Is Bramblestar a Good Leader? by Flowerpaw

Flowerpaw analyzes Bramblestar as a leader. No/little spoilers for AVOS!

Hey clanmates! It’s me Flowerpaw, also known as FlowerRain but I prefer to be called Rainy! After the heartbreaking death of Firestar in Lost Hope Bramblestar became leader. I have to give it to him, it must be really hard to live up to the fire that saved the clan. Or even before Firestar, living up to Bluestar is even a challenge. But it Bramblestar really a good leader? Let’s examine and compare hard choices that Firestar, maybe even Bluestar, and Bramblestar have had to make.

Let’s start off with something I can easily compare. Letting kittypets in. Bluestar, Firestar, and Bramblestar have all made this choice before so I will be able to directly compare each event (without proper quotes though, because I don’t own many books). To begin, in Into the Wild Bluestar decided to let Rusty (also known as Firepaw, Fireheart, or Firestar) in. She inferred that he was the fire that will save the clans and luckily she was right. Bluestar handled the scene well with trusted warrior by her side and a young, well behaved apprentice. When others doubted her decision she did not respond with harsh words, but with rather in a soft gentle tone to make the cats understand her decision. When Longtail threatened Firepaw, Bluestar allowed both of them to fight to prove that Firepaw will prove his loyalty to Thunderclan. Firestar allowed Daisy into Thunderclan in the next arc with many warriors questioning his decision. Some cats wanted her to leave but Firestar made a point the Thunderclan needed more kits (which Daisy brought with her) and then everyone was fine with her around. Good job Firestar! Bramblestar let Stormcloud in (I forgot his kittypet name). Few, if any, warriors questioned him and the point that Stormcloud had nowhere else to go seemed to bring down the tension. A very basic way of getting the fact that this kittypet was staying, but it worked.

Next we have giving kits away! This one is for mainly Bluestar and Bramblestar but Firestar also had a say in Bluestar’s choice so he’ll be in a little bit of it. Bluestar had to make the choice of giving Graystripe’s kits away. She did and in the end she lost a good warrior, Graystripe, as he decided that he would join Riverclan along with his kits. She did not disappoint any other warriors besides Graystripe and Firestar. Firestar, of which, did not want to give the kits away and stood strongly with his opinion. Though, at the time, Firestar was Fireheart and was not clan leader. Bramblestar gave away Violetkit the moment Shadowclan asked for her. He didn’t even take a second to think about what might happen between Twigkit and Violetkit or how it felt to loose a littermate like he actually did with Tawnypelt.

Finally we have the comparison of facing a threat. Bluestar face the threat of Tigerstar trying to take over the clans. Unfortunately, she did not live until the end of the battle and she was kind of in crazy, no Starclan, Bluestar mode at the time. She tried increasing guards everyday, which was a good decision on her part. Firestar, facing the threat of the clans’ territories being destroyed, made the smart choice of leaving. He lead the clans to new land that the six cats on the journey found. He faced the problem with confidence. Bramblestar faced the threat of Shadowclan being taken over by rogues. He didn’t have any connection or communication with Shadowclan for awhile until Twigpaw was captured.

All in all Bramblestar is a good leader, but he shouldn’t be compared to great leaders like Bluestar and Firestar. He does the job but make a few mistakes doing it, and that’s okay. Do you think any of the points I made were wrong or that Bramblestar is a great leader for another reason I didn’t mention (I haven’t read pass the second book in Vision of Shadows so please no spoilers)? Please comment them! Anyways, have a meowy day and Rainy is out!