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…