The mystery of Bramblestar’s imposter finally solved! by Rockpelt

Rockpelt explores the theory about the imposter. Note: this was written before Darkness Within was released.

Hello Rockpelt here. I’m going to speak about my opinion on who the imposter really is.
(Spoilers for The broken code including Darkness within chapter 1 and 2)

Now let’s get down to business. As some of you may know an excerpt from Darkness within was released on the official warriors website. In the first chapter of the book it reveals the imposter really was, as many of you suspected, Ashfur. Now I along with many of you are not too happy about this.

To me it just didn’t feel satisfying. Ashfur seemed like he had repented and was living it up in Starclan happily. I guess that’s not the case. I really wanted it to be an epic return of a villain who was never the main antagonist of the arc like Sol or Mapleshade, but instead we got Ashfur. I’m not denying that Ashfur doesn’t have serious potential (I’ll never forget the fire scene) he just seemed so at peace in Starclan like his past was behind him (I guess we can safely say it was not) It’s not just that he was at peace that bothers me. I also feel that the plot writers made Ashfur the villain because that’s what the fans seemed to want.

The writers could have just decided who the imposter really was right before they realised VoS. Not only that but it seems to take away from the “His only crime was to love” scene, which is almost my favorite line in the whole series. If you read the darkness within the excerpt you may think that the buildup kind of died to the point of the reveal. The ending of VoS was so golden, but the start of darkness Within was… lacking (No offense Kate It wasn’t your fault why.) I really wanted the imposter’s identity to be revealed in some dramatic battle scene, but that didn’t happen. Instead Squrrleflight just said it.

I am still disappointed that Ashfur was the imposter, but let’s look on the bright side. Ashfur really does have a lot of genuine potential. It is revealed that Ashfur is extremely powerful now and has the ability to really stir up chaos in the clan with whatever this power from Starclan is. It is even stated he has “The power of the stars in his paws” maybe that means he has powers similar to that of Lionblaze or Jayfeather. I can say that it will be revealed that Hollyleaf really did kill Ashfur. Jayfeather and Lionblaze would most likely be punished for keeping it a secret. Ashfur will probably try to explain his actions and persuade some cats to join under him. Really I wouldn’t be surprised if Bramblestar dies in this arc.

We’ll have to see exactly what Ashfur does now that his cover is blown. Will he leave Bramblestar’s body? Will he turn forest cats evil. Was he secretly helping the dark forest in OoTS? What is Ashfur’s new found power? So many questions are still unanswered like how he blocked the dark forest. Or maybe he didn’t. Maybe a secret rebellion is happening within Starclan! Maybe Sol or Mapleshade are back. Maybe he’s trying to revive a cat who has died twice like Hawkfrost or Tigerstar. (I know that last one is unlikely) Now that we have the solution to one of the biggest theorised mysteries in all of the warriors series I think we have more questions now than what we started with.

Thank you for reading! I really appreciate it!