepaw dreams of being mates with him one day and together, the two of them would be the greatest warrior powercouple in ThunderClan. Suddenly, Rosepetal yowls about Rootpaw struggling in the lake. Without thinking, Bristlepaw dives into the water and pulls Rootpaw out of the water. Since SkyClan’s camp is too far away, Bristlepaw and Rosepetal bring Rootpaw back to ThunderClan. As he is recovering, Rootpaw begins to admire Bristlepaw’s bravery and confidence. Tree later shows up and escorts his son back to SkyClan. Bramblestar is impressed by Bristlepaw and announces that she is ready for her assessment. However, the freezing weather makes it hard for her to find prey and so she fails the test.

Back in ShadowClan, Shadowpaw frets about StarClan’s silence. To ease his nerves, he hangs out with his sisters Lightleap and Pouncestep. While playing, he has a seizure-vision of ashes falling upon his pelt and Tigerstar II and Bramblestar fighting each other. Later at the Moonpool meeting, the Moonpool has completely froze over. The medicine cats go back to their homes. Later that night, Shadowpaw heard a voice urging him to go to the Moonpool. He sneaks out during a storm and along the way, he is struck by lightning. A damn cat in Warriors got struck by lightning! I love this wild book series so much. When he comes to, Shadowpaw hears the voice again, warning him about a coming darkness.

The next day in SkyClan, Rootpaw and his mentor Dewspring learn about the frozen Moonpool and StarClan’s silence. In ThunderClan, Bristlepaw fails her assessment again. She is struggling to catch anything. To break the recap real quick, I don’t get why Bramblestar is deadset in her passing a hunting assessment when in the past apprentices had various trials like fighting, tracking, and what not. Recently, the assessments tend to be only hunting ones and it’s very boring. Anyway, she doesn’t catch anything and she’s upset about it. At the Gathering, Rootpaw’s crush on Bristlepaw grows. The leaders argue about the lack of prey until Jayfeather interrupts them. StarClan’s silence is a more pressing matter. Tigerstar II tells that cats that his son received a message from StarClan. The other cats are doubtful and question why StarClan would only speak to a ShadowClan apprentice. The leaders ruminate on his vision. Back in SkyClan, Rootpaw decides to give Bristlepaw a piece of prey as thanks for saving his life. The older cats find his crush cute. He delivers the prey, embarrassing Bristlepaw. Stemleaf teases her which only make her more embarrassed. She goes out on her hunting trip again and this time she catches something. She is finally made a warrior, earning the name Bristlefrost. Immediately afterwards, she confesses to Stemleaf and asks him to be her mate, but he rejects her, saying that he likes Spotfur. She is devastated.

At the next half-moon meeting, the medicine cats fret over the Moonpool, they question Shadowpaw’s visions. While that is happening, the voice speaks to Shadowpaw again and sends him images of Lionblaze, Jayfeather, Twigbranch, Crowfeather, Mothwing, Tree, and Dovewing. The voice says that the Clans have forgotten the code and the codebreakers must be punished. Shadowpaw is fearful of the vision and decides to keep it to himself. He and Puddleshine go home and he goes to tell Tigerstar II. His dad is worried about Dovewing. He tells Shadowpaw to not tell anyone. However, Shadowpaw is unsure about that. He leaves again to go to the Moonpool on his own. The voice tells him that Bramblestar will grow ill soon and to heal him, Shadowpaw has to place Bramblestar on the moor on the coldest night. Shadowpaw tells Tigerstar II what he heard.

The next day in ThunderClan, Bristlefrost is still depressed. Rosepetal urges her to work for the cult to get her mind off things. Bristlefrost joins Bramblestar’s hunting patrol. During, Bramblestar collapses. The warriors carry him back to the medicine den where Alderheart treats him. Bramble loses consciousness. Desperate for help, the Clans- minus ShadowClan- get together to break the ice on the Moonpool, but they fail. Bramblestar grows weaker and weaker. Tigerstar II and Shadowpaw arrive to ThunderClan to pass on Shadowpaw’s cure. Squilf rejects this idea as it may worsen her mate’s condition. After the ShadowClan cats leave, Bristlefrost, Spotfur, and some others go fetch borage from a mini island on the frozen lake. Spotfur carefully treks across, fetches the herb, and flees back when the ice begins to break. Bristlefrost admires her courage.

Mad that ShadowClan was excluded, Tigerstar II, the petty bitch he is, closes his Clan’s borders. Shadowpaw receives another vision about fire destroying the Clans. He tells his dad. Tigerstar II calls for an emergency Gathering to pass on the news. Since StarClan has been silent, the others believe him. Squirrelflight finally agrees to act out Shadowpaw’s solution for curing Bramblestar. Later, they drag Bramble’s body to the moor. Shadowpaw sits with him but quickly realizes that he is no longer breathing. Thunderclan sits vigil for Bramblestar. Since StarClan is silent, they’re not sure if he will come back. As the elders prepare to bury Bramble’s body, he shudders back to life. ThunderClan delivers to good news to the other Clans. At the next emergency Gathering, Bramblestar does not reveal what he saw in StarClan. He then starts blabbing about how codebreakers are the reason why StarClan is quiet. He urges the other leaders to think on this. Later in SkyClan, Rootpaw stumbles across the ghostly form of Bramblestar. This scares the shit out him.

Next book, we learn that Bramblestar’s spirit did not go to StarClan nor his body. Some other cat is impersonating him. Bramble’s ghost chase after Rootpaw calling for help. Rootpaw forces himself to believe he’s imaging things. Seeing the ghost distracts him from his apprentice tasks. While out marking with Dewspring, he talks loudly to lure in ThunderClan cats so that he can ask about Bramblestar. The cats tell him that their leader is okay. While out training with his sister Needlepaw, he sees Bramblestar’s ghost again. He realizes that he is the only one who can see him.

In ThunderClan, “Bramblestar” has been acting strange. He’s always around Squilf, distracting her from her job. He calls Dewnose “Dewtail.” He snaps at his warriors for lightly correcting him and/or informing him on Clan matters. Bristlefrost believes “Bramblestar” is just woozy from his recovery so he backs him up. As thanks, he makes Bristlefrost assign patrols, a job that is reserved for the deputy and senior warriors. Squilf is shocked by this but she is quickly ushered back into the leader’s den. Later that night in ShadowClan, Shadowpaw is worried about receiving his name. His family and Puddleshine reassure him that he is ready. They go to the Moonpool and he is given the name Shadowsight, in honor of Spiresight the city cat who died saving him as a kitten. Shadowsight remarks on how his father must’ve helped pick out his name. The Moonpool has thawed but StarClan is still silent.

At the next Gathering, Rootpaw is still distracted by Bramblestar’s ghost. He and Bristlefrost chat until the leaders start talking. “Bramblestar” seemingly acts normally, announcing Thriftear’s and Flipclaw’s new names. He then starts talking about codebreakers again. Rootpaw sees Bramble’s ghost (who from this point on will be called Brambeghost) get angry which freaks out Rootpaw. The apprentice flees, causing a scene, and falls into the lake. The next day, Bristlefrost goes on a hunting patrol. They catch a good amount of prey. Bristlefrost suggests they give thanks to StarClan for the prey out loud as the code demands. Her Clanmates are wary but they do it in the vague hope it’ll bring StarClan back. Rosepetal tells “Bramblestar” about it and he praises Bristlefrost for the idea. He then gives her a new task: snitching. Whenever she sees a cat doing anything against the code, she must report back to him. Squirrelflight is against this but Bristle accepts.

In ShadowClan, Shadowsight is worrying about the codebreakers. His father refuses to let the other Clans know because he is worried about what would happen to Dovewing. Shortly after, a bunch of ShadowClan cats get injured. Snowbird breaks her paw, Dovewing gets a torn ear, and Stonewing, Scorchfur, and Antfur are injured from a falling branch. Antfur has been knocked unconscious. In SkyClan, Brambleghost continues to haunt Rootpaw. Tree takes his son out on a hunting patrol. Tree discusses leaving the Clans with his family. “Bramblestar’s” ramblings about codebreakers are making him uneasy. He questions why the Clans are so dedicated to a group of dead cats. Rootpaw is shocked and irritated that his father refuses to understand the cult’s ways. He then sees the ghost, but Tree cannot. After Tree leaves, he and Brambleghost finally chat. Brambleghost asks him to pass on a message to Squilf.

In ThunderClan, Bristlefrost is mad that cats are not happy with “Bramblestar’s” behavior. Squilf is still not allowed to do her job and “Bramblestar” announces that the leader and deputy will eat before the elders which bothers the Clan further. The next day, while out hunting with Lionblaze and Spotfur, Bristlefrost witnesses Lionblaze killing a rabbit in WindClan land. Bristlefrost freaks out at the blatant code breaking and snitches on him. Spotfur gets mad at “Bramblestar” and yells at him. “Bramblestar” punishes her and Lionblaze. Now no cat is allowed to talk to Spotfur for a two weeks and Lionblaze is banished. Later, Bristlefrost notices Stemleaf speaking to Spotfur. She doesn’t report them but she does warn them.

In ShadowClan, Antfur wakes up confused. He thinks he’s still in the city where Tigerheart/star found him. Shadowsight tries to keep Antfur in camp but he insists that he can hunt. However, his patrol brings back his dead body shortly after going out. He got dizzy and fell from a tree. Shadowsight blames himself. In SkyClan, Dewspring is disappointed by Rootpaw’s poor performance. Rootpaw finally tells Tree about Brambleghost. He goes to ThunderClan to speak to Squirrelflight. Bristlefrost and her patrol catch him and escort him. Guided by Brambleghost, he asks “Bramblestar” questions about the Sisters and other things the imposter doesn’t know. He then lies and says he was here to see Bristlefrost. Bristlefrost is embarrassed and furious. She pulls him aside to yell at him. He then tells her about Brambleghost but she doesn’t believe him.

Later, Shadowsight and the other medicine cats are at the Moonpool. He finally tells them about his vision about the codebreakers. He then informs his parents that he told them which pisses off Tigerheart/star. Dovewing accepts her faith and is willing to act out her punishment. In SkyClan, medicine cats Fidgetflake and Frecklewish inform the Clan about Shadowsight’s vision. None of the SkyClan cats care, but Tree admits that he finds “Bramblestar” weird and off. The next day, “Bramblestar” calls for an emergency Gathering. There he blabs about codebreakers again. Afterwards, Rootpaw passes on Brambleghost’s message to Squilf. Spotfur and Stemleaf approach him and invite him to a secret meeting. Back in ThunderClan, Squilf tells Bristlefrost that she thinks “Bramblestar” is an imposter. The younger cat brushes her off. “Bramblestar” praises Bristlefrost and urges her to tell her what she has seen. She tells him that Sparkpelt didn’t catch that much prey. As punishment, he sends Sparkpelt to the abandoned cabin on their territory to collect catmint. Lionblaze comes back. “Bramble” forces him, Jayfeather, and Twigbranch to swear an oath of rule following. Sparkpelt comes back severely injured. She was attacked by a fox. Bristlefrost goes to the cabin and discovers prey blood smeared everywhere. “Bramblestar” created a trap to kill his daughter. Bristlefrost is understandably sickened by this.

Meanwhile, Shadowsight doubts his visions. That evening, Rootpaw sneaks out to go to the meeting. Tree goes too. Many cats from all the Clans share their concerns about “Bramblestar.” Tree reveals that the leader is an imposter. He lies for his son and says he saw and spoke to Brambleghost. Bristlefrost then shows up and convinces them that she is not a spy. She suggests bring Squilf in on the rebel group and tells them about Sparkpelt. In ThunderClan, Squilf agrees to join and leaves the camp under the guise of atoning for her codebreaking. “Bramblestar” is distraught about her leaving.

Dovewing has left to atone for her codebreaking. At the next Gathering, Frecklewish and Rootpaw try to speak to Shadowsight but fail. “Bramblestar” riles up the group of cats, much to Rootpaw’s dismay. Shadowsight tries to explain that he thinks his visions may not have been from StarClan but he is silenced by “Bramblestar.” In ThunderClan, the imposter and Squilf, who returned a bit ago, are arguing. Bumblestripe snitches on her and says that she went to SkyClan. She didn’t leave the territories. “Bramble” banishes her for real and she is escorted out of the territory. In ShadowClan, Tree, who is “atoning,” and Rootpaw arrives to the camp. They lure out Shadowsight and Tigerstar II. Rootpaw tells them that “Bramblestar” is an imposter. To prove this, Rootpaw and Tree summon Brambleghost. As they’re heading back to camp, they run into Squilf who asks for sanctuary. Squilf is allowed to stay and Tigerstar II agrees to help. In Squirrelflight’s absence, Berrynose was elected deputy. “Bramble” talks to Bristlefrost about Squilf. He fears that something happened to her. He orders her to search for her. She goes to ShadowClan. Squilf tells her to lie. Bristle tells the imposter that Squilf was seen passing through the town. Shadowsight, Rootpaw, and Tree walk to the Moonpool. Along the way, they hear a cat in pain. Shadowsight runs off to gather herbs while the others go to check on them. Separated from the group, Shadowsight is attacked by a mysterious assailant. We end Silent Thaw on a cliffhanger.

Veil of Shadows starts off with Spiresight’s spirit, Shadowsight’s namesake, watching the apprentice be attacked. The attacker drags Shadowsight’s body to a ravine and throws him in. Rootpaw and Tree attend the half-moon meeting and wait with the other medicine cats for Shadowsight. When he doesn’t show, the cats split up to look for him. When the search fails, Rootpaw summons Brambleghost so that the medicine cats can see him. For some stupid reason, Kestelflight and Willowshine choose not to tell their leaders.

In ThunderClan, Bristlefrost witnesses “Bramblestar,” covered in blood, and Berrynose returning to camp. She tells Spotfur and Stemleaf what she saw. The imposter announces that Shadowsight has gone missing. He then exiles Lionblaze and Jayfeather and forces Twigbranch to hunt down 20 pieces of prey to atone for her sins. The cats flee to ShadowClan. In SkyClan, Rootpaw’s sister Needlepaw is given her warrior name, Needleclaw. He’s all upset about it. “Bramblestar” shows up and calls for another emergency meeting to discuss the codebreakers. Leafstar decides to not listen to him.

Bristlefrost grows more and more uncomfortable around “Bramblestar.” The imposter is using her as a personal therapist. At the Gathering, Tigerstar II is worried about his son. Mothwing and Crowfeather are then exiled from the Clans. At the rebel meeting, cats argue about whether or not they should kill the imposter. If they kill the imposter, Brambleghost would not have a body to come back to. Meanwhile, Shadowsight’s spirit floats around. In… purgatory(?), he and Spiresight chat. Spiresight informs him that he’s not dead but he is dying.

Back in SkyClan, Tree and Rootpaw worry about Brambleghost. Rootpaw hasn’t seen the ghost in a while. They try summoning him at the Moonpool but fail. Bristlefrost witnesses Alderheart arguing with the imposter about medicine. “Bramblestar” then appoints Flipclaw as the new medicine cat all because the young cat talked about having a weird dream last night. Everyone is shocked and concerned. “Bramble” then asks Bristlefrost to search for Squirrelflight again. She goes to the rebel camp, which is located in SkyClan’s old camp, and there she and Squilf create a plan. Squilf will fake her death so that the imposter would leave her alone. They fake some evidence, Bristle brings the imposter to the site and he believes it. Meanwhile, Spire and Shadow go to find Rootpaw. Rootpaw, finally focused on his apprentice duties, impresses Dewspring. His mentor informs Leafstar that he is ready for his assessment. That night, Spiresight beckons Rootpaw and leads him to Shadowsight’s body. Rootpaw fetches Dewspring and together the two of them retrieve the medicine cat’s body and bring him back to SkyClan. Violetshine and Rootpaw go to tell Tigerstar II.

In ThunderClan, “Bramblestar” is moping. At the rebel meeting, Twigbranch expresses how she wants to come back, Squilf tells everyone that she faked her death, and Rootpaw tells them that Shadowsight is alive. The cats argue about killing the imposter again. Later, Shadowsight’s ghost (Shadowghost) goes to ThunderClan. In the leader’s den, the imposter talks directly to him, revealing that he can see Shadowghost. The imposter’s spirit rises from Bramble’s body and admits to attacking him. Before they could continue their argument, Shadowghost is tugged back to his body in SkyClan.

After rescuing Shadowsight, Rootpaw is given the name Rootspring. After Shadowsight tells them what he saw, the cats discuss attacking “Bramblestar” again. Later, Bristlefrost wakes up to Twigbranch coming back. She fulfilled the imposter’s request. The cats leave to fetch her 20 pieces of prey. The rebel group helped her track the prey down but she killed them herself so that her scent was on the prey. Later Alderheart is exiled, leaving the untrained Flipclaw as the sole medicine cat. The imposter and Bristlefrost take a walk in the woods where he is attacked by the rebel group. Bristlefrost runs back to gather warriors. The ThunderClan rebels join the rebels while imposter’s loyalists, Berrynose, Bumblestripe, and some others, fight them. Stemleaf is killed by the imposter. Upon seeing her crush die, Bristlefrost faints. She wakes up in the medicine den where she is tended to by the elder Brightheart (who has some basic healing knowledge). The imposter barges in and tells her to leave. He makes Bristlefrost the new deputy after Berrynose is exiled.

Shadowsight explains to Puddleshine that his visions were faked by the imposter and that they shouldn’t kill Bramblestar’s body until they know what happened to his ghost. In Rootspring’s POV, the rebels once again discuss killing the imposter. Back to Bristlefrost, most of the Clan sees her as a traitor. Her and Flipclaw’s new positions are disputed at the Gathering. The other leaders agree to exile codebreakers, except for Tigerstar II. The next day, Sparkpelt is exiled for announcing that Flipclaw is not fit to be the medicine cat. More cats are exiled for speaking out. These include Graystripe, Blossomfall, Cinderheart, Bumblestripe, Finchpaw and Thriftear. Shadowsight learns that Mistystar and Harestar believe the imposter is the true Bramblestar. Rootspring thinks that Brambleghost may have already faded so the cats finally agree to kill the imposter. Shadowsight doesn’t believe it so he borderline kills himself by ingesting a death berry. In the Dark Forest, he finds and frees Brambleghost from a thorny prison. Shadowsight is then revived by Puddleshine.

Rootspring goes to ThunderClan to talk to Bristlefrost. They announce that they love each other (ugh… I’ll get to it). Later, the imposter barges into SkyClan and demands Leafstar exile the cats who attacked him. He then asks her to help him fight ShadowClan. Leafstar agrees but once he leaves she announces that SkyClan will fight on the side of the rebels. In Bristle’s POV, ThunderClan marches over to ShadowClan, meeting WindClan and RiverClan along the way. ShadowClan is ready for them, having been warned by SkyClan. Skyclan attacks WindClan, RiverClan, and ThunderClan. The rebels and the exiled cats join the fracas. Harestar loses a life. Berrynose is killed by Tawnypelt. Rosepetal, Strikestone, Smokehaze, Softpelt, Frondwhisker, and Sandynose all die. The imposter overpowers Tigerstar II but is distracted by Squirrelflight, alive and well. Tigerstar II wounds him greatly. Squilf stops him from killing Bramble’s body. Tigerstar II holds him prisoner. Squilf becomes temporary leader. She appoints Lionblaze as deputy. At the next Gathering, Harestar and Mistystar finally agree that the imposter is not Bramblestar. Harestar talks about when he lost a life and went to StarClan, all he saw were hazy cats. Something is happening to StarClan. Mistystar allows Mothwing to rejoin RiverClan but she exiles Icewing and Harelight for fighting in the side of the rebels during the fight. Mistystar, what the hell? 😒Mothwing rightfully refuses and announces that she will stay with Icewing and Harelight in ShadowClan. Just as the cats disperse, Squilf states that she knows who is controlling Bramblestar’s body.

Okay so Darkness Within is one of the worst books in the series. It is revealed that Ashfur, the incel who tried to murder Squirrelflight and her adopted children who was then allowed into StarClan for no good reason, is possessing Bramblestar’s body. He was doing all of this just to bother Squirrelflight. Ashfur is imprisoned in ShadowClan. For some reason, the cats of ShadowClan, including Mothwing who is behaving wildly out of character, treat Shadowsight like crap for doing the imposter’s bidding (even though they know full-well that he was manipulated). Mothwing convinces Tigerstar II to make him an apprentice again since she thinks he was made an official medicine cat too early. He is then assigned to tend to Ashfur which doesn’t make sense. Why place the victim so close to his abuser??

In ThunderClan, Graystripe and some others leave ThunderClan to wander to think on what the Clan has become. According to Graystripe, the ThunderClan he knew is gone so he must leave to figure out what to do. ThunderClan treats Squilf like shit for no reason, constantly questioning her actions, and now Graystripe and some others get up and leave the Clan during a crisis. Jfc…

Meanwhile, Rootspring, Needleclaw, Bristlefrost and Spotfur go to find the Sisters so that they can help them summon Brambleghost. Rootspring is a different cat here. He stopped being the nervous, clumsy, and scared boy to generic stoic warrior man. And Bristlefrost is all over that. Bristlefrost stops being the brave, strong, and competent molly we all know and love and becomes Rootspring’s love interest and that’s it. All she thinks about is how cool Rootspring is. When she’s not mooning over him, she’s being super clingy toward Spotfur. Spotfur is mourning the death of her mate Stemleaf. Bristlefrost is all up in her business and tries to force friendship onto this grieving cat. It’s odd as is but it’s even worse when you remember that Spotfur is Bristle’s aunt. Oh and Spotfur is pregnant with Stemleaf’s kits because of course she is.

They eventually get the Sisters and they use their ghost summoning wails to bring forth Brambleghost, but instead they summon a bunch of tortured souls who are trapped under Ashfur’s control. So basically, the Sisters tell us what we already know: the souls are trapped by Ashfur. Wow cool glad we wasted time for this. Since Tigerstar II forced his mentally abused son to treat his abuser, Ashfur manipulates Shadowsight again into releasing him. Ashfur flees, attacks Squilf, and drags her into the Moonpool.

The Place of No Stars is all about exploring the Dark Forest and helping the souls trapped there. Ashfur somehow cut-off StarClan from the Dark Forest. He is slowly destroying the Dark Forest which is bad because without the Dark Forest, StarClan wouldn’t exist. He is so deluded that he doesn’t even register that he will fade away if Star Clan is destroyed. He dragged Squilf into Hell so that they can be together. We are also told that the Dark Forest can turn a good cat bad which… I’ll get to it.

Lionblaze threatens to murder Shadowsight for releasing Ashfur. Shadow’s parents try to send him away to the Tribe for his safety but bloodthirsty Lionblaze and the other leaders prevent them from doing so. Shadowsight is placed in jail. Rootspring witnessed Ashfur dragging Squilf into the Moonpool so he tells the leaders. The medicine cats go to the Moonpool to see if they can go in. Shadowsight suggests going in there since he’s been there before but the other refuse. Willowshine offers to go. She sleeps by the Moonpool and dreams herself into Hell. Ashfur murders her spirit which kills her irl.

Meanwhile in ThunderClan, Graystripe returns and immediately takes over as leader. This is odd. The Erins treat him like a godlike figure. I guess since he’s the last cat of Firestar’s generation, they felt like they had to make him incredible even though it doesn’t fit his character at all. Anyway he bosses everyone around. Shadowsight tires to dream himself back into the Dark Forest but is interrupted by Tigerstar II, Dovewing, Jayfeather, Bristlefrost, Rootspring, Graystripe, Tree, and Leafstar. There’s a lot of cats here. Willowshine’s spirit rises from the Moonpool and drags Rootspring into Hell.

He and Willowshine search for Ashfur, coming across Mapleshade, who is still around, and some nobody named Silverhawk complaining about Ashfur. They soon reach an island surrounded by dark, black water. All of the souls are trapped there. Shadowsight dreams himself into Hell and runs across Snowtuft, a white tom that the fandom adores for some reason. Snowtuft has been in the Dark Forest for a long time, so long that he doesn’t remember why he was sent there. Damn… He explains that Ashfur somehow created a thick mist that is slowly eating the Dark Forest. He helps Shadowsight to save his home. They come across Ashfur trying to win over Squilf by showing off how powerful he is. Squilf rejects him and so he summons Brambleghost and forces him to attack her. Shadowsight attacks Ashfur, allowing Brambleghost to regain control of himself and flee with Squilf. Ashfur nearly kills Shadowsight but he is drawn back to the living world just in time.

Bristlefrost (Briss) frets over Rootspring. She talks to Tree about how she wants to have a life with Rootspring but they’re from different Clans. Tree is like “the Clans are a cult. Follow your heart.” Briss dedicates her life to the cult and blah blah blah she dreams into the Dark Forest and sees Squilf and Brambleghost (under Ashfur’s influence) attacking each other. Ashfur notices Briss in the distance and then Shadowsight attacks him. She wakes up shortly after Shadow. Meanwhile, Rootspring runs across Squilf and Brambleghost. She leads them to Bramble’s body in hopes of hiding it from Ashfur. Then they are attacked by the ghost of Stemleaf and some other spirits under Ashfur’s control. They are taken to the island that is guarded by Darkstripe, Tigerstar I’s lackey. Rootspring is able to flee. Rootspring realizes that Willowshine was under Ashfur’s control and has tricked him. Snowtuft runs into him and helps him out.

Briss whines about Rootspring again. Shadowsight doesn’t want to go back to Hell. His dad reassures him. Blah blah blah, Rootspring, Snowtuft, and Brambleghost come up with a plan. Snowtuft lures Ashfur away as Brambleghost and Rootspring storm the island. Rootspring beats up Darkstripe as Brambleghost reunites with his corpse. Squilf joins the fray and escapes with Rootspring and Bramblestar. Rootspring battles Ashfur, allowing Snowtuft to lead the ThunderClan cats to the living world. Rootspring is captured. Squilf and Bramble emerge from the Moonpool. Shadowsight and Briss are determined to save Rootspring. The Sisters, who are also there, wail them into Hell. They find Rootspring fighting for his life.

A Light in the Mist starts off with a fantastic scene in Ashfur’s POV. He reflects on how he tricked StarClan, how he took control of the Dark Forest, and how Squirrelflight betrayed him. I honestly can’t do the scene justice by summarizing it. We see first hand just how deluded and evil he is. Great stuff! Shadowsight distracts him by yelling “Squirrelflight doesn’t love you!” The break in concentration allows the sprits to regain some control. Ashfur attacks Shadowsight. Snowtuft interferes to allow everyone to escape. Willowshine leads everyone to the portal to StarClan. Evidently, there was a tunnel that led from StarClan to the Dark Forest that Ashfur dug out. He then, somehow, placed thorns in front of the hole, blocking other StarClan cats. The thick mist and the dark water are increasing, slowly killing the forest. Briss tells Stemleaf that Spotfur is having his kittens. His happiness unravels the brambles blocking the hole. Positive emotions weaken the Dark Forest’s influence. Yeah alright whatever. Filled with hope, they break through. Leafpool on the other side calls out to them. She tells them that StarClan is disappearing. Without the Dark Forest, StarClan will cease to exist. Ashfur approaches. The Shadowsight flees back to the mortal world while Briss and Root stay behind to distract him. The leaders are hesitant to send more cats to the Dark Forest. Graystripe volunteers for ThunderClan, replacing Squilf who offered initially, and Lightleap, Shadowsight’s sister, agrees to go as well.

Rootspring begins to hear a voice in his head. He witnesses Ashfur ordering a bunch of Dark Forest cats around. Mapleshade discovers him and hold him prisoner. The voice encourages Rootspring to talk to Darkstripe. The voice instructs him to repeat everything he says. Through Rootspring, the voice makes fun of Darkstripe’s status as a lackey. Darkstripe screeches about Rootspring’s eyes. Apparently, his eyes turned from blue to green, Firestar’s eyes. Firestar possesses Rootspring’s body and fights Darkstripe. He kills Tigerstar I’s loyal lackey. The other Dark Forest cats flee except for Silverhawk. He wants to save his home so he agrees to help Rootspring. Firestar leaves Root’s body. This scene is hilarious. I love it so much.

Briss comes across some more Dark Forest cats worrying about their home. Maggottail, Sparrowfeather, and Redwillow talk about how Ashfur promised to give them bodies in the real world so that they can walk again. Briss confronts them and debunks Ashfur’s claims. It takes a while but they soon believe her and agree to help. They arrive to the StarClan barrier and cut open a larger gap, allowing the worst character Needletail to slither out. Ashfur shows up with an army of spirit cats. They flee from the hoard. Redwillow falls into the dark water, disappearing out of existence. They capture Berrynose, Stemleaf, and Willowshine, and drag them away from Ashfur’s influence. They reunite with Rootspring and Silverhawk and then they go back to the barrier.

In the mortal realm, Crowfeather, Mistystar, Violetshine, Graystripe, and Lightleap prepare to go to Hell. Lightleap, however, backs out, too scared to go. Shadowsight replaces her. The five of them dream into Hell. They go to the StarClan hole and meet up with the others. More StarClan cats arrive. Onestar, Larksong, Silverstream, Feathertail, and Redtail arrive. Firestar, now separated from Rootspring, also arrives. Juniperclaw, a Dark Forest warrior and former ShadowClan deputy who tried to poison SkyClan, offers his help. He wishes to free his brother Strikestone’s spirit. The living cats reunite with the dead cats.

They find Ashfur on higher ground. The dark water rises around them. More Dark Forest cats including Darktail come to Ashfur’s aid. A battle erupts. Violetshine and Needletail murder Darktail. The rouges flee, allowing our heroes to advance on Ashfur. Graystripe passes on Squirrelflight’s message to him. It’s an incredible scene.

“I’ve got a message from Squirrelflight,” Graystripe growled.

Ashfur pricked his ears. “What is it?” …

“She wants you to know that she cared about you once.” … “She considered you more than a Clanmate... She kept on caring about you— even loved you—as a friend until she discovered you were willing to kill the cats you believed to be her kits.”

Ashfur’s eyes rounded, as though he was struggling to understand.

Graystripe went on. “That was when she realized she could never, ever have loved you. And that your love was rotten. It wasn’t even love. You just wanted to possess her. She wants you to know that, whatever way the battle went today, it would always have been Bramblestar she chose. She wants you to think about why she’d always choose him. She wants you to finally understand why Bramblestar is and always will be the cat she truly loves.”

Disbelief began to cloud Ashfur’s gaze. “But I came back from the dead for her.”

Graystripe snorted. “You should have stayed dead, because Squirrelflight will never love you. She loves Bramblestar, and ThunderClan, and nothing you can do will—”

Page 328

Ashfur attacks Graystripe, inflicting a gruesome wound on his stomach. Mapleshade, Thistleclaw, and some other villains from Warriors’ past show up. Shadowsight, who is perched atop a branch, yowls out a warning. Then Ashfur, who somehow has a connection to Shadow’s mind, enters his brain.

“I can get you out of here. You can live.” Ashfur’s ears twitched excitedly. “All you have to do is kill Bristlefrost.”

“You’re bee-brained!” Shadowsight stared at him. “Why would I do that?”

“It would end the battle,” Ashfur mewed. “You’d sacrifice one life to save many.” He stopped in front of Shadowsight. “She’d never see it coming. Her guard would be down. It would be so easy, even you could do it.”

“I would never—”

Ashfur ignored him. “Once Bristlefrost is dead, Rootspring will be too heartbroken to fight. Finishing him off would be like plucking a baby mouse from its nest. He’ll be gone, and so will Bristlefrost, and you’ll be on my side.” Ashfur purred. “With you three out of the way, even Firestar will lose heart. The battle will end. There will be peace.” He thrust his muzzle close to Shadowsight’s. “Don’t you want that?”

Shadowsight met his gaze. Peace. Of course he wanted peace. Every cat in the forest wanted peace after the chaos of the past moons. But not like this. “I want the battle to end,” he mewed slowly. “But only because you’ve been defeated.”

Ashfur’s eyes widened and glittered with rage. He drew away sharply, his lip curling. “You really think you’re one of them, don’t you? You think you belong in the Clans.”

“Of course I belong in the Clans!” Shadowsight snapped back. “My father is Tigerstar. I’m a ShadowClan cat to my bones. I’ve risked my life to help them.”

“ShadowClan?” Ashfur’s whiskers twitched. “Your mother is from ThunderClan. You’re a half-Clan cat. And you’ve been weird since you were a kit. If your father wasn’t their leader, do you think your Clan would accept you?” His tail flicked ominously. “You have visions but you don’t even know who sends them. You can’t fight. You helped me escape. You killed the leader of ThunderClan.” His gaze flicked over Shadowsight, who shifted his paws self-consciously.

Everything he said was true, but that didn’t mean Shadowsight didn’t belong.

Ashfur went on. “Do you think your precious patrol didn’t see you back there in the battle? Do you think they didn’t notice you hiding in a tree while they were risking their lives? Do you think they don’t mind having to rescue you over and over again?” He snorted with scorn. “You’re no help to them. You’re a liability.”

Shadowsight forced himself not to back away. He wanted the grayness to enfold him and muffle this warrior’s words. There was too much truth in them. And yet he knew his friends valued him. Bristlefrost had just saved his life, hadn’t she? He trusted her. He trusted Rootspring. But this cat? Shadowsight met Ashfur’s gaze and held it, staring deep into its corrupt depths. This cat was a liar. No cat could trust him. And his taunting was not going to work. Shadowsight narrowed his eyes. “You won’t ever convince me again that I don’t belong in the Clans,” he mewed slowly. “Or that no cat cares about me. They do. I have kin. I have Clanmates. I have friends. I know where I belong.”

Pg 334-336

Powerful. In the waking world, Briss notices Ashfur dragging Shadowsight’s unconscious body to the dark water. We then get one of the most badass scenes in this franchise.

Shadowsight was at the edge, Ashfur standing over him. Beyond them, the pool was widening, spreading across the clearing. Bristlefrost flattened her ears. She had to stop Ashfur. He had hurt so many cats already—she couldn’t let him kill Shadowsight. Her nostrils flared as she remembered all the time she’d spent wanting to please the impostor, even as his demands became stranger and stranger. She knew him better than any Clan cat, except, perhaps, Shadowsight. She knew how truly dangerous he was.

As Ashfur shifted his weight, she saw her opportunity. But I have to move now. There was no time to second-guess herself. She knew, deep in her bones, that this was right.

Without thinking, she glanced at Rootspring. I’m sorry! Rootspring’s eyes flashed with alarm, as though he guessed what she meant to do. She blinked at him. There was no way to tell him everything she wished she could. I have no choice. Without wasting another second, she spun and raced for Shadowsight.

Rootspring’s yowl echoed behind her. “Wait!” His cry was desperate, but she couldn’t stop. Ashfur had his paws against Shadowsight’s flank. One shove and the medicine cat would be gone forever.

StarClan help me! The thought seemed ridiculous. StarClan was here, fighting beside her. When she reached Shadowsight, she pushed her hind paws harder against the earth than she’d ever done before and launched herself at Ashfur. The dark warrior was silhouetted against the reflectionless surface of the widening pool. Ducking her head low, she crashed into him, and as he collapsed, she tumbled over him, and over Shadowsight. Her heart seemed to slow along with time, and she looked down and saw the dark water yawn below her. There was no way to avoid it.

She hit it like breaking through ice. Cold wrapped itself around her, gripping so hard that it thrust the breath from her body. She sank, darkness closing around her. Fight! She knew she should kick. She should thrash against the freezing blackness. She reached for thoughts of Rootspring.

She tried to see his sky-blue eyes. She tried to hear his gentle mew. If only she could hold on to him ...

She felt movement beside her and twisted, her fur billowing around her. Something was flailing a tail-length away. Shadowsight? Had she sacrificed herself for nothing? Panic flared in every hair. She struck out, ready to fight. She would save him. She had to.

But when she saw the face of the cat beside her, she froze. It wasn’t Shadowsight who’d fallen in. Ashfur was thrashing his paws as he fought to reach the surface.

No! I can’t let him escape the water...

Bristlefrost lunged, taking two clawfuls of the dark warrior’s fur and letting her weight sink into her hindquarters, turning her body to the side and pushing him away with all her strength. She watched him sink toward the darkness below. His face was distorted by the water, and yet the terror in it was clear. Bristlefrost felt a surge of triumph. They’d done it! Ashfur was scared at last. He saw her, his eyes rounding with disbelief for a moment before he slipped from sight and vanished into shadow. All that remained was his last breath as it bubbled past her to the surface and disappeared.

He was gone. It was over. She had done what she had always wanted to do, from the time she was a tiny kit: She had saved her Clan.

She had saved all the Clans.

Bristlefrost turned and glanced back toward the surface. It looked very far away now. Her struggle with Ashfur had dragged her body down into the very depths of the dark water, and she felt the last of her strength ebbing out of her from the gash in her neck. The surface, the living world, the Clans—they were out of her reach.

Her body relaxed, and the pain of her wounds eased. The dark water no longer horrified her; it felt warm and soothing, engulfing her like an embrace.

It’s time to rest.

But she looked up once more at the vanishing surface. Were those faces, peering in? She couldn’t be sure. Violetshine? She thought she saw black-and-white fur moving beyond the water, and a yellow pelt beside it. Rootspring? Her heart ached with love, and she felt a stirring inside her. How could she leave him? She tried to reach out a paw and pull herself up, but there was nothing to grip but water, and the water would never let her go. Grief pierced her heart, not for herself, but for Rootspring. Her work was finished, but he had loved her, and now he would have to live without her. I’m sorry. Her mind grew hazy. But we beat him. We destroyed Ashfur. We saved the Clans.

Thoughts of Rootspring filled her mind. He was pressing beside her beneath a spreading willow, the warmth of him seeping into her fur. Was it a dream or a memory? She couldn’t tell. Now they were hunting, running through the forest, side by side, so close their pelts touched. And then she saw herself cocooned with him in a nest. Had they shared one after all? Surely they had, she thought, with a rush of love. Tails entwined, they were gazing proudly at three tiny kits. Of course it was real. Of course these were memories of the life they must have shared.

The cold that gripped her seemed at last to let her go. She closed her eyes and in her last moment felt only warmth. Only love.

Pgs 339- 346

Bristlefrost is gone. Completely. She will never show up again, not even as a StarClan cat. Incredible. Ashfur is dead. The spirit cats regain control. The mist and dark water disappears. Rootspring cries out in grief. Shadowsight blames himself for Bristlefrost’s death. Leafpool arrives to tell them that StarClan is safe. She tells Shadowsight that she to his connection to Ashfur, he will never be able to speak to StarClan. I don’t know how this happened but whatever.

At the StarClan hole, Graystripe reunites with Millie and Briarlight. Silverstream sits by looking all jealous. Crowfeather greets Leafpool. Feathertail sits by looking all jealous. They travel to StarClan where they speak to Gray Wing and Clear Sky, Dawn of the Clan cats. Mistystar asks why Ashfur was allowed to join StarClan and they admit that they made a mistake. The living cats talk about how the code was abused by Ashfur and that they need to change it. StarClan gives the cats a few months to come up with the proper order of things. Juniperclaw asks to join StarClan but he is denied for no good reason. Instead he is doomed to guard the Hell tunnel forever. I’ll talk about this scene in more detail later.

The living cats go back. We get a sad scene where Rootspring informs Ivypool and Fernsong about their daughter’s death. Graystripe dies from his wounds. Despite not being able to commune with StarClan, the other medicine cats accept him anyway. At the next Gathering, Bramblestar dubs the cats who went to the Dark Forest “the Lights in the Mist.” Then the cats discuss changes to the warrior code. Rootspring speaks up, admitting to loving Bristlefrost and suggesting that they add a new rule about allowing cats from different Clans to join another Clan to be with their loved one. Crowfeather agrees and suggest a formal process. Rootspring then speaks to Bristlefrost’s family. Embracing his Sister heritage, he tries to summon her ghost but fails. Fernsong says that she will live on in their memory. This brings comfort to Rootspring. We end the arc on a somber but hopeful note.

Errors: You know who to thank. [Link] The stuff in [brackets] is my own commentary.

Lost Stars: Beetlewhisker is listed in the allegiances, despite dying in The Last Hope. Strikestone is called white. Bristlefrost, Stemleaf, and Spotfur are referred to as senior warriors despite all three of them being far too young to be considered one.

The Silent Thaw: Thornclaw is called a dark tabby, and dark. Shadowsight is called Shadowpaw twice after receiving his full name. Shadowsight refers to the big Twolegplace as a city. Dewnose is called Dewspring. Pigeonfoot is referred to as male. Molewhisker is called Mousewhisker. "Blind" is spelled "bind." Finleap is said to have a full tail. "Squirrelflight" is missing an apostrophe and an "s" after the apostrophe. "Bristlefrost" is written as "Bristlefrost's.” Cinnamontail is referred to as a tom. Tigerstar II is said to be too young to remember the Great Battle, despite taking part in it and acting as a spy against the Dark Forest [That’s a really bad mistake. Come on Erins.].

Veil of Shadows: Bramblestar has an "L" In front of his name in the Allegiances. This was fixed in the paperback version. Spiresight says that he gave his life to save Shadowsight, when it was actually his sister, Pouncestep. Twigbranch is unaware that Bramblestar was an impostor after she is exiled, despite being at the secret meeting where it was announced. Mistystar has a dash in the middle of her name, so it reads "Misty-star.” StarClan is written as two words, so that it reads, "Star Clan." Berrynose is described with a full tail instead of a stump, when it says "his tail trailing in the mud". Thornclaw is called dark. Dappletuft is called a she-cat. Crowfeather recalls remembering what Tigerstar I was like, despite not being born until after Tigerstar I’s death. The word "That's" is missing an apostrophe and an 's', so it reads "That".

Darkness Within: The c in ThunderClan is not capitalized, so it reads, "Thunderclan" throughout the entire book [Honestly writing Thunderclan like this is easier than the original but still a pretty bad error] This remains the same in the paperback edition and on Kindle. Sedgewhisker is mistakenly referred to as a tom. It is said that Conefoot died in the battle of the rebels, when he actually died beforehand. Shadowsight is called Rootspring. Whistlepaw is referred to as a tom. It is said that Sunrise waves Squirrelflight and Leafstar out of the clearing, but then it is stated that she noses Tigerstar II and Leafstar away as well, though Leafstar is already out of the clearing. Larksong is shown alive, despite dying in Squirrelflight's Hope. It is said that Shadowsight saw the impostor’s ghost while sleeping after eating deathberries to search for Bramblestar’s ghost, when he actually saw the impostor’s ghost while unconscious for the impostor’s attack. Gullswoop is mistakenly referred to as a tom. The word "Sisters" is written once with a lowercase letter, so it reads "sisters". Rootspring is mistakenly described with green eyes.

The Place of No Stars: Cherrytail appears on a patrol with Hawkwing, and a few moments later, she appears in camp with Leafstar although Hawkwing takes his patrol to the Moonpool. Leafstar states that Squirrelflight and Leafpool had spent time with the Sisters, but it was actually herself and Squirrelflight who spent time with the Sisters. Snowtuft's scar is said to begin at his neck, when it actually starts at the tip of his ear. Tree is called a former rogue.

A Light in the Mist: Flipclaw is missing from the allegiances despite appearing in the book. It is said that Rootspring was trying to get back to the living world behind Bristlefrost and Shadowsight when Darkstripe attacked him, however, it was Squirrelflight, Bramblestar and Snowtuft he was running after. It is said that Spiresight saved Shadowsight's life twice, referring to the fact that he saved him when the impostor almost killed him, and when he almost fell off the bridge, but on the latter occasion it was actually Pouncestep whom Spiresight saved. Houndleap is called pale brown. Berryheart is called a tom. Needletail is called a ShadowClan warrior, despite never earning the rank. The words "again on" are written together, so it reads "againon". Redwillow is called a tabby. Flurry is called yellow. The word "Gathering" is spelled with a lowercase "g".

Things I Like

This is a solid arc! I like the first three books quite a lot. The mystery surrounding the imposter, the imposter’s insane actions, and Rootpaw being haunted by Brambleghost is all great and engaging. I love Rootpaw’s arc about accepting his father’s heritage. He hates how weird Tree is and resented being compared to him. But then he starts seeing Brambleghost. When he couldn’t ignore it any longer, he tells his dad, the only cat who understands what’s going on. Tree, knowing that his son doesn’t want to stand out, pretends to be the one who saw Brambleghost. One of my favorite scenes in this arc is when, at ShadowClan, Tigerstar II asks Tree to summon Brambleghost. He and Rootpaw stand aside and discuss what to do. He teaches Rootpaw how to summon a ghost and while his son actually summons him, Tree pretends to be the one who did it to cover him. Tree is such a great dad! He doesn’t take offense to his son’s distaste for his heritage. He is incredibly patient with him and allows Rootpaw to come into his own at his own pace. Eventually, Rootpaw/spring embraces his heritage completely and openly demonstrates it. When he meets the Sisters, he is in awe of them and takes pride knowing that they are kin. I like to think Tree knew that after some help, his son would embrace and love his power. God, I love Tree so much!

Rootpaw’s little crush on Bristlefrost was so cute. And then it got bad but hey! It was fun while it lasted. This beautiful, competent molly saves his life and now he got feelings. The scene where he brings her a piece of prey and she’s all embarrassed is so damn cute. She’s way out of his league and doesn’t even acknowledge him unless he’s directly infront of her. It’s so funny, cute, and real and I love it… until she started retuning his feelings randomly, but I’ll get there.

Ashfur is hands-down one of the best villains Warriors has ever created. He is terrifying. He’s irrational and dangerous. The way he manipulates Shadowsight is tragic hence why I loved Shadowsight denouncing him and declaring that he is not a fuck-up. And man, his behavior toward Squirrelflight… chilling. Ashfur is an incel. I’m not just calling him that as a joke. That is what he is. Incels hate women, but yet they still want a girlfriend to possess, not to love. When women push them away because they’re creepy and awful, they snap. The more sane ones go on message boards and complain about how all women are evil or some shit. The worst of them, the more radicalized of them, kill the woman who rejected them. If they cannot own them, no one can. Incels are fucking terrifying and Ashfur is a picture-perfect example of an unhinged incel. I absolutely love Squilf’s last message to him. That was something he needed to hear. Plus I’m real glad the Erins did not have her face him directly. Yeah, she shouldn’t have to face him any more. Ashfur is a monster and seeing her is exactly what he wants. Very mature, Warriors. I’m impressed.

Bristlefrost’s death is one of the most intense scenes in the entire franchise. That scene is Scourge killing Tigerclaw/star levels of iconic. I loved it and I love the aftermath. Even though I despise BristleRoot, Rootspring’s chapters after her death are incredible. For him, the victory was a Phyrric one. And we haven’t had a main protagonist die while we were following them since Gray Wing (but his death wasn’t as impactful as Briss’s). I like that after all these years, the Clans finally change the fucking code. FINALLY! It’s not perfect but hey! Cats are allowed to change Clans now, finally! Bless 🙏🏽

Things I Hate

I don’t like Shadowsight all that much. He’s a blank-slate until his final confrontation with Ashfur. He has the Violetshine problem where instead of giving him an actual personality, they just have everyone verbally abuse the shit out of him to artificially make us care for him. This is lazy character writing. You have to give them an actual personality alongside everything else. I don’t like that the Erins do this so often. At least Shadowsight isn’t as boring as Violetshine.

The god-like worship of Graystripe is very strange. After he and his buddies fuck off during a crisis and then return, he is treated like a messiah. He’s behaving weirdly out of character. He’s now all of sudden a strong, confident, and competent leader that demands respect from all the Clans. The Graystripe I know is an impulsive goofy jokester in TPB. As a deputy, he was quick to anger and hotheaded. The Graystripe in this arc resembles the Graystripe in his manga series, Graystripe’s Adventure where he meets Millie and treks back to the Clans at their new home. That Graystripe was weirdly competent and serious and loyal, again a far cry from what he is in TPB and onward. He’s very inconsistent and I do not like inconsistent characters. The narrative’s hero worship of him is just odd.

Darkness Within is utterly worthless. Nothing happens! The cats have the same arguments over and over. A lot of them make stupid decisions that do not make sense. See Mistystar exiling Icewing and Harelight for doing the right thing. Mothwing is wildly out of character much to my hatred. I don’t know why the Erins made her into Shadowsight’s biggest critic. All of her scenes were so cringe! The Sisters’ fetch quest was meaningless. All they do is confirm what we already knew. Filler book.

Bristlefrost loses all of her edge and spunk as soon as book four starts. Rootpaw was an immature child while she was a competent young adult. His crush on her made sense, but the reverse… no. They had to dumb her down and boost up Rootspring just to make this stupid pairing work. Rootspring becomes generic warrior #218. All of his personality, gone. Bristlefrost became swooning moony-eyed love interest #321. Her personality, gone. It’s so forced! They were better as friends! Protags do not need to be in relationships, Erins! Why can’t they just be friends?

And then there’s StarClan…

Massive Issue #8: StarClan (and More Lore Nonsense)

As you may have noticed throughout these posts, I do not like StarClan. How the Erins write StarClan is woefully inconsistent, contradictory, and hypocritical. There’s a lot wrong here. Let’s start with how a cat is allowed into Kitty Cat Heaven. In The Forgotten Warrior, Bluestar tells Jayfeather this about Ashfur.

Bluestar rested her tail on [Jayfeather’s] shoulders, drawing him away from the gray warrior. “You won’t learn anything by talking to Ashfur,” she mewed. “He knows who killed him, and why. Perhaps he did a lot to bring it on himself, perhaps not. It is not StarClan’s place to judge him.” As Jayfeather opened his jaws to argue, she added more sternly, “If he found his way here, then he must deserve to be here. That is what we all have to believe.”

Jayfeather sighed and shook his head. “I don’t understand . . .“

“There are some things that are beyond understanding,” Bluestar told him, sounding more sympathetic. “How can we say that Hollyleaf deserved to be in StarClan and Ashfur didn’t, or the other way around? Things are different here. Some cats even forget parts of their life that they don’t want to remember.”

Pg 103, OotS: The Forgotten Warrior

“It is not StarClan’s place to judge him. … If he found his way here, then he must deserve to be here.”

Then who is? What about the Dark Forest? Who puts cats there? The Unknowable? Do cats have to travel the astral plane to find StarClan? It is implied that The Tribe of Endless Hunting and StarClan share the same plane of existence because Feathertail travels between the two. When the Clans moved from the forest to the lake, StarClan had to physically move to a different part of the sky. So they occupy physical space in the afterlife. Sure fine. Anyway the idea of the Unknowable actually fixed a lot of lore issues with StarClan before Squirrelflight’s Hope. Who gave the Three their powers? The Unknowable. Who passes judgement on the cats? The Unknowable. It’s not a perfect solution but it’s something. However, Squirrelflight’s Hope and The Broken Code utterly destroy StarClan’s lore and the idea of the Unknowable.

In Squirrelflight’s Hope, StarClan directly judges whether or not Firestar‘s daughters deserve to be in StarClan. I guess Bluestar either did not know or simply lied to Jayfeather back in OotS. Since the trials are now in place, it brings up so many questions. If cats like Ashfur and Clear Sky were allowed into StarClan, why wasn’t Juniperclaw? In this arc, we get this conversation,

[Context: they’re talking about why Ashfur was allowed into StarClan]

“It wasn’t Gray Wing’s fault.” Another tom defended him. This cat’s pelt was lighter, and the starlight sparkling in his fur made him shine like silver beside the water. “We were all to blame.”

Gray Wing dipped his head. “Skystar’s right,” he mewed. “We decided together to give Ashfur a chance.”

Crowfeather scowled angrily. “Why? He wanted to kill his Clanmates!”

“We thought he’d atoned for it,” Skystar mewed.

“‘Atoned,’” Juniperclaw growled. “If that was all a warrior needed to do to join StarClan, the Dark Forest would be empty.”

… Onestar lifted his chin. “Deciding who can join StarClan and who should be in the Dark Forest is a hard decision, and we don’t take it lightly. A gathering of StarClan warriors discusses every cat to try to understand what is in their hearts, and to judge whether they should be allowed to join us.”

“Sometimes we are wrong,” Firestar mewed with a sigh.

Rootspring nodded thoughtfully, remembering Snowtuft. Despite feeling intimidated, he had to speak up for his Dark Forest ally. No other cat would. “Is it possible to change your decision once it’s been made?”

Skystar looked puzzled. “Why would we?”

“A Dark Forest warrior saved my life,” Rootspring told him. “He saved it twice and sacrificed his whole existence to let me and Bristlefrost escape from Ashfur. Surely a cat like him deserves a place in StarClan?”

Onestar sniffed. “If he’s gone, it’s irrelevant.”

Juniperclaw narrowed his eyes. “But what if other Dark Forest cats change like Snowtuft did? Is there really no way to earn a place in StarClan even after death?”

Gray Wing looked thoughtful. “We are all judged on what we did in our lifetime. It’s no use being sorry afterward. It’s more important not to break the warrior code in the first place.”

Pgs 383-384, A Light in the Mist

So they only judge cats based on what they did in life. I ask again, why was Ashfur let in, but Juniperclaw was/is excluded? What did Ashfur do to atone? Die? He was killed by Hollyleaf, who he threatened to murder! They gave him a chance but not Juniperclaw?! Juniperclaw poisoned SkyClan because he thought he was doing the best thing for his Clan at the time. Ashfur threatened to kill Squilf’s children just to hurt her. Before, after she dumped him, he assisted Hawkfrost in trapping Firestar. Nothing he did before and after the fire scene could be called atonement. But they gave him a chance while dooming Juniperclaw to Hell for eternity. And then there’s Quick Water.

In Shadowstar’s Life, Quick Water, a SkyClan cat, was worried about her Clan. Humans were threatening to take SkyClan’s land. Skystar demanded that the other Clans look for territory for them just in case the humans started tearing down trees. Desperate to save her Clan, Quick Water led a pack of dogs to Shadowstar and her deputy Sun Shadow. They killed Sun Shadow and mortally wounded Shadowstar, taking out one of her lives. While on her last life and still deciding who should replace Sun Shadow, Shadowstar is pushed onto the road in front of a moving car as she is scouting land for SkyClan. Luckily the car misses her. Then Quick Water jumps out and attacks her. Blah blah blah, Shadowstar and Windstar gang up on SkyClan and ThunderClan for harboring a murderer. Shadowstar and Quick Water mortally wound each other. As she is dying, Quick Water admits her faults and asks for forgiveness. Shadowstar in StarClan forgives her. What Quick Water did is similar to what Juniperclaw did. Juniperclaw poisoned SkyClan’s food to drive them out. He did it for the betterment of his Clan, ShadowClan. No cat died from his attempt, unlike Quick Water. He died valiantly, saving Shadowkit/sight during a flood. But he went to the Dark Forest anyway. And even when he atoned for what he did and expressed guilt, he is still banned from StarClan! Quick Water actually killed people. She didn’t die valiantly. She expressed feeling bad as she was dying after having killed a fucking leader! But nah she goes to StarClan and Juniperclaw gets to rot in Hell. And just so you know, Shadowstar’s Life came out in 2019, the same year as TBC 1: Lost Stars and Squirrelflight’s Hope. There’s no excuse for forgetting this. Quick Water and Juniperclaw are the same but yet…

Also why is StarClan so against redemption in death? “We are all judged on what we did in our lifetime. It’s no use being sorry afterward. It’s more important not to break the warrior code in the first place.” Again with this “warrior code > your feelings/logic” crap! It’s deeply fucked up to condemn Juniperclaw and the other redeemed Dark Forest cats to suffering forever. What’s the point of the Dark Forest if it isn’t a place for bad cats to rethink their actions? Does it exist to punish them only? Cats aren’t allowed to learn from their punishments? We are even told in this arc that the Dark Forest can turn a good cat bad which is just… asinine for multiple reasons. So if you fucked up once like Juniperclaw, there’s a good chance your behavior will be altered and you will truly become an evil cat just from being in the Dark Forest for an extended amount of time. But this isn’t entirely true because Snowtuft, a perfectly chill tom who sacrificed himself to save Rootspring, didn’t show any animosity toward anyone. Hell, he didn’t even remember why he was in the Dark Forest to begin with! That’s horrifying!

If StarClan and the Dark Forest were just places the cats told stories about and their existence was left ambiguous, then I wouldn’t hate this so much but we all know that these cat afterlives are real. StarClan is unforgiving and cruel. They value the stupid code more than the lives of their cats. They almost condemned a devout and beloved medicine cat to Hell for loving a cat outside her Clan. They nearly doomed her sister for doing what they tricked her into doing. They doomed a misguided youth who later did the right thing before, and even after, his death and refuses to let up on the decision even though what he did is the exact same thing another cat did generations ago. They brought an incel murderer into their ranks even though he never atoned for anything and instead festered in his hatred. Fuck me, damn Clear Sky was a tyrannical dictator who murdered at least three people and almost killed his brother for power. He believed he was doing the right thing for his proto-Clan but yet he was allowed in even though he never learned from his mistakes! And this motherfucker is allowed to pass judgement onto others?!? StarClan sucks so hard!

I will never understand why the Erins write StarClan like this. They want us to see StarClan as this benevolent force that is always good and helpful, but then they write scenes like the trial. The Erins will acknowledge that StarClan was to blame for Ashfur’s rise in power, but they don’t change StarClan’s draconian rules that led to this problem in the first place! I blame the authors’ lack of self-awareness yet again. It’s like they can’t choose between a benevolent guiding force of good or a dictatorial regime of dead idiots. StarClan is all good no matter how cruel and wrong they are. The weird religious fundamentalist vibes this shit gives off makes me so mad. I hate StarClan more and more as the series goes on.

Okay so now the Dark Forest and Ashfur’s powers. TBC screws up the Dark Forest’s lore. “The Dark Forest can turn a good cat bad.” So I guess the trainees in Omen of the Stars were simply turned bad just from being in the Dark Forest. Breezepelt didn’t have personal issues. The Dark Forest made him bad which then led him to almost kill his half-brothers on two different occassions. Yes, let’s continue to remove agency and gray morality out of the franchise. We can’t have our cats actually do bad things on their own. They have to be either manipulated or misguided. And let’s also immediately contradict this notion by introducing Snowtuft, a character who wasn’t turned bad at all. So apparently, StarClan is above the Dark Forest. Ashfur was able to simply dig down into the Hell somehow. Okay. Why is Ashfur so strong? The dude is destroying both afterlives by slowly erasing the Dark Forest with Bendy- style dark puddles and mist. Why is he able to mindcontrol so many ghosts? The Erins never explain this and normally, I welcome ambiguity in this series, but in this case we need to know why Ashfur is so strong. Is it because he’s a StarClan cat in the Dark Forest? So StarClan cats can just control spirits that aren’t tied to them? What? Also cats can just jump into Heaven via the Moonpool. The Moonpool is literally a portal to Heaven and Hell. This series is wild.

Final Thoughts on Arc Seven

It’s fine. It has some great parts and some bad parts. I usually despise the supernatural crap in Warriors and that doesn’t change here. At least the conflict here was better thought out than in OotS. I like Ashfur as a villain and I adore Briss’s sacrifice, but the StarClan nonsense, the forced romance between Root and Briss, and the butchering of Mothwing’s character left bad tastes in my mouth. Overall, it’s fine.

Arc Seven Super Edition

Graystripe’s Vow (2020): It’s about Graystripe and his exile crew on their journey. I didn’t read this one. I don’t like Graystripe, I do not understand why we need a Super Edition about his exile journey, there’s nothing new to be learned about him, and it adds nothing to the whole of Warriors. It’s more useless than Tigerheart’s Shadow. The only thing that is important to remember is WarriorClan, the kittypet roleplay group that is a parody of the fandom. That’s it. I’m sick and tired of reading pointless SEs. SKIP.

No errors list because I don’t care about this one.

Arc Seven: Novellas

Spotfur’s Rebellion (2021): DNF/10 Just a recap of events we already saw in TBC plus some added apprentice crap that didn’t need to exist. I like Spotfur, but this was completely unnecessary. We didn’t need a novella where we learn that Spotfur is a rebellious rebel who rebels.

Errors: Briarlight is shown in the allegiances, despite dying before the book takes place. According to the allegiances the book starts before The Raging Storm, but in chapter 1 it is mentioned that ShadowClan and SkyClan had trouble over territory, and this happens during The Raging Storm. Spotfur is mistakenly referred to by her warrior name before actually receiving it. Rowanclaw is mistakenly called Rowanstar. Finleap is said to have brown paws.

Daisy’s Kin (2021): 5.5/10 Its fine. During the middle of Darkness Within, Daisy leaves to assist her old mate Smoky with his new mate’s, Coriander, birth. Coriander dies during the process. While looking for a molly to nurse the newborns, the Sister offer their services. After a month with the Sisters, Daisy leaves with Smoky back to the barn he lives in. There she contemplates staying with him and the kittens. She feels like she is no longer needed in ThunderClan. There are no new kittens to take care of, ThunderClan is currently going through turmoil, all of her kittens except for Mousewhisker are dead, and she’s not particularly good at any other Clan tasks. Eventually, Mousewhisker, Sparkpelt, and a few other cats Daisy has helped raise show up and beg her to come back. They tell her that Spotfur has had kittens and that ThunderClan misses and values her. She leaves, feeling loved.

I love Daisy so much. While this novella was pretty boring here and there, I liked her reconciliation and friendship with Smoky and I liked that this book solidifies that Daisy has a place in the Clans (despite what the fans think).

Errors: The book is said to take place between books three and four of The Broken Code, but it actually takes place between books four and six. Smoky says to Coriander that "Greenleaf is coming,” although they are already in greenleaf.

Final Thoughts on the Arc Seven Novellas

Meh.

Massive Issue #9: Incest

Oh, I’ve been dying to get to this one! This is an infamous issue in Warriors. By the time A Vision of Shadows starts, there are 41 cats in ThunderClan. To give you an idea of how big this jump is, in arc one there are only 25 cats in ThunderClan. In the latest arc (as of writing this) A Starless Clan, there are 44 cats. ThunderClan’s population is steadily growing as the series goes on and this a problem because 1) most of the background characters have no personality at all and 2) a lot of them are inbred. As stated many times before, the Clans are a xenophobic work-cult that forbids outside breeding so cats only have a few mates to choose from and most of them are relatives. Focusing on Protagonist Clan, Nutmeg’s and Jake’s genes are all over the place by the time A Starless Clan starts.

Image made by me. Click to view.

Snowbush and Lilyheart are first cousins. Larksong is inbred and is Sparkpelt’s second cousin. Spotfur is Stemleaf’s first cousin (1x removed) and his second cousin on Willowpelt’s side. Sorrelstripe is Dewnose’s first cousin (1x removed) on her mother’s side and his third cousin on her father’s side. Fernsong and Ivypool are third and second cousins on both sides of their family. These cats all have kittens whose lines trace back to either/and Nutmeg and/or Frostfur. And this is all canon to the books because we see these cats get together and/or be born. This is bad.

The website family tree is even worse (the family tree does not work on mobile. To see it, use desktop). The family tree is reviled by the fandom for good reason. It’s full of retconned in relationships, parents, and litters that are not established in the books. Ages ago, Victoria Holmes expressed disappointment in not creating a family tree when she started. She should have created a tree by the time the third arc was being drafted. Over the past two decades, the Erins established family tree nonsense in author statements, tweets, forum posts, Q and As, and on the website. Anywhere but the books. The Warriors fan wiki accepts all of their words as canon and so have catalogued them on the website, even though a lot of it includes incestuous couples like the old pairing of Willowpelt and Patchpelt, full siblings. The official website and the Working Partners Erin Hunter Team take information from the damn fan wiki and puts them in the books, creating even more chaos! Why in the world would they use the fan-made wiki to keep track of their own lore is beyond me. Because of this weird info self-cannibalism, the one-off author statements from years ago are now officially canon in the books according to the website thus creating the incest fest we have today. There are additions and changes, but they only make things worse for the most part.

Image made by me. Click to view. Do know that this is not every cat in the Clans. I only included cats who are relevant to my point.

The siblings Dustpelt, Brindleface, and Frostfur are present in basically everyone’s bloodlines at the same time. Them and Whitestorm, the two timing slut he is, ruined the genetics of ThunderClan. Brindleface, Frostfur, Ravenpaw, and Dustpelt all being siblings is a retcon. Whitestorm’s litter with Brindleface is a retcon. Both retcons happened years after the first arc was published. There retcons has irrevocably damaged ThunderClan’s family tree. Granted these are not all of the cats in ThunderClan, but my god! LOOK AT IT!

According to the website, Dustpelt canonically fucked his own niece, forever dooming their bloodline for generations. His and Ferncloud’s lineage is vile. His granddaughter and great niece, Ivypool, mated with her third/second cousin which produced the most inbred trio of kittens in the franchise. LOOK AT THEM! Bristlefrost and her siblings have Dustpelt, Brindleface, and Frostfur in their bloodline at multiple points. Dustpelt is simultaneously their great uncle x3 and their great grandfather x2. They are their own cousins. Whitestorm, Frostfur/Lionheart, and Nutmeg/Jake are in their bloodlines twice. This is sickening. Dovewing is over here polluting ShadowClan with her godawful genes. Rootspring is fucked up too. Look at him! His grandparents on his mother’s side are first cousins! The Broken Code trio are all inbred.

Onestar’s lineage is disgusting as well and it wasn’t before Onestar’s Confession. According to the family tree (and later canonized in the Super Edition), Onestar and Ashfoot are siblings. Ashfoot is the mother of Crowfeather. Crowfeather is the father of Breezepelt. Onestar is the father of Heathertail. Heathertail and Breezepelt become mates. They are second cousins. Their kits are genetically ruined. This is all retconned in! Why in the world would you willingly put in incest!?

And SkyClan… good lord.

Click to view.

Even the Clan full of new people is full of inbreeding! Poor Twigbranch and Finleap can’t escape it even though they live in ThunderClan now. How did this even happen?! The website actually removed Pebbleshine’s family. If you look at her on the website family tree, she no longer has any family, but no matter what they do it will always be canon in the books that her father is Sparrowpelt because they wrote it.

“Pebblepaw’s parents, Sparrowpelt and Tinycloud, along with her littermate Parsleypaw, had settled down beside her, and were trying to comfort her.”

Pg 51, Hawkwing’s Journey

Also, Sparrowpelt was Tinycloud’s mentor and Hawkwing’s parents, Sharpclaw and Cherrytail, are also a former mentor/apprentice couple. This family is fucked up!

Removing family members to avoid incest is something they’ve done multiple times over the years. Willowpelt and Patchpelt, the sibling couple, is a good example. If you check the family tree now (as of 2024), Graystripe doesn’t have a father anymore and Sandstorm doesn’t have family at all. According to some ancient statement from nearly two decades ago, Sandstorm’s parents were Redtail and Brindleface. Giving Brindleface more children is such a horrible, horrible idea as you can see. If they kept Sandstorm being her daughter, Ashfur would have been Squirrelflight’s uncle. We really do not need anymore uncles pursuing their nieces. Luckily, this is not in the books so Sandstorm simply wandered into ThunderClan one day as a kitten and no one questions it.

Brindleface is the mother of Ferncloud and Ashfur. That’s canon as we see them be born. Whitestorm being their father, however, is a retcon. Whitestorm is the father of Willowpelt’s litter of Sorreltail, Rainwhisker and Sootfur. We see these cats be born in the books. Making Whitestorm Brindleface’s mate as well fucks up the genes way too much. See all those gray lines? That’s Whitestorm. He’s everywhere!

Frostfur’s genes are everywhere too thanks to Brackenfur. Damn near every cat has Frostfur’s genes in them and the funny thing is… her line is completely canon (Lionheart being her mate is a retcon though). We see her nurse Bracken, Thorn, Bright, and Cinder. We then see Bracken, Thorn, and Bright have many kittens of their own who then have kittens of their own. All those purple names and lines are canon, including the ones that have Frostfur on both sides of their tree. So many of our protagonists are incest kittens. Ivypool, Dovewing, Violetshine, Twigbranch, Shadowsight, Rootspring, Bristlefrost, and Nightheart are inbred! Some of them are reproducing for fuck’s sake! Every young cat in ThunderClan, every single one, is related to one another. They cannot breed with each other lest the Clan become more inbred. Even if you ignore the website family tree, the incest is ever present.

I’ve even had people try to tell me that third cousins (Ivypool/Fernsong) are not closely related so it’s fine. First of all, they’re third cousins on Nutmeg’s side which is distant enough, but they’re also second cousins twice via Whitestorm and Frostfur. So yes, they’re very related and their kids are fucked. Second of all, Omen of the Stars lets us know that Ivypool and Lionblaze are related. The Erins knew this, but yet they still have Ivypool get with Lionblaze’s son on page! Did they forget?!?

Remember that these are CiNOs (Cats in Name Only). They’re basically people in cat bodies so this incest crap is inexcusable, repugnant, and baffling. Many fans pretend the incest is not real to avoid the discomfort of it all and I understand that, but that does not mean this is not a prevalent and loud issue. I’ve spoken to people in the fandom who tried to gaslight me into thinking the incest is not a big deal. Are you fucking kidding me? LOOK AT BRISTLEFROST! You’re telling me the incest is not a problem?

None of this is intentional by the way (god I hope not). The Erins are not paying attention so they pair up random cats and call it a day. This extreme laziness is harming the series. A spreadsheet would have done wonders. This is a book series written for children! I shouldn’t even be talking about incest, but here I am. It’s fucking vile and frankly…disappointing. The Erins’ lack of self-awareness and laziness are the root causes of so many problems and this is just one of them.

Massive Issue #10: Overpopulation and Faceless Background Cats

Image made by me. Click to view a clearer picture.

This is the allegiances from A Starless Clan: River. I listen to the audiobooks and, no joke, I did not know who half of these cats were until I made this image. I read names like Nightsky, Hopwhisker, Gravelnose, Slightfoot, Featherpelt, Oatclaw, Nectarsong, and many others for the first time. I’ve read all of these books and not once have I heard of these cats. Who the fuck is Nightsky?! I like her name, but who is she?! Where did she come from? There’s a cat named Flowerstem in ShadowClan? Since when?! Apparently, she had a few scenes in AVoS, but I don’t remember her at all. All of those blue boxes show how many cats exist to fill up space. Look at how few green boxes there are. Most of these background cats don’t have personalities. Granted, this is all my opinion (obviously) but I think I can say with confidence that a lot of us Warriors fans don’t know who Leaftail is. Working Partners is more focused on story than they are on characters. Due to that, we have entire Clans of faceless names existing in the background, never talking. From my recollection, Eaglewing did not speak at all during AVoS and TBC. Stormcloud was a kittypet who joined the Clans during the Great Storm and he has yet to do anything at all. For years, fans have complained about how dull ThunderClan feels and I agree. As much as I don’t like TPoT, at least the background characters had something going on. Poppyfrost, Cinderheart, Berrynose, Spiderleg, etc. had personalities and scenes. The main trio actually interacted with their Clan, making the Clan feel alive. Nowadays, the background cats might as well not exist. The Clans do not have community despite being close-knit groups. Who the hell is Plumstone, Dewnose, Snowbush, Leafshade, Ambermoon, Honeyfur, etc. etc. I don’t know. They hardly speak.

The other Clans have it worse than ThunderClan. SkyClan is hardly present. For the most part, Leafstar, Hawkwing, Violetshine, Tree, and Rootspring are the only ones who speak. They’re the most important members during and after AVoS and TBC. WindClan only has Crowfeather, Breezepelt, Kestrelflight, and Harestar and Harestar himself doesn’t have a personality. He’s very boring. RiverClan had nothing going for six arcs straight (starting with TNP and ending at ASC). ShadowClan is becoming the new ThunderClan, but there is a large chunk of the Clan who are still voiceless and faceless. All of this is disappointing and indicative of lazy writing and planning. The Clans don’t feel like Clans. Even though I do not think Victoria Holmes is a good writer, she cared about her characters and world. When she was plotting the books, the background cats, at the very least, spoke up.

Massive Issue #11: The Clans Are Boring

Something that became really apparent to me as I trudged my way through this godforsaken series is how boring the Clans are outside the main plots. On top of the slew of faceless names that populate them, the jobs, roles, problems, and the lack of change make the Clans dull to follow. They face the same predators and enemies over and over. Need some conflict during a traveling scene? Oh no a dog/fox/badger is attacking them! Does your bad guy need an army? Have him recruit some nameless rogues! Need a border skirmish? A squirrel a cat was chasing ran across the border, alerting the other Clan’s border-crossing senses. It’s tired. They hardly fight anymore and whenever they do, they’re fighting off a fox, badger, dog, or rogue.

The cats have two jobs: warrior and medicine cat. Warrior apprentices are trained to hunt, fight, and patrol borders and by god are those scenes boring as sin. “Be sure to lift your tail off the ground, Examplepaw. It may rustle the grass and alert the prey.” “This is the border line. Can’t you smell WindClan?” It’s the same everytime. Medicine cat training is just as boring. Learning about which herbs do what is not interesting to me. At least they deal with various problems unlike warriors. Outbreaks, mysterious illnesses, StarClan shenanigans, etc. I like the medicine cats in general despite my complaining. They tend to have unique backstories. Cinderpelt was injured and during her recovery she fell in love with medicine cat duties and thus changed from a warrior to a medicine cat apprentice. Mudfur gave up warrior-life after seeing too much bloodshed. He chose to heal instead of injure. Littlecloud was inspired by Cinderpelt after she saved him from a deadly sickness and switched roles because of her. Puddleshine was seemingly chosen at random to be ShadowClan’s new medicine cat after Littlecloud died without an apprentice. Mothwing is an atheist and Hawkheart straight up murdered a woman! As far as I know, he’s the only medicine cat who murdered someone in cold blood. He says he was protecting his herbs but like… bro you didn’t have to kill Moonflower. So yeah, medicine cats are interesting, but I wish their training scenes were less boring.

I love the mentoring system in Warriors. A young cat learning their Clan’s skills from a teacher is a great way to showcase what each Clan values. And it’s an excellent way to develop relationships and characters. However, we do not get that. You would think mentors would affect their apprentices’ lives but no. Once the apprentice is trained and becomes a warrior, they never talk to their mentor again. We hardly get any mentor drama. Ashfur being stand-offish toward Lionpaw/blaze and Fireheart learning to trust Bramblepaw/claw/star are the only substantial mentor/apprentice conflicts and arcs I can think of. Hell, we haven’t had a protagonist train an apprentice while we were following them since Lionblaze. I don’t count Twigbranch because we skip most of her scenes with Flypaw.

I wish the Clans had more roles for the younger cats to strive for just to vary up what we see. Or, at least, I would love to see the apprentices be taught unique Clan skills that aren’t hunting/fishing. The field guide Battle of the Clans is hilarious to me. In it, each Clan talks about their special battle moves and the tail signals they use. I would love to see cheesy battle moves like “Thunder Strike” or whatever being taught to the apprentices. That’s cute and it adds to their culture. Tail signals are an idea I love so much that I’ve put it into my own work. I feel safe doing this because the concept of tail signals only exist in the field guides. They’re not present in any of the books that matter. I wish we saw the cats use tail signals while in battle or on patrol. It makes perfect sense why they would develop a system like that but no.

The warrior to leader pipeline is incredibly difficult to achieve since leaders and deputies hardly die. Not since Bramblestar have we had a protagonist go from apprentice to leader. Many of our protagonists do not want to be leader and that’s dull frankly. I want power struggle. Perhaps if we had more leadership roles for the young cats to strive after, we could get more political drama, y’know the stuff I like? Or maybe we could have more roles in general. Perhaps a messenger or dedicated nursery assistant. Daisy is the unofficial nursery queen of ThunderClan, but I wish the Clans would make the role a real one. Have Daisy train someone else once she’s too old to do it anymore. We have the mediator role now. Is Tree going to train someone when he gets too old? I hope so. I would like to see it.

The Clans all being different flavors of ThunderClan is a running gag in the fandom. While funny, it’s painfully true.

ThunderClan: ProtagonistClan is an anomaly to me. They’re supposedly good at stalking and working as a team, but… all the Clans are good at that. I have a vague memory of ThunderClan cats being described as “bigger than the others,” but for the life of me I cannot remember which book I heard this from. I probably dreamed it. Regardless, it’s not true. None of the Clans have signature physical traits. Since most of the protagonists come from this Clan, they are always in other Clans’ business. They have to be for the plots to happen. The other Clans don’t like this, but they have to put up with it because ThunderClan is ProtagonistClan.

ShadowClan: AntagonistClan’s special trait is being good at stalking like all cats. They also hunt alone except when they don’t. They’re supposed to be night hunters, but Clan cats are diurnal (a deliberate choice made by Holmes). They hardly hunt at night. ShadowClan lives in the pine forest so they do not have a lot of ground foliage. To hunt, they have to be light-footed. However, this hardly matters because ThunderClan does the same shit even though they have more grass and bushes. It’s so dull. ShadowClan is ThunderClan painted black.

WindClan: DramaClan cats are said to be speedy and that’s true. They are fast. They hunt rabbits and they used to dig tunnels until Heatherstar abolished it because it was too dangerous. Sad. I liked the conflict that it caused within the Clan. The whole thing made WindClan have a unique culture, but we can’t have that I guess. They don’t behave any different from the other Clans. They’re just ThunderClan, but they don’t have trees. I like WindClan though. That’s where all the family drama happens.

RiverClan: ForgottenClan. That’s not even a joke. After the first arc, they stop being important. They swim and eat fish. For some reason, the other cats find fish gross. When they all moved to the lake, they all should be fishing since they each have a bit of the lake in their territories but the Clan cats are ethnocentrists. The thought of doing anything outside their group is repugnant. RiverClan is repeatedly stated to be plump and sleek but like… no not really. They’re more prone to natural disasters than the other Clans. If the river were to flood, they’re fucked. If it were to dry up, they’re fucked. In the field guide Secret of the Clans (aka my favorite Warriors book. I’ll talk about it one day) it states that RiverClan decorates their dens with shells and what not. From my memory, the main series brought this up twice, once in Crookedstar’s Promise and once in A Starless Clan. RiverClan needs more attention really. They’re full of nobodies so I’m glad A Starless Clan is fleshing them out. It only took 20 years…

SkyClan: RetconnedClan sucks. They were interesting when they were at the gorge. The unique environment set them apart from the other boring Clans. I like the daylight warriors, kittypets who were warriors but stayed with their humans at night. They were cute and had funny names like Billystorm and Snookthorn. But once they arrived to the lake, they became the new RiverClan. They’re hardly a presence and most of the Clan is full of voiceless names. Their special trait is jumping and climbing trees, something all cats can do. How cool…

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End of Part Four!

Yay. Glad to be done with this. This wasn’t as dense as part three, thank goodness. The last part will be about Dawn of the Clans and… it may be longer than part three. I despise Dawn of the Clans so much. It will take a while.