Dovewing: The True Prophecy Cat? by Ivystone

Ivystone shares their opinion on the debate of who should’ve been the third prophecy cat. Spoilers for OOTS, Tigerheart’s Shadow, AVOS, and books beyond!

Hello, fellow Warriors fans! Today I wanted to discuss a rather heated issue among us all: Who should’ve had the powers- Dovewing, Ivypool or Hollyleaf? Now, many people say Ivypool or Hollyleaf out of personal bias against Dovewing or that they actually feel like Ivypool and Hollyleaf did more. Most of the time it’s both, from what I’ve seen. But Ivystone is here to defend Dovewing and explain why she is rightfully part of the three. And just a little warning- Ivystone will get a little snarky in here. Dovewing/Ivypool/Hollyleaf is a touchy subject for her, and no doubt you all too. Without any further ado, let’s begin!

Dovewing is the right cat because of her personality. Think about it. Throughout OotS, she was a (somewhat) naive and stubborn young she-cat who had to deal with the burden of the prophecy on her shoulders. She didn’t want to be special, yet she had to learn how to cope with it. Meanwhile, people say that she shouldn’t’ve whined about being special. In my opinion, she had a right to complain.

Dovewing -Dovepaw at the time- had the prophecy thrusted upon her as a new apprentice. She thought that everybody else had the same sharp senses as her, only to find out she’s different from the rest of her Clanmates and that she was destined to save all the Clans. Dovepaw’s life changes forever once she learns about that. As far as she knew, she would never be the same as her family and friends until she lost her powers. In her mind, she was an outcast.

Don’t get me wrong, Lionblaze and Jayfeather went through that too. But there’s an obvious detail that people seem to look over. They had cats close to them who were going through the same thing. Lionblaze and Jayfeather had each other, and in PoT they also had Hollyleaf, too, even though she didn’t have a power. They had others who would understand them better, because the three of them were going through the same thing. Dovewing? Yeah, she had her mentor, Lionblaze and ThunderClan’s medicine cat, Jayfeather. But did they really try to understand how she feels? No. They did not. When I read The Fourth Apprentice, what I read was how they viewed her: A bland Hollyleaf replacement. And what’s sad? A lot of Warriors fans view her that way as well.

She is not a “Hollyleaf Replacement”. No cat is the same, just like how no human is the same. Dovewing and Hollyleaf have very different personalities, if you haven’t noticed already. I’m not going to waste your time by explaining, though. Because seriously, you can try, oh I don’t know- rereading the beginning of PoT to the end of OotS?

Either way, whether you like it or not- Lionblaze and Jayfeather saw her as a bland Hollyleaf replacement. But Dovewing is her own individual person- er…cat, so she can’t be a Hollyleaf replacement.

Another thing people say is that Ivypool wouldn’t whine if she got the powers. And they’re right. Because that’s exactly what would’ve happened. Ivypool’s always wanted to be special, so if she was given the powers? Well, then Ivypool would far more cocky, lemme tell you. Ivypool isn’t like Dovewing, especially when they were apprentices.

If Ivypool had powers, it’d go two separate ways- either she’d join the Dark Forest or they wouldn’t even come to her. Let me explain. If Ivypool with powers was given a chance to train in the Dark Forest, she’d probably join them, thinking that she’d be even better and stronger than her Clanmates, especially since she already has powers. Keep in mind that she’s still Ivypaw, and is naive to the Dark Forest. Ivypool wouldn’t’ve shared any information with Lionblaze or Jayfeather, out of fear for her losing her special training or being exiled from ThunderClan. Would she share with Dovewing? Hmm, not likely. Remember how I said she thinks that she’s better than her Clanmates? That includes Dovewing. So either way, their bond as siblings would be torn apart because of the prophecy. Eventually the Dark Forest would’ve attacked, and the Clans would lose because of Ivypool not spying on them and fighting on their side.

If Ivypool didn’t join the Dark Forest, then things could go in a different fashion. Ivypool would still be arrogant, of course with her powers, but she wouldn’t be getting training from the evil dead cats. Maybe they’d try Dovewing, the other sister. But would Dovewing join? Of course not. She may be naive, but not that naive. Dovewing has heard about the Dark Forest cats, and their evil crimes. She would not join them, even if they offered. Still, no spy from ThunderClan…the Dark Forest still wins.

Dovewing with no powers would be a blessing for Team Ivypool or Team Hollyleaf. So how would she fare without powers? Well, for one, Dovewing wouldn’t be jealous of Ivypool if Ivypool had powers. Dovewing never wanted to be special; she just wanted to be a normal cat growing up in ThunderClan. But let’s be honest with ourselves for a second here. What even is normal in ThunderClan anymore? Dovewing would be happy for her sister’s success, even if Ivypool doesn’t seem to notice it. Keep in mind that Dovewing wouldn’t know about the prophecy, because Ivypool wouldn’t tell Dovewing anything. She wouldn’t go to the Dark Forest of course, especially not to spy. The Clans are doomed unless some other Dark Forest trainee would like to spill the beans…? Nope? Okay then. The Clans are doomed then.

This outcome would’ve resulted in more people liking Dovewing and hating Ivypool, vice versa. Then Team Hollyleaf barges in and asks, “What about Hollyleaf?” Well, I’m getting to that.

If Hollyleaf had the powers? OotS would be boring and bland. (Look, people say that OotS is boring, but how is dead cats trying to take over the Clans boring? It’s quite interesting, actually. Since they’re…you know. Dead and stuff.) By making Hollyleaf not one of the three, that makes you wonder “Then who is the true third cat?”. If she was, then that would’ve been horribly predictable and destroys the drama in Long Shadows, Sunrise, The Forgotten Warrior and The Last Hope. Therefore, Hollyleaf having powers isn’t right.

Dovewing had to struggle with having her powers, and that made her more enjoyable. She didn’t want them, but she learns to cope with them. And once she finally does…along comes Dovewing’s Silence! (It’s one of the best Warriors books, though.) Dovewing loses her powers, along with Lionblaze and Jayfeather. All three had to deal with their loss, but they handled it in different ways.

Jayfeather wasn’t all that affected by it, because his powers weren’t physical; it was waking in other cats dreams and memories. Lionblaze’s were physical, like Dovewing’s, but it was just getting hurt more often. That was probably easier to cope with than losing super sharp senses. You see, Dovewing has had these powers since she opened her green eyes. She was able to hear, see and smell from far away for pretty much her entire life. And now she suddenly has lost that power without any warning whatsoever. She feels virtually blind and deaf without her powers, since she’s used them her entire life. Now she has to relearn all of her Warrior skills without her powers. She feels like she’s not contributing to her Clan because of this. Dovewing feels like every other cat is helping out but her. There is a difference between her feeling like all of ThunderClan depends on her, and that she feels like she’s not helping her Clan out enough, people.

And then, the argument that EVERY Dovewing hater uses against her- “She broke the code and had two mates! She doesn’t deserve to have those powers!” Or something more along the lines of “MARY-SUE!” Let me briefly explain mary-sues.

The are completely perfect; no flaws whatsoever.
This is also a very common insult people use when jealous of someone else’s OC or when they just hate a character in general.
Mary-Sues can also be emo/goth characters with only flaws and sad backstories. We dub these as “Anti-Sues.”
Seriously, though. There is a rare chance of seeing a true mary/anti sue anymore because people make tons of tutorials on how to make a non-mary/anti sue. They basically don’t exist anymore.

Dovewing is not a mary sue. She has flaws. She is naive, stubborn (that can be both positive and negative), a worrywart at times, etc. A mary-sue wouldn’t’ve broken the code, now would they…? Would a mary-sue whine about their powers…? Nope. If you think otherwise then you might want to revise your definition of a mary-sue.

Now, let’s discuss the dreaded love-triangle of OotS that needs its own separate video. Tigerdove or Bumbledove. Bumbedove is not a good and healthy relationship. Dovewing did not love Dumblestripe- I mean…Bumblestripe. Only he loved her, and that was her motherly side. He didn’t love her more playful side. The entire Clan was indirectly pushing and guilt-tripping Dovewing to be with him. Ivypool hates Tigerheart, so of course she wanted Dovewing to be with Bumblestripe. Ivypool didn’t think twice about how her sister felt. So of course Dovewing went with the tom she actually loved, and the one who loved the real her.

In Tigerheart’s Shadow, we see that he’s torn between Dovewing and his Clan. ShadowClan and Dovewing are the two most important things in his life. In OotS, he picks ShadowClan over her. But now his feelings for Dovewing are stronger, especially after learning she’s expecting his kits. So this time, he chooses Dovewing. This book develops their love better than OotS, so please, especially if you’re a Bumbledove fan or a Tigerdove hater, then please at least try reading (or rereading) this book in a new point of view.

I cannot continue going on about this sad love-triangle, though, because that would be best suited for another article. This was Ivystone, and I’m out! (For now)