Who Are The Three? by Creekdapple

Creekdapple theorizes on where the powers of the three come from. Spoilers for Mapleshade’s Vengeance!

Jayfeather, Dovewing, and Lionblaze are the only characters so far who have supernatural powers. But who are they, and where do their powers come from? I believe the answer may also be connected to how Mapleshade went crazy.

Okay, so here’s what we know:

Jayfeather could travel through time to his previous incarnation, with Dove’s Wing and (sorry, I forgot Lionblaze’s Ancients name). Thus, we know that the Three have lived before… but why?

We know that the prophecy of the Three came from an ancient power that not even StarClan knows about, nor Rock, who is, if I understand correctly, the oldest cat who still has access to the living.

And, all known Clan-like societies of cats so far, like the Tribe of Rushing Water, and the Clans themselves, seem to have their own spirit ancestors (I’m not counting Blood”Clan” or any rogue groups that might be superficially similar, but do not have the same kind of developed culture and morals)

And, how this ties in with Mapleshade…

She was basically the one who organized the Dark Forest into its attack, who found other cats and started training them…

She got into the Dark Forest because she killed three cats, which I don’t think she would have done if she hadn’t hallucinated her kits calling out to her.

So, here’s my theory:

There is an ancient evil force, that has lived as long as there was any semblance of Clan-like society, perhaps even longer. When circumstances and mentalities permit, it gives visions to living cats, trying to corrupt them to do its bidding in one way or another, such as with Mapleshade and her kits. This allows these corrupted cats to corrupt even more cats, which will eventually strengthen and uprise, as in the Great Battle, against the society of the living cats. The ancient spirits of the dead saw signs of the first uprising, and created a safeguard: the Three. With their powers, they could stop the uprising of corrupted cats. A part of this safeguard is their ability to reincarnate, as in the time of Jay’s Wing, Half Moon, etc, whenever another evil uprising is soon to occur.