Dovewing and Ivypool: Not-So-Dynamic Sisterly Duo by Foxshadow

Foxshadow describes why Ivypool and Dovewing aren’t so special

While I was sorting through an old bookshelf that I haven’t touched in a little while…I came across the book The Fourth Apprentice. Now, the series that followed it was one I remembered not exactly enjoying. But why, I wondered, did it not excite me every time a new warrior cats book came out? Perhaps it was the issue of Dovewing (At the time Dovekit/Dovepaw) and Ivypool (Ivykit/Ivypaw). Now, I’ve seen the internet, and both cats have gotten their fair share of love and hate, but I wasn’t going to just hop on the bandwagon and make a meme about it, no. I decided to delve a little deeper into their characters. So buckle your seatbelts, I’m going to give you a somewhat biased opinion while analyzing the two warrior cats characters that changed the course of the entire series…..

First off, they’re not just cats in general. No, they’re sisters. And almost polar opposite at that. When I first read this, I was excited, mostly because I thought maybe I could finally relate to a book character more than I had before. I have a younger sister, and she is actually better than me at a lot of things. Lots of times, I feel dragged out of the spotlight, cast in a shadow, so immediately I took a liking to Ivypaw. I couldn’t wait to see their relationship! As myself, I was hoping to get more and more from both sides of a love-hate relationship to complicate it…if only the prophecy hadn’t gotten in the way. The way I read it, to my disappointment, was that they would have been these two lovey-dovey (haha, get it? Dovey!) inseparable sisters that never argued about anything…and then they [And by ‘they’ I mean Lionblaze and Jayfeather] dragged her off to the mystical realm of the prophecy so she could harness the strength of her…Wolverine senses…??? Seriously, though; what is the relevance of her ability?? Sure, it helped them find the beaver dam but what else can she do?? “I heard a tree fall and almost saved everyone!” No, shut up Dovewing, get out of here. And almost isn’t good enough!

But seriously, it always bothered me how it gave her so much grief too! The whole story just seemed to revolve around “oh poor me I wish I was NORMAL so other cats would LOVE me” when in reality they already do! The whole thing reminded me too much of Mary Jane from the original three Spider Man movies (yeah the ones with our good pal Tobey Maguire). She was given everything, she became an actress, knew very well that she was extremely beautiful and that she was dating Spiderman, yet she goes and ruins it for her own self-interest then blames poor Tobey.
(Scene from Spiderman 3)

Spiderman intensely freaking out and attacking two LARGE STRONG MEN

Mary Jane: Aha! I should run over there he definitely won’t hit me because I’m MARY JANE!

Spiderman accidentally hits Mary Jane because he’s on an uncontrollable rampage…

Mary Jane sprawls on the floor and looks up at Peter so incredibly hurt

Mary Jane: What are you?

In short calling him a monster. And that, folks, is why you don’t run at a rampaging man while he’s in a blind rage. But the thing that bothered me the most was that even Dovewing seemed to blame all her problems on other people….oh wait, I’m sorry….they’re cats….I’d better snap out of this Spidey trance.

OKAY

Actually, getting that point across just reminded me how my sister can be even more like Dovewing than taking the spotlight. But now, on to Ivypool!

So then there’s the issue of the other sister. Not only is she spying on the cats in the Dark Forest, but as that internet meme states, she’s doing it all while her sister cries about pointless relationships that will clearly mean nothing later on in the series! Ivypool may not have superpowers, but she went through a whole lot more than Dovewing and came through every ordeal without as much drama and without becoming a full-blown villain (though the series seemed to treat her like one….especially Jayfeather….Come on, man!!). I admired Ivypool but not the attempts to make her seem evil. She made more tough decisions in one book than Dovewing did in an entire series. For example, while Ivypool was saving cats from their ignorant decisions and also being forced to kill other cats to pretty much save them from perpetual suffering, Dovewing is decided which tom she should choose as her boyfriend. “Let’s see…the one Ivypool also clearly likes….or the one that likes me who- if I dated- would mean there would be less drama…………” guess which one she chose. No offense, Dovewing, but you always seem to be on a quest to ruin your sister’s life.

So maybe I was disappointed by the simplicity of their development and failure to develop a complex sisterly relationship not like one we saw in Frozen…but Dovewing and Ivypool were not the argumentative sisters that I would have imagined…I just wish that the series had less characters, maybe then they would be allowed to develop their characters more emotionally…

Well, that’s it for now! Stay tuned for my next article in which I will be starting a new article series; The Good, the Bad, and the Warriors!

Also, just felt the need to point this out, but did anyone notice that the entire time Dovewing had powers she was like “oh my gosh I wish I was normal!! If only I could be normal!!! Oh please make me normal, I would give anything to just be….normal!!!” and then the second she loses her powers- BAM it’s back to complaining about how imperfect her life is. And not only that, she just SHUTS DOWN!!!
Dovewing can never be satisfied…can she?