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…