[in a painted artstyle, Crookedstar stands on one of the Stepping Stones with his tail raised]

The Top Five Saddest Moments In Warriors by Duststorm

Duststorm lists some of the saddest moments in the series. Are any of them on your list?

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*** THIS ARTICLE MAY CONTAIN MAJOR SPOILERS FOR READERS THAT ARE NOT COMPLETED WITH THE SERIES… READ AT YOUR OWN RISK***
There are often paragraphs and chapters in Warriors that make the readers feel emotional. Today, I will be sharing what I think are the top five saddest moments and characters in any Warriors Book in detail.

Number 5…

Brackenfur and Dustpelt in Bramblestar’s Storm.

Brackenfur really got hit hard when Sorreltail died in the battle against the Dark Forest, but it was kind of too harsh to take Seedpaw as well in Bramblestar’s Storm. Brackenfur has been a calm minor character for many arcs now, and he hasn’t been “famous” since the first books. It’s really unfair to just “punish” him like that, considering he never did something evil or harmful to other cats.
Dustpelt was really upset over Ferncloud’s death, it is mentioned many times in the book that he blames himself for not being able to protect her during the great battle. This isn’t really the only time that something sad hit Dustpelt and Ferncloud, they also lost numerous kits throughout the entire Warriors series. Out of the many kits that Ferncloud had, only one (Birchfall) currently survives.

Number 4…

Honeyfern

To those of you reading this article on BlogClan right now whom might have forgotten who Honeyfern is, she is Berrynose’s, former mate. In the closing book of the Power of Three series, Honeyfern saved Briarkit (now Briarlight near the rocks) from a snake but was unfortunately bitten by it. It was a very sad moment when she died because it was impossible for Leafpool to cure her with medicine. It was also depressing to see her die in pain. It was emotional to see Berrynose sharing talking to Honeyfern the last time. Luckily, Berrynose was able to be with Poppyfrost, Honeyfern’s Sister, after Honeyfern died.

Number 3…

Bright Stream and Clear Sky

At the start of the DOTC arc, Bright Stream was together with Clear Sky. They went on the journey which ultimately discovered the 3rd clan territory (the forest). At the beginning of The Sun Trail, Bright Stream told Clear Sky that she was expecting his kits. During the journey, there was an eagle attack and Bright Stream was carried off by the eagle with her unborn kits. It was later confirmed in The First Battle that Bright Stream did die after she was carried off, but the reason of death is unknown. This is sad because no other queen (that was expecting kits) died before the kits were born. Clear Sky was dismayed and blamed himself throughout the whole 1st book until he met Storm.

Number 2…

Mapleshade

Ok, one of the first thoughts about Mapleshade that come to a Warriors reader’s minds is probably that she was evil or that she is a villain in Warriors. In reality, though, Mapleshade’s evilness and the desire of vengeance is fueled by a sad story. Mapleshade was mates with Appledusk when Darkstar and Oakstar were the leaders of RiverClan and ThunderClan. But here’s where the story gets interesting… Mapleshade herself is ThunderClan while Appledusk is RiverClan. After a while, Mapleshade announced that she was expecting kits, but she doesn’t quite know that Appledusk loved a RiverClan she-cat called Reedshine. A while after Mapleshade’s kits were born, Ravenwing, the clan’s medicine cat, found out that they were half-clan. After the clan finds out, they exile Mapleshade and her kits (which is technically a violation of the warrior code because the kits are innocent and the warrior code states to protect kits). Mapleshade decides to join RiverClan (her kit’s father is in RiverClan), but her kits drown in the river when they were crossing it. When Mapleshade finally reaches RiverClan, she finds out that Reedshine has become Appledusk mate. To make things even worse, Appledusk starts to blame Mapleshade for the kits’ death. Mapleshade does request to live in RiverClan, but is rejected by Darkstar and RiverClan.
I am not going to go any further into how Mapleshade decides to kill her enemies (including Appledusk) to revenge her kits’ death. So far, you can really see how much PAIN and SUFFERING the Clans inflicted on Mapleshade. All in all this entire story is just extremely sad, enough to make it onto the list at number 2. Almost any cat would turn crazy after enduring so much hate and rejection. You are welcome to argue and debate about Mapleshade’s actions in the comments.

Number 1…

The Last Chapters of Crookedstar’s Promise
Out of all the books in the Warriors series, this may be the saddest of all. The book is overall pretty sad, starting with how Crookedstar broke his jaw and his mother “abandoning” him. But, what really makes this one number 1 is how sad his kits and Willowbreeze died. Crookedstar really had it going with Willowbreeze, and it’s quite cruel how the Erins decided to kill her. The chapter where Willowbreeze and Crookedstar named their kits and the death scene always gets me into a sad mood. It’s happy and all to see Crookedstar’s kits, but it is just too depressing and sad to see Willowbreeze dying.
And… also in the last few chapters, Willowkit and Minnowkit also join StarClan. I feel like this is simply just too cruel to do this to Crookedstar, but at least he has Silverkit. Oh but wait… Silverstream also has to die in her kitting. WHY? Because Mapleshade (Number 2 Saddest Moment) promised to revenge Crookedstar for betraying her.
Honestly, a lot of Warrior books do have sad moments. But if I had to choose one, it would undoubtedly be Crookedstar’s Promise. It’s just too sad to see Crookedstar lose his Mother, Father, Brother, Mate, and kits all in one book.

Honorable Mentions
Storm’s Death in DOTC TST.
Hawkwing Losing Pebbleshine in HWJ.
Bluestar’s Death in TPB ADP.
Tiny Branch in MFV.
Spottedleaf’s Permanent Death in OotS TLH.

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25 comments

Leave a Reply to Spottedpaw/Stream Cancel reply

    • I loved his death, he’s a Gary Stu, I only like his brother Clear Sky But barely anyone else in that intire arc, I mean seriously, they liked Gray Wing and hated Clear Sky so that goes against everything I stand for, also Mosskit’s death —in my opinion— is wayyy overrated, it was sad but I thought it was good as it gave Snowfur a kit, the sisters did kinda do a kit exchange with Blue kinda being Whitey’s mother figure and starclan is safer, like remember what happened to stonefur? He was killed for being halfclan and Mossy is his sister! She could have died then too! Instead she was happily playing in starclan without a care in the world, but as I said, just my opinion…

      • But she died earlier on, so apparently she (Mosskit) should be judged by when she died? And I HIGHLY DOUBT that Mosskit was “happily playing” while her siblings were faced with brutal death, she was probably scared to half death.

  • I agree with all of these! My only disagreement is that the Erins weren’t really “punishing” him, it’s just the way of life sometimes for a cat to loose a lot of cats that they care about. It’s really sad, yes, but it’s not “punishing” that cat on purpose.

    Fact check: Also, Spiderleg survives.

    One more thing, this is about my personal opinion. It makes no sense to me how people can saw that Berrynose “luckily” hooked up with Poppyfrost, Honeyfern’s SISTER, within ONE MOON of her death! Is Berrynose some sort of… I dunno how to describe it, but it made him look extremely shallow and loveless when he did that.

    Another sad thing about Honeyfern’s death is that she only died so that ThunderClan would have a reason to have deathberries in camp for the Hollyleaf and Leafpool scene where Hollyleaf wants Leafpool to die. 🙁

  • Poor Crookedstar ):

    And God, I hate Mapleshade, that overrated fox-heart. She basically asked for everything to happen to hear. She had to get involved in everything, she selfishly lied to her entire Clan, and made tired hungry kits swim unaided in a visibly flooding lake.

    • Okay, I know that we disagree heavily on this topic, so….

      “She selfishly lied to her entire Clan.” Look what telling the truth got her into.

      “She MADE tired hungry kits swim unaided in a visibly flooding lake.” First off, it was a river. Second off, they weren’t hungry, they were JUST banished. Third off, they weren’t unaided, Mapleshade was watching them EXTREMELY closely. Fourth off, she didn’t make them swim, there were stepping stones and many kits have crossed them before. Mapleshade was desperate, and desperate times call for desperate measures. She tried SO HARD as ANY MOTHER WOULD.

      Also, just wondering, do you like Oakstar?

      • I heavily dislike Oakstar. I don’t blame him for being mad at Mapleshade, but banishing helpless kits is too much. I also think he could’ve waited after the storm to banish any of them.

      • I agree, Sky! I am also a Mapleshade defender 🙃
        I’ll Be Complete

  • I 1000% agree especially with:
    Bright Stream (Clear Sky didn’t deserve that, he was the best in that whole arc)
    Mapleshade (one of my favourites)
    Crookedstar and his mate and kits (it was VERY sad)
    Honeyfern (the poor thing had a major crush and when she finally got the cat of her dreams she died! Then Berry just went to her not-half-as-good sister)

  • Nice article! However, the only death I really cried was Silverstram and Feathertail. I really felt sorry for Graystripe. Feathertail reminded him very much of the cat he had so loved and lost. 🙁

  • I completely agree with all of these, except for the part about Berrynose and Poppyfrost (see Sky’s comment). Mapleshade’s Vengeance and Crookedstar’s Promise were the two books that were the absolute closest to making me cry (and I don’t usually cry when reading).

  • Bluestar. She had such a sad life, and had to make all those sacrifices on her own, she had to walk all those cats, her mate, her kits, out of her life, while dealing with her mother and sister’s death. Then, she had to give up her kits (which I mentioned), to stop Thistleclaw, while Crookedstar could have stopped him if he’d wanted. Not that I’m putting blame on him, but in Crookedstar’s Promise he mentions thinking about stopping Thistleclaw and then later feeling bad that he didn’t when he sees Bluestar’s sacrifices to stop him herself. Also, she had to push her mate and kits away from her herself, while Crookedstar’s were taken from him and he couldn’t control it. Bluestar had to choose between her family and the forest. And her death was so sad…

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