In this Warriors Roundup: our final three Super Editions. I’d like to apologize for the delay in posting this Roundup; I will admit that I have been deliberately slowing my rate of Warriors consumption as I get closer to completely catching up with the franchise. What will I do with myself when I run out of cat books to read? I’ve got a few ideas, but for now, let’s take a look at what those warrior cats are up to…

Riverstar’s Home

Riverstar was, as anyone with basic pattern recognition skills or who paid attention during the Dawn of the Clans roundup would already know, the first leader of RiverClan, and this Super Edition is effectively his biography.  Ripple lives an Edenic existence in a public park with several other cats including his mentor Arc and his mate Flutter.  When Twolegs show up and start bulldozing the place, Ripple escapes by riding a log down the river, which eventually takes him to what we readers recognize as RiverClan’s portion of the forest territories.  He renames himself River Ripple, meets friendly loners Night and Mist, and begins attracting other loners to come live with him through his sheer chill, relaxed energy.  Later, cats from the mountains move into the territory.  We then see the highlights of the Dawn of the Clans arc and Moth Flight’s Vision Super Edition from River Ripple’s perspective: Clear Sky getting up to his old nonsense; the First Battle; StarClan revealing itself; One-Eye and Slash causing troubles; and finally, River Ripple communing with StarClan, receiving his nine lives, and becoming Riverstar.  Later, Riverstar’s old mentor from the park, Arc, arrives at RiverClan camp to ask for Riverstar’s help.  Apparently, several other park cats escaped the destruction of the park and settled close by, but now they are being terrorized by minor Dawn of the Clans villain Slash.  Riverstar travels with Arc to the park cats’ new home.  Together, the park cats and Riverstar fight Slash and his rogues; while the battle initially goes poorly and Riverstar loses a life, he intimidates Slash’s rogues into fleeing upon being resurrected by insinuating that he has fabulous magical powers beyond coming back from the dead.  Slash gets a classic Disney villain death by falling off a cliff, and the park cats are saved.  While waiting to return to RiverClan, Riverstar falls in love with park cat Finch, takes her as his mate, and gets her pregnant.  Although tempted to stay with the park cats, Riverstar ultimately decides his duty to his clan comes first and leaves.  Thankfully, Finch decides that she loves Riverstar too much to live without him and comes along.  Upon arriving back to the forest territories, Riverstar learns that Skystar (the artist formerly known as Clear Sky) has been up to his old nonsense – apparently, a storm blew a tree across the river, creating a bridge between RiverClan and SkyClan territory, and Skystar has decided to interpret this as a sign from StarClan that SkyClan should conquer RiverClan.  Despite being a pacifist, Riverstar drives SkyClan off RiverClan land and destroys the bridge.

First and foremost, I’d like to say that it’s nice to return to the Dawn of the Clans continuity.  This Super Edition (released 2023) is the first time we’ve had a work longer than a novella set during or around Dawn of the Clans since 2015, when the final book of the arc and Moth Flight’s Vision came out.  Something I’ve always appreciated about the Dawn of the Clans continuity is its remoteness from the rest of canon: a lot of the canon of the main continuity can be a bit limiting.  The clans don’t really fight each other for no reason anymore in the main continuity; years of mutual defense against external threats have made them too integrated.  In Dawn of the Clans, however, we have Clear Sky, who is practically “starting fights for no reason” incarnate, so we can have clan vs. clan conflicts that aren’t tied in with some broader metaphysical conflict between the forces of good and evil.  Sometimes it’s nice to see cats fight just because.

Structurally speaking, this was a bit of an odd one.  Riverstar’s Home didn’t feel like a Super Edition so much as it felt like a Super Edition with two novellas appended to the end of it: the entire “Riverstar helps the park cats fight Slash” and “RiverClan vs. SkyClan” plotlines feel so independent of the rest of the Super Edition that they could have been published as novellas and I don’t think anybody would have noticed.  It’s not uncommon for these biography-style Super Editions to jump around a lot in the timeline, but this is the only Super Edition I can think of that feels this disjointed besides maybe Onestar’s Confession.  I think part of the issue is the lack of a strong thematic throughline, but then again this isn’t exactly a problem unique to Riverstar’s Home.  Honestly, I think a Riverstar Super Edition was always going to be challenging thematically; Riverstar’s defining character traits are his relaxed attitude and his love of peace, yet he’s a clan leader bordering Skystar’s SkyClan, so obviously peace was never going to be an option long-term.  Perhaps if this conflict was a central plot point of the book it would have felt more cohesive, but as it stands it’s something that is briefly brought up on a few occasions and then dismissed shortly thereafter.

It didn’t particularly bother me that much of this Super Edition was spent re-telling Dawn of the Clans.  For one, Riverstar is, for all intents and purposes, a secondary character in Dawn of the Clans; he is absent for virtually every major event in the first half of the arc and several major events in the second half, so it’s not just a blow-by-blow of the major plot points.  Arguably, Riverstar’s Home might be the best way to consume Dawn of the Clans, because his perspective doesn’t include Bumble.  What did bother me a bit was the entire “Riverstar goes to help the park cats plot.”  It’s yet another “Clan cat as white savior to primitive non-clan society” plot that has been plaguing Warriors since the New Prophecy arc, and it’s just as irksome here as it always is.  Oh, and while I’m mentioning minor annoyances, in this book we were treated to – you guessed it – yet another birthing scene. 

All in all, this was just a middle of the road Super Edition.  Nothing particularly offensive going on, but nothing to write home about either.

Ivypool’s Heart

Fifteen years after her introduction back at the end of Power of Three, we finally have a Super Edition following one of my favorite characters, Ivypool.  This Super Edition takes place during the events of A Starless Clan – Splashtail has just taken charge of RiverClan, Squirrelstar is the new leader of ThunderClan, and Ivypool is not having a good time.  She is still grieving the loss of her daughter, Bristlefrost, whom, since she died in the Dark Forest, Ivypool has no hope of ever seeing again, even in StarClan.  WindClan medicine cat apprentice Whistlepaw begins having disturbing visions indicating the clans must repay some long-forgotten debt lest disaster strike them all.  The clan leaders take these visions seriously enough to send a patrol to follow Whistlepaw’s vision.  This patrol consists of Whistlepaw, Ivypool, Rootspring, Dovewing, and Icewing.  The patrol experiences various misadventures (including running into some tough kittypets and the Sisters) before arriving at what readers recognize as a run-down zoo/exotic animal marketplace.  There, the patrol runs into two caged wildcats, Stalk Purr and Tumble Leap, who speak their language and claim descent from a group known as StormClan, whom the patrol has never heard of.  Seeking to understand what StormClan is all about, the patrol follow the wildcats’ directions to a holy site where they commune with the spirit of Galestar, the leader of StormClan and the source of Whistlepaw’s visions.  To make a long story short, a long time ago Galestar was a leader of WindClan who fell in love with Stripestar, who was leader of ThunderClan.  In order to be together without breaking the Warrior Code, they combined their clans into StormClan.  StarClan disapproved, misfortune struck, and ultimately StormClan left the forest territories.  During the journey, Galestar and her kits got separated from the rest of StormClan and they were taken in by a group of wildcats, and now Galestar wants the clan patrol to repay their kindness by helping the trapped wildcats. The clan patrol returns to the zoo/exotic animal marketplace, rescue Stalk Purr and Tumble Leap, and together they journey to find another group of wildcats whom they can live with.  On the journey, Stalk Purr gives birth to three kits, and Ivypool and Icewing continue alone to find the other wildcats.  They do, and after the other wildcats agree to accept Stalk Purr and Tumble Leap into their group, Ivypool and Icewing journey to the wildcats’ afterlife by means of their local holy site, a hollow log.  There, they meet with Galestar and the three travel down the River of Spirits to StarClan’s hunting grounds.  Once there, Galestar tells her story to the gathered StarClan cats, who had completely forgotten about StormClan.  When the StarClan cats remember StormClan, the StormClan cats who had previously faded from StarClan re-materialize, and Galestar reconciles with Stripestar.  Once Stalk Purr and Tumble Leap join the wildcat group, the clan cats set off to return to the lake territories.  Ivypool begins the return journey safe in the knowledge that, while she may never see Bristlefrost again, Bristlefrost’s spirit is all around her.

Ivypool’s Heart has probably the strongest thematic throughline of any Super Edition: grief.  Death in Warriors has never been much of a big deal; StarClan’s existence is so apparent to everyone in-series that atheism is untenable.  Every Clan cat knows with absolute certainty that they will see their departed loved ones in the afterlife, so long as they haven’t been sent to the Dark Forest or experienced spirit death.  Unfortunately, since Bristlefrost experienced spirit death, Ivypool knows for a fact that she will never see her again, and it affects her terribly.  At the beginning of this book, Ivypool is neglecting her duties as clan deputy and sneaking out in the middle of the night to commiserate with Rootspring.  She can’t laugh without feeling guilty: to quote, “Cats in mourning don’t laugh, she told herself.  What would Bristlefrost think if she could see me, chuckling away, with her dead and gone?” (Ivypool’s Heart, pg. 68) And Ivypool isn’t the only cat in the patrol dealing with grief: Rootspring is grieving his mate Bristlefrost as well, and Dovewing is grieving the loss of her son Rowankit who died earlier in A Starless Clan.  Meanwhile, Icewing has come to terms with the death of one of her children who also died in the Dark Forest back in Omen of the Stars.

During its exploration of Ivypool’s grief, this Super Edition does a lot to develop the Warriors afterlife.  Back in Omen of the Stars, we were introduced to the concepts of spirit death and fading – that dying in the Dark Forest/dying while already dead results in one being erased from existence, and that if all living cats forget about a StarClan/Dark Forest cat, said cat’s spirit fades into (presumable) nonexistence.  Neither of these concepts have really been explored in any detail until now, so I’m glad to see them finally get some attention.  This book gives us our first description of what is believed to happen to “faded” cats, at least according to the wildcats.  According to Claw Stretch:

“We wildcats believe that we go to an afterlife when we die, just as you clan cats do.  But when those cats are eventually forgotten by all the living wildcats, they become part of the earth, the air, the water – they spread out to become part of the whole world. Nothing is ever really lost.  Ivypool, can’t you sense, if you reach out, that Bristlefrost is still all around you?” (Ivypool’s Heart, pg. 321)

Later still, when Stripestar “de-fades” and re-materializes in StarClan, he describes his prior existence as follows:

“I wasn’t here,” he replied slowly, as if he was feeling his way.  “I was kind of everywhere, I suppose. I was part of the wind, the grass, the trees…everything.  I wasn’t watching over the Clans like StarClan does, but I was…aware of them.  It was sort of…wonderful.” (Ivypool’s Heart, pg. 352)

This gives us confirmation that “faded” cats still exist as individuals, at least in some sense, and that fading is reversible.  This also debunks the fan theory that “faded” cats are reincarnated.  The book is somewhat more ambiguous as to what happens after spirit death; from what I can gather, the implication seems to be that they experience the same “oneness with the world” thing that faded cats do, but that spirit death is irreversible.  At the very end of the book, Ivypool dreams of Bristlefrost:

[…] Ivypool found herself standing beside the lake in the quiet evening light with waves lapping peacefully at her paws. Bristlefrost purred as she pressed her cheek against her mother’s.  Her sweet scent wreathed all around Ivypool.

“Oh, Bristlefrost, I’ve missed you so much,” she mewed, her heart breaking all over again.  “I can’t stand losing you!”

“You haven’t lost me.”  Bristlefrost blinked at her affectionately.  “I’m everywhere.  You only need to look for me.”

As she spoke, her body and the lake and woodland around her began to fade.  Finally all that Ivypool could see was her daughter’s blue-green gaze, calm and full of love. Then even that disappeared, and Ivypool opened her eyes to find herself in her nest under the bushes. (Ivypool’s Heart, pg. 372)

Later, Rootspring confirms he had the same dream.  This could be interpreted as evidence that cats post-spirit death can communicate with living cats through dreams, but personally I don’t buy it for a few reasons.  One, if faded/post-spirit-death cats could just send living cats dreams, Evil Tigerstar would have started doing it three arcs ago. Two, this is not the first Bristlefrost dream Ivypool has had this Super Edition, but it’s the only one where Bristlefrost confirms that she is “one with the world.”  Notably, this dream occurs after Ivypool learns of the wildcats’ beliefs regarding post-faded/spirit death cats and after Stripestar confirms what really happens to faded cats.  It’s a classic case of “dreams aren’t prophetic if they don’t provide any new information.”  Had Rootspring not had the same dream, I would argue that Ivypool’s dream was just a normal dream – but since Rootspring did have the same dream, I have to conclude that it is supernatural in origin, but not directly from post-spirit death Bristlefrost – I’m thinking the most realistic option is the Cat Monad/the totality of existence.  Or maybe I’m giving the story team too much credit and it really is just from Bristlefrost.

On the topic of somewhat ambiguous metaphysical things that happened in this Super Edition: when Icewing and Ivypool are sailing down the River of Spirits (which, to be clear, has literally never been mentioned before) they pass by several afterlives, including the Tribe of Endless Hunting.  When they pass the Dark Forest, Ivypool is tempted to leap in and look for any trace of Bristlefrost, when, to quote:

Then a voice seemed to speak in her mind.  It was cool and quiet, and infinitely comforting.

“You have a mate, and kits, who love you.  You have a Clan that respects you.  You are Clan deputy.  You are needed.  There would be such grief and loss if you never returned.”

Could that be Bristlefrost? (Ivypool’s Heart, pg. 344-345)

This incident is never brought up again and the source of the voice is never confirmed.  Once again, the easy interpretation is, this is Bristlefrost communicating with Ivypool from her place as one with the world, but I don’t buy this because, again, if cats who have gone through spirit death can just communicate with the living, Evil Tigerstar would have been doing so for three arcs now.  I also suspect that, were this Bristlefrost, Ivypool would immediately recognize her.  The description of the voice as, “cool and quiet, and infinitely comforting” makes me think this is some higher power we have yet to really see in Warriors – perhaps Cat God, or the Cat Monad, or whatever the source of StarClan’s prophecies is, but once again I could be giving the story team too much credit and it’s just Bristlefrost.

Anyway, even outside the metaphysical, this Super Edition feels like it does a lot to expand the Warriors world.  Besides the new additions (the wildcats and StormClan) we also have more Sisters lore, a mention of my beloved WarriorClan (the first outside Graystripe’s Vow) and, perhaps most notably, a new map.  Most Warriors books contain a map of either the forest or the lake territories immediately following the Allegiances section, but in Ivypool’s Heart we are instead treated to a map showing various locales visited during the clan patrol’s journey.  I know this map is used again in the next Super Edition for reasons that will soon become apparent, but it still feels like a lot of effort to draw a map that will only be used twice.  With all the new additions to the Warriors world introduced in this book, I can’t help but feel like Ivypool’s Heart is building up to something.  What exactly is being built up to, if anything, I can’t tell you – and unless it’s featured in the next Super Edition or the first book of Changing Skies, we’re just going to have to wait to find out.

Overall, I really enjoyed this Super Edition.  Ivypool’s Heart gives Crookedstar’s Promise a run for its money as my favorite Super Edition.

StormClan’s Folly

Remember StormClan from Ivypool’s Heart?  Well, this is a Super Edition all about them.  Shortly after SkyClan’s departure from the forest territories, WindClan apprentice Galepaw and ThunderClan apprentice Stripepaw meet each other at a Gathering and immediately hit it off.  Seasons later, Stripestar and Galestar have become leaders of their respective clans.  After Galestar accidentally kills Stripestar’s mate in battle (which doesn’t bother Stripestar all that much) she decides to make it up to him by helping ThunderClan take Sunningrocks from RiverClan.  The two begin meeting in secret to discuss their alliance, fall madly in love, and Galestar becomes pregnant with Stripestar’s kits.  They decide to combine their clans into a new conglomerate clan, StormClan, so they can be together.  However, when they visit the Moonstone to get StarClan’s approval, they are told in no uncertain terms that StarClan will never condone the union of their clans.  Stripestar and Galestar insist on going through with it anyway, and in response StarClan strips them of their nine lives and refuses to offer their guidance any longer.  Later, after Galestar’s kits are stillborn and a forest fire results in all the Clans going hungry, Galestar and Stripestar decide to lead their new clan out of the forest territories towards greener pastures.  The journey takes them through the mountains, where they meet the Tribe of Rushing Water, and past what we readers recognize as the Moonpool from the lake territories.  StormClan attempts to settle in several locales – a Twoleg den, a marsh, high in the mountains – only meet disaster in each and are forced to move on.  Ultimately, StormClan settles on a beach, where Galestar gives birth to a second litter of kits.  When StormClan attempts to leave the beach to once again look for a better home, they are struck by a powerful storm and Galestar and her kits are separated from the larger group.  Despite frantic searching, Stripestar and the rest of StormClan are unable to find any trace of Galestar or her kits, who are presumed dead.  Galestar and her kits are found by a friendly group of wildcats, who take them in.  Convinced that she has been abandoned by Stripestar, Galestar eventually becomes a fully accepted member of the wildcat group, taking a wildcat mate and adopting the new name Gale Rise.  Meanwhile, StormClan mutinies, demanding Stripestar lead them back to the forest territories and then splintering back into WindClan and ThunderClan.  Upon his return to the forest, Stripestar grovels first to RiverClan and ShadowClan and then to StarClan, begging them to allow ThunderClan and WindClan back.  StarClan ultimately agrees under the condition that Stripestar be stripped of his leadership and no cat ever speaks of StormClan ever again.  Years later, under the leadership of Whitestar, ThunderClan successfully reconquers Sunningrocks from RiverClan.  Stripebark, now an old cat, thinks back to his victory at Sunningrocks all those years ago.  He realizes that he misses Galestar, that she was all he ever wanted, and that he will never forgive himself for losing her.

I really liked this one.  I do love a good downer ending, and I love stories about the haughty being brought low by fate.  It’s a classic tale of hubris – Galestar and Stripestar love each other so strongly that they defy StarClan to their faces so they can be together.  They lead their Clan through disaster after disaster, every lost clanmate a martyr on the altar of their love, and in the end, it was all for nothing.  Stripestar – or rather, Stripebark – spends the rest of his life atoning for his mistakes, trying to repair the damage he caused to his Clan, missing Galestar with his every waking moment, and Galestar – or rather, Gale Rise – dies thinking that Stripestar betrayed and abandoned her (although, to be fair, she does live a long and fulfilling life with her kits and her new hunky wildcat boyfriend first.)

Of course, the ultimate tragedy here is how eminently avoidable this all was.  All that needed to happen was for one leader to step down and join the other’s clan.  This was long before changing clans was made acceptable by the Warrior Code, but swapping clans has always had more social consequences than spiritual consequences.  Sure, your new clanmates might not fully trust you for a while, but you’re not going to be sent to the Dark Forest for switching clans – besides, who’s going to give a hard time to the clan leader’s mate?  But no – the thought never seems to cross either Galestar or Stripestar’s mind.  They’re too loyal to their birth clans to consider leaving them, but they love each other too much to be apart, so they try to have their cake and eat it too by combining their Clans and it ends disastrously.

Not to go off on yet another “disambiguating StarClan’s powers” tangent but, in this book, StarClan strips Galestar and Stripestar of their extra lives after they refuse to give up on uniting their clans.  This confirms that this is something that StarClan could always do (the first time this power was used in the main series was, I believe, when Rowanstar gave up his extra lives in A Vision of Shadows.) This is interesting, because in the Prophecies Begin arc, Evil Tigerstar does virtually the same thing as Galestar and Stripestar (unites ShadowClan and RiverClan into TigerClan) and he doesn’t lose his extra lives.  Why?  Well, from a meta standpoint, it’s obviously because the writers hadn’t given StarClan that power yet, but in-universe, here are all the possibilities I can think of for why StarClan didn’t strip Evil Tigerstar of his nine lives:

1. They did, and Scourge “killing Evil Tigerstar nine times at once” was really just “killing Evil Tigerstar the one time”
2. StarClan knew they didn’t need to for prophetic reasons
3. Evil Tigerstar didn’t ask for StarClan’s approval, so they weren’t as mad at him (an “it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission” situation)
4. Stripping leaders of their extra lives is a proximity-based power that requires the leader to be present at a holy site (e.g., the Moonstone or Moonpool)

Ultimately, I think these are all reasonable explanations, but I doubt we’ll ever be given a truly canonical explanation as that would likely require either another late-The Prophecies Begin Super Edition or an explicit admission from StarClan.

I should also mention that this is the first Warriors book to be written by a new addition to the Erin Hunter team, Conrad Mason, and let me tell you, my man Conrad makes one hell of an Erin Hunter.  Maybe it’s because the past 85 or so Warriors books were all by the same small group of authors, but I really like Conrad’s style.  I know I haven’t talked much about the prose of Warriors – the two main ghostwriters Kate and Cherith have similar styles – but Conrad’s style is distinct enough that I feel the need to mention it.  Were I to describe his style as succinctly as possible, I would say it’s snappier and grittier than what we usually get in Warriors. 

Allow me to provide an example: here’s a description of minor character Shaded Moss being hit by a car in the first Dawn of the Clans book, written by longtime series contributor Cherith Baldry:

“Wait!” Gray Wing shrieked.

But his warning came too late.  Shaded Moss plunged out of the bushes, across the narrow strip of grass that edged the Thunderpath, and straight into the path of a roaring monster.  Gray Wing heard a sickening thud as Shaded Moss’s body was flung into the air.

The monster growled on, leaving nothing behind but a terrible, deafening silence. (The Sun Trail, pg. 169)

This is type of description is typical for Warriors – grievous injuries are described obliquely and with a considerable amount of discretion.  For comparison, here’s now a similar scene plays out in StormClan’s Folly:

The roar of a monster came rising, filling Galestar’s senses.  But there was nothing she could do.  She could only watch Kestrelwing flounder.  He half rose, his rheumy eyes wide with panic.  And the gigantic monster came rumbling over him, breaking his body against the hard ground of the Thunderpath.

Stripestar’s shriek split the sky.

In its wake, the monster left only a blast of scouring wind and a ragged bundle of fur and flesh and bone strewn across the grown.  The shattered form of what had once been Kestrelwing. (StormClan’s Folly, pg. 134-135)

Still not super graphic in absolute terms, but way gorier than what we usually see in Warriors.  Honestly, I dig it. Even outside of the more graphic descriptions, this book has a several lines that jump straight off the page.  Here’s an example – in this scene, Stripestar has just told RiverClan and ShadowClan about how StormClan left Galestar behind:

“You were her mate!”

“Did you care for her at all?”

“How could you have left her, Stripestar?  How could you have left your family?”

Stripestar bowed his head and endured it all.  Their hatred didn’t hurt because Stripestar hated himself already.  He was a rat.  He was a worm.  He was nothing. (StormClan’s Folly, pg. 421)

He was a rat. He was a worm.  He was nothing.  What a great line, I can feel the self-loathing seeping through the page.

Finally, there’s one other minor aspect of StormClan’s Folly that warrants a mention.  Here’s a quote from secondary character Pebblenose towards Galestar:

“But this has gone too far.  This…quest of yours, and Stripestar’s.  This dream you’re chasing…it can never be more than that!” Now that he had begun, the words seemed to be pouring out of Pebblenose, like the waterfall behind him.  Thrushcall stood close, in silent support of his mate.  “It’s changing you, Galestar.  Once, you would have seen it yourself.  But love has veiled the truth from your sight.” (StormClan’s Folly, pg. 171)

Did you catch that?  Check the pronouns – Pebblenose and Thrushcall are both toms.  Across 87 main series books, Super Editions, and novellas, this is the first canonical gay couple in Warriors history.  No more making do with Frederick the Great situations – we finally have cats who are out and proud.  A whole new world of plot possibilities has just opened in front of us.  What will Warriors do with this newfound freedom?  Only time will tell.

Overall, I really enjoyed StormClan’s Folly. While I didn’t like it as much as Ivypool’s Heart, it’s still an impressive Super Edition and a great addition to the Warriors franchise.

Conclusion

Another solid bunch of Super Editions.  Riverstar’s Home was kinda meh, but the Ivypool’s Heart/StormClan’s Folly duology shows that Super Editions are still viable as a format.

And…that’s it.  StormClan’s Folly is the latest Super Edition to date, having been published less than a week ago as of this writing.  Here’s my final ranking of all the Warriors Super Editions:

1. Crookedstar’s Promise
2. Ivypool’s Heart
3. Tallstar’s Revenge
4. StormClan’s Folly
5. Crowfeather’s Trial
6. Squirrelflight’s Hope
7. Graystripe’s Vow
8. Bluestar’s Prophecy
9. Hawkwing’s Journey
10. Leopardstar’s Honor
11. Moth Flight’s Vision
12. Yellowfang’s Secret
13. Riverstar’s Home
14. Tigerheart’s Shadow
15. Bramblestar’s Storm
16. Onestar’s Confession
17. SkyClan’s Destiny
18. Firestar’s Quest

So, what’s next for Super Editions?  Well, conveniently enough, the next Super Edition has already been announced – scheduled for release in fall of 2026, it’s Darktail’s Judgement.  I’m cautiously optimistic about this one – I like Darktail, and it’ll be our first Super Edition from a villain’s point of view (unless you count Onestar or Leopardstar, which you probably should); I hope it leans into the villainous aspect of his character rather than trying to portray him sympathetically.

Besides that, here are a few characters/time periods I’d like to see covered in future Super Editions:

• WarriorClan.  #Monkeystar2027
• Hawkfrost.  We haven’t really gotten a good look at Hawkfrost outside of Mothwing’s Secret; I think he could carry a Super Edition.
• Clear Sky/Skystar.  I just really like Clear Sky and think he would have a fun Super Edition.
• Any kittypet.  We still have never gotten a good look at what kittypet life is like.  What do they think of the Clans?   What kinds of misadventures do they get into?  What are their beliefs about the afterlife?  Maybe we’ll see a bit of this in Darktail’s Judgement since he grew up around kittypets, but I’m not holding my breath.
• Power of Three/Omen of the Stars era.  We have Super Editions set before and after these arcs, but none set during them.  Surely something interesting was going on at the time besides the main plot? Not sure what a good PoV character would be – maybe Cloudtail/Brightheart?  They haven’t gotten any Super Edition/novella love.
• StormClan’s Folly era, specifically post-StormClan’s return.  This seems like fertile ground for future books.  How did ThunderClan and WindClan reconquer their land from the other clans after StormClan split apart?  What do Stripebark’s clanmates think of him?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Next up, on our final Warriors Roundup: the first book of the next arc, Changing Skies…

In this installment of Warriors Roundup: our final three novellas.

Daisy’s Kin

“Who is Daisy?” I hear you cry.  Well, Daisy is a former barn cat who came to live with ThunderClan back in the New Prophecy and ever since has acting as a “nursery queen” – that is, a she-cat who lives full time in the clan’s nursery and helps new mothers with their kits.  This novella takes place during the events of the Broken Code.  The False Bramblestar has been outed, but during his reign two of Daisy’s kits were killed, leaving her with one surviving son, Mousewhisker. Her old mate from the barn Smokey shows up in ThunderClan, begging for help; his new mate, Coriander, is having a difficult kitting.  Daisy, along with Mousewhisker and Alderheart, go to assist Coriander; Coriander gives birth to two live kits, but dies shortly after.  Not wanting his kits to become kittypets, Smoky insists on bringing the newborns to SkyClan, who has a nursing mother who can care for them.  On the way to SkyClan, the five encounter the Sisters, who also have a nursing mother and take in the kits.  Later, once the kits are weaned, Smoky takes them back to his barn.  Daisy, unsure of her place in ThunderClan, decides to join him.  Later, several ThunderClan cats (including Mousewhisker) stop by the barn and ask Daisy to return, as they have a new mother who needs her help.  Daisy ultimately decides to return to ThunderClan, saying a tearful goodbye to Smoky and his kits but promising to visit.

Daisy was a great choice of a subject for a novella.  Warriors overwhelmingly follows cats in the two standard clan career paths, warrior and medicine cat, so it’s nice to get a PoV from a character with a more unusual role in the clan.  Daisy is also, I believe, only the fourth non-clanborn cat to get a full novella or Super Edition from their point of view after Firestar, Tree, and Mothwing.  One of the aspects of the Warriors world that I feel has been woefully underexplored is the perspective of outsiders.  Like I said in my Tigerheart’s Shadow roundup, most groups of outsiders are treated by the text as “defective Clans” in need of the assistance of the more sophisticated Clan cats.  While this has been alleviated somewhat by the introduction of the Sisters (who the text treats considerably less chauvinistically) we still rarely see the world through their point of view (the only example I can think of being Tree’s novella.)

Unfortunately, Daisy’s Kin doesn’t take full advantage of the strength of its concept.  The novella takes place during the Broken Code arc, four full arcs after Daisy first joined ThunderClan in the New Prophecy.  Daisy is already fully integrated into clan life and her brief sojourn back to the barn with Smoky is motivated by the same general dissatisfaction with post-False Bramblestar ThunderClan that motivated Graystripe to wander in his Super Edition.  There’s not necessarily anything wrong with this, but I can’t help but feel this novella would have been more interesting if it focused on Daisy’s initial struggles to integrate into ThunderClan that we caught a glimpse of in the New Prophecy.  The side plot of Mousewhisker and Smoky’s relationship wasn’t much of anything either; unfortunately parent-child relationships in Warriors are only treated as important when they’re relevant to the plot, so the fact that Mousewhisker and his siblings effectively had an absent father isn’t really something that has ever come up before.

Overall, this one was okay.

Spotfur’s Rebellion

“Who is Spotfur?” I hear you cry.  Well, Spotfur is a ThunderClan warrior who was a minor character in the Broken Code arc.  This novella starts with some filler: Spotpaw is a troublesome apprentice.  Spotpaw has a crush on Stempaw.  Spotpaw helps the clan.  Spotfur becomes a warrior.  Then, Bramblestar falls ill, dies, comes back, and starts acting strangely.  Unlike the rest of ThunderClan, Spotfur and her mate Stemleaf immediately pick up on the fact that post-resurrection Bramblestar is acting weird.  Together, they approach some other disaffected clanmates and plan a meeting of like-minded clan cats.  At this meeting, Rootpaw reveals that Bramblestar’s body is under the control of an impostor. Later, after the rebel group has grown considerably, they hold a meeting to determine what to do about the False Bramblestar.  Squirrelflight insists that the False Bramblestar should not be harmed, but Spotfur and Stemleaf decide he’s too dangerous to be left alive and plan to assassinate him without the approval of the rebel leadership.  Spotfur and Stemleaf’s group attack Bramblestar, but Bristlefrost (who had earlier promised Squirrelflight to protect Bramblestar) brings reinforcements for the imposter.  The assassination attempt fails, and Stemleaf is killed in the fighting.  With her mate dead at the hands of the impostor, Spotfur vows that one day the rebels will re-take ThunderClan

The nicest thing I can say about this novella is that it wasn’t boring.  Unfortunately, this is largely a testament of how interesting the Impostor plotline is as a concept, as this novella is almost entirely extraneous.  While Spotfur is a PoV we’ve never seen before, this novella doesn’t really provide any new information on ThunderClan under the Impostor.  The emotional center of this novella is supposed to be the relationship between Spotfur and Stemleaf, but Warriors has never been great at depicting interesting romantic relationships and this is no exception.  I’d say more if there was any more to say, but there just isn’t – this novella didn’t really feel like anything substantial.  Sorry, Spotfur fans.

Blackfoot’s Reckoning

“Who is Blackfoot?” I hear you cry.  Well, Blackfoot, later known as Blackstar, was the leader of ShadowClan from the New Prophecy through Bramblestar’s Storm.  It’s immediately following the battle at the end of the Prophecies Begin – Scourge is dead and the forest is saved from the threat of total annihilation by BloodClan.  With Evil Tigerstar dead, his deputy Blackfoot is next in line for leadership of ShadowClan.  Blackfoot and medicine cat Runningnose go the Moonstone so Blackfoot can receive his nine lives, but before he receives each life, he is forced to relive a moment from his past.  Most of these moments revolve around Blackfoot’s complicity in the crimes of the two Obviously Evil leaders he had been deputy under, Brokenstar and Evil Tigerstar.  Under Brokenstar, Blackfoot had done nothing to speak out against his leaders’ use of child soldiers and actively supported his attempts to drive WindClan from the forest and kidnap other clans’ kits to make more child soldiers.  Under Evil Tigerstar, Blackfoot had been complicit in his leaders’ attempts to eradicate half-clan cats: we get to see the “Evil Tigerstar tells Stonefur to kill two apprentices, Stonefur asks Leopardstar what she wants him to do, Leopardstar tells him to do what Tigerstar says” scene from Blackfoot’s perspective, in which Stonefur is ultimately killed by Blackfoot.  After being brought low by confronting the enormity of his past mistakes, Blackfoot’s final two visions are more comforting: one is of him caring for the sick cats of ShadowClan during the events of Tigerclaw’s Fury, and another is a collection of brief glimpses of potential futures.  After receiving his final vision and his final life, Blackfoot is acclaimed as the new leader of ShadowClan as Blackstar.

Blackfoot was another good choice for a subject.  The fact that StarClan was okay with Blackstar becoming clan leader when he was second-in-command to both Brokenstar and Evil Tigerstar is something that warranted exploration. 

Textually, Warriors seems to implicitly accept the Nuremberg defense as valid.  Nearly every arc, cats do terrible things at the orders of their leaders and are let off the hook for any real consequences because they were “just following orders” (see: followers of Clear Sky, Brokenstar, Evil Tigerstar, Darktail, the False Bramblestar, and Splashtail.)  To a certain extent I don’t have a problem with this.  Diegetically, clan society puts a high value on loyalty and the violence ordered by bad guy leaders rarely rises to the level of war crimes.  Also, practically speaking, if every cat who willingly followed Splashtail was exiled, RiverClan would have, like, four members right now.  That said, if there’s any cat for whom the Nuremberg defense shouldn’t work, it’s Blackfoot.  This cat was second in command to not one, but two different Obviously Evil clan leaders, both of whom very much did war crimes in which Blackfoot was very much complicit.  Blackfoot personally went to kidnap ThunderClan kits to use as child soldiers and executed Stonefur on Evil Tigerstar’s orders for the crime of having the wrong parents.  Blackstar is a war criminal, even more so than Leopardstar.  I don’t think this has ever been addressed in the main series – if I’m remembering correctly, in the beginning of the New Prophecy Blackstar is leader of ShadowClan and everybody is just kind of okay with it. 

So, how does this novella square that circle?  According to the text, Blackfoot is just incredibly credulous and incredibly loyal.  Blackstar loves his leaders, he never questions their decisions, and he implicitly believes every obvious, self-serving lie they feed him.  He is the opposite of genre savvy; he seems completely oblivious to the fact that he’s in the Slytherin of Warrior Cats.  Only in the middle of his nine lives ceremony does he stop and think “wait a minute, did Brokenstar lie to me about Raggedstar’s death?”  Yes, Blackfoot, your Obviously Evil clan leader wasn’t entirely honest with you about the circumstances of his predecessor’s death, an event to which he was the only witness and through which he stood the most to gain.

All that said, I get it.  A 100 page novella was never going to be enough to adequately cover a personality change from “eager participant in war crimes” to “good leader,” so some kind of cop-out to the first part was going to be necessary, and of the available options “he was just too stupid to realize what he was doing was wrong” is probably the best we could have gotten.  It’s not even entirely out of character considering how, in Power of Three, Blackstar gets fooled into forsaking StarClan by obvious charlatan Sol.  I also just think it’s funny to imagine Blackstar as a cat whose moral compass is completely overwritten by any authority figure telling him to do something.

Overall, I liked this novella.  Despite his obvious faults, I like Blackstar and nine lives ceremonies are always fun to see.

Closing Thoughts

All in all, an unexceptional batch of novellas.  Blackfoot’s Reckoning was the best of the three, and it was just good.

And…that’s it.  As of the date of this roundup going live, Blackfoot’s Reckoning is the final published Warriors novella.  Novellas fill an interesting niche in the Warriors franchise – conceptually they have to be interesting enough that they don’t feel entirely superfluous, but not so interesting that their concepts can’t be fully explored in their very limited page count, and not every novella is able to make it work.  Out of the novellas, I’d say my favorites are, in no particular order:

• Dovewing’s Silence
• Mapleshade’s Vengeance
• Ravenpaw’s Farewell
• Pinestar’s Choice
• Mothwing’s Secret

And my least favorites are, in no particular order:

• Hollyleaf’s Story
• Cloudstar’s Journey
• Thunderstar’s Echo
• Tawnypelt’s Clan
• Pebbleshine’s Kits

Next up: our final batch of Super Editions, including Stormclan’s Folly, which releases next week.  What will I think of the first new release since I’ve started my Warriors journey?  Read and find out…

It’s been a long journey, but we’re finally here: the final completed Warriors arc to date, A Starless Clan.  Let’s take a look:

Plot Summary

This arc’s three PoV characters are: Frostpaw, RiverClan medicine cat apprentice; Flamepaw, ThunderClan warrior apprentice; and Sunbeam, ShadowClan warrior.  A short time has passed since the conclusion of the Broken Code, and the Clans are still debating the proposed changes to the Warrior Code.  Ultimately, the changes discussed in the Broken Code roundup are implemented; most notably, provisions for legal clan-swapping and democratically removing a clan leader from power are added.  In RiverClan, Mistystar and Reedwhisker both die unexpectedly, plunging the clan into a succession crisis.  As Mothwing has no connection to StarClan, it becomes Frostpaw’s responsibility to interpret StarClan’s will as to who the next leader should be.  Frostpaw’s choice is Curlfeather, her mother; however, on the way to the Moonpool to receive her nine lives, Curlfeather is torn apart by dogs, with her final words to Frostpaw being “trust no cat.”  Meanwhile, in ThunderClan, Flamepaw is having a rough time – long story short, he feels like everyone is always comparing him to his famous ancestor Firestar instead of seeing him as his own cat, which ultimately leads him to reject his warrior name Flameheart.  Instead, he is given the name Nightheart (he’s a black cat, so it’s a more fitting name anyway.) 

Back in RiverClan, Frostpaw’s second choice for clan leader Owlnose turns out to be far too timid and indecisive; realizing he’s not cut out for clan leadership, he steps down before receiving his nine lives.  At the next Gathering, RiverClan’s dysfunction is immediately apparent; Tigerstar, concerned that RiverClan is on the brink of a total collapse that would threaten regional stability, conducts a special military operation to install his deputy Cloverfoot as temporary RiverClan leader until they can get their act together.  Meanwhile, Nightheart, fed up with his mistreatment by ThunderClan, decides to join ShadowClan to be with his crush Sunbeam, whom he had gone on a brief, barely relevant quest with earlier in the arc.

Tigerstar’s invasion of RiverClan sets off a diplomatic crisis among the clans; Leafstar of SkyClan wants to immediately mobilize against ShadowClan, but she lacks the support of WindClan and ThunderClan.  Frostpaw, despondent at her inability to choose the right leader for RiverClan, realizes with horror that what she thought were messages from StarClan were just normal dreams, and decides to abandon her medicine cat training.  Meanwhile, Nightheart takes part in the three ordeals necessary to join ShadowClan.  After realizing his loyalty still lies with ThunderClan, Nightheart intentionally fails his final ordeal and returns to ThunderClan.  Fortunately for him, Sunbeam decides to go with him.

Frostpaw finally receives an actual vision from StarClan that tells her that former RiverClan deputy Reedwhisker was murdered.  On her way to consult with other medicine cats, she is attacked and left for dead; she survives, and with Nightheart goes on a quest to find a group of cats who live in a park.  Using meditation techniques learned from the Park Cats, Frostpaw deduces the source of RiverClan’s recent misfortunes: her own mother, Curlfeather.  Here’s the cliff notes of Curlfeather’s evil plan:

1. Groom Frostpaw from birth into becoming a medicine cat apprentice
2. Arrange Reedwhisker’s death
3. Since Mothwing has no connection with StarClan, Frostpaw will be the one to interpret signs from StarClan regarding who the new deputy should be
4. Manipulate Frostpaw into recommending Curlfeather as deputy
5. Become clan leader when Mistystar dies (any day now)

Frostpaw also deduces that Curlfeather must have had an accomplice, Splashtail, who must have double-crossed her by luring dogs to attack her before she could get her nine lives. She also realizes Splashtail must have been the cat who tried to kill her.  Frostpaw and Nightheart return to the clans only to find that, in her absence, RiverClan has acclaimed Splashtail as their new leader.  Frostpaw tries to warn the other clan leaders that Splashtail is Obviously Evil, but nobody believes her.  Fearing Splashtail’s wrath, Frostpaw takes refuge in ShadowClan.  Splashtail turns out to be just as terrible as Frostpaw suspected, openly defying StarClan by refusing to accept their nine lives and ruling his clanmates through fear and threats of violence. Splashtail invades and conquers ShadowClan, which causes the other clans to unite against RiverClan.  Splashtail almost escapes to start a new, better RiverClan, but is killed by Frostpaw, who is grievously wounded.  Frostpaw remains suspended between life and death for weeks but eventually returns to the world of the living.  Frostpaw appoints Icewing as the true heir of Mistystar, and she finally receives her full medicine cat name as Frostdawn.  Oh, and Nightheart and Sunbeam are expecting kits.

Our Villains

Warriors arcs live or die based on the quality of their villains.  A Starless Clan has three main villains: Curlfeather, mastermind behind the original plan to take over RiverClan; Splashtail, Curlfeather’s lackey who double-crosses her and usurps her plan for himself; and Berryheart, Sunbeam’s mother who is so opposed to the idea of changing the Warrior Code that she allies with Splashtail to oust Tigerstar.

As the primary villain for this arc, Splashtail is okay.  He does all the “villainous clan leader” greatest hits: rules through fear, disregards the safety of his clan members, murders his subordinates for questioning him, aims to conquer the other clans, etc.  In the early days of his leadership (and before) he’s shown to be a deft manipulator, convincing the other clan leaders to disregard Frostpaw’s warnings about him.  Unfortunately for him, Curlfeather’s ghost isn’t happy about the whole “being murdered” thing and starts tormenting Splashtail, which causes him to quickly descend into madness.

Curlfeather is only revealed as a villain after her death, so her villainy all happens off-screen, in flashbacks, or as a ghost.  As mentioned above, her ghost torments Splashtail, taunting him with the inevitability of his own downfall and the fact that he will be joining her in Cat Hell.

Berryheart is an interesting one.  She isn’t mentioned in my arc plot summary because all of the plotlines she’s involved in are tertiary to the main RiverClan conflict, but to briefly summarize: she doesn’t like the idea of cats changing clans; she makes Nightheart’s life miserable when he moves to ShadowClan to be with her daughter Sunbeam; she tries to oust Tigerstar using the new “remove a leader” rules in the Warrior Code but is unsuccessful and is exiled from ShadowClan; she joins RiverClan and becomes Splashtail’s deputy; she tries to take over ShadowClan after Splashtail conquers it; Splashtail kills her for her duplicity.  She’s fine.  She’s an overbearing mother archetype, which is a role she fills well.  Her primary role in the story is to provide conflict for Sunbeam, which, again, is something she does well.

Imagine There’s No StarClan

One thing that Splashtail and Curlfeather have in common is their lack of regard towards StarClan.  Both are disillusioned by StarClan’s apparent inability to help the living clans.  Splashtail points out, not incorrectly, that StarClan didn’t do anything to prevent Darktail from taking over RiverClan or Mistystar from siding with the False Bramblestar.  They are not atheists per se; both acknowledge the existence of StarClan but are critical of the role that StarClan plays in the affairs of the living. 

Curlfeather’s lack of respect for StarClan is somewhat cynical, as she is clearly willing to accept their nine lives.  Splashtail, on the other hand, is a true hater: he doesn’t want StarClan’s nine lives, as he thinks it will give them some control over him, and when he is pressured into accepting them anyway, he and his fake medicine cat go the Moonpool, openly mock StarClan, don’t do the ceremony, and just tell everyone they did when they get back.

Splashtail not accepting his extra lives is something that really sticks out to me in this arc.  It would be easy to say that it’s just a plot contrivance such that he only needs to be killed once instead of nine times before being gone for good.  However, if the goal of the writing team was to make it so Splashtail could die before the end of the arc without needing to be killed nine separate times, there were several other routes available to them, the three obvious ones being:

1. Splashtail tries to receive his nine lives, but StarClan doesn’t give them to him (happened to Nightstar in the first arc)
2. Splashtail receives his nine lives, but they are removed after he is ousted from RiverClan using the new “remove a leader” rules in the Warrior Code
3. Splashtail receives his nine lives, but receives wounds so grievous he loses multiple lives at once (happened to Evil Tigerstar in the first arc)

None of these three options seem any more contrived than Splashtail just deciding he doesn’t want his nine lives, so I have to conclude that his rejection was chosen by the writers for its character implications, which I like.

The ironic thing about Splashtail and Curlfeather’s disdain for StarClan’s interference with the affairs of the living is just how little StarClan interferes in this arc.  StarClan does not send any signs regarding who should be the new leader of RiverClan; the text is clear that everything Frostpaw thought were signs were either planted by Curlfeather/Splashtail or just normal dreams.  StarClan does not interfere with Tigerstar’s invasion of RiverClan; that situation is resolved by mediation from Tree.  StarClan does not warn the other clan leaders that Splashtail is bad news; that responsibility falls to Frostpaw, who argues from her deductions and observations rather than omens and signs.  The only things StarClan does all arc are show Frostpaw Reedwhisker’s murder, guide her to the Park Cats, and warn her of some barely-relevant danger to WindClan. 

Other Comments

• Why’d They Have to Go and Make It All Political? Genre-wise, Warriors as a series tends to fluctuate between adventure fantasy and political fantasy.  This arc and the last arc are two sides of the same coin: The Broken Code was the quintessential fantasy adventure arc, and A Starless Clan is the quintessential political fantasy arc.  Personally, I enjoy the political fantasy side of Warriors, so I greatly enjoyed this arc.
• Bramblestar Is Over Party: The fate of ThunderClan’s leadership is a major subplot in the first half of this arc.  Essentially, Bramblestar was so traumatized by the events of the Broken Code that he effectively became a pacifist incapable of making difficult choices.  In many ways, this reminds me of his grandfather, Pinestar – both are clan leaders who have grown disillusioned by the violence inherent in Clan society.  Ultimately, Bramblestar decides to step down, becoming Brambleclaw once more and making his mate Squirrelstar clan leader.  Instead of Lionblaze, who had been her acting deputy during the Broken Code, Squirrelstar makes his daughter-in-law Ivypool her deputy.  I like this; Lionblaze seems incredibly dense and Ivypool is a far more interesting character.  Of course, this doesn’t really address the criticism that ThunderClan’s leadership is a clique of Firestar’s kin, but honestly most of ThunderClan is Firestar’s kin at this point and at least Ivypool isn’t his direct descendant (she’s the granddaughter of his nephew/daughter-in-law of his grandson)
• Nightheart x Sunbeam: I know it may not seem like it based on this roundup, but the relationship between Nightheart and Sunbeam is a major plot throughout the entire arc.  I just find the Frostpaw plot way more interesting.
• Mothwing: Mothwing, as Frostpaw’s mentor, plays a large role in the events of this arc.  One might think that Mothwing would be positioned as a foil to Splashtail; Splashtail is openly disdainful of StarClan, and Mothwing’s relationship with StarClan is famously fraught.  Unfortunately, this isn’t something that’s explored explicitly.  Implicitly, Mothwing’s lack of faith in StarClan is okay because she still acts like she believes in StarClan: she does the ceremonies, acknowledges the importance of StarClan’s guidance even though she doubts their actual wisdom, etc.  StarClan is okay with Mothwing because she doesn’t do anything to undermine their influence on the Clans; Splashtail is only a problem because he isn’t so diplomatic.
• Can’t Get No Respect: After conducting his illegal and widely condemned invasion of RiverClan, Tigerstar tries to improve his diplomatic situation through the use of humor.  First, on a visit to RiverClan camp:

The sun was gone, the streaks of scarlet in the sky already fading, by the time Tigerstar rushed into the camp. “Sorry, sorry,” he panted as he leaped onto the Highstump. “Which cat put the RiverClan camp so far away from ShadowClan?”

His attempt at a joke was met with icy silence.

Tigerstar paused for a moment, as if he was waiting for a response that never came, then gave a tiny shrug and continued. (Shadow, Chapter 7)

Later, during a tense gathering:

“I promise that my only purpose is to protect RiverClan and help them through this difficult time,” Tigerstar continued. “I have no intention of becoming their leader myself. I don’t even like fish,” he added. No cat reacted to the feeble joke. (Shadow, Chapter 17)

Oh, Tigerstar, you lovable rascal, you.

• Unintentional Body Horror: So, after Frostpaw is attacked by Splashtail and left for dead at the end of Shadow, she ultimately ends up being treated by a Twoleg veterinarian.  When Frostpaw wakes up, she finds that in addition to treating her injuries, the Twolegs have left her with a mysterious scar that we, as readers, recognize as a spay scar.  Spaying/neutering is something that has come up in the series before – one of Firestar’s motivations for initially joining ThunderClan was wanting to avoid being neutered – but I think this is the first time it’s ever happened to a Clan cat.  This makes me incredibly uncomfortable.  I’m a strong believer in spaying/neutering your pets, but Warrior Cats characters are anthropomorphized to the point of being basically a human in all but name, so this reads uncomfortably like a human being involuntarily sterilized by aliens.  And then, of course, nothing comes of it: it’s never mentioned again and Frostpaw ultimately goes back to her medicine cat training, meaning she’s not allowed to have kits anyway.
• Dark Forest Long Game: Way back in Omen of the Stars, Icewing was one of the cats who trained in the Dark Forest.  This means that, as of the end of A Starless Clan, three of the five current clan leaders are Dark Forest trainees (Tigerstar, Harestar, and Icestar,) and that could go up to four out of five if Squirrelstar dies or retires now that Ivypool is her deputy.

Conclusion

Following immediately on the heels of the very strong The Broken Code arc, A Starless Clan more than lived up to expectations.  Clearly, the Warriors team can still put out solid arcs.  A Starless Clan was not without its shortcomings, but as far as Warriors goes, I’m hard-pressed to think of an arc that better suits my particular tastes and preferences.  A Starless Clan is my new favorite Warriors arc.  Here’s my ranking of all arcs:

1. A Starless Clan
2. The Broken Code
3. Power of Three
4. The Prophecies Begin
5. A Vision of Shadows
6. Dawn of the Clans
7. The New Prophecy
8. Omen of the Stars

A Starless Clan may be the latest completed arc, but we’re not quite done with Warriors yet.  In addition to enough novellas and Super Editions for a roundup each, we also have the first book of the currently in-progress arc, Changing Skies…

In this installment of Warriors Roundup: our penultimate batch of novellas. Let’s see what we have…

Redtail’s Debt

“Who is Redtail?” I hear you cry.  Well, Redtail was the deputy of ThunderClan at the very beginning of the first arc until he was killed offscreen in like chapter 2, and this novella is essentially his life story.  As a young apprentice, Redpaw is saved from a hawk by Tigerclaw (future Evil Tigerstar) who seems to believe that Redpaw now owes him a life debt.  Later, as a young warrior, Redpaw assists Tigerclaw in fabricating a pretense for attacking WindClan by materially misrepresenting some relatively minor trespassing by a WindClan apprentice.  Redpaw feels super uncomfortable doing this, and when the battle with WindClan starts going poorly and Bluefur is injured he assumes command and calls a retreat, which Tigerclaw really doesn’t like.  Later still, Bluestar is the leader of ThunderClan and Redtail is deputy.  Redtail and Tigerclaw go on a patrol to scent mark perennially disputed territory Sunningrocks.  They encounter a RiverClan patrol and Tigerclaw instigates a battle.  In the battle, RiverClan deputy Oakheart threatens to murder Tigerclaw’s apprentice Ravenpaw, and Redtail responds by killing Oakheart.  Tigerclaw then murders Redtail so he can be made deputy.  While ascending to StarClan, Redtail’s spirit looks down on the ThunderClan camp and sees Rusty, the future Firestar, being brought into ThunderClan for the first time.

This novella has one glaring issue: it contradicts the continuity.  Tigerclaw’s narrative of the battle is that Oakheart killed Redtail, and Tigerclaw killed Oakheart in revenge; however, later in Into the Wild, Ravenpaw’s gives a version of events wherein Redtail killed Oakheart, then Tigerclaw killed Redtail.  This is consistent with the events of the novella.  However, two books later, in Forest of Secrets, Fireheart tries to tell Bluestar Ravenpaw’s version of events, but she doesn’t believe him because she refuses to believe that an honorable warrior like Redtail would kill Oakheart.  This leads Fireheart and Graystripe to do some sleuthing, wherein they learn from RiverClan that Oakheart died in a rockslide and therefore his death was an accident.  Therefore, the version of events presented in this novella, while consistent with Ravenpaw’s recollections in Into the Wild, directly contradicts what later books consider to be the canonical account.

This is far from the first or only continuity error I’ve encountered so far – The Broken Code arc couldn’t seem to decide which of Tigerstar and Dovewing’s kits Spiresight died saving – but this one is hard to miss.  The exact sequence of events in the battle at Sunningrocks depicted in this novella is a major plot point in the first half of the first arc.

Anyway, besides the continuity error, there isn’t much to say about this one.  We do get to see a young Ravenpaw who, under Tigerclaw’s tutelage, seems to be on the road to being Obviously Evil, which contrasts jarringly with the timid Ravenpaw we see in Into the Wild.  I suppose you could consider this a continuity error, but I like the idea that Ravenpaw had the fear of StarClan put into him after witnessing his mentor murder the clan deputy.

Overall, a pretty mid novella.

Tawnypelt’s Clan

Five entire arcs after her first introduction, this novella finally gives us a PoV from the OG token ShadowClan cat, Tawnypelt.  Tawnypelt’s Clan takes place during the events of A Vision of Shadows, shortly after Tigerstar and Dovewing come back from the big city with their kits.  Tawnypelt is deputy, but she and Tigerstar struggle to earn their clanmates’ respect due to their close familial ties with sucky former leader Rowanstar.  Shadowkit is having recurring seizures accompanied by visions of a waterfall, which Tawnypelt and Dovewing recognize as the home of the Tribe of Rushing Water.  Tawnypelt, Dovewing, and Shadowkit go on an adventure to the Tribe of Rushing Water despite Tigerstar’s objections.  Shadowkit’s visions save the Tribe from being crushed by a fallen tree, and the Teller of the Pointed Stones (the Tribe’s combination clan leader/medicine cat) does what he can to treat Shadowkit’s seizures.  Tawnypelt briefly considers staying to live with the Tribe permanently, but ultimately decides to return to ShadowClan, where she steps down as deputy so a younger cat can take her place.  Of course, her successor Juniperclaw would later flagrantly violate the Warrior Code, almost incite a war with SkyClan, and ultimately end up in the Dark Forest, but that’s neither here nor there.

In my reading order, this is the first time we’ve seen the Tribe of Rushing Water since the beginning of Dawn of the Clans (if their ancient ancestors count) or Omen of the Stars (if they don’t.)  This has ultimately been a good thing for the series in my opinion, as I find the Tribe of Rushing Water to be interminably boring.  Their culture differs from the clans, but not enough to really provide any meaningful commentary on clan society, which is a shame.  The main character arc of this novella was Tawnypelt deciding whether to stay with the tribe or return to the Clans, but that didn’t really feel like much of a plot.  Dovewing and Tawnypelt didn’t really interact very much either, which is disappointing as I think they could have had a fun dynamic.

In short, another mid novella.

Shadowstar’s Life

This novella takes us back to the Dawn of the Clans era and follows Shadowstar, formerly Tall Shadow.  The peace which has prevailed between the clans for moons is threatened when twolegs start intruding on SkyClan territory.  Returning from a Gathering, Shadowstar and her deputy Sun Shadow are attacked by dogs and killed; Shadowstar returns, but is on her last life.  While scouting potential new territories for SkyClan, Shadowstar is attacked by SkyClan warrior Quick Water.  Shadowstar confronts Skystar (formerly Clear Sky) and he exiles Quick Water, who finds refuge in ThunderClan.  At the next Gathering, the clan leaders discuss what to do about Quick Water, with Windstar and Shadowstar in favor of exiling her from the forest entirely, Thunderstar and Skystar opposed, and Riverstar abstaining.  Ultimately Quick Water is allowed to stay and is invited back into SkyClan.  Incensed, Shadowstar and Windstar instigate a battle with ThunderClan and SkyClan to drive out Quick Water.  In the battle, both Shadowstar and Quick Water are mortally wounded; Quick Water confesses she tried to kill Shadowstar and her deputy so SkyClan could take over ShadowClan’s territory, but Shadowstar forgives her.  Both are allowed into StarClan, where they witness the future of the Clans: SkyClan’s departure, the journey to the lake territories, and SkyClan’s eventual return.

This is another mid novella.  Shadowstar’s arc is “coming to terms with her own mortality” which had potential but there’s only so much you can do with it in 80 pages.  Our old friend Skystar shows up again, but he’s a bit out of his element – he’s entirely too reasonable, which makes him boring.  I like Quick Water as a villain – not necessarily her evil plan or her personality, but the way she is able to convince Thunderstar and Skystar of her innocence.  The text is written such that it really is somewhat ambiguous whether Quick Water is behind the attempts on Shadowstar’s life until her dying confession.  Also, not sound like a broken record, but I’m certain in past books it was established that StarClan couldn’t see into the future the way that they can at the end of this book.

Pebbleshine’s Kits

Have you ever wondered what Pebbleshine got up to between getting separated from SkyClan and dying horribly, leaving her kits Violetkit and Twigkit to be found by Alderpaw and Needlepaw?  No? Well, this novella contains the answers anyway.  In brief, she meets a few friendly kittypets, then gets trapped in and escapes a shed.  Pebbleshine is within sight of the lake when she is struck by birthing pains.  She gives birth in a storm drain under a road, her birth assisted by the corporeal ghost of Micah, the first SkyClan medicine cat.  Shortly thereafter, her kits are threatened by a badger, and Pebbleshine is hit by a car leading it away.  Pebbleshine dies, but instead of joining StarClan, Pebbleshine decides to stay in the material world as a ghost to watch over her kits.  Pebbleshine watches as Alderpaw and Needlepaw discover her kits and promises to always be with them.

I wasn’t a fan of this novella.  It’s a quest book, and in general quest books are some of the weakest entries in the Warriors franchise.  Pebbleshine isn’t an interesting character, she’s just generically nice.  StarClan cats are once again shown to be able to just physically materialize, which is my least favorite element of StarClan lore and I thought got left behind in Omen of the Stars.  Honestly, reading this novella felt like the literary equivalent of biting into an unripe watermelon.

Tree’s Roots

This novella follows A Vision of Shadows character Tree.  Earth is a young tom, the son of Moonlight, a member of the Sisters.  Like all toms borne to the Sisters, Earth is forced to leave the group when he reaches the age of six moons.  Earth is reluctant to leave the Sisters for several reasons – he’s still grieving the loss of his littermate Stream, who was struck by lightning; he doesn’t know how to the ghost-seeing powers he should have as a Sisters tom; he generally does not know how to take care of himself – but Moonlight will have none of it and forces him away. Earth wanders around miserably for a while until he is saved by a tom named Root, who turns out to be his father.  Under the tutelage of Root, Earth (who takes the new name Tree) learns how to live as a loner.  After several moons, the two are attacked by a fox and Root is killed.  Much later, Tree encounters Pebbleshine, who is on her journey to the lake territories; Root’s ghost appears to Tree to warn him of a fox, and because of this advance warning Tree and Pebbleshine are able to drive off the fox.  Pebbleshine asks Tree to come with her and join SkyClan; Root declines, but recognizes experience with Pebbleshine has shown him that having friends and loved ones can be a good thing despite his past personal tragedies.

In past Warriors works that featured the Sisters, the Sisters’ society was often presented in direct contrast to clan society.  Because we as readers spend a lot of time with the clans and their societal flaws are familiar, in said past books it was easy to have a positive impression of the Sisters’ society.  It is refreshing, then, that Tree’s Roots does not shy away from showing the inherent cruelty of the Sisters’ society.  I am, of course, referring to their policy of throwing out toms once they reach six moons of age.  At six moons, Tree is obviously not ready to live on his own: he can’t defend himself, he can barely hunt and he’s still grieving his deceased brother.  Moonlight, who ostensibly loves him, will have none of it and uses the same trick clan cats use to justify their obviously reprehensible behavior: appeal to mysticism.  It’s “bad luck” for toms to stay with the Sisters past six moons.  Despite all evidence to the contrary, Moonlight and the rest of the Sisters are convinced that Tree will get along just fine after being kicked out by his entire family.  When Tree thinks “this is unfair, my family is sending me to my probable death,” he’s completely correct.  Not to strawman a fictional cat, but I have to wonder what the Sisters would do if one of their tom kits was born blind or with some other disability that precluded him from being able to survive without support.  Would they send him to certain death?  Do the Sisters practice eugenics?  I don’t know.

All that aside, I liked this novella.  In the main series Tree brings a fun outsider dynamic to the clans that is sorely missing otherwise, and this novella works pretty well as a backstory for him.  I think it’s heartwarming that his son Rootspring is named after his deceased father, and the episode with Pebbleshine is fun (honestly, much more enjoyable than anything in her novella…)

Mothwing’s Secret

This novella serves as a biography for everyone’s favorite atheist medicine cat, Mothwing.  The novella begins with Mothwing and her brother Hawkfrost having recently become warriors in RiverClan.  In the forest territories, Mothwing and Hawkfrost are the children of Evil Tigerstar and a former kittypet named Sasha; Sasha brought the two to live in RiverClan when they were young, but kept the identity of their father secret.  Mothwing decides she wants to become a medicine cat.  She starts training under Mudfur, but since she wasn’t born in the clan he decides to wait for a sign from StarClan before officially making her his apprentice.  Hawkfrost fabricates a sign, and Mothwing is made a medicine cat apprentice; when Hawkfrost reveals his deception, Mothwing loses any faith in StarClan.  Later, after the clans have moved to the lake territories, Hawkfrost blackmails Mothwing into fabricating a vision to get his main rival for the deputyship kicked out of RiverClan.  Even later, Mothwing sees Hawkfrost’s body being returned to RiverClan camp; the official story is that he was killed in a fox trap, but Leafpool tells Mothwing that Hawkfrost was killed by Brambleclaw after he tried to kill Firestar.  Later still, during the Great Battle at the end of Omen of the Stars, Mothwing sees the ghost of Hawkfrost fighting with the Dark Forest cats.  When StarClan cats join the fight, Mothwing finds she can no longer deny the existence of StarClan.  Faced with the Problem of Evil for the first time, Mothwing concludes that, while StarClan exists, it is neither omnipotent nor omnibenevolent and therefore relying on them to solve the Clan’s problems is folly.  With this new perspective, Mothwing continues to care for her clanmates the best she can.

This novella is an interesting one.  For one, it contains virtually no new material – practically every plot point in this novella is something we already knew about or saw in some previously published material (mostly the New Prophecy and Omen of the Stars arcs, Mistystar’s Omen novella, and Tigerstar & Sasha graphic novel.)  That said, it works – this novella reads like a greatest hits compilation for a (personally) much-beloved character; how could I not like that?

A lot of focus is paid in the first two thirds of this novella on the relationship between Hawkfrost and Mothwing.  In the New Prophecy, we mostly saw Hawkfrost from Brambleclaw’s perspective, so it’s nice to see him through a different set of eyes.  Because this novella is so condensed, it also gives a good perspective of how Hawkfrost changes as he spends time with the ghost of his dead evil dad, Evil Tigerstar: over the course of this novella he goes from “let’s be the best warriors we can be so RiverClan accepts us!” to “once I am clan leader, I’ll conquer ShadowClan and then Brambleclaw and I will rule the lake territories with an iron paw.”

Of course, I would be remiss to discuss this novella without touching on its handling of StarClan.  Although I liked Mothwing as an atheist, I think she works just as well as a cat who acknowledges StarClan’s existence but also recognizes their total ineptitude.  Mothwing’s first reaction when she sees the spirit of her mentor Mudfur for the first time is literally “Where were you?” (A Warrior’s Spirit, pg. 285) and I completely empathize with her position: where was StarClan? Mudfur’s response is that StarClan can’t see everything, and even when they can there’s not always something they can do, from which Mothwing draws the entirely reasonable conclusion that the clans rely on StarClan way much.  Again, she is completely correct: despite their spotty track record, whenever a problem arises, the clans’ first instinct is to run and ask for StarClan’s guidance.  Anyway, Mudfur’s appearance to Mothwing ends (hilariously enough) with him, standing in the RiverClan camp after the Great Battle, surrounded by the bodies of the injured and dying, telling her “StarClan makes no mistakes.”  (A Warrior’s Spirit, pg. 286) Okay, Pangloss, whatever you say; by the way, how’s Ashfur doing?

Conclusion

Another mixed bag of novellas.  The first four ranged from “okay” to “80 pages of nothing,” but Mothwing’s Secret and Tree’s Roots were both solidly entertaining.  Only three novellas remain, but before them: another batch of Super Editions and the final completed arc published to date, A Starless Clan…

This week on Warriors Roundup: the seventh arc, The Broken Code.  Let’s dive in, shall we?

Plot Summary

Like many recent Warriors arcs, the Broken Code has three protagonists: Bristlefrost, ThunderClan warrior and daughter of Ivypool; Rootspring, SkyClan warrior and son of Tree and Violetshine; and Shadowsight, ShadowClan medicine cat apprentice and son of Tigerstar and Dovewing.  It’s a harsh leaf-bare (i.e. winter) for the clans; the Moonpool, the means by which medicine cats commune with StarClan, has completely frozen over and StarClan has gone silent.  Shadowpaw, who has been having seizure-induced visions since he was very young, suddenly starts hearing a voice in his head which tells him that the clans have forgotten the Warrior Code and that codebreakers must be punished.  Later, the voice predicts that Bramblestar will fall ill and tells Shadowpaw how to treat him; when Bramblestar does indeed fall ill shortly thereafter and Shadowpaw conducts the treatment, Bramblestar dies.  Being a clan leader and therefore having lives to spare, Bramblestar comes back to life, although doing so takes considerably longer than usual.  Later, in SkyClan, Rootpaw, who has evidently inherited his father’s ghost-seeing powers, stumbles upon the ghost of Bramblestar; Bramblestar’s ghost tells Rootpaw that someone else has taken over his body. 

In ThunderClan, whoever’s in control of Bramblestar’s body theorizes that StarClan’s silence is a result of the clans’ lax enforcement of the Warrior Code.  With young warrior Bristlefrost as his enforcer, he begins enacting harsh punishments for perceived violations of the Warrior Code.  He then tries to force the other clans to adopt this policy: RiverClan and WindClan are receptive; ShadowClan and SkyClan are not.  Cats from all clans begin meeting in secret to discuss Bramblestar’s strange behavior; Rootpaw tells them that the living Bramblestar is an impostor, but not everybody is convinced.  The False Bramblestar attacks Shadowsight and leaves him for dead, but Rootpaw finds and saves him.  Bristlefrost begins acting as a double agent for the rebels. The False Bramblestar begins exiling codebreakers, who are given sanctuary by ShadowClan; Squirrelflight, whom the False Bramblestar seems obsessed with, fakes her own death and joins up with the exiles.  A battle breaks out between ThunderClan, RiverClan, and WindClan on one side, and ShadowClan, SkyClan, and the exiles on the other; in the battle, Harestar loses a life, and when he returns his description of what he saw while dead convinces all present that Bramblestar is an impostor.  The False Bramblestar is captured and Squirrelflight deduces his identity – the third leg of her New Prophecy love triangle, the cat that tried to murder her three (adopted) kits – Ashfur.

With Ashfur captured, the clans must decide what to do with him.  Most cats want to kill him, but Squirrelflight is strongly opposed on the off chance that Bramblestar’s spirit can be reunited with his body.  Bramblestar’s ghost hasn’t been seen in a while, so Rootspring and Bristlefrost go on journey to ask the Sisters for help.  On the journey, Rootspring and Bristlefrost’s friendship blossoms into a full-blown Forbidden Romance.  The Sisters conduct a ghost-summoning ritual but are unable to conjure up Bramblestar’s ghost.  Squirrelflight assents to executing Ashfur, but at the last minute he escapes.  Ashfur captures Squirrelflight and drags her through the Moonpool into the Dark Forest.  Shadowsight, Rootspring, and Bristlefrost go to the Dark Forest, wherein they discover that Ashfur has blocked off the Dark Forest from StarClan and has control over the lost spirits of all recently dead clan cats.  The three manage to reunite Bramblestar’s ghost with his body and get him and Squirrelflight out of the Dark Forest.  Bristlefrost, realizing that Ashfur’s messing with the StarClan/Dark Forest barrier has caused both afterlives to become unstable, convinces several Dark Forest cats to fight Ashfur.  Our three protagonists, with the assistance of their Dark Forest recruits, several StarClan cats, and a patrol of living cats, face Ashfur and his spirit cat thralls in battle.  In the battle, Bristlefrost sacrifices herself to save Shadowsight, dragging Ashfur into the cursed Dark Forest water; they both drown and are erased from existence, body and soul. When Ashfur’s soul dies, the spirit cats under his control are freed, both afterlives become stable once more, and StarClan’s connections to the living is restored.  The living cats return from the Dark Forest, where they mourn the loss of Bristlefrost.  Finally, the clans agree to make several revisions to the Warrior Code to prevent another cat like Ashfur abusing it to harm the clans.

Ashfur

I love Ashfur as a villain.  He’s sadistic, sociopathic, and has only one motivation: to claim Squirrelflight for himself.  It doesn’t matter how many times she’s rejected him in the past; he will not take no for an answer, and he doesn’t care what he has to do or who he has to hurt to get his way.  He claims to love Squirrelflight but is incredibly hostile to her whenever she does anything he doesn’t like, and he blames her for “forcing” him to commit his evil deeds.  This is an immediately understandable type of villain – I can’t say I’ve ever met someone who’s primarily motivated by vengeance or power for power’s sake, but I know several women have had to deal with this exact kind of guy.

Ashfur’s villainous motivation is a saving grace for the clans.  In this arc, Ashfur has some incredible powers which, in the right paws, could easily destroy the clans, but for most of the arc Ashfur doesn’t really want to destroy the clans; he just wants Squirrelflight.  Most of the damage Ashfur does to the clans in this arc is purely coincidental: everything he does prior to Squirrelflight faking her own death – exiling cats from ThunderClan, cutting off the clans from StarClan, trying to murder Shadowsight – he does primarily because he thinks it will prevent him from being outed as an impostor.  He only resigns himself to destroying the clans once he believes it’s his best option for forcing Squirrelflight to love him.

Ashfur is, fundamentally, pathetic.  His entire villainous motivation is getting back together with a she-cat who he dated for like a book and a half, five arcs ago.  He is entirely devoid of empathy, self-respect, or self-awareness: at one point, he forces Bramblestar’s spirit to attack Squirrelflight and then asks her “How can you love a cat who is prepared to fight you to the death?” (The Place of No Stars, pg. 185) as if they both don’t know he’s entirely in control of Bramblestar’s actions.  So many Warriors villains are calm, cool and collected masterminds, so it’s very refreshing to have a villain who is a complete mess – he actually reminds me of Clear Sky in a lot of ways.

Ashfur’s obsession with Squirrelflight feels like a dark mirror version of the typical Warriors romance.  Warriors as a series often treats love as this transcendent, ennobling force – as something that’s worth breaking the rules for.  I mean, how many Forbidden Romances have we seen thus far?  Well, Ashfur is clearly happy to break every rule in the book in the name of the narcissistic obsession he believes to be love.  It is fitting, then, that Ashfur’s final defeat comes at the paws of Bristlefrost, a character who gives up the life (and afterlife) she and Rootspring could have had together to stop Ashfur from hurting her friend.

Another Downer Ending

It’s not often we get anything other than an unambiguously happy ending to a Warriors arc, so I was very pleased to see that the Broken Code’s ending was very bittersweet.  Ashfur is defeated and the clans’ connection with StarClan is restored, but many good cats have died, and the victory comes at a great personal cost for our three protagonists. 

First, Bristlefrost isn’t just dead, she’s completely erased from existence.  I have to give the writers props, I didn’t think they had it in them to kill a PoV character.  Her death scene is one of the best-written scenes in the series so far:  seeing Ashfur preparing to drop Shadowsight into the cursed Dark Forest water where he would surely drown, Bristlefrost tackles Ashfur and drags him down into the water. This parallels a scene from the beginning of the arc where she dives into the lake to save Rootspring – the scene that kicked off their relationship. In her final moments, her thoughts are filled with imagined memories of the life she would have shared with Rootspring, the life that she sacrificed to save Shadowsight and all the Clans from Ashfur.

Rootspring is, of course, absolutely gutted by Bristlefrost’s sacrifice.  He’s initially completely unable to accept that she’s gone, but over the course of the remainder of the book he is eventually able to come to terms with his grief by accepting that Bristlefrost will live on in the memories of everyone who loved her.  One of the most gutting moments is when Rootspring uses a special Sisters power to “listen to the earth” for any sign of Bristlefrost and is only able to see her final imagined memories of their life together.

Shadowsight gets a similarly downer ending. Although Bristlefrost wasn’t his mate, he still feels the weight of her loss.  Shadowsight also feels an emptiness after the loss of Ashfur: he doesn’t miss him, but the two of them had a powerful spiritual connection and Shadowsight can’t help but feel that part of him has disappeared.  Additionally, it’s revealed that all Shadowsight’s visions came from Ashfur, and now that Ashfur is gone, he will never be able to commune with StarClan.  This is, obviously, very disappointing for Shadowsight.

They Fixed the Dark Forest

Like Omen of the Stars, the Dark Forest plays a central role in the plot of this arc, especially in the final two books.  Like Omen of the Stars, this arc expands on the lore of the Dark Forest.  Unlike Omen of the Stars, I like many of these changes.  One of the most obvious expansions of the Dark Forest’s lore is the idea that “the Dark Forest can turn a good cat bad;” that the Dark Forest has a corrupting influence on those that spend too much time there.  I like this; I think it makes sense and is perfectly consistent with what we know about the Dark Forest so far.  For much of the time we spend in the Dark Forest this arc, it is in a somewhat unstable state because of Ashfur’s messing with the StarClan/Dark Forest barrier.  In this unstable state, the Dark Forest is steadily shrinking; an impenetrable white fog creeps slowly inward, and the forest itself is slowly floods with a black water that exudes an aura of despair.  These are cool changes; I’m in support of anything that makes the Dark Forest feel strange and uncanny like one would expect from Cat Hell.  

While they’re not explicitly Dark Forest-related changes, I’d like to take this opportunity to briefly touch on Ashfur’s powers.  While I suspect some might not like them, they don’t particularly bother me. Sure, it’s never explained how Ashfur was able to dig a tunnel from StarClan to the Dark Forest, or build a barrier between them, or control the spirits of deceased cats, that doesn’t really matter to me.  Warriors does not need a hard magic system, and to be honest I’m not usually a fan of hard magic systems to begin with.  What matters to me is this:

1. Are Ashfur’s powers internally consistent? (i.e., is something impossible in one chapter suddenly possible in the next chapter?)
2. Do Ashfur’s powers hurt the story? (i.e. would the plot be more interesting if these powers didn’t exist?)

My answers to the above are 1. Yes, and 2. No, so Ashfur’s powers are a-okay in my book.

They Fixed the Warrior Code

As mentioned in the above plot summary, this arc ends with several revisions being made to the Warrior Code.  The full revised Warrior Code isn’t listed anywhere in this arc, but thankfully I own the Warriors the Ultimate Guide, Updated and Expanded field guide, which contains the revised code in full.  First, the codes are re-ordered so the most important rules come first; in this new revision, Bramblestar’s collective security decree comes first, and “check your borders daily” comes last (which tracks with how lax border security has gotten in recent arcs.)  Second, a code has been added that states that warriors and medicine cats are now allowed to switch clans, but they must complete three tasks of their intended Clan’s choosing first.  This is a relaxing of the code insofar as there is now an officially sanctioned way to switch clans, but in the past cats who have swapped clans have never been required to go through any ordeals.  Third, the old code that states that “a clan leader’s word is the Warrior Code” has been removed and replaced with a provision that allows for clans to remove their leader from power by a ¾ vote and with the approval of the other clan leaders.  This I find fascinating: no longer are clan leaders absolute monarchs, anointed by StarClan, whose word is law.  How will clan dynamics change now that leaders can be stripped of their authority (and their extra lives) at any time?  Time will tell, although if the next arc doesn’t contain a plotline where an attempt is made to oust a clan leader using this provision, I’ll eat my shoe.

Other Plot Points

• StarClan Is Just Alright With Me: Near the beginning of the arc, it is revealed that historically atheist medicine cat Mothwing no longer denies the existence of StarClan.  I’m not really a fan of this change – Mothwing’s atheism was by far the most interesting part of her character, and even after her conversion Mothwing is still unable to commune with StarClan.
• Tigerstar: This is a great arc for Tigerstar.  He’s shown as a great father, doing everything he can to support and protect his son Shadowsight, even after he was revealed to be the unwitting pawn of Ashfur.  In the first half of the arc, Tigerstar refuses to give in to the False Bramblestar’s bullying and gives refuge to the other clans’ exiles.
• Shadowsight’s Demotion: Shadowsight is promoted to full medicine cat after his visions “cure” Bramblestar.  Once the clans figure out that Shadowsight’s “cure” was what allowed Ashfur to take over Bramblestar’s body, Shadowsight is effectively demoted back to an apprentice, and the only cat he’s allowed to treat is the captured Ashfur.  This, of course, gives Ashfur the opportunity to further manipulate Shadowsight, ultimately convincing him to let him escape just before the clan leaders arrive to execute him.
• I Am In Control Here, in ThunderClan: There was a lot of turnover in ThunderClan leadership this arc due to the whole “impostor” situation.  Over the course of this arc, ThunderClan had five acting leaders (Bramblestar, the False Bramblestar, Squirrelflight, Lionblaze, and Graystripe) and four acting deputies (Squirrelflight, Berrynose, Bristlefrost, and Lionblaze.)
• Mountains Jumpscare: After Shadowsight lets Ashfur escape, Tigerstar becomes concerned about the other clan leaders’ reactions and arranges for his mother Tawnypelt to take Shadowsight to the dreaded mountains to hide out until things calm down.  Fortunately for us, they are caught while sneaking out of ShadowClan’s camp, giving us the second arc in a row with no mountains-related shenanigans.
• Guess Who? One of Ashfur’s Dark Forest lackeys this arc is (drumroll please) my girl Mapleshade.  Unfortunately, this arc isn’t a great showing for our favorite villainess; she mostly just follows Ashfur’s orders, but she does manage to get away after Ashfur’s defeat in the final battle.  In one scene she calls another Dark Forest cat who’s sucking up to Ashfur a “tail-licker,” which I found deeply amusing.
• Guess Who Else?  One of Ashfur’s allies who shows up for the final confrontation is (drumroll please) my guy Darktail.  Like Mapleshade, this arc isn’t a great showing for Darktail: he only shows up for the final battle where he ends up getting killed by Violetshine and Needletail.  This is a karmically satisfying end; I just wish his involvement in this arc was a little deeper than “Ashfur’s ally.”
• Hey, I Know That Guy! So at one point, Rootspring has been captured by some Dark Forest cats, and he starts hearing this voice in his head that says “let me take over your body, I’ll get you out of this.”  Rootspring eventually agrees, and his body is briefly taken over by the spirit of first arc protagonist Firestar, who then uses Rootspring’s body to beat the crap out of minor first arc villain Darkstripe.  I’m not the biggest fan of Firestar, and this was a very fanservice-y moment, but I’ll give it a pass so long as this type of thing doesn’t happen too often.  Consider yourselves on notice, Erins Hunter.
• No Take-Backsies: After several Dark Forest cats assist in the defeat of Ashfur, they are briefly allowed to visit StarClan’s hunting grounds; however, StarClan makes it clear that their prior judgements are final and no Dark Forest cats will ever be allowed to join StarClan.  This is downright bizarre considering that StarClan is self-admittedly fallible.  I mean, theylet Ashfur in, for crying out loud.
• Graystripe: This was also a solid arc for Graystripe.  I don’t believe he’s ever been a major topic in a roundup up to this point, but he was an apprentice along with Firestar in ThunderClan way back in the first arc, took part in Warriors’ first ever Forbidden Romance, briefly disappeared then came back with a kittypet mate, and has just been kinda chilling as a background character since.  In this arc, Graystripe leaves ThunderClan for a few books to have a Super Edition after telling off the False Bramblestar, then comes back, briefly assumes leadership of ThunderClan, partakes in the final battle against Ashfur, and dies shortly after leaving the Dark Forest.  It’s nice to see a legacy character like Graystripe finally get some recognition after like five arcs of barely being a character.
• I’m Not Dead Yet: Okay, so in this arc, Graystripe is an old cat – he’s been in the elder’s den since before A Vision of Shadows.  RiverClan leader Mistystar is one of Bluestar’s kits, meaning she was born in a book set several years before the first arc and is therefore several years older than Graystripe.  She must be positively ancient.  Maybe being a bad clan leader is good for your health?

Closing Thoughts

Even though it landed more on the “pulpy adventure fantasy” side of the Warriors spectrum as opposed to my typically preferred “political fantasy” side, I loved the Broken Code.  This arc felt in many ways like a deliberate attempt by the writers to address some of the recurring issues with the Warriors franchise, and overall, they did a bang-up job.  I think Power of Three has finally been dethroned as my favorite Warriors arc.

1. The Broken Code
2. Power of Three
3. The Prophecies Begin
4. A Vision of Shadows
5. Dawn of the Clans
6. The New Prophecy
7. Omen of the Stars

Next up: another batch of six novellas; then some super editions, then it’s on to our final arc complete arc, A Starless Clan.  Things have been on an upward trajectory recently – will it continue through to the franchise’s present day?  We’ll just have to wait and see…

This week on Warriors Roundup: four more Super Editions. Let’s dive in, shall we?

Hawkwing’s Journey

Hawkwing is, as of the end of A Vision of Shadows, the deputy of SkyClan and the father of Violetshine and Twigbranch.  This Super Edition follows him from briefly before SkyClan departed their gorge to shortly before their arrival at the lake territories in A Vision of Shadows.  Near the end of his apprenticeship, Hawkpaw’s brother Dawnpaw dies in a fire.  SkyClan’s medicine cat Echosong receives an omen from StarClan directing SkyClan to reunite with the other warrior clans.  Unfortunately, SkyClan has no idea where the other clans are.  Shortly thereafter, Hawkwing meets a friendly rogue named Darktail, who claims to know where the other clans are.  Leafstar sends a patrol following Darktail’s directions, but said directions lead them straight into an area infested by badgers and Leafstar’s mate Billystorm is killed.  The patrol returns to the gorge to discover that raccoons had attacked while they were gone.  A second patrol is sent to find the other clans and is similarly unsuccessful.  Darktail and his band of rogues attack SkyClan, killing several cats including Hawkwing’s father Sharpclaw.  Darktail gives Hawkwing the “we’re not so different, join me and together we can rule the gorge as leader and deputy” spiel, but Hawkwing, having just witnessed Darktail murdering his father, doesn’t bite and leaves the gorge with the rest of SkyClan.  The remainder of the book follows SkyClan’s attempts to find the other warrior clans in the face of increasing attrition:

• Snipkit drowns trying to cross a creek;
• Cherrytail and Cloudmist decide to stay with Barley;
• Pebbleshine, Hawkwing’s pregnant mate, becomes trapped in a truck which then drives away;
• Parselyseed and Curlypaw, Hawkwing’s apprentice, decide to become kittypets;
• Waspwhisker, Birdwing, Clovertail, and Fidgetpaw are captured by twolegs;
• Firefern and Rileypool die of the plague

By the end of the book, Hawkwing is deputy.  Despite SkyClan seemingly being no nearer to finding the other warrior clans, Hawkwing is heartened by a vision from Echosong that indicates that his and Pebbleshine’s kits (whom we recognize as Twigbranch and Violetshine) still live.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Hawkwing in A Vision of Shadows so I was a little skeptical of a Super Edition with him as the focus, but I have to say he was a good choice for a PoV character. He’s just fun to read.  During the first half of the book, he’s incredibly impulsive and incredibly gullible.  When he meets Darktail, he immediately trusts him and takes him straight to SkyClan’s camp.  After the disaster of the first patrol to find the other clans, Hawkwing (correctly) deduces that Darktail intentionally sent them to Badger City and demands he be driven out, but Leafstar doesn’t listen to him.  Then, Darktail flatters him by asking him to come on the second patrol, and Hawkwing suddenly trusts him again and continues to trust him after witnessing him partaking in some egregiously shady behavior.  By the end of the book, Hawkwing is a far more even-tempered, responsible, and (unfortunately) boring cat, which is who we saw him as in A Vision of Shadows.  Still, it’s hard not to like him, especially considering how much this book treats him like an emotional punching bag; he loses, in order, his brother, his father, his pregnant mate, his foster children, and his apprentice. 

Darktail is fun to see again as well.  In A Vision of Shadows we mostly saw the more overtly villainous side of Darktail, so it’s fun to see his more subtle, manipulative side.  This book is light on additional Darktail backstory, but I’m not too fussed about that because I know there’s a Onestar Super Edition in my future and I suspect we’ll see more of that there.

As usual, StarClan is obnoxiously unhelpful.  It’s clear from early in the book that StarClan wants SkyClan to reunite with the other warrior clans around the lake; however, for most of the book they are annoyingly vague re: how SkyClan is supposed to get there.  SkyClan is smart enough to find their way to Barley’s barn which is adjacent to the old forest territories, but unfortunately, they don’t have any directions to the lake territories from there.  This is both a blessing and a curse: it’s a curse for SkyClan because it leads them to wander around aimlessly for the better part of a year, but it’s a blessing for the reader because the most direct route from forest to lake seems to be through the dreaded mountains.  Of course, StarClan does eventually give SkyClan some better directions, but only in the “exclusive manga adventure” appended to the end of this Super Edition (i.e., after the end of the book and therefore after half of SkyClan has died or otherwise left the clan.)  This begs the question: if StarClan could give SkyClan directions to the other warrior clans, why didn’t they do so earlier?  The text seems to hint that this whole ordeal might be some elaborate test of faith on the part of StarClan – I know StarClan’s characterization historically hasn’t been very consistent, but this is just way too far out of character for me.  I’m far more inclined to believe that StarClan is simply bad at their job – or just accept the meta answer that “SkyClan needed to wander aimlessly for a year to make the timeline from A Vision of Shadows work.”

Overall, this was a middle-of-the-road Super Edition.  It was better than I was expecting, but nothing groundbreaking.

Tigerheart’s Shadow

Have you ever wondered what Tigerheart got up to when he and Dovewing disappeared during A Vision of Shadows?  Well, this Super Edition is for you.  Darktail has been defeated and ShadowClan has returned to their territory.  However, Rowanstar’s reputation as a weak leader persists and his warriors do not have faith in him.  Dovewing meets with Tigerheart in secret and tells him that she’s expecting his kits.  She also tells him that she’s been having terrible dreams which she interprets to mean she must leave the clans.  Tigerheart initially agrees to go with her, but events in ShadowClan delay their meeting and she leaves without him.  Several days later, Tigerheart regrets not leaving with Dovewing and goes off to find her on his own.  He eventually makes his way to a large city, where he finds Dovewing living with a group of cats known as “the guardians” in the basement of a large church or cathedral.  Tigerheart begs Dovewing to forgive him, and they make up.  During their time with the guardians, Tigerheart and Dovewing assist them with several difficulties: driving foxes away from their herb patch, settling disputes with local rogues, etc.  Several moons after their kits are born, Tigerheart and Dovewing decide to return to the clans so their kits can be raised as warriors.  Several guardian cats who also wish to join the clans accompany them.  On the way back to the lake they are joined by a group of former ShadowClan cats who fled Darktail’s terrible reign.  When the group is nearly back to the lake, Tigerheart fights an owl and is killed.  From StarClan, he partakes in the nine lives ceremony of all new clan leaders; because he now has eight extra lives, he comes back from the dead. Tigerheart, now Tigerstar, is acclaimed as leader of ShadowClan.

There are a few things I find interesting about this book.  One is the “guardian cats.”  Warriors is, understandably, mainly concerned with clan society – the society of the warriors.  Most non-clan cats are usually referred to by generic labels like “rogue,” “loner,” or “kittypet” and are typically understood to not have complex societies.  However, occasionally, we get tantalizing glimpses of alternate cat societies – cat societies that have cultures just as complex as but completely distinct from clan society.  The most obvious example is the Tribe of Rushing Water, but I am thinking primarily of the Park Cats from the bonus scene at the end of Dawn of the Clans Book 2, Thunder Rising.  A big portion of Tigerheart’s Shadow takes place in and around one of these alternate societies: the guardian cats.  The guardian cats are distinct from Clan cats in several interesting ways: 

• They do not have a strict social hierarchy
• Their primary mission is to tend to the sick and injured
• They don’t believe in StarClan (or, seemingly, any other supernatural prophecy dispensers)
• They do not have borders or mark territory
• Like other city cats, they primarily scavenge rather than hunt. 

This is all good, interesting stuff.  The issue arises with how our clan cats interact with the guardians.  Unfortunately, as with most stories of interactions between Clan cats and outside groups, the main narrative with the guardian cats is white savior Tigerheart coming in and solving all their problems.  Reading this Super Edition, it’s hard to not get the sense that Clan society is perfect and the guardians are backwards/primitive.  It doesn’t surprise me that Tigerheart and Dovewing would think this – they are Clan cats born-and-raised, after all – but it’s a little strange that the text itself seems to be on their side.  One would think that a largely nonviolent society of healers who has seemingly managed to survive for a long time might have a few things to teach the Clan cats, but this simply isn’t the case; any cultural exchange that does happen goes from the clans cats to the guardians.  Apparently clan society is so superior that when Dovewing and Tigerheart leave to return to the clans, several of the guardian cats want to go with them.  I get that this is Warriors, and the clans is kinda the whole point, but it feels strange to me that after 50 books we have yet to see a single extant, viable non-clan society in a context other than “we need the clans’ help.”

One other thing that annoyed me with this book was the fact that structurally, it’s a generic Hero’s Journey plot.  At the risk of stating a controversial opinion, I am not a fan of the Hero’s Journey.  I’m sure Joseph Campbell would argue there’s some deep-seated psychological reason why this is the case, but what it really comes down to is I find most Hero’s Journey stories overly predictable and narratively unsatisfying.  I fully admit there might be a bit of personal bias involved as well – I think Joseph Campbell is a hack and Hero with a Thousand Faces is genuinely one of the worst books I’ve ever read.  To be clear, I don’t hate all Hero’s Journey stories – I love Star Wars (1977) as much as the next guy – but I don’t buy the idea that it’s this Platonic ideal of storytelling evolutionarily ingrained into the human psyche.  Often, if you hand me a Hero’s Journey story, I’d rather be reading something else – unfortunately, this book is one of those stories. 

All that being said, there were still some things I enjoyed in this book.  I really enjoyed Tigerheart’s character, especially during the first part of the book when he’s a piteous ball of anxiety and regret over Dovewing.  Ivypool, another favorite of mine, has a brief but memorable scene near the beginning of the book – Tigerheart begs her to talk to Dovewing so Dovewing will have someone to confide in, but Ivypool (who hates Tigerheart’s guts) flat-out refuses unless Tigerheart agrees to break up with her.  Tigerheart has another standout moment near the end of the book when he chooses to return to life and face the hardship of living rather than stay dead in StarClan, despite having just died in excruciating pain and clearly being terrified of the prospect.

In closing, this was an okay Super Edition.  There were some standout scenes, especially early on, but overall, it didn’t do much for me.

Crowfeather’s Trial

This Super Edition takes place between Omen of the Stars and A Vision of Shadows – specifically, between the Dovewing’s Silence novella and Bramblestar’s Storm Super Edition.  The Dark Forest has been defeated, but WindClan is having a difficult time forgiving the cats who trained in the Dark Forest – especially Breezepelt, who, unlike the other Dark Forest-trained cats, actively fought with the Dark Forest against the clans instead of immediately switching sides.  Breezepelt’s father, Crowfeather, feels as though he failed as a father; after taking part in two Forbidden Romances all the way back in the New Prophecy arc, Crowfeather swore off love, taking Nightcloud as a mate and fathering Breezepelt only to prove his loyalty to his clan.  WindClan starts having issues with a horde of stoats who have started living in the tunnels under their and ThunderClan’s territory.  While on a patrol in the tunnels, Nightcloud disappears and is presumed dead.  WindClan attacks the stoats but is unable to defeat them.  Crowfeather goes behind his clan leader Onestar’s back to ask for help from ThunderClan.  When a ThunderClan delegation arrives at WindClan camp, Onestar, furious with Crowfeather, antagonizes them.  Onestar concocts a scheme to block the tunnel entrances, thus trapping the stoats.  Crowfeather points out this is a stupid plan, and Onestar, thoroughly tired of Crowfeather’s nonsense, banishes him from the clan for a quarter moon.  While banished, Crowfeather discovers that Nightcloud is not dead; he sneaks back into WindClan camp, assembles a rescue party, and together they rescue her from Twolegplace.  Returning with Nightcloud, the rescue party discovers that the WindClan camp has been attacked by the stoats in their absence. Crowfeather finally convinces Onestar to ask for help from the other clans, and a combined ThunderClan/WindClan force finally defeats the stoats.  Crowfeather, who over the course of the book has repaired his relationships with his son Breezepelt and his ex-mate Nightcloud, realizes that maybe allowing himself to love isn’t such a bad thing after all.

This Super Edition was mostly about Crowfeather and his relationships: mainly with his son Breezepelt and ex-mate Nightcloud, but also his ex-Forbidden Romance partner Leafpool, and his children with Leafpool, Lionblaze and Jayfeather.  Really, more than anything in the above plot summary, this book is about Crowfeather slowly realizing what a jerk he’s been to all his kin and working to make amends.  It’s a touching story, really – since the New Prophecy arc Crowfeather has been closing himself off emotionally, not realizing how much hurt he was causing himself and his kin.  By the end of the story his relationships are in a much better place – Breezepelt doesn’t resent him so much, him and Nightcloud have agreed to be friends, and he’s even on somewhat better terms with his ThunderClan sons.

Speaking of Breezepelt, I have to mention how this book treats him compared to his earlier appearances.  I don’t believe I covered this very well in my Omen of the Stars roundup, but cats who trained in the Dark Forest did so under the pretense of “being better warriors for our clans” and once the Dark Forest cats tried to get them to fight their living clanmates, they all switched sides.  Except Breezepelt.  Breezepelt kept fighting for the Dark Forest and tried to kill his half-brother.  Let’s look at a direct quote:

Breezepelt ripped his claws along Lionblaze’s cheek. “You’re not as strong as I expected,” he gloated.

“Breezepelt, no!” Ivypool snaked through the throng. “Don’t do it! Please! Do you really want to destroy the clans for Brokenstar’s sake?”

Breezepelt pulled back Lionblaze’s head and smacked it hard against the ground. Growling, Lionblaze tried to shake him off, but Breezepelt held on tighter.

“This has nothing to do with Brokenstar.” His gaze flashed at Ivypool. “Lionblaze should never have been born.  None of them should.”  He flicked his tail triumphantly toward Hollyleaf’s body.  “She’s dead; now it’s your turn, Lionblaze.”  He bit into Lionblaze’s neck. (The Last Hope, pg. 308)

Then, in Dovewing’s Silence, it’s clear that Breezepelt is not at all remorseful for his actions and was only allowed to return to WindClan because Onestar, desperate to not lose another warrior, insisted that all Dark Forest trainees be given a blanket pardon. To quote:

Breezepelt was looking smug and Dovewing felt an urge to rake his ears.  She was sure he hadn’t wanted to be a better WindClan warrior.  He had wanted power and strength, that was all. (Tales from the Clans, pg. 234)

I suppose you could chalk this second quote up to Dovewing being an unreliable narrator, but my point is that everything we know about Breezepelt heading into Crowfeather’s Trial indicates that he’s just a bad seed who doesn’t feel any remorse for being an agent of Cat Hell.  In Crowfeather’s Trial, however, Breezepelt is portrayed much more sympathetically – he’s a cat who’s good at heart but whose daddy issues led him to some dark places.  This characterization of Breezepelt works well for this story of family reconciliation, but I think it’s undeniable that it conflicts with his earlier characterization.  Not to mention it robs us of both a potential recurring villain and the opportunity for a real redemption arc as this book’s Breezepelt doesn’t even need redemption in the first place.

This book is also yet another poor showing for my least favorite clan leader, Onestar.  I know there’ll be a Onestar Super Edition covered in a future roundup, so I won’t get too deep into it here, but Onestar is an infuriating character to read.  Since about the midpoint of Power of Three his main character trait has been “hates ThunderClan.”  To a certain extent, I can understand this – ThunderClan does have a history of meddling in the affairs of other clans – but Onestar takes it way too far.  When a ThunderClan patrol visits WindClan’s camp to offer their help in dealing with the stoats, Onestar calls ThunderClan weak and useless even though they have almost twice as many members as WindClan, then accuses Bramblestar to his face of plotting with the ghost of his dead evil dad to kill Firestar.  Onestar’s genius plan for dealing with the stoats is to block all the tunnel entrances on WindClan territory, meaning that the stoats could only exit the tunnels on ThunderClan territory, which will surely be great for interclan relations.  It takes two crushing defeats, losing one of his lives and several of his warriors almost dying before Onestar finally swallows his pride enough to accept help from ThunderClan.

Besides all of that, there are a few other things I liked in this book.  There’s a scene between Jayfeather and Crowfeather that shows how the former inherited his abrasive personality from the latter.  This scene also makes it clear that Jayfeather does not forgive Breezepelt – for training in the Dark Forest, for saying he should have never been born, for trying to kill his brother, etc. – which I like; no matter how hard this book tries to make the reader forget it, Breezepelt did ally with the forces of Cat Hell and I’m glad some cat still has a problem with that.  Stoats are an interesting choice of antagonist as well; I’m unsure if we’ve even seen stoats before in Warriors, but they work well as an intimidating horde of small, violent creatures prone to being underestimated by clan warriors.  This book also has one of the genuinely funniest lines in the entire series so far, after Onestar has just finished explaining his obviously stupid plan for dealing with the stoats:

“That’s the most mouse-brained plan I’ve ever heard!” some cat exclaimed, and Crowfeather realized with horror that it had been him. (Crowfeather’s Trial, pg. 240)

Ah, Crowfeather.  Never change.  In short, Crowfeather’s Trial is easily one of my favorite Super Editions so far.

Squirrelflight’s Hope

This Super Edition follows ThunderClan deputy Squirrelflight after the events of A Vision of Shadows.  The clans, having just shifted their borders to accommodate SkyClan at the end of the last arc, are now fighting over said borders; while the division of territory is now more equitable, several clans now have land that is practically unusable for them (specifically, moorland for ThunderClan, and marsh for ShadowClan.) At a special Gathering, Squirrelflight suggests SkyClan move into a new territory slightly farther from the lake that is not claimed by any clan.  She and Leafstar investigate this potential new territory and discover that it is currently being occupied by a small matriarchal group of cats known as the Sisters, who take them prisoner.  The Sisters are nomadic and are only settling there temporarily so their leader, Moonlight, can give birth.  The clans send a rescue party who secure Leafstar and Squirrelflight’s release.  Thus begins the political conflict that takes up most of the rest of the book: ShadowClan and RiverClan want SkyClan to move into the new territory as soon as possible so they can readjust their borders; SkyClan doesn’t want to drive out the Sisters through violence, so they refuse to commit to moving; ThunderClan supports SkyClan; WindClan just wants their land back from ThunderClan but otherwise has no strong opinions.  Squirrelflight continues to advocate for the Sisters, much to the annoyance of her mate Bramblestar who starts to question her commitment to clan life.  Eventually ShadowClan and RiverClan convince the other clans to drive out the Sisters.  The night before the attack, Squirrelflight and Leafpool both receive prophetic dreams they interpret to mean Moonlight and her kits are in trouble; they sneak into the Sisters’ camp, where Leafpool assists with Moonlight’s birthing.  The next morning, the clan patrol arrives; despite Squirrelflight’s attempts to mediate, a battle breaks out.  In the battle, Squirrelflight and Leafpool are trapped in a landslide while trying to save Moonlights’ kits, and they both wake up in StarClan’s hunting grounds.  StarClan informs them that, while they are not dead yet, they are dying and may not recover.  Before Squirrelflight and Leafpool are allowed to join StarClan, they are made to answer for their codebreaking in front of a tribunal of StarClan cats.  Leafpool is charged with having kits as a medicine cat and taking a mate from another clan; Squirrelflight is charged with lying to her clanmates about the true parentage of Leafpool’s kits.  The tribunal ultimately decides not to send Leafpool or Squirrelflight to the Dark Forest.  The two of them enjoy StarClan’s hunting grounds for a while, but Squirrelflight is eager to leave.  Leafpool dies, making her residency in StarClan permanent; Squirrelflight chooses to return to the world of the living.  Waking up in ThunderClan’s medicine den, Squirrelflight learns that Moonlight has died, SkyClan has moved into their new territory, and the Sisters are temporarily living in SkyClan’s new camp.  The book ends with ThunderClan holding a vigil for Leafpool, Squirrelflight secure in the knowledge that Leafpool will always be watching over her.

One of the main overarching conflicts of this book is the relationship between Bramblestar and Squirrelflight.  Bramblestar and Squirrelflight’s relationship has always been a bit rocky – first, there was the Brambleclaw/Ashfur/Squirrelflight love triangle in the New Prophecy; then there was their major falling out over the whole “lying about Leafpool’s kits being my kits” thing in Power of Three, which they worked out in the last book of Omen of the Stars; then there was the Bramblestar/Jessy/Squirrelflight love triangle in Bramblestar’s Storm.  The conflict in this book has two main prongs: one, Bramblestar feels like Squirrelflight constantly undermines him in public and doesn’t respect his authority as clan leader; and two, Squirrelflight wants more kits, but Bramblestar doesn’t.  The second prong is resolved when Squirrelflight realizes that, as deputy, she is effectively mother to all clan kits, even if they are not biologically hers.  As far as the first prong is concerned, unfortunately for Bramblestar, Squirrelflight seems unambiguously in the right.  It’s true that Squirrelflight often publicly argues with Bramblestar, but most often she does so because Bramblestar is making an obviously stupid or ill-considered decision.  This is a recurring theme: the main conflict between Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight back in the New Prophecy was that Squirrelflight didn’t like Brambleclaw hanging out with his Obviously Evil half-brother Hawkfrost, and, sure enough, that arc ended with Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost having a fight to the death.  In this arc, their main conflict is primarily about the treatment of the Sisters.  Squirrelflight is opposed to driving out the Sisters by force on both moral and pragmatic grounds: it would be cruel to force an expectant mother into unfamiliar territory so soon to giving birth, and the Sisters are clearly planning on moving on shortly anyway.  Unfortunately, Bramblestar’s clan pride and xenophobia keeps him from seeing the Sisters as anything better than rogues and he feels his paws are tied by wider political concerns (not wanting to alienate the other clans) leading him to disregard Squirrelflight’s wise counsel.

Speaking of the Sisters, this is the second Super Edition in this batch that introduces a group of outsiders.  The Sisters is a nomadic group of large (as in, physically large) female cats and their young children.  When their male children are old enough to take care of themselves, they leave the Sisters to live as rogues or loners; this is implied to be largely consensual on the part of the toms, but it is revealed that Tree was raised by the Sisters and he clearly resents what he feels was his mother abandoning him.  The Sisters all seem to share Tree’s power of seeing ghosts.  They don’t believe in StarClan or owning territory, but their culture is clearly deeper than Warriors’ typical “they’re just cats who live together.” 

I like the Sisters.  Unlike practically every other non-clan group we have seen so far in Warriors, the text in this book treats the Sisters’ society as a valid alternative to clan society.  This book is not a story of Clan cats sweeping in and saving group of backwards savages from their own primitive ways; it’s a story of Clan cats being too proud and xenophobic to see an alternate society as anything other than a group of backwards savages who are standing in the way of their glorious destiny.  When the clans fight to drive out the Sisters, we are supposed to understand as a reader that this is a bad thing, that it is a failure of the Clans to live up to the Warrior Code, and that Squirrelflight and Leafpool’s trip to StarClan is the clans’ karmic punishment for this failure.

Although it makes up a short section of the book, Squirrelflight’s time in StarClan is by far the most fascinating thing going on in this Super Edition.  Easily the most memorable part of this section is the trial scene, which I find bizarre for several reasons:

• Leafpool is charged with having kits as a medicine cat and having a mate from another clan.  On the tribunal are Yellowfang (had kits as a medicine cat,) Bluestar (had a mate from another clan and is explicitly stated to be living with said mate in StarClan,) and Moth Flight (had kits as a medicine cat with a mate from another clan.)
• Squirrelflight is charged with lying to her clanmates about the true parentage of Leafpool’s kits.  Yellowfang, who is on the tribunal, lied to Squirrelflight to convince her to raise Leafpool’s kits as her own. 

The funny thing is, if StarClan did decide to send Leafpool to Cat Hell, I’m almost certain she would be the first character in Warriors history to suffer any spiritual consequences for a Forbidden Romance.  The only Forbidden Romance participant I can think of that went to the Dark Forest was Mapleshade, and I think that had more to do with the three murders.  And two of Leafpool’s three kits were prophetically necessary to save the clans!  Sure, Moth Flight claims StarClan could have chosen any cats for the prophecy but she’s wrong: the prophecy from Power of Three/Omen of the Stars is explicitly stated in those arcs to not come from StarClan. Quoting directly:

“What?” Bluestar rose to her paws again, waving her tail commandingly as if she still held authority over the old medicine cat. “Yellowfang, have you forgotten this prophecy isn’t even ours?  It could be dangerous to interfere with it.  I think we should leave it alone.” (The Fourth Apprentice, pg. 2)

According to ancient (pre-Dawn of the Clans) cat Rock and immortal ghost badger Midnight, the “kin of your kin” prophecy has existed since the dawn of time, long before the existence of StarClan.  To quote:

Rock sat down on the cold stone.  His blind blue eyes were round a white as moons. “We watched the first sunrise over the lake.”

“It burst water into flame,” Midnight recalled. “And in fiery reflection we see future of all cats: Tribe of Rushing Water, five Clan, four Clan, forest, and lake.”

“We saw your whole journey, from lake to forest and back.” Rock tipped his head as if watching the cats process in front of him.  “The prophecies all came from that first reflected sunrise – the cat with a pelt of flame who would save the Clans, the silver cat who would save the Tribe of Rushing Water, and finally the four who would carry the last hope, not just of the Clans, but of light itself.” (The Last Hope, pg. 3)

I’m not going to spend too long speculating on the cosmology of Warriors world (because I don’t think Warriors even has a consistent cosmology) but from the above quotes it’s evident to me that the “kin of your kin” prophecy (and perhaps all prophecies) are not something created by or under the control of StarClan; rather, StarClan acts only as a conduit for communicating these prophecies to living cats.  Therefore, Moth Flight is incorrect; Leafpool’s kits were prophetically necessary to save the Clans, and consequently, punishing her for having them would be unreasonable.

Anyway, the fact that Leafpool and Squirrelflight’s StarClan-worthiness was ever in question is even more absurd considering the presence of one particular StarClan resident: Ashfur.  Ashfur, you may recall, tried to murder Squirrelflight’s presumed three children in front of her all the way back in Power of Three, and he’s just…allowed to be in StarClan.  This is the second time we’ve seen Ashfur in StarClan, the first being way back in Omen of the Stars – back then, when Jayfeather understandably questions why the guy who tried to murder him and his siblings is allowed in Cat Heaven, Yellowfang tells him “His only fault was to love too much.” (Sign of the Moon, pg. 94.)  So, attempted triple homicide is a-okay as long as it’s done out of love, but having kits as a medicine cat is grounds for potentially being sent to Cat Hell, even though doing so was necessary to save the clans and the afterlife itself from destruction?  Who wrote this, Immanuel Kant?

It is, of course, sad to see Leafpool go – she’s been a series staple since the New Prophecy, and our first real main character death since Omen of the Stars.  ThunderClan won’t feel the same without her.

Overall, this is another very good Super Edition – one of my favorites so far.

Closing Thoughts

Some solid Super Editions this time.  Here’s my current ranking of Super Editions:

1. Crookedstar’s Promise
2. Tallstar’s Revenge
3. Crowfeather’s Trial
4. Squirrelflight’s Hope
5. Bluestar’s Prophecy
6. Hawkwing’s Journey
7. Moth Flight’s Vision
8. Yellowfang’s Secret
9. Tigerheart’s Shadow
10. Bramblestar’s Storm
11. SkyClan’s Destiny
12. Firestar’s Quest

Coming up next: our penultimate arc, The Broken Code.  Will the Warrior Code be broken? Judging by every book in the series so far, absolutely – but will it be broken more than usual?  Stay tuned…

This time on Warriors Roundup: a second batch of novellas.  What do Zippy and I think of this shorter Warriors format? Let’s see…

Mapleshade’s Vengeance

This novella follows my favorite recurring Warriors villain Mapleshade, expanding on her backstory first expounded in the Crookedstar’s Promise Super Edition.  Mapleshade is a ThunderClan warrior pregnant with kits resulting from a Forbidden Romance with RiverClan warrior Appledusk.  After giving birth, everyone in ThunderClan assumes the three kits’ father is a recently deceased ThunderClan warrior.  Unfortunately for Mapleshade, medicine cat Ravenwing receives an omen that reveals the kits’ half-RiverClan heritage, and he tells the whole clan.  The clan takes the news incredibly badly and Mapleshade and her kits are driven into exile.  While fleeing to RiverClan, Mapleshade makes the incredibly stupid decision of trying to cross a flooded river with her kits, and her kits drown.  In RiverClan, Appledusk begs for his clanmates’ forgiveness for his dalliance with Mapleshade, and Mapleshade is thrown out.  With nowhere to go, Mapleshade decides to avenge her kits by becoming a serial killer.  First, she murders Ravenwing for revealing the truth of their heritage. Then, she murders ThunderClan warrior Frecklewish for not saving her kits from drowning.  Finally, she murders Appledusk, also for not saving her kits from drowning; however, she is mortally wounded in the fight.  Mapleshade bleeds out, entering the Dark Forest, where she is excited by the prospect of tormenting Appledusk’s kin forever.

When reflecting on this novella, the question that immediately comes to mind is: what are we meant to take from this?  At face value, the tragedy of Mapleshade and her kits seems like a morality tale about the dangers of breaking the Warrior Code – Mapleshade had a Forbidden Romance, and as punishment she is exiled, loses her kits, is driven to murder, and ultimately ends up in Cat Hell.  I don’t buy this interpretation, mainly because cross-clan Forbidden Romances happen all the time and it’d be kind of hypocritical for StarClan to think Mapleshade’s fate is a just punishment for having half-clan kits when two of the eponymous Three from Power of Three (aka the Cat Messiahs) are half-clan.  I think a more compelling reading is interpreting Mapleshade’s tragedy as just that – a tragedy.  Mapleshade is a tragic figure whose fatal flaw is her self-righteousness.  When her clan confronts her about the true parentage of her kits, she insists that it shouldn’t matter who the kits’ father is.  She refuses to believe that she’s done anything wrong despite having blatantly broken the Warrior Code.  When her kits drown, she blames everyone but herself: Ravenwing, for revealing her secret; ThunderClan at large, for kicking her out; and Frecklewish and Appledusk, for not doing more to save her kits.  Not once does she stop and consider that maybe she shouldn’t have tried to ford a flooded river with her three infants.  Finally, having convinced herself that everybody but herself is responsible for the death of her kits, she decides her only recourse is murder.  Had Mapleshade behaved differently – by, for example, asking her clanmates for forgiveness like Appledusk rather than stubbornly insisting that she hadn’t done anything wrong – her and her kits’ tragic fate could have been easily avoided, but that’s what makes her a tragic character, isn’t it?  Her tragic flaw – her self-righteousness – will not allow her to make the choices necessary to avoid her downfall, leading to her fate seeming simultaneously inevitable and entirely her own fault. 

Overall, I really like this one (surprise, surprise.)  Mapleshade continues to be one of my favorite Warriors characters, and I hope to see more of her in the future.  Speaking of which…

Goosefeather’s Curse

“Who is Goosefeather?” I hear you cry.  Well, Goosefeather was the elderly medicine cat of ThunderClan in the time of the Super Edition prequels (Bluestar’s Prophecy, Crookedstar’s Promise, and Yellowfang’s Secret.)  I’ve mentioned him once before in a previous roundup, commenting on his penchant for saying ominous things about the infant Evil Tigerstar.  Well, have you ever wondered how Goosefeather knew Evil Tigerstar was bad news even when he was a newborn?  The answer, as revealed in this novella, is that Goosefeather can 1. see dead cats, Sixth Sense style, but also 2. receive visions of the past/present/future.  This novella follows Goosefeather from his childhood up to the ascension of Pinestar as ThunderClan leader and mostly focuses on Goosefeather coming to terms with his power (or, as he comes to see it, his curse.)  It hits all the beats you would expect for a story like this – Goosefeather learns he can see ghosts; Goosefeather’s mentor tells him to keep his power secret; Goosefeather tries to use his visions to prevent future catastrophes only to learn that fate cannot be stopped; Goosefeather comes to see his powers as a terrible burden.  Unfortunately this kind of story doesn’t really appeal to me, although there are a few standout scenes.  For example, at one point, after almost getting killed by a badger, Goosefeather decides he should learn some self-defense skills, so he starts training under a friendly white-and-tortoiseshell she-cat ghost who turns out to be – you guessed it – our girl Mapleshade.  Unfortunately, her girlboss energy is not enough to carry the entire novella, which doesn’t do much for me.

Ravenpaw’s Farewell

“Who is Ravenpaw?” I hear you cry.  Well, all the way back in the very first book of the first arc, Ravenpaw was the third member of a trio with Firestar and Graystripe in their ThunderClan apprentice days. Unfortunately, Ravenpaw witnessed his mentor Tigerclaw (future Evil Tigerstar) murder the ThunderClan deputy and so had to leave ThunderClan for his own safety, moving in with friendly barn cat Barley, where he has remained since.  This novella takes place at some point after the clans left the forest territories for the lake territories.  Ravenpaw, now old and suffering from recurring stomach pains, reminisces about his clan days.  He and Barley visit Barley’s young niece and nephew, Riley and Bella, who have heard stories about the clans from older kittypets and are convinced that they’re meant to be clan cats.  This is an issue since, as previously stated, the clans have left the forest and Ravenpaw doesn’t know where they are.  However, he does remember Firestar telling him about SkyClan, so he decides to take Riley and Bella to SkyClan’s gorge.  Barley is opposed to the idea, fearing that Ravenpaw regrets leaving clan life, but Ravenpaw leaves with Bella and Riley anyway.  Barley meets up with the traveling party on the way and apologizes to Ravenpaw.  The travelers arrive at SkyClan’s gorge, where SkyClan is initially reluctant to allow Riley and Bella to join the clan, until Ravenpaw and company assist them with some local kittypet troublemakers.  Riley and Bella are accepted as SkyClan apprentices, and Ravenpaw dies in Barley’s paws, his spirit promising that they will meet again someday.

More than the actual so-called plot of delivering two overexcited kits to SkyClan, this novella is about Barley and Ravenpaw’s relationship.  As should go without saying to anyone who read this novella or the Ravenpaw’s Path graphic novel arc, Ravenpaw and Barley’s relationship is romantic.  It’s even more explicit than Jake and Tallstar’s relationship in Tallstar’s Revenge.  At one point Ravenpaw is visited by the spirit of Silverstream, the first ever Warriors love interest – and she tells him “Barley knows that you don’t want to leave him.  He understands, and he will not love you less if he cannot see you.” (Shadows of the Clans, pg. 267, emphasis mine.)  “Love” isn’t a word that Warriors uses to describe non-familial platonic relationships in that kind of context.  Later, Ravenpaw is visited by some other StarClan cats who offer to let him into StarClan even though he’s not really a clan cat anymore, and Ravenpaw refuses because Barley wouldn’t be there.  Granted, in the next sentence he’s assured that there is another afterlife in which he and Barley can be together, but he would have had no way of knowing that when he refused.  The guy literally said “no thanks” to Cat Heaven, without knowing if there was any alternative, because he wouldn’t have been able to be there with Barley.  If that isn’t love, then love doesn’t exist in Warriors.  I don’t even think one could “actually Frederick the Great wasn’t gay” their way out of this one, it’s just too blatant.

With all of that in mind – there is a lot to like in this novella.  I appreciated seeing the forest territories post-Clan departure – we even got a reference to Firestar’s kittypet friend Smudge who I’m pretty sure hasn’t been mentioned since Firestar’s Quest. Everything that has to do with Ravenpaw and Barley’s relationship is great.  Pre-Vision of Shadows SkyClan is nice to see again as well.  Overall, a very strong novella.

Spottedleaf’s Heart

“Who is Spottedleaf?” I hear you cry.  Well, Spottedleaf was the ThunderClan medicine cat for the very first Warriors book until she was murdered, at which point she became Firestar’s spirit-guide-cum-dead-crush, which she remained until her soul was destroyed at the end of Omen of the Stars. In this novella, Spottedkit/paw is a warrior apprentice who receives a lot of attention from the much older warrior Thistleclaw.  One day, Spottedpaw falls from a tree that Thistleclaw pushed her to climb, sending her to the medicine den.  After recovering, she witnesses Thistleclaw encouraging his apprentice, the future Evil Tigerstar, to kill a defenseless kittypet.  Spottedpaw completely ignores this red flag, admits her feelings for Thistleclaw, and Thistleclaw responds by taking her on a romantic date to Cat Hell, where Thistleclaw is training under – guess who – ­­­our girl, Mapleshade.  Spottedpaw completely ignores this red flag as well.  Spottedpaw is offered the position of medicine cat apprentice.  She declines, because as a medicine cat she wouldn’t be allowed to date Thistleclaw.  She goes to the Dark Forest to tell him the news and witnesses him murder an elderly cat.  Spottedpaw and Thistleclaw realize that they aren’t romantically compatible and part ways amicably.  There’s a birthing scene (because of course there is) when Bluefur gives birth to her kits.  The novella then becomes a re-run of the “Bluefur gives up her kits so she can stop Thistleclaw from becoming deputy” plot from the Bluestar’s Prophecy Super Edition, but from Spottedpaw’s perspective.  The novella ends with Spottedpaw vowing to never love foolishly again – a vow that she presumably keeps until Rusty (the future Firestar) rolls into ThunderClan camp and his pure main character energy makes her fall for him head over heels (paws?)

A few thoughts.  First, it’s incredibly weird that Thistleclaw is romantically interested in Spottedpaw.  He gives her romantic-coded gifts when she’s a kit (that is, not even an apprentice) and he’s a full warrior.  Off the top of my head, I can only think of a single Warriors romance between a full warrior and an apprentice (Feathertail and Crowpaw in the New Prophecy) so a romance between a full warrior and a kit is completely unprecedented.  The strange thing is, the text itself doesn’t really seem to make a big deal out of this: nobody ever comments on it, and it’s not couched as one of Thistleclaw’s many red flags.  I genuinely can’t tell if we as readers are supposed to read Thistleclaw’s interest as deviant, but I can’t bring myself to not see it like that.

Second, I have to ask – can we please get a medicine cat who actually wanted to be a medicine cat from the get-go for once?  So many medicine cats are pulled into the position unwillingly – Yellowfang, Cinderpelt, Littlecloud, Jayfeather, Alderheart, and now Spottedleaf all wanted to be warriors first, and Puddleshine was straight-up ordered by his clan leader to become a medicine cat when he was still a kit.  Why does seemingly nobody want to be a medicine cat?  Does the idea of being a conduit between StarClan and the living not appeal to people?  Does nobody covet having power of life and death?  Were I a warrior cat – well, actually, were I a warrior cat, I’d become a kittypet, but barring that, were I a warrior cat, becoming a medicine cat would be a no-brainer.  Please, leave me in camp to sort herbs while you follow Dumbstar into battle over Sunningrocks for the fifth time this year.

Third, this novella has made me realize that one of the main signifiers as to whether I’ll enjoy a novella or not is how redundant it is.  The more material in a novella that we’ve already seen elsewhere, the less I enjoy it.  Unfortunately, this novella suffers from a lot of redundancy; I wasn’t that much of a fan of the “Bluestar giving up her kits” plot in Bluestar’s Prophecy and this novella doesn’t add much to it, which is disappointing.  Surely it could have been replaced with something that develops Spottedleaf’s character and we haven’t seen before.

Although the above paragraphs might give the impression that I didn’t like this novella, I think it’s perfectly serviceable if not my cup of tea.

Pinestar’s Choice

“Who is Pinestar?” I hear you cry.  Well, Pinestar was the leader of ThunderClan during the first half of Bluestar’s Prophecy before he decided that clan life sucks and he’d rather live as a kittypet.  This novella gives further context for that eponymous choice.  As an apprentice, Pinepaw is saved from a fox by a kittypet.  Pinepaw returns the favor later when ThunderClan raids Twolegplace.  Much later, Pinestar, now leader of ThunderClan, starts hanging out with the kittypets of Twolegplace as a respite from his responsibilities as clan leader.  Over time, Pinestar becomes increasingly disillusioned with the violence of clan life.  Pinestar is visited in his dreams by former leader Doestar who warns him that his unborn son will be born with the power to destroy ThunderClan.  His kits are born, and Pinestar sacrifices his second-to-last life attempting to save his kittypet friend Shanty from being hit by a car.  StarClan appears in Pinestar’s dreams and order him to kill his son Tigerkit (the future Evil Tigerstar.)  Pinestar refuses.  Pinestar decides that he cannot continue as clan leader, announces to the clan that he’s leaving to become a kittypet, and departs to live with Shanty’s twolegs.

As I stated in my Bluestar’s Prophecy roundup, I like Pinestar.  He seems to be the only character in the entire series who takes issue with the violence inherent in clan society.  There are some very revealing passages in this novella.  When he’s considering whether one of his kits will become his apprentice, he thinks “And teach my own son or daughter how to attack and wound and frighten our enemies, for the sake of these invisible walls we have built around our home?  Could I really do that, knowing I might have to watch them die in battle one day?” (Legends of the Clans, pg 173.)  Later, when Doestar’s spirit tells him that the fighting over Sunningrocks is not over, he tells her “And lose more lives for the sake of warming our pelts on a heap of stones?  […] I can’t wait.” (Legends of the Clans, pg 181.)  From my point of view, Pinestar is 100% correct: at the point in the timeline this story takes place, most battles are completely pointless. 

The funny thing is, as the series has progressed, Pinestar has been largely vindicated.  In the first series, the clans fought each other all the time, practically once a book.  Conversely, from the end of Power of Three to the end of A Vision of Shadows, I think there have only been three clan vs. clan battles (the Dark Forest-instigated ThunderClan/ShadowClan battle and the Sol-instigated WindClan/ThunderClan battle in Omen of the Stars, and the SkyClan/ShadowClan battle in A Vision of Shadows.)  Battles still happen, of course – the series is called Warriors, after all – but a lot of the more recent battles have been against external threats like the Dark Forest cats, Darktail and his Kin, and rowdy kittypets.  I think this ties into the discussion on clan identity in the A Vision of Shadows roundup: as the clans become more culturally homogenized it’s become increasingly difficult to come up with reasonable justifications for conflict between the clans besides “the leader is a warmongering idiot” (I’m looking at you, Onestar.) 

My only real issue with Pinestar’s opposition to the violence of clan culture is how he chooses to handle it.  Like, good job, Pinestar, you’ve observed there is a systemic issue in your society – now do something to fix it.  Pinestar is, need I remind you, an absolute monarch, anointed by StarClan, whose word is law. Why not use some of that authority to try and improve things?  Now, to be clear, I don’t expect this would work – cultural inertia is probably enough to stop any major societal reforms, to say nothing of the other three clans – but I’d like to have at least seen Pinestar try; y’know, have his warriors sit in a circle and sing Kumbaya or something.   I fully recognize that this isn’t really something this novella could have done considering Pinestar’s departure was already seen in Bluestar’s Prophecy, but hey – a guy can dream.

I also think StarClan ordering Pinestar to murder his son is a fun addition; we haven’t had a Binding of Isaac story in Warriors yet. Also, I feel obligated to mention that while she doesn’t show up in this novella, Mapleshade gets namedropped early on in a scary story told to Pinekit by one of the elders.

In conclusion, another great novella.

Thunderstar’s Echo

This novella follows Thunderstar, founder of ThunderClan, shortly after the events of the Moth Flight’s Vision super edition.  Thunderstar is anxious about becoming a father.  Junkyard dogs attack ThunderClan’s camp.  Thunderstar and his deputy Lightning Tail go on an adventure to stop the dogs.  Thunderstar and Lightning Tail both die, but Thunderstar has nine lives so he comes back. Thunderstar stops the dogs.  Thunderstar returns to camp, where his kits are born in another birthing scene.  Thunderstar appoints Owl Eyes as deputy.

I don’t really have anything to say about this one, it’s very boring and forgettable.  I’m generally not a fan of dogs as antagonists in Warriors as they always end up being dumb brutes.  Thunderstar sits vigil over Lightning Tail’s dead body, which is supposed to be the “just-so story” explaining why that’s a tradition in the modern clans.  Clear Sky, now Skystar, makes a brief appearance, but it’s nothing to write home about – Thunderstar accuses him of intentionally not warning ThunderClan about the potential threat of dogs, which would be entirely in line with Skystar’s character, but unfortunately Skystar has a good excuse. 

Overall, one of my least favorite novellas so far, which is a shame because I like the Dawn of the Clans era and would like to see more of its characters.

Conclusion

A pretty good mix of novellas with some strong ones (Mapleshade’s Vengeance, Ravenpaw’s Farewell, Pinestar’s Choice) and only one really disappointing one (Thunderstar’s Echo.)  Next up: another batch of Super Editions (four this time instead of the standard three) and then our penultimate arc – The Broken Code…