A Broken Briar: My Theory on Briarlight and Reincarnation by Wishpaw

Wishpaw wonders about Briarlight’s fate. Spoilers for AVOS!

We all know about Briarlight. She is a very well-liked character as characters go. One question often debated is ‘Why wasn’t she reincarnated?’ Well, first let’s look at the current example of reincarnation: Cinderheart. Cinderpelt, her former self, wanted to be a warrior but was disabled by a car. So she was given another chance. However, reincarnation is very… odd. Cinderpelt’s spirit eventually left Cinderheart. But back on topic, why wasn’t Briarlight reincarnated? Well, what did Cinderpelt do to be reincarnated? Simple: Nothing. She was told by Starclan how she was going to die, and she had to find the humility and trust to not beg Leafpool to stay so that there would still be a medicine cat. So, here is my theory: Briarlight was tested like Cinderpelt, but she failed. I have not read her death yet, but I heard that she died because of a sickness. Suppose Starclan had told her this, what would they have been hoping she’d do? Maybe they wanted her to stay determined and happy, even to her last moments. However, from what I have heard, she felt very helpless about her death. Perhaps because Starclan had told her she would die, she began to see it as hopeless. She slipped into self-pity, the exact opposite of what Starclan wanted her to do. Starclan wanted her to stay optimistic in her last moments and savor them, but she had failed at doing this. Because of this, she failed her test and did not earn reincarnation. Again, I apologize if not all my facts are straight, I haven’t read AVoS yet Another thing that has to be mentioned is how Cinderpelt left Cinderheart. How did this happen? Well, when Cinderheart chose the path of a warrior, Cinderpelt was freed. How would this happen with Briarlight? Well, suppose she was reincarnated. How would her reincarnation ‘choose’ not to be like Briarlight? Briarlight doesn’t have a real role in the clan. She SHOULD have been something! I think she should have been a camp guard. But on topic, maybe her reincarnation would have been the runt of the litter. She wouldn’t be very skilled at anything at first, and maybe she would feel very useless. Maybe Briarlight’s spirit would leave her when she comes to terms with the fact that she is not useless, and chooses to try anyway, thus granting her a life that Briarlight could have never had. But what do you think? Why do you think Briarlight wasn’t reincarnated?