Shelly, are you still raging about The Last Hope? It's been out for a couple of months now, isn't it about time to move on to a new topic?
Well, no. I know it's been out for a couple of months, but that's why I'm doing this now. Because I was raging so hard over this topic I didn't feel it was appropriate to write on my feelings over this until my rage had subsided a bit.
This topic, of course, being the topic of Bramblestar forgiving Squirrelflight, making her his deputy, and taking her as a mate once more.
And I barely know where to begin talking about the sheer amount of wrong I find with this.
I suppose I should start with...
Why They Broke Up[]
I was so, so proud of Brambleclaw when he proved to be the first cat with any sense when it came to his mate. Before this and after this love has been treated as an ever-present band-aid, fixing any problem and making everything okay. A medicine cat could run off with a tom from another Clan and not get punished for it when she returned because she did it out of love and apparently that forgives blatant treason.
Brambleclaw had every reason to dump Squirrelflight. I've already touched upon this in a previous blog, but I'll reiterate for the sake of thoroughness.
Brambleclaw had, throughout his life, been criticized by his Clan based on the circumstances of his birth. Despite that, he maintained a friendly, loyal, and forgiving nature.
He forgave Fireheart for his early suspicion of him based on the fact that he resembled his father and instantly forgot about it, eventually becoming Firestar's most fiercely loyal warrior and deputy.
He forgave Squirreflight for not trusting him simply because he wanted to get to know his half-brother better.
He even forgave Ashfur for fighting over Squirrelflight with him.
And that only emphasizes how horribly Squirrelflight hurt him.
Brambleclaw, for most of his life, had no close kin in the Clan, save for his mother (and at this point his mother was long dead). And from the start of The Sight, you can instantly tell how much Brambleclaw adores his kits.
And I've no doubt in me that he wouldn't have treated them any differently if he'd known they weren't really his offspring.
But instead he's told one night that everything is a lie. He isn't a father, and his mate has been lying to him for years. His kits are not his. Squirrelflight, who he'd forgiven before for not trusting him, who should have known that she could trust him, completely betrayed him.
And I was so proud of him when he dumped her sorry behind.
And now onto her.
Why it Was Her Secret to Tell[]
When the truth comes out, Squirrelflight constantly defends her actions, stating that the truth of "her" kit's parentage wasn't her secret to tell, but that it was Leafpool's.
And this is bull.
The instant Squirrelflight knew about those kits and took them as her own it became her secret. It'd be rather selfish of Leafpool to forbid Squirrelflight from having permission to tell even her mate about who really gave birth to the kits.
Squirrelflight had absolutely no reason not to at least tell Brambleclaw that she hadn't given birth to the kits, that she'd found them in the wild and wanted to pretend they were hers. I'm sure Brambleclaw would have just gone with it. Heck, she could have told the entire Clan this story if she wanted to. Obviously if RiverClan could live with Mistykit and Stonekit suddenly appearing in their ranks as "kits found in the wild" and just take them in as RiverClan cats, never seeming to treat them any differently for it, ThunderClan could have done the same.
Or, hell, they could have told the truth. Wouldn't be so hard. And obviously they would have gotten away with it without being exiled, since neither cat has been exiled at this point. Frankly, the moment Leafpool returned from her little excursion with Crowfeather, she should have been made to train an apprentice and immediately exiled. The moment the truth came out, both Leafpool and Squirrelflight should have been exiled, since ThunderClan already had a fully trained medicine cat apprentice.
But that's didn't and won't happen. Neither of them got punished at all. And so onto the events of The Last Hope.
"For the best of reasons"[]
Oh, Bramblestar, where did your senses go?
Upon becoming leader of ThunderClan, Bramblestar announces that Squirrelflight will be his deputy, saying that everything she'd done had been for "the best of reasons".
And this is utter bull.
What would have been "the best of reasons" would have been for the good of the Clan.
It's not like Squirrelflight and Leafpool knew about the prophecy concerning 2/3 of the kits. They hid their parentage for selfish reasons. If Leafpool had just come clean about it all, she would have saved her sister, her kits, her Clan, and herself a lot of grief! Her kits wouldn't have had to find out the hard way that their entire lives had been one big lie. Her sister wouldn't have lied to her mate.
Knowing how the Erins write, I know that if Leafpool had just been honest about the fact that she was expecting kits, her Clan would have just had her train an apprentice immediately and would have had her become a queen and either retire or just become a warrior. Or, hell, since no cat forced her to quit being a medicine cat except herself when the truth did come out, she likely would have been allowed to just carry on as if nothing happened, just being a medicine cat that broke a major rule and had kits.
There was no good reason for them to have done what they did.
Only selfish reasons.
But now, based on this incredibly flawed logic, Bramblestar has taken Squirrelflight as a mate once more and even made her his deputy.
And now he suddenly trusts her again when he has no reason to do so.
And, for my own sake, I'm going to pretend he forgave her based on the fact that he knew there was a huge chance his life may have ended during the final battle.
But making her deputy?
No, just no.
A cat that lied to her Clan for years in order to harbor a traitor to the Warrior Code? Oh yeah, she must be the best pick for deputy.
And taking her as a mate again?
Oh gawd... this was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I'd have even been fine with her being deputy if he'd just not taken her as a mate again. I'd have been fine with him forgiving her. But to take a cat that had emotionally abused him for years is utterly senseless.
I love Bramblestar. I can't think of a better cat to have been made leader. But, for the sake of ThunderClan, I hope that he shows better sense with the rest of the decisions he'll have to make in his career.
So, thoughts? Comments?
No mudslinging, thanks. Keep it at an intellectual level, and don't make an argument you aren't prepared to back up with facts.