Ravenflight analyzes Mapleshade’s actions.
I am not going to deny that Mapleshade is a villian. And one of the best villians in Warriors series, actually. She is the mastermind behind many schemes, including the battle with the Dark Forest cats, ruining Crookedstar’s life, helping Tigerstar, training Goosefeather, and many, many more.
You may have noticed, however, that she did all of these things from the Dark Forest, after her death. Now, you might have a differing opinion, but I think Mapleshade only became evil AFTER death.
You’re probabaly screaming in your head, “But Ravenflight, did you forget that she KILLED THREE INNOCENT CATS???” To that I say, think about it. She was a grieving mother, she had been banished from the only home she’d ever known, AND she had been hearing whispers of her dead kits telling her to avenge then. Also, even though she ouwardly denies it, I think in the back of her mind, she did think it was her fault that her kits died.
Which brings me to my point.
Ok, before I present you with my theory, you’re going to have to learn about the five stages of grief. The five stages of grief are the basic emotions someone goes through while dealing with loss. Of course, this is not true for everyone. People go through lots of different emotions when experiencing grief, and it’s not the same for everyone. These are just the basic five emotions, and the common order people experience them in.
They are, in order:
Denial – Denying your loss, telling yourself it’s not true.
Anger – Lashing out at people, blaming people, generally being mad.
Bargaining – Trying to trade your loss with something else, or trying to tell yourself you have something else, so it will be okay.
Depression – Being sad, giving up, acting like everything is terrible.
Acceptance – Finally accepting that’s what’s gone is gone, and moving on with your life.
(A helpful way to rememeber these is to remember the acronym DABDA.)
Anyways, back to Mapleshade. I think she went through denial pretty quickly, but then ran into some problems. She got stuck somewhere between anger and bargaining. (I guess you could argue she might’ve only gotten stuck on bargaining, but I think she was pretty angry.)
Instead of healthily moving through the stages, she got bitter, and started to bargain for her kits’ lives by killing of the cats she blamed. I think, if she hadn’t been killed when she had been, she would’ve moved through the other stages, and finally gotten to acceptance. The message I’m really trying to communicate here is that Mapleshade’s actions were justified. I’m NOT saying it’s okay to kill people when you’re sad, but I’m saying she had her reasons. I’m saying she wasn’t evil. When she died, though, she wasn’t given the chance to move through the stages. The cats in the Dark Forest were waiting, ready to make her bitterness and anger fester and grow, causing her to turn into the villian we know today. If they had let her go to StarClan, then she would’ve been able to reach acceptance, and forgiven herself and others for her kits’ death.
That was so cool!
(wow i sound like a three year old)
I totally agree!
You agree that Mintpaw sounds like a three ye-I agree, it was really cool!
What an amazing article, Ravenflight! After I saw this was about MV, I had to read it!
I hope to see another one of your articles soon!
your an amazing writer whatttttttI AGREE! SHE ONLY BECAME EVIL AFTER DEATH! I EVEN SUBMITTED AN ARTICLE ABOUT IT TOO!
Cool!
I love Mapleshade. She is one of my favorite villains in anything I have read, watched, or heard.
Too bad she’s the only female villain in the books
No. Sleekwhisker’s bad.
Amazing article! I’ve always loved and defended Mapleshade, but I’ve never done or thought about it like that. I agree, Mapleshade was stuck in the grief process, and she tried to avenge her kits by killing cats she assumed were responsible. I mean, it would be horrible to be kicked from your Clan, disowned by your mate, and have your kits drown right in front of you.. I can sympathize with her a lot because of something that I experienced. I think she is misunderstood and falsely judged because, like you wrote, she was stuck between anger and bargaining, maybe in a bitterness stage. Beautiful writing, I look forward to reading more of your work.
*gives up about not liking Mapleshade*
Good article agree with tou
I wonder if
CORRECT MAPLENOTEVIL4EVA!!!