4 Best Parts of TPB (and 3 Worst) by Fallowheart

Fallowheart shares the best and worst parts about the first arc.

Hi everyone! I’m Fallowheart and this is my first article! I’m going to be explaining the four best things about the first series, and my three least favorite parts about it. Hope you enjoy and let me know what your opinion is!

#7 (Best): The Plot Twists

One of my favorite things about The Prophecies Begin is the plot twists. When I first started reading the series, I was unable to put down the books because of all the twists and turns. I loved trying to guess what was going to happen next, and I even got a few right. Some of the best plot twists happened in Forest of Secrets (Silverstream’s death, Bluestar’s kits, Tigerclaw’s betrayal with Brokenstar, Yellowfang killing her own son… the list goes on). Other memorable plot twists include Brindleface’s murder, Brightpaw and Swiftpaw getting attacked by dogs, and BloodClan. And who can forget that amazing cliffhanger at the end of Rising Storm? Overall, TPB had some of the best plot twists in the entire series… except maybe The Broken Code.

#6 (Worst): Allegiances

This probably didn’t bother anyone else, but it annoyed the heck out of me that only ThunderClan got the entire Clan listed in the allegiances while Clans like WindClan just had the leader, deputy, and medicine cat listed. I’m pretty sure that in the first book, only Tallstar was listed for WindClan, actually. Anyway, a minor thing, but it still bothered me for some reason.

#5 (Best): Cinderpelt

I personally love Cinderpelt, and I love her entire storyline. I remember being so scared that she was going to die, and the whole thing with her becoming a medicine cat was just so inspiring, but also sad because she wanted to be a warrior so bad! (I think she could have been a warrior still, just with modified tasks).

#4 (Worst): Rosetail

Another super small thing that annoys me way too much is Rosetail. Like, she isn’t listed in the allegiances, isn’t mentioned or introduced with the other elders, and then shows up literally just to die in a useless battle.

#3 (Best): Warrior Ceremonies

This is relevant in not just TPB, but it happened the most in this series. Whenever there was a warrior ceremony, I always loved guessing the warrior name for the cat right before they were named. I almost never got them right, but it was still fun. Unfortunately, in the more recent series, the warrior ceremonies are skipped over.

#2 (Worst): Family Relations

This is in the second spot because out of all of the worst things about the first series (in my opinion) this one is the worst. As I’m sure you all know, in almost every single series, the family relations are obvious and the families are super close. I said ALMOST every series because in TPB, almost zero mates are known, and we hardly know who any of the original apprentice’s parents are! Brindleface’s mate might be Whitestorm, but I don’t like that because Whitestorm was confirmed to be Willowpelt’s mate and that would mean he was cheating, and they were literally never shown together. Frostfur’s mate could be Lionheart, which I like, but I’m pretty sure that was never confirmed. All of the kits were unnamed until their apprentice ceremony when it seemed that Bluestar would name them, but then after Cloudtail was named Cloudkit that changed. None of the kits had genders and were simply referred to as “it”, and half of them disappeared. Speckletail had two kits originally, but then one of them just was never mentioned again after they were cured of greencough. Cinderpelt, Brightheart, Thornclaw, and Brackenfur are all siblings, but you would never know it because they have basically zero interactions together. Cats who are supposedly mates show no affection towards each other unless they are the main characters (Sandstorm and Firestar, Graystripe and Silverstream, Cloudtail and Brightheart), while in the more recent series every couple is known of.

#1 (Best): Main Character Relationships

While the background characters’ relationships may have been way too underdeveloped, the main characters had some great ones. Silverstream and Graystripe were a great pairing, even if it was never meant to be, and Brightheart and Cloudtail are adorable together. The best one, of course, is Firestar and Sandstorm. They had such great chemistry, and I am so happy that Firestar finally got over his crush on a dead cat who was way older than him. Plus, their kits are amazing. Leafpool is one of my favorites!