Fan ArticlesBrightmist takes a look at Bramblestar in A Vision of Shadows.
Hello! Iโm Brightmist, and today weโll be talking about Bramblestar and why he could do better as leader! Letโs get started;
CONTAINS: VISION OF SHADOWS SPOILERS!!
So if youโve read Vision of Shadows, you most likely remember the character Alderheart. Just to put you on the same measures, he is a ginger med cat that plays a big role in the series Vision of Shadows.
Alderheart goes on a quest to try to bring the remaining Skyclan cats back to the other clans (as this is the prophecy) While doing this, he constantly reports news to Bramblestar. THIS is where Bramblestarโs leadership comes in. Bramblestar repeatedly ignores the signs and information Alderheart is providing, and brushes it off as nothing but history. Now, donโt get me wrong, Bramblestar has a point on why he refuses to believe it. After all, all Alderheart found on his quest were mainly only two kits (now Twigbranch and Violetshine.) But there was so much possible reasons leading to those Skyclan cats, even the two Skyclan kits. Plus, he should still be cautious about it, whether he thinks itโs true or not.
On the father part, Bramblestar could do better aswell. He almost never takes his son Alderheart seriously, and obviously thinks Alderheart is doing too much, or getting too much out of an idea. Otherwise, heโs not the worst father, but he could definitely improve on letting his son and daughter be heard (HIS SON, ANYWAY!)
Overall, there is one problem he is mostly centered to: PUTTING THINGS ASIDE!! In all honesty, the cause of him putting aside hints and things related to the prophecy letโs a whole lot of problems march through. Putting aside things like that causes the prophecy to get more difficult than itโs actually supposed to, which is why he needs to start taking these to consideration! Unless groups of cats are dying or getting injured, he mostly doesnโt think of anything as a big problem or answer to the prophecies. Though he isnโt a bad leader, and does what he thinks is right for his clan!
I hope you enjoyed my first article! Do you think Bramblestar could be better, or do you think heโs already the best he can be?
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Goldenfawn
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I 100% agree! He never listens to prophecies, even if he hears them, he just says “oh, what could that mean?” And then forgets about it 2 seconds later. I also hate his relationship with Squirrelflight
Great article!
a lot of characters do this, but I agree with the relationship part, squirrelflight and bramblestar are a terrible couple
Nice article!
Great article! I totally agree!!!! Bramble is the worst father ever! And he’s kind of a bad leader. But, I think you should have put how he’s a bad mate, too. In Squirrelflight’s Hope, Bramble is very rude to Squirrel, and yells at her constantly, when all she’s trying to do is bring peace for the clans. He’s horrible to her! That’s why Squirrel and Bramble NEED TO BREAK UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Sorry about that.๐) But, yeah, they seriously need to break up.
But, besides that, your article was great, and I definitely 100% agree!
P.S. Sorry for the “yelling” if it seemed rude to you.๐
Yep, I haven’t got past the last hope yet (it’s been years since I read it and am just re-reading the series) but as soon as he started getting involved with Hawkfrost and his treatment of Squirrelflight, he quickly became my least favourite cat. He’s *obsessed* with Hawkfrost, to the point he seems to have forgotten about Tawnypelt and never thought about asking her opinion on things since Tawny should technically be in the same position as Bramble. (but she certainly wasn’t in a rush to get to know Hawkfrost.) Also starting to think Squirrel doesn’t have much self-respect for trying to change things.
In a sense, I kinda feel he’s almost worse than Tigerstar attitude-wise. Tiger was a murderous piece of mouse dung, but he could at least be sensible sometimes and charismatic. And also I don’t remember Tiger being a bully to Golden or Sasha. I’d like to have seen Bramble grow up to be a humble cat, more like Brackenfur in temperament, oh well.
“Bramble is very rude to Squirrel, and yells at her constantly, when all sheโs trying to do is bring peace for the clans.”
To be fair both were ‘yelling’ at each other..constantly. Squirrelflight accuses Bramblestar of not loving her and waiting for her to die just so he can replace her. Which was weird..since the only stuff that happened beforehand was a disagreement he had with Squirrelflight about her ideas.
Great article! I agree.
good article
Great article! I understand your point, although I respectfully disagree. Bramblestar ‘ignores’ Alderheart’s signs for a while because the clans are busy with Darktail and without further guidance from Starclan they are extremely unlikely to actually find Skyclan and he doesn’t want to risk weakening the clan by sending a patrol, especially for the brief part where there is a threat of yellowcough spreading through Thunderclan. At the point where Starclan outright tells Alderheart where Skyclan is the Darktail situation has gotten extremely bad. At this point Bramblestar should have sent a patrol but he did what he thought was best for the clan, albeit he was wrong. He should listen to Alderheart more, although he has character growth during the arc and does begin to respect and listen to him ๐
Great article! He could be better.
Nice article, thought I politely disagree. Bramblestar was just doing what he thought was right and leading a clan is no easy matter. That’s just my opinion, but anyways nice article!
Great article! I totally agree! Bramblestar is a bad leader, horrible father & even worse mate. Seriously, even after how bad he treated Squirrelflight in Squirrelflight’s Hope, she was still so faithful to him in Broken Code. Bramblestar didn’t DESERVE that loyalty!!!
Sorry. Just started disliking Bramblestar a little bit recently
He is not a horrible father, would you really believe in that clan. That was not ever around his younger time, It’s like trying blame someone for not believing in a place that have been lost in time. Let’s not forget, Bramblestar lied for Hollyleaf. Lying about who killed Ashfur’s death, after telling the truth about the three she was about to tell the truth about Ashfur death. Bramble lied for her, saying that Ashfur tried to murder her and Hollyleaf killed him. When Alderpaw couldn’t get anything on first day of training, He tried to make his son happy again by telling him how his first day of training when.
Great Article!!
I’m on my Bramble hate phase. In the new prophecy he is horrid to Squirrel just for saying his half-brother gives her bad vibes. Bramble also ignores his sisters only seeming to care about his half-brother (also is it me or does warriors have loads of half brothers). Bramble is petty over Ashfur (not defending Ash either he is another wreck of a character). He doesn’t do much to deserve deputyship (younger me was so confused over him becoming deputy there is literally cloudtail and sandstorm vibing and he is picked over Graystripe when he returns). In PO3 he is rude to Squirrel because she didn’t tell him about the 3 not being their kits although he’d probably blab and stuff. He could’ve understood if I was in bramble’s shoes I could, they we’re literally breaking the code of course they couldn’t tell him Bramble isn’t the center of the universe. In omen of the stars he is background character but is arguing with Squirrel loads. In Bramblestar’s storm he is a horrid leader and he wants to dump Squirrel for a hot kittypet but doesn’t because the kittypet leaves. In Avos he is a bid leader ignoring Alder’s visions and being a bad father to Alder. Alder isn’t a good apprentice so what does he do.
A) Help his mentors find if he has trouble learning a way
B) Give him encouragement to keep him going
Or
C) Call him worthless and send him to the medicine cat den.
Bramble chose C
He is a horrid leader and makes bad choices. I can’t say anything about TBC because he was possessed by the spirit of Ash’s long blonde locks. In ASC he doesn’t know how to be a leader because he FORGOT. TBC wasn’t that long and how could you forget how to be a leader.
Sorry for my Rant about Bramble-
Minty
I’m not a huge fan of Bramble either (I liked him in TPB and then after that he became bland and then he became downright awful) but I would just like to point out a few things.
1: Don’t be mad at Brambleclaw for being deputy while unqualified. Starclan chose him. Why? I have no idea, but it had nothing to do with Brambleclaw.
2: Bramblestar has a right to be angry about Squirrelflight lying to him in PoT. He thought he had biological children and it turned out the entire thing was a lie, and I for one would be a little angry about that. As his mate, Squirrelflight should have trusted him with the secret and she didn’t. (Although on the whole trust thing neither of them really ever trust each other with anything and hence I think their relationship is pretty much dysfunctional and they need to break up.)
3: Bramblestar never tried to ‘dump’ Squirrelflight for Jessy. He and Squirrelflight were not together during Bramblestar’s Storm and hence if he had gotten together with Jessy he would not have been dumping her.
4: Bramblestar ignored Alderheart’s visions because they were vague and quite frankly not useful and he didn’t want to weaken the clan in a time of turmoil by sending a patrol on a wild goose chase for Skyclan.
5: Bramblestar never said or even implied Alderheart was worthless. He just told him Starclan had chosen him to be a medicine cat and in fact encouraged him when at first he thought he couldn’t do it.
6: Bramblestar didn’t forget to be leader. Ashfur lost him the trust of his clan and caused all of his warriors to be terrified of him, and he is understandably having trouble leading properly.
I am by no means saying Bramblestar isn’t worthy of hate after Squirrelflight’s hope, but I think he is a better leader and father than you give him credit for.
Finally someone in the comments who agrees that Bramblestar is a good character and made some mistakes!
When did bramblestar called alderheart worthless? TBC could be long in their life then ours, let’s not add bramblestar was abused by ashfur. That can cause him to forget how to be a leader.
” Squirrel just for saying his half-brother gives her bad vibes” Squirrelflight is just as horrid towards Brambleclaw when he denies her accusations. She straight up breaks it off with him because Brambleclaw spent time with his brother and she didn’t like that.
“). In PO3 he is rude to Squirrel because she didnโt tell him about the 3 not being their kits ”
That’s absolutely justified! Squirrelflight lying about the kits was a HUGE deal, and it hurt Brambleclaw emotionally.
“In Bramblestarโs storm he is a horrid leader and he wants to dump Squirrel for a hot kittypet but doesnโt because the kittypet leaves.”
Squirrelflight and Bramblestar are not together during that book
I definetely think Bramblestar could be better. Especially in River he is a sucky leader. Great article!