Fan Articles
Honeykit shares their opinion on Tallstar’s mother, Palebird.
Spoilers included!
Hi!!! This is my second article, and I’m writing it about Tallstar’s mother, Palebird. I drew out the pros and cons of the character, and my overall opinion. So don’t judge if you don’t agree!
In the beginning of Tallstar’s Revenge, I didn’t like her. But I guess I can’t judge her too harshly because she lost her daughter Finchkit at birth. But then again, she is distant to Tallstar as a kit and just mopes around in the nursery, depressed. I know I’m being unfair, but I just didn’t like it when she did that. She shouldn’t let one of her kit’s death affect her actions towards another!
Tallpaw becomes an apprentice. Sandgorse is upset because he’s a moor runner and is acting unfairly to him. She doesn’t try much to defend him. But I guess she is upset, too. Sandgorse dies! She magically gets un-depressed (I know! That’s not a word!) and starts falling in love with a tunneler called Woollytail! She has his kits, Rabbitkit, Wrenkit, Bristlekit, and Flykit. I started disliking her more strongly then. She didn’t really care about Tallstar’s feelings. I know that she has the right to mate again, but it just seems wrong. But Woollytail must have been good for her, because she started being active again. Then she dies. I don’t remember from what, does anyone know? If so, please, please tell me!
The end of the life of Palebird. (In real life, not StarClan)
The last I remember seeing of her was when she gave Tallstar his life for a mother’s love. There, I started liking her as a character, but not a mother.
My opinion:
I think Palebird could be more open towards her kits. She stayed in the nursery for months (moons)! She took a mate after Sandgorse dies, making Tallstar uncertain of her affection. When she has his kits, Tallstar is not sure that she loves him as much as her second litter. When he tries to keep one of the kits warm, she is upset with him! But I was okay with her when she gave Tallstar his life. So I think Palebird did the best she could, though she could’ve done more.
Byyeeeeeeee!!! This is Honeykit(cloud) signing off!
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Really well written article, I disagree with your points, but I’m not going to make a massive post because I know someone else probably will and it will be much more well written then I could ever manage 😛
But yeah, really good article !
You have written your article really well, but a lesser known facts that fans don’t seem to judge upon is that Palebird suffered from a mental health problem known as post-natal depression that was worsened by Finchkit’s untimely death. She was shown in the books to find it hard to recover from, and therefore was still battling the symptoms when when Tallstar was a kit. Tallstar probably never had it fully explained to him, and as the point of view is through his thoughts alone, he probably wouldn’t have been quite aware of how his mother still loved him but had to get through an extremely difficult period of time in her life.
She is also shown to be upset at Sandgorse’s death as she collapses in grief at the news that they could not retrieve him from the caved-in tunnel.
As for her becoming Woolytail’s mate and bearing his kits, I think she just wanted the chance to do what she had wanted in the first place after recovering from post-natal depression and Woolytail just made her feel happy. The reason she was more distant with Tallstar was that she never had the chance to connect with him during his kithood due to her mental health problem, somewhat distancing them for the remainder of their lives. We see this broken bond through the oblivious eyes of Tallstar, who is convinced that Palebird doesn’t love him (and is also a bit determined to have everyone hate him at that point sooo that could also play a part in it).
It was a really good article overall, this is just my evidence for disagreeing with what you have stated. I love seeing people write about Tallstar’s Revenge and hope that you’ll write more fantastic articles soon!
I disagree. She was a great mother, considering how she is confirmed to have depression even before she gave birth. The loss of Finchkit only furthered her depression, and she was good enough to still care and nurture Tallkit. When she was finally getting over her grief, Sandgorse was killed, and she only then spiraled into another fit of depression. She’s criticized for finding love in Woolytail, but I think it’s a good thing that she finally looked past her sadness and was able to find happiness again.
Hey Honeykit!
Omigosh, this is SUCH A GREAT ARTICLE! As for the topic and your opinion on Palebird, I do feel that she could have been more friendly and loving towards Tallstar, but like other warriors have been saying, she did suffer from depression, which made it harder for her to act happy and perky and loving toward her remaining kit, Tallpaw, all the time. As for the Woolytail thing, I was pretty upset in Tallstar’s Revenge when she almost immediately went off and became his mate. But he made her happy, and I feel like in order to be fair to HER, we can’t get too upset over something like that.
Like I said before, it’s an awesome article! I don’t exactly disagree, but I just think because she had a mental issue, we need to be less hard on her. 😀 Love your articles, please write more!
I think Palebird’s depression made it hard for her to do anything, really, especially after Sandgorse died. I think taking a new mate helped to cheer her up, though depression made her life a living nightmare for a long time. I know that she had post natal depression after her first kits were born, which worsened when Finchkit died. Tallkit had lived most of his life thinking she was just upset over his sister’s death, when in reality it was more complicated than that. Even when he returned, she was happy to see him, just a bit awkward and distant. My guess is she either fought depression and was happy while Talltail was away due to her new mate and kits, or maybe she still had it, which made her more distant. Either way, though, her soul is seen happy when she gives Tallstar one of his nine lives, and she isn’t affected by depression in StarClan, since she has no brain, just her spirit, and no reason to be sad over anything, really. She’s just a happy spirit who had struggled through a hard life with a mental illness, but got the peace she deserved in the end.
Honestly, I agree with you. When Tallstar/Talltail left from his journey and came back, she literally got angry at him instead of welcoming him! Although, it did state that she had depression (forgot which one lol) but like after she mated with Woollytail, I don’t see the reason as to why she should be rude to him or ignore him.
Also, every time I read a super edition about someone’s past, I’m usually angry at their parents while I’m reading it and later on when I’m done the book I kinda just don’t care anymore lol. Well written article, I share the same exact thoughts as you 🙂
I personally agree with your points. I really, REALLY disliked Palebird when she was alive, like she ignored Tallkit and just mourned for Finchkit for forever, then when Sandgorse died she was like: Oh okay weeeelll I’m just gonna become mates with Woolytail okay? And she treated Talltail quite badly when she became a mother to Woolytail’s kits. She didn’t even treat him as her son! However, I didn’t really mind her when she was giving Tallstar a life, so same opinion 🙂
I agree. The fact she took another mate is just weird, and she wasn’t even a good mother to Tallkit from the start. No other queen stoped giving her kit milk this harshly, and it’s just really weird she got over Sandgorse’s death like that. Woollytail is prob an okay cat, but Palebird.,,yeah, she….she isn’t a good mother.