Let’s talk about Mapleshade by xXQuickslateXx

xXQuickslateXx discusses the villain, Mapleshade. Was she truly evil?

Official illustration by Wayne McLoughlin

Hello everyone! Today I’m going to be talking about my favorite villain so far, Mapleshade. Seeing as this is my first article, if there are any mistakes please let me know. Also let me know if I’m missing any important information, I’m trying to fit most of her story into this but I don’t want to go on rambling or make you read a full essay. Also, if you haven’t read Mapleshade’s vengeance or Omen of the Stars, there are spoilers so be warned. I’d also like to mention that I won’t be covering Tigerclaw’s Fury or Crookedstar’s Promise, only the start of her evil path and her death. With that all out of the way let’s jump right in.

So of course, we have to start at the beginning, that is, the beginning of her book. “MapleShade’s Vengeance” starts off with Mapleshade making her way through the crowd at a gathering to tell her Riverclan boyfriend, Appledusk, that she’s expecting his kits. Appledusk rightfully worries about how the clans will react to half-clan kits but Mapleshade assures him that she has a plan, and goes on to explain that no one would know until the kits are fully accepted by their clanmates. If you’ve read the book you already know this will eventually blow up in her face.

She has her kits and everyone believes the father Birchface, the leader’s son who was killed saving an apprentice in a battle for sunning rocks. (Side note: Thunderclan believes it was Appledusk’s fault that Birchface died.) Birchface’s sister, Frecklewish, is thrilled and offers to help with the kits. (Another note: Mapleshade didn’t say a word when Frecklewish asked if they were her brother’s so that it wouldn’t be taken as a lie.) An elder named Rabbitfoot tries to see if the kits can jump like Birchface, but they can’t. This should be more suspicious then it is since it’s mentioned that Mapleshade is better at jumping then them, but Rabbitfoot let’s this go.

Mapleshade then takes her kits to the stream that borders Riverclan. The kits being half Riverclan swim really well, but Patchkit struggles in the water and Appledusk saves him. Appledusk talks to Mapleshade in front of his patrol but makes it look like he’s scolding her. Unfortunately, Ravenwing, the Thunderclan medicine cat, saw everything and realizes who the kits’ real father is. Mapleshade begged him not to say anything but when her and the kits got back to camp, everyone was gathered in the clearing to hear her confession.

They find out the truth and Frecklewish attacks her. Oakstar exiles her and her kits in the middle of the night. (Note: These kits are only a few moons and it’s flood season.) Mapleshade has nowhere to go but Riverclan. She tries to cross the stream with the kits but they get swept away. She’s saved by some Riverclan cats but her kits have drowned. She is taken back to Riverclan camp soaked and grieving. Appledusk says that loving her was a mistake and that he regrets what he had done. Darkstar doesn’t punish him, and she sends Mapleshade away and doesn’t even let her stay the night.

She stayed the night in some sort of twoleg den thing and then wandered into Thunderclan territory the next day. She runs into Nettlepaw who tells her that Frecklewish saw everything happen and that Ravenwing was going to the moonpool that day. Mapleshade is outraged that Frecklewish stood and did nothing when her kits died, but using what Nettlepaw told her to her advantage, she travels to the moonpool and kills Ravenwing when he arrives. She plans to avenge her kits kill everyone who had wronged her, believing that’s what they would have wanted, and when back in the forest she lures Frecklewish into snake rocks, but she is only blinded. She goes to Riverclan and finds Reedshine, Perchpaw, and Appledusk. She gets into a fight and kills Appledusk, but Reedshine injures her very badly, and she later dies from her injuries. She’s sent to the Dark Forest where she plots her revenge and trains cats to help her.

After a while her and the other Dark Forest cats train living cats to fight for them in a war. That war finally comes and Mapleshade shade attacks Sandstorm because she is jealous of her. Sandstorm had a mate, kits, grandkits, and a clan that loved her. Mapleshade had lost all of that and believed that Sandstorm should die for all her blessings, but Spottedleaf gave up her life to save Sandstorm, and Mapleshade had died a second time.

Wow this was long. So, personally I believe that yes, it is Mapleshade’s own fault that she became evil, but all those other cats that stood there and watched her suffer had a part in this and influenced her to become the evil cat that she was. I also agree that some of those cats deserved to go the Dark Forest, what do you think?

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13 comments

Leave a Reply to ❄ . • ° Ivyla ° • . ❄ Cancel reply

  • Nice article, Quickslate! 🙂 While I do think that those cats influenced Mapleshade, I don’t think they deserve to go to the Dark Forest. I feel they made some really bad decisions, but people make mistakes. I think that some of them wouldn’t have made those decisions if they realized the way that things would go.

    • Fally, while I do feel sorry for Mapleshade, it was her decision to murder. She should have handled it better. Yes, Appledusk should have said “I have another cat I like but I can’t do this forbidden romance anymore but we can still be friends.” Mapleshade probably wouldn’t take it different she would still kill maybe but you get my point. She was trying to kill Reedshine she killed Appledusk. But Reedshine had kittens inside of her and she tried to kill her when she was expecting kits. That is wrong. She deserved to go.

  • Great first article!

    I blame Appledusk, I mean what kind of mate just leaves Mapleshade when her kits drowned?

    Eagie 🦅

      • Yes, but Appledusk could have saved the kits.

        If he truly love her he should have gone with her, away from the clans, and raise their kits off the land 😀

        • Mapleshade shouldn’t have brought the kits specifically to the river during the storm, though. It is her fault for them drowning; after being exiled, she could’ve gone anywhere but the river and even waited out the storm, but no. Appledusk thought Mapleshade killed their kits (which she technically did help lead to their deaths), and he wanted nothing to do with her after that. I don’t blame him for it.

    • Eaglepaw, she was the one who brought 1 MOON OLD kits to swim in a river with a strong current when they couldn’t swim!!!! That was her fault!!! She made a really stupid decision that ended up in her kits dying. I do think Appledusk should have been more sympathetic when they died, but he had no part in them drowning. Mapleshade wanted to cross the river with her kits. Sorry, but I disagree.

  • I didn’t personally like the cats involved in Mapleshade’s situation, but I still think they should go to StarClan. Oakstar was probably the worst of them, but what he did still didn’t seem bad enough for the Dark Forest, if you know what I mean. Great article, though! 🙂

  • Yes it’s her own fault she became evil also Mapleshade didn’t die a second time she ran away. But anyways I think she’s right where she belongs. Some people said she should have been in Starclan but I disagree. Yes I feel bad but it doesn’t excuse her actions. She’s evil

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