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Why Ashfur Should Have Gone to the Dark Forest by Cheetahpaw

Fan Articles
April 18, 2018
68 comments
3 min read

Cheetahpaw gives their opinion on the series old debate.

Artwork by Lithestep

Hi! This is Cheetahpaw, giving you an article for why Ashfur should have gone to the Dark Forest *SPOILER ALERT FOR POWER OF THREE, OMEN OF THE STARS, AND MAPLESHADE’S VENGEANCE*. This is my second article, so I’m kind of new at this. Hope you like it!
So if you’ve read Omen of the Stars, you probably noticed that Jayfeather saw Ashfur in StarClan. Jayfeather was very confused by this considering that ASHFUR TRIED TO KILL HIM! Anyway, Yellowfang tells Jayfeather that all Ashfur did wrong was love too much…. I have some problems with this.
So the basics on his rampage was this: he always loved Squirrelflight, but Brambleclaw became her mate instead. He loved her so much that he decides to let her kits die in a fire by blocking their path out. Squirrelflight stops him by telling him she doesn’t care because they aren’t her kits. Ashfur decides to attempt to ruin her life further by telling her secret in front of every cat at the Gathering. Luckily, he is stopped when Hollyleaf kills him.
Now usually, when a cat attempts murder on multiple cats, they go to the Dark Forest. I get that Ashfur was blinded by love, but wasn’t that also true for Mapleshade? Mapleshade fell in love with a RiverClan warrior, had his kits, and was banished from ThunderClan. Mapleshade tried to go to RiverClan with her kits, but they died in the river and, to top it all off, RiverClan wouldn’t let her live there.
Mapleshade was driven by revenge, of course, when she killed the cats that she killed. But didn’t it all start because of love? If it hadn’t been for love, Mapleshade might have been a good cat. So why didn’t Mapleshade go to StarClan?
Simple: Mapleshade actually killed cats, but Ashfur didn’t. When Jayfeather asks why Ashfur isn’t in the Dark Forest, Yellowfang replies that he didn’t kill anyone. Jayfeather says that he would have, with Yellowfang snapping back that he didn’t.
I have a few problems with this. Ashfur would have definetly killed Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and Jayfeather if Squirrelflight hadn’t stopped him by giving him other life-ruining information. Ashfur, instead, decides to ruin Squirrelflight, Brambleclaw, Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and Jayfeather’s lives all at once instead. He thought that ruining five cats’ lives during their life-time is better than only ruining Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw’s and ending the other three’s. This definitely is Dark Forest worthy to me.
Another thing: if Ashfur had killed Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather, the Power of Three prophecy never would have happened. He could have doomed the whole forest without even realizing it. The Dark Forest cats could have taken over all because of Ashfur. Yes, I know he wouldn’t have known, but the damage he could have caused would have been catastrophic.
Feel free to comment down below your opinions on this! If there are any flaws in my article, please point them out, because I like constructive criticism. Thanks for reading!

https://img00.deviantart.net/3883/i/2013/103/d/1/ashfur_fire_scene_by_kataya_wolf-d61m3og.png

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68 comments

      • So you agree that Ashfur deserves StarClan because all he ever did was love too much? I get that they still get into StarClan, but by that logic, cats who break the warrior code by having kits with cats from another clan and medicine cats who take a mate should never be punished because all they ever did was love too much? Oh wait, Yellowfang meets one of those criteria, of course she sides with Ashfur.

        Reply

  • ASHFUR WAS BLINDED BY LOVE!! HE DID IT BECAUSE SQUIRRELFLIGHT TURNED HIM DOWN!! In my opinion, Squirrelflight was a jerk. Ashfur may have been one too, at times, but it was because of Squirrelflight.

    I respect others’ opinions, but I totally disagree.

    Reply

    • Oh, really? So because Squirrelflight fell in love with another cat, it’s her fault? No. Screw that. Ashfur isn’t entitled to her affection.

      Reply

    • I politely disagree, and I respect your opinion. Squirrelflight did not control Ashfur’s actions and he made his own choices. Most people that don’t have things going their way don’t decide to try to murder others. Squirrelflight is also entitled to her own feelings, and it does not make her a jerk for not wanting to be mates with Ashfur 🙂

      Reply

  • I agree one hundred percent! I always hated Ashfur since the iconic fire scene, and always thought he deserved the Dark Forest. I was furious that he got to go to StarClan! What did he ever do to deserve StarClan?! I think I could maybe forgive him better if he had ever apologized for what he did, but as far as I know, he NEVER EVER APOLOGIZED.
    Of course, this is just my opinion, although I’m heavily opinionated towards my side. I don’t mind people thinking differently; I don’t mean to be rude and please don’t be offended about what I said. I just think this about Ashfur very much. But, if this makes you less offended, in my opinion Mapleshade and Thistleclaw and Hawkfrost are worse… Again, no offense…

    Reply

  • I mean, well written, but I am an ASHFUR FANATIC this is why I completely disagree. No disrespect, but Ashfur is a good cat! How would you feel if your one true love chose someone else??

    Reply

    • If my “one true love” chose someone else I would be happy for them because if you truly did love them you’d be happy for them.

      Reply

      • <3 So right, Ivyne!
        True love means being selfless enough to put them first.

        Reply

      • I’d be very hurt and sad, but I would also support that true love because I love that person, and if I can’t make them happy while someone else does, I want them to be happy. That’s how love works.

        Reply

    • Not heartbroken enough to kill her children. Ashfur was not entitled to Squirrelflight. Rejections and breakups happen. It’s sad. It hurts. It doesn’t justify planning to murder three innocent children. Even Hollyleaf was wrong to kill Ashfur, but she’s a little more understandable because her entire world basically shattered just like that, only got worse, and she didn’t wait years whilst still being bitter. She acted on impulse, Ashfur thought long and hard after his failure to kill Firestar. He is as evil and unjustified as Mapleshade, because he did exactly what she did. Except worse, because Mapleshade killed cats because she disliked them and was doing it for her, while he planned to kill to cause another pain. If your “one true love” chose someone else, would you kill that crush’s children when said crush had them? If so, you are a monster and won’t be going anywhere in life. People think Ashfur did nothing wrong just because he didn’t kill the three and justify him with the fact that he’s in love with his niece. gross. So remind me again how POOR ASHFUR only loved and was OBVIOUSLY entitled to a long-term relationship with Squirrelflight like Bumblestripe is entitled to one with Dovewing, and that both the former and latter she-cats don’t deserve to have feelings of their own and can’t feel affection for someone else romantically, nor just not want a relationship with them. With no ill-will to you, and 100% will of illness to your pro-ashfur beliefs, this is Hollyleaf, signing off.

      Reply

      • all of this. I can’t understand why people blame Squirrelflight because she wasn’t romantically interested in Ashfur. it says a lot about how they think of both she-cats and women in the real world that they don’t think she has the right to choose her own mate. Ashfur was possessive, manipulative, and ultimately murderous, and his behavior shows that he never loved Squirrelflight, he just felt entitled to her. big jerk energy here.

        Reply

  • Totally agree. Ashfur SHOULD go to the Dark forest for attempted murder. BUTTTTTTT. . .
    Squirrelflight used Ashfur’s love to get Brambleclaw jealous, and she played with his heart. THAT DOES NOT EXCUSE WHAT HE DID.
    He ALSO schemed with Hawkfrost to kill Firestar to get back at Squirrelflight, and chickened out at the last moment. That seems Dank Faucet-worthy to me.

    Reply

  • Cheetahpaw, this article was wonderfully written and I agree with every single word. I don’t think Mapleshade should be in StarClan at all, but Ashfur did what Mapleshade did except Squirrelflight gave him a new way to hurt her, so he wouldn’t kill her children (She raised them, even if she didn’t bear them, so they kinda are her children), so if Ashfur gets away with it, so should Mapleshade.

    Reply

  • Ugh noooooooo! Ashfur was a good cat! IT WAS SQUIRRELFLIGHT’S FAULT SHE MADE HIM EVIL! How would YOU FEEL if someone you liked had a crush on someone else? SQUIRRELFLIGHT, HOLLYLEAF, AND ANYONE WHO DOESN’T LIKE ASHFUR SHOULD GO, NOT HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    BTW this whole comment was a joke and I just wanted to give everyone something to argue with. I go by HollyleafTheGreat, HollyleafTheGreat, Who killed Ashfur (Only when Ashfur is a subject), and Mothtail.

    Reply

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