Which Cats I Believe are Most Likely (And Most Unlikely!) to be Possessing Bramblestar by Emberfrost

Emberfrost lists the most likely and least likely cats to be the one possessing Bramblestar in The Broken Code.

Hello all you cool cats and kittens!
(Just kidding, ignore that Tiger King joke please.)

I really wanted to dive into the possibilities of who in the world could possibly be possessing Bramblestar’s body. I’ve heard some theories that I don’t believe are possible, and others that actually make quite a bit of sense. I haven’t seen too many articles about this subject, surprisingly, so I wanted to share my own ideas.

The first, and I think most likely cat, would be Ashfur. The reasons I think he’s probably the impostor is because he’s really the only cat I feel had a romantic connection to Squirrelflight, other than Bramblestar. The fact the impostor had ice blue eyes also points at Ashfur, too. He seems to have a quarrel with Bramblestar, which would be accurate, considering Bramblestar, in Ashfur’s eyes, “stole” Squirrelflight. Now, I know in the Power Of Three Ashfur states he doesn’t have a quarrel with Bramblestar, but evidence in the books, such as Ashfur openly being hostile towards Bramblestar, suggest otherwise. The familiarity with Squirrelflight is what truly makes me think Ashfur is the probable suspect behind this, because as much as I search I can only find one cat other than Ashfur who was connected to Squirrelflight once (but we’ll talk about him later.)
He is a controversial character, and when he was seen in StarClan it sounded like his story wasn’t quite over yet, the way it was almost shrugged off when Leafpool and Squirrelflight discovered his presence, like they would be covering him more in a different story.

On the other hand, there are a few holes in the theory of Ashfur being the impostor. For one thing, it did kinda seem like he had forgiven and forgotten in StarClan (or was he trying to seem neutral and quiet for a reason?). Also, what’s with the unfamiliarity of regular Clan traditions? Though I’ll also point out he mainly seems unfamiliar with more recent Clan affairs he wasn’t alive for, such as The Sisters or Dewnose’s name. Though his hatred of the elders is quite odd also. Ashfur always seemed loyal to ThunderClan, as if he really cared about it. Would he really put his quarrels with Bramblestar and love of Squirrelflight over the entirity of ThunderClan? Ashfur was the opposite of lazy, too. He seemed quite intellegent, which this impostor really doesn’t. So while currently, Ashfur seems the most likely candidate to me, I also recognize the holes and flaws in this theory.

Sol was another contender. The only evidence pointing to this is that he is probably one of the most controversial characters, and he did vow to return to the Clans one day. But his eyes were amber colored, I believe, not blue. And he didn’t seem to have any sort of connection with Squirrelflight to the reader’s knowledge, except for maybe taking interest in what he thought was her kits. Though it seems to me he did that because he saw they had power and wanted to take advantage of it. I do, however, see a striking similarity in the personalities of Sol and the impostor. Honestly, if it weren’t for the mentions of deep blue eyes many times without the book, he might be my first contender, but I do have a theory about him in the end of this article…

Continuing on is Hawkfrost, and I have a sort of far-fetched theory about this one. The fact he (I believe) died twice makes me a bit skeptic as to him being the impostor, but assuming there was some way he avoided the death or came back, he does have some markings of being the imposter. The blue eyes are one pointer, as is the evil history and wanting power, wanting to take over all the Clans. Bramblestar did “betray” him, in a since, but it never showed any suggestion of feelings towards Squirrelflight on Hawkfrost’s side. What if, though, Hawkfrost was somehow in love with Squirrelflight, we just didn’t see it? Squirrelflight expresses major distrust in Hawkfrost in the new prophecy, warning Bramblestar to stay away. It almost seems that she’s convincing herself he’s bad news, huh? Could it be possible she was falling for him? Could some of the excuses to see Bramblestar (Brambleclaw then) have been to ask or hear news about Squirrelflight? Personally, I don’t think so. I think it’s a bit far-fetched, but by now we all know that sometimes there’s no point in guessing with the Erin’s. They’ll do anything.

Mapleshade and Tigerstar were also contenders, but I think the likelihood of either is extremely low. For one thing, the impostor seems to be a tom, at least that’s what he appears to Shadowsight as, and how his voice sounds when not in Bramblestar’s body. Neither cat have blue eyes. Both are long dead, and it doesn’t seem that either can walk the Dark Forest any longer. Same deal with Darkstripe, Clawface, and all other cats from the first series. I just don’t see it.

I wanted to mention Stormfur.
Now, sometimes it says his eyes are blue and sometimes it says his eyes are amber. That kind of mix-up is common with these books, and has happened with Graystripe, Hollyleaf, and other cats too. So I’m not positive what color his eyes are, but I do know it is mentioned that he has blue eyes a few times.
He’s really the only other cat that had a thing for Squirrelflight, back in the second series. Now I know Stormfur is beloved by many, in fact, I love him too. He’s been through a lot, and not once has he seemed hostile to Bramblestar or Squirrelflight, or any other ThunderClan cat. But what if the whole time he secretly did resent Bramblestar? Or maybe he didn’t, but he died with the Tribe Of Rushing Water and wanted to try to spend time with Squirrelflight and get rid of Bramblestar? Maybe something happened that we don’t know about yet in the series that somehow turned him. You have to remember how much he’s been through. Losing his sister, being banished from RiverClan, being banished from the tribe, being taunted in ThunderClan. All that can add up.
Of course, Stormfur never seemed like a lazy cat. The impostor’s personality is so different from Stormfur’s personality, that I personally don’t believe this theory is very likely. There are some cool connection points, but the fact Stormfur and Bramblestar seemed to be close friends, and he found Brook and fell in love, and he’s just always been an overall fair, honest, and pretty cool cat. It’s just a fun little theory that’s been rolling around in my head, but I’d be very shocked if it turned out to be Stormfur.

A final thing I wanted to mention. What if the blue-eyes spirit thingy that is possessing Bramblestar currently isn’t actually what the spirit looks like? What if there’s some way for spirit cat’s to change their appearance, or even somehow take over another spirit? This would mean that it wouldn’t matter what color eyes the cat had. It could be literally any cat. The spirit could just be trying to confuse Shadowsight and Squirrelflight into thinking it was something else. And if this is the case, I swear, it really seems like Sol. The laziness, the throwing away of Clan traditions, and I can also vaguely remember Sol not giving the elders the same respect the Clan’s were used to. And you have to remember, there’s still three more books left in the series. I don’t think they’re just gonna defeat the spirit and then the Clans live in peace. There’ll still be a few twists and turns along the way.

Anyway, that’s about all the ideas I have. Thanks for reading. I really want to hear some comments about what you all think! And keep in mind it’s been a bit since I’ve read some of the series, especially Omen of the Stars, so if y’all see anything I wrote that’s incorrect or have any other evidence to add that I forgot please comment it! I appreciate different ideas, because I always like to think about new things, but please make sure they’re respectful (as I’m sure you will.)

Thanks, hope you enjoy!