Fan ArticlesWhiterabbit takes a look at the paths that Ashfur and Mapleshade walked down.
So, this might seem kind of weird, like comparing these two cats? But it actually makes a lot of sense. Mapleshade loved Appledusk and Appledusk claimed to love her back. Ashfur… had feelings for Squirrelflight and StarClan knows what those feelings were, and he thought that Squirrelflight was accepting him as something like a mate when she said that he could… be there? Oh whatever. Anyway, Appledusk didn’t really love Mapleshade, at least, not anymore. Squirrelflight didn’t really love Ashfur either. Appledusk actually liked Reedshine, and she had his kits. Squirrelflight actually liked Brambleclaw and “had his kits”. Mapleshade tried to kill three cats. Ashfur tried to kill four cats. Mapleshade hated Reedshine for capturing Appledusk’s love. Ashfur teamed up with Brambleclaw to try and kill Squirrelflight’s father in another attempt to hurt her. Mapleshade’s only mission was to kill the three cats that ruined her life. Ashfur’s mission was to kill as many cats as he could that he thought would hurt Squirrelflight. In that sense, Ashfur seems worse than Mapleshade, the results add up.
In conclusion, Ashfur is worse because
-He tried to kill more cats than Mapleshade
-He way, way overreacted, it was just heartbreak that happened to him, like, every warrior experiences that, and most of the time they (hopefully) don’t try to kill their leader. Mapleshade had a valid reason, she wasn’t just betrayed, she was exiled!
-Mapleshade wanted all of the cats that had help force her into exile to die, but Ashfur’s only mission was to break poor little Squirrelflight’s heart, like she had broken his. She had no idea that he had feelings for her, as it always seems to happen, and she probably would have been nicer about it if she found out earlier.
-As for the last one, they’re equal.
So, if Ashfur was that much worse than Mapleshade, then why did he get to StarClan, while Mapleshade didn’t! That is so unfair. Some people say, “Well, Ashfur didn’t mate with a cat from another clan”. I have two arguments for that
1. Well, Appledusk did. And the little devil floated straight up to StarClan like he did nothing wrong. Like he didn’t break Mapleshade’s heart so thoroughly that he put his and her clan in danger, like he didn’t cheat on a cat carrying his kits, like it wasn’t partially his fault that his own kits died, that three RiverClan warriors to-be were lost that day.
2. Well, Mapleshade didn’t plot to murder her clan leader. She did nothing that was so against the warrior code that it could get you sent into exile. But, she was sent into exile, and Ashfur wasn’t, and you know I don’t actually mean this part, but ThunderClan kicks Mapleshade out, then they should kick Graystripe out too. Graystripe didn’t just kill some little half-clan kits, it was his fault that a RiverClan warrior died. He loved her to death! (ha-ha?) Okay, this is getting out of hand. Anyway, the point is, Ashfur=Dark Forest. Mapleshade=StarClan. Appledusk=Dark Forest. Squirrelflight=StarClan.
Goldenfawn
Embers of a Winter Dawn (Emberdawn)
🤍🪷 Lilybreeze 🪷🤍
✧˖°🍾⋆˙⟡ pineblossom (she/her) 🦢💫🩰 what are you doing new year's eve? 🌨️🧸🕯️mentor to skyshimmer! 🌲⋆✴︎˚｡⋆![[Ivypool looks out from amidst the forest's ground foliage]](https://blogclan.katecary.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ivypool-385x300.jpg)
⨺⃝🏳️🌈🏴☠️Jasminepaw/song the Pirate Queen🏴☠️ Jaz, Jazzy, Sienna⨺⃝![[a photo of sunlight sparkling on dark blue water]](https://blogclan.katecary.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/water-385x300.jpg)
Mapleshade deserved DF, but not before she was exiled. She shouldn’t have been exiled, but after being exiled and going mad with grief, she still should be held responsible for the cats she purposely killed and never, not even in the after-life, felt bad about doing. Mapleshade=DF Ashfur=DF Squilf=DF Appledusk=Jerk (Not DF, only because Palebird somehow got to Starclan, despite being a jerk, she doing anything really being morally wrong other than neglect, just as Appledusk cheated)
Great article, though! Ashfur was worse than Maple in multiple ways
Such speed! I can still edit it, that’s how speedy this moddo is! Hello speedy moddo!
hellooooo speedy commenter!
hellooooo speedy moderator!
Wait. What? Squirrelflight to the Dark Forest?
Why is Squilf in the DF?
he wasn’t worse, I don’t think. He didn’t actually kill off anyone permanently, whilst Mapleshade killed… three people 😛
Not going to mention that what she killed were cats-The point is that Ashfur wanted to kill more cats, he was just terrible at it while Mapleshade was actually a formidable warrior.
Awesome article
Ashfur and Mapleshade were both hurt to become the way they were. While I do agree with the majority of your points, I think it’s pretty arguable as to which cat is worse. These cats do not go by Christian beliefs which use the Ten Commandments as a way of life, but instead, they use a similar Warrior Code. In fact, Warrior cat law isn’t very strict at all. But that’s beside the point. Mapleshade, by Warrior code definition, broke the most laws/had the greatest sins. She loved a warrior from another clan. She killed a medicine cat on StarClan territory. She invaded another Clans territory after being exiled and killed a warrior from a different clan. She attempted to murder an expectant queen and harm kittens. And this was only while she was alive.
The living Ashfur was not nearly as homicidal and bloodthirsty. He actually listened to his victim(s) before he would attempt to kill them, and if he was wrong he’d leave them alone. Squrrielflfight is the only exception. Ashfur never technically broke any laws, therefore, he was granted into StarClan.
Both cats were done wrongly, and honestly, Squrrielflight deserves the burden she put on herself. Squrrielflight knew Ashfur liked her and decided to “date” him briefly. She was the one who decided to play with Ashfurs feelings just to get at Bramblestar and it’s disgusting to see how she regards him now in Squrrielflight’s Hope. While I get that enough is enough- Squrrilflight shouldn’t and can’t complain. She introduced him to this new way of torture by trying it on him. The perfect reverse, if you ask me. Squrrielflight going to the Dark Forest isn’t exactly a promising theory because she never broke any of the laws in the Warrior code. Her being sent to the Dark Forest whilst Ashfur wasn’t wouldn’t be nor morally correct.
Now, this doesn’t mean I’m loving the fact that Ashfur literally trapped all of StarClan into a tree in the Dark Forest but The Broken Code allows the lore to go deeper as to how spirits work in the cat world. We now know it’s possible to see cats possess others, go into coma-like states and become spirits, and a special kind of breed of cat that can see spirits. While I hate how the lore expanding is at Ashfur’s expense, it does add a new twist for the living and the dead, similar to Omen of the Stars.
Yes, I love Ashfur and Mapleshade ^^
I’m not sure if she deserved it, but it definitely came back to bite her 😛
And why do you think Squirrelflight deserves the Dark Forest?
Maybe Ashfur was worse, and if he’s the imposter(NO… that just TOTALLY RUINS THE CHARACTER BUT he’s PROBABLY CONFIRMED… OMG)… well, I’m crying.
The difference is that Ashfur didn’t kill three, only killed one, with Hawkfrost, not Brambleclaw. Anyways. Who knows? Maybe Ashfur’s threat was just an empty threat. But… ah.
Good article! But I still hate Mapleshade. Mostly because she gets loved, I think. Or maybe because she actually did kill three of them, for ruining her life.
I’m not trying defend Ashfur, but if Mapleshade gets to kill cats for ruining her life… *shrug* In some ways, Squirrelflight was confusing. She didn’t give a proper answer before breaking Ashfur’s heart, because she seemed like hating Brambleclaw and liking Ashfur, giving him false hopes. Then she suddenly goes to being mates with Brambleclaw, saying ‘I’m sorry, Ashfur’.
Ashfur was definitely overreacting. He shouldn’t’ve tried to kill Firestar. Why he went to StarClan, I don’t know. I TOTALLY WISH The Broken Code was somehow a dream.
Anyway, good article. Ashfur and Mapleshade were both crazy and murderous. But somehow… I can’t hate Ashfur so much. He’s got a good side… before he was used as some crazy Squirrel’s ex to keep up the storyline.
Great article! I agree!
I really like this article, and you have great reasoning. Good Job!
But here is my take:
Now let’s go to Ashfur, a much more complex cat:
Squirrelflight:
In all, Mapleshade is worse than Ashfur. She not only succeeded in killing the three cats, but she stayed evil even after her revenge was over and continued wreaking havoc using cats she influenced.
Mapleshade: DF
Appledusk: StarClan, although I don’t think he deserves it.
Ashfur: …
Squilf: StarClan 100%
StarClan only let him join so they could set him up to be
[spoiler title=”SPOILER FOR DARKNESS WITHIN”] Bramblestar’s impostor. [/spoiler]
Yes…
No, Squrrielflight can be compared to Appledusk. While cheating wasn’t involved her behavior was kind of similar. Squrrielflight didn’t just reject Ashfur, she also dated him to get back at Bramblestar. She wanted to hurt Bramblestar for making her mad. Squrrielflfihht literally introduced Ashfur to his usually “anything to hurt Squrrielflight” behavior. Appledusk can also be defended. It was Mapleshade’s idea to spend months apart without seeing one another. Reedshine had shone a very keen interest to him and maybe doubts about how much Mapleshade loved him began to enter his brain? It’s also worth mentioning that Appledusk didn’t get with Reedshine to hurt anyone like Squrrielflight did. He just really loved her, and if he didn’t love Mapleshade anymore, but still decided to be her mate how would that be fair to anyone? Appledusk didn’t know that Darkstar would throw her out. Ack Warriors is becoming very complex, but I do love it. The characters have personality, that’s for sure.
Mapleshade DID deserve the DF,but i agree that Ashfur is way more worse. Appledusk cheated,Squif didn’t do any of the sort. Mapleshade wanted revenge for being exiled and the reason everything happened to her,and Ashfur just wanted revenge for his heart and Squif had no idea,and only thought him as friend.Ashfur wanted to kill everyone who Squif loves,and Mapleshade wanted to kill cats for revenge for what happened. The only difference is that Ashfur failed,and Mapleshade succeded.
Yeah, Mapleshade maybe should have gone where she wanted, which was the Dark Forest, but the rest should have happened like I said in the article.
Quick correction – Mapleshade actually had four victims, she tried to kill a pregnant Reedshine, which forced Appledusk to take the blow instead.
yeah… its been a while since I last read Mapleshade’s Vengeance.
Great article! I also think that Ashfur deserves the Dark Forest, but Mapleshade deserves StarClan- she is the Warrior cat I defend the most!
You sit and weave your lies, like a fox trots through the night.Yes! (I knew you’d agree with me.) But if Mapleshade wanted to go to the Dark Forest, then maybe they should let her because they’ve seen what an angry Mapleshade can do…
I like Mapleshade, but I think she belongs in the dark forest. Her actions were more justified than Ashfur’s though. She was just trying to please her kits, bc she thought they wanted her to kill all those cats, but Ashfur just plain out wanted to kill cats bc of what happened a while ago. Crazy much?
great article!
Thanks!
Wonderful article! I kind of agree with you.
Yes, Ashfur def belongs in the dark forest! But he teamed up with Hawkfrost, not Brambleclaw. Brambleclaw never wanted to kill Firestar
Wow!! This article is very accurate.
Wait… Ashfur teamed up with Hawkfrost, not Brambleclaw.
Here I go.
Ashfur was not worse than Mapleshade. [spoiler title=”Spoilers for TBC”] Unless you’re counting The Broken Code, where he is, in many ways, worse. [/spoiler]
Ashfur did plot with Hawkfrost to kill Firestar. And he tried to kill Squirrelflight, Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather. It was his intent. But he did not kill them.
Mapleshade, however, killed a medicine cat, killed a warrior from her own former clan, and tried to kill a pregnant queen but ended up killing her forbidden former mate instead of her.
Mapleshade killed three cats. If she had succeeded in killing Reedshine, she would have killed not three, but six cats, including the three undeveloped kits inside of her.
Ashfur killed one. Firestar’s one life. He tried to kill three more, which, if he had succeeded, would have caused him to kill four cats.
Place four against six, and you can see that if either cats had succeeded in killing their attempted victims, Mapleshade would have unknowingly killed more.
I am basing this solely off of kill count. Maybe it was pity that got Ashfur into StarClan, but he completely deserved the Dark Forest as well.
Still ranting against Mapleshade, however, this is no “valid reason” to murder someone if it’s in cold blood. Appledusk did not deserve the Dark Forest. He died saving his mate and unborn kits for a murderer. He cheated on Reedshine too! Mapleshade wasn’t the only one.
Breaking someone’s heart doesn’t get you a one-way ticket into the Dark Forest. If that was the case, Squirrelflight would be there. And Firestar. And Storm, from DoTC. And Brambleclaw. And Bluestar. And Dovewing.
Though Dovewing, Brambleclaw, and Squirrelflight aren’t dead, to clarify.