Mudclaw v. Onestar: Tallstar’s Decision by Ravenflight

Ravenflight argues Tallstar’s last minute decision to make Onewhisker the deputy of WindClan.

Mudclaw should’ve been made leader instead of Onestar.

It’s just my opinion. I mean, look at how Onestar turned out. He became corrupted, made bad decisions, and forced out the help of other Clans. Not the best resume. He wasn’t even properly made deputy, so I don’t know how or why he was even allowed to be leader. I’m okay if the deputy ceremony is late, but if the leader is just dying on the ground and replaces Mudclaw without the actual traditions….how is that cat even deputy?

Plus, Tallstar was dying for StarClan’s sake! Do you think he was thinking completely straight? I think not. He was lying on the ground, the life draining out of him, certainly not in the best shape to make rash decisions about the future of his Clan. Also, in the field guides, it literally says that Tallstar picked Mudclaw to contrast his more peaceful leadership. He picked Mudclaw because of his aggresiveness, which is what we were lead to believe was the reason he later replaced him with Onestar.
Of course, Mudclaw was angry about that, which was totally entitled to be. He started a rebellion with Hawkfrost, unaware of the other cat’s darker motives. We know that the rebellion fails, though, and ends with Mudclaw being crushed by a tree, which becomes the bridge to the island where Gatherings are held.

It’s kind of creepy that everytime cats go to a Gathering, they’re walking over a dead body, but no one ever acknowledges it…

Anyways, Onestar is leader, he makes a bunch of terrible decisions, and is finally killed by his own son, Darktail. Oh, who’s Darktail? The son Onestar had with a rogue who developed a murderous hunger for revenge, came to the Clans, took control of ShadowClan for a while, killed a bunch of cats, and was the villian of the sixth arc. Most importantly though, pretty much all of that happened because of how Onestar dealt with the situation.
But…surely Mudclaw would have been worse? He was a terribly aggresive cat who would’ve lead WindClan into countless battles that would’ve resulted in many unneccesary deaths…right?