Bramblestar’s Interloper by Spottedpaw

Spottedpaw explains why she believes the interloper to be none other than Ashfur.

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Hello! This is my second article, so please excuse anything that may seem off. This article from me is about who’s possessing Bramblestar. Read carefully, because I am making sure to make this very detailed. I hope you enjoy!

Ashfur?

Okay, do we have evidence stacked on him? Yes. Is he a good cat? So the books point out when he goes to StarClan, but don’t believe that for a heartbeat! Has he tried to kill a cat before? Well, no. He’s tried to kill five that we know of. Firestar, Squirrelflight, Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf, who, I am very happy to announce, killed him instead. So would he be an obvious choice? Absolutely. In the early pages of Veil of Shadows, Bramblestar shows deep regret for exiling Squirrelflight, and tries desperately to find her. She, Mothwing, and Bristlefrost make evidence so Bristleforst can prove that “Squirrelflight died.” They did this in fear of his searching further than ThunderClan borders and finding the exile’s camp that’s in ShadowClan territory. He believed them, and blamed himself. Later, he says something that really caught the attention of myself—and I’m sure many other readers—and was a deep mistake, because Squirrelflight later reveals she knows who the interloper is. Here’s a quick quote that Bramblestar—sorry, his interloper—said in Veil of Shadows.

“I came back for you.” – Bramblestar to Squirrelfight.

What does this suggest? It isn’t a living Clan cat, because the interloper came back for Squirrelflight. Who had the most drama with Squirrelflight? Who tried to kill her? Who would stoop so low? Ashfur! Who else would “come back” for her? Who else could have any reason to do so? This is my point! If it’s not Ashfur, then the Erins have some explaining to do in the next The Broken Code book, Darkness Within. Another thing in Veil of Shadows that caught my attention was when Bramblestar—you know I mean his interloper—was addressing the Clan and exiling Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Twigbranch. Bristlefrost, trying to reassure Bramblestar of her “loyalty” to him, says she doesn’t always understand StarClan’s meaning. Then, the conversation goes on.

“We all know that my mother, Leafpool, who deceived the Clan about our birth, is in StarClan now. If my so-called codebreaking existence bothers StarClan so much, why did they forgive the cat who was actually responsible?” Jayfeather, arguing with Bramblestar about being exiled.

“StarClan works in mysterious ways. I know very well that they don’t always explain themselves clearly.” – Bramblestar, who is speechless when Jayfeather makes that really good point.

Now, I may be exaggerating, I do a lot, but how would Bramblestar know very well that StarClan doesn’t always explain themselves very clearly? Letting Ashfur into StarClan obviously wasn’t very well explained! All we have in his defense is:

“The only thing he did wrong was to love too much.” – Yellowfang, in Ashfur’s defense to let him into StarClan.

That justifies nothing! He did what he did, and there’s no changing a leopard’s spots. Ashfur seems like the most obvious choice, and, like said above, if he isn’t the interloper, I’ll be shocked beyond belief.

<b<Did you all like that? Give me some feedback, please! I worked hard, and re-read Veil of Shadows a ton to find some supporting details. I have a few questions because I want to see how you feel about this subject!

Who does you think the interlope is?
Why do you think so?
Are you excited for Darkness Within to be released?

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30 comments

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  • Who does you think the interlope is?
    I think that it’s somecat, not Ashfur, who hates Ashfur and is trying to make it seem like it’s Ashfur to get him in trouble
    Why do you think so?
    The books are giving way too much hints, so much that it’s making me doubt, a lot, that it Ashfur
    Are you excited for Darkness Within to be released?
    VERY excited

  • YES, I 100% agree! The books say the interloper has blue eyes, and when Shadowsight gets soot on his pelt in a dream in Lost Stars… Soot=Ash Pelt=Fur! It seems very likely that it’s him. In fact, most people in the fandom are so confident in this that they just straight out move ahead, like, okay, now that we know the interloper, what are we going to do now? XD

  • I think it is Ashfur, but I feel like it shouldn’t be Ashfur because everybody is thinking of that, and the books aren’t supposed to be obvious. I am super excited, because A Veil of Shadows ended on the worst cliffhanger a book can pretty much have.

  • I technically shouldn’t have read this, as I haven’t read TBC, but I already pretty much know everything major anyways. I must say, this is well-done, with only a few, clearly accidental mistakes in spelling and a few but not an overload of grammatical errors. It included quotes from the books, not just paraphrased evidence, to back up your claim, with explanations as to what these quotes show you as the reader. Furthermore, as the main thing that caught my attention, giving us questions at the end to bounce around in the comments and to wrap up your article is a very good thing to do. Dang, you have my approval! The only thing I’d say is that you should include page numbers for the quotes.

    Question 1: Ashfur
    Question 2: everyone talks about it and there are literally no other guesses running around the fandom, and the quotes and paraphrases I’ve seen from people who have read the books backing it up make it pretty obvious
    Question 3: oh, absolutely! I just hope I can get the books by then before I get spoiled by people even more

  • I’ve had an opinion on Ashfur being The Imposter forEVER and I want to see if anyone else shares it with me.
    If Ashfur is the imposter, I feel sooooo disappointed by the authors – losing their touch – because
    1. ASHFUR ISN’T LIKE THAT!! Okay, maybe he’s a little crazy or went a little crazy at the end, and maybe he isn’t our noble Firestar, but he isn’t an unkempt, rule-obsessed, bad-leaderish, spaced out cat. He snapped arguably because of Squirrelflight. I still think, though, from what we’ve seen of him that if he actually did come back into the body of the cat he most loathed, he would have done more – be it damage or good. He WOULDN’T have moped around all “I love you Squirrelflight and I’m a maniac who loves the warrior code and boo hoo.”
    2.Codebreakers. His dislike of Lionblaze and Jayfeather would make sense. That was why he named them as codebreakers. But what doesn’t make sense is why he named Tree and Twigbranch- he wouldn’t even know them, much less have a grudge against them! Plus, if he hated Lionblaze and Jayfeather for being Squirelflight’s kits, (little did he know;)) he would hate Sparkpelt and Alderheart even MORE.
    3.He is a STARCLAN CAT, for Starclan’s sake. He would have a. made his peace and be “good” enough to be in Starclan in the first place and b. since when does Starclan have the Dark power to overtake cat’s bodies and give creepy, unStarclan-like dreams, and give sickness??
    4.WE KNOW HIM ALREADY AND WE’RE OVER HIM. It’s kind of disappointing to have him again. That’s beside the fact that he’s not acting himself, so it downplays the whole thing. No offense, but I would rather a more interesting villain for this series.
    DISCLAIMER: I have nothing against the authors! I am a big fan of Warriors, I was just disappointed with this whole thing.

  • I feel like that Bramblestar’s Imposter varys between a few different cats. Ashfur for the most likely candidate. Shrewpaw (If you remember him) is another likely candidate. Shrewpaw and Squirrelpaw(flight) were VERY good friends (maybe Shrewpaw even liked her), so Shrewpaw could also control Bramblestar’s body at times, and Ashfur. There are also other theories too. Great article though!

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