Defending Oakstar by Ebonypaw

While I can understand Oakstars anger and pain. He should’ve never endangered those kits, kits regardless of clan are to be kept safe, it’s in the code.
They were too little to survive on their own, which was partly why they died, on top of the river being flooded.
However what you said about Ravenwing is true, he learned of the kits through a sign from StarClan (actually looking back, why did StarClan send him a sign about the kits? Maybe Birchface was bitter about his good name being put as the father of half clan cats or something), but anyways regardless he received a sign figured it out and told Oakstar. The added word of his medicine cat plus his added grief made things worse.
That being said Oakstar should’ve punished Mapleshade not her kits, her kits had done no wrong aside from being born. But even then I’m torn as would the kits have been happy with their mother exiled and them stuck in ThunderClan.
It’s a very difficult predicament, but I still feel a little more thought and care should’ve gone into the fate of those kits. That being said I think bitter emotions, and stupid omens clouded everyone’s minds and caused the tragedy. But the fact that Oakstar punished tiny kits doesn’t sit well with me, at least escort them out. That way there’d at least be an opportunity for someone to say ‘oh hey rivers way too high your kits can’t handle that’ .
Or Frecklewish could’ve helped.
But the more I pick this apart I realize there is no clear cut solution, and everyone had at least a reason behind what they did. And it resulted in 3 innocent kits deaths and their mother suffering a fate worse than death. so I’d give Oakstar a neutral as well. This was just a lose lose for Mapleshade if only Birchface had lived… Man what a twist that’d be.

I agree that he didn’t know that Mapleshade would go on a killing spree after he banished her. I think that he could have just banished Mapleshade and given the kits to another queen.

Great job! Your points convinced me to sympathize a bit more with Oakstar 🙂

There was an omen stating the kits were a danger to ThunderClan, correct? Or at least, that they didn’t belong or something like that. If he had been acting on only the omen told to him, and had done it safely and humanely, i.e: Waiting until the storm was over, maybe asking RiverClan if they wanted the kits (basically making sure they had a place to be safe) and escorting them to said place, ensuring their safety, it would’ve been more okay. However, it’s because he was acting rashly on pretty much anger and hurt (and of course attempting punishment), and sent these kits and their mother out in a storm, that makes him kind of suck-y. Tbh it’s really a difficult situation. One of those “to save a million people would you sentence a thousand to death?” kind of things. Because if we’re basing the choice in the omen, what would be the correct choice? ThunderClan, or three kits? Do the ends justify the means? If the kits had stayed in ThuderClan, how exactly would they put the clan in danger? etc etc

To me, if it had just been a punishment based on the actions of the kits’ parents, the whole thing would have been pretty clean cut: he hurt some blameless kits, therefore he’s a jerk. However, we have this whole omen thing thrown into the mixture. Still, it’s pretty hard to justify sending whats essentially three children and their mother cast out into a raging storm. That, right there, is pretty darn awful. Now that I’m thinking about it though, I can’t really tell my opinion on Oakstar anymore. Wonderful article, Ebonypaw! 😀

u cant defend him. He banished three kids, in a huge and dangerous storm. No matter what the parent did, u should never do that to children