The Judgement of StarClan and Why It’s Unfair by Ivypaw

Ivypaw takes a closer look at how StarClan decides who goes to StarClan and who goes to the Dark Forest.

Hello fellow BlogClanners! It’s Ivypaw/shadow aka Swift, and today I’ll be looking at StarClan’s judgement of various cats, how it is unfair, and some solutions to fix it. Let’s get right in!

So whenever a cat dies, they have the option of either going to StarClan or the Dark Forest. All cats will go to StarClan unless they have done something notably bad or evil in their life. So StarClan is where the good and neutral cats go.

But what happens when a cat does something bad but later makes up for it? Or if they did something bad believing it was for the good of their Clan? Let’s look at different scenarios and individual characters, and whether or not they deserved what they got.

(Please note that this is all my opinion and that you are free to have your own opinions. I’m merely stating what I think.)

MAPLESHADE
Probably one of the most famous of these cases is Mapleshade. Mapleshade was a ThunderClan warrior who fell in love with a RiverClan warrior named Appledusk. She bore his kits, Larchkit, Petalkit, and Patchkit, and let ThunderClan believe that Oakstar’s deceased son Birchface was the father. However, StarClan sent Ravenwing a message saying that the kits did not belong. Oakstar exiled Mapleshade and her three kits, and she fled to RiverCan for help. Sadly, her kits drowned in the river, and Appledusk turned her away. Mapleshade became a rogue. She had hallucinations of her kits telling her to kill cats, and she killed Ravenwing, and Frecklewish (Birchface’s sister). She then attempted to kill Appledusk’s new mate Reedshine and their unborn kits, but ended up killing Appledusk instead. She was then chased away by Reedshine and Perchpaw and bled out and died.

Mapleshade went to the Dark Forest. Now StarClan did face some decisions here, because on one paw, Mapleshade went insane, lost all of her kits and faced betrayal from her Clan and her mate, and on the other, she killed three cats and was still desiring vengeance. So they placed her in the Dark Forest.

I personally agree with this, because Mapleshade had no intentions of becoming “good” again. She later tormented Crookedstar, and if she had gone to StarClan, it is sure that she would have killed Oakstar, Ravenwing, Appledusk, Reedshine, and everyone else who went to StarClan after that had to do with the death of her kits and her vengeance.

But it would make sense if she went to StarClan, considering that technically Bluestar went to StarClan too. Yet StarClan didn’t really make a mistake here. There isn’t really a right choice, and you are free to state whether you think Mapleshade should have gone to StarClan or the Dark Forest (just don’t be rude about it, please).

FRECKLEWISH
Now… Frecklewish was only condemned to the Dark Forest by the Warriors Website, which isn’t the most accurate. But let’s count her in instead. So as we know from Mapleshade’s story, Frecklewish was the sister of Birchface and the daughter of Oakstar. She was killed by a snake after it spat poison in her eyes. She apparently went to the Dark Forest because she stood by and watched Mapleshade’s kits drown.

I completely disagree with this. Frecklewish saw RiverClan warriors on the other side of the bank, so naturally she assumed they would try and save the kits. She could also not swim, and the river was flooding, so if she tried to save the kits she would drown herself.

So StarClan’s judgement is surely wrong in this case. Plus, if the website is right, and she went to the Dark Forest, StarClan would just be condemning her to her own death, because Mapleshade surely would have killed her.

ASHFUR
Ashfur was the son of Brindleface and the brother of Ferncloud. He played a part in getting rid of the dogs in A Dangerous Path, and he becomes important in The New Prophecy. He fell in love with Squirrelflight, but when Squirrelflight chose Brambleclaw over him, he became bitter. He also helped Hawkfrost put Firestar in the fox trap. Later, in Power of Three, the great fire scene happened, and Ashfur tried to kill Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather, for “punishment” to Squirrelflight for what she apparently did to him. Then Squirrelflight revealed that she wasn’t their mother, and later, Hollyleaf tracked him down and killed him.

Ashfur went to StarClan. There is much debate over this, and I personally think he should have gone to the Dark Forest. According to Yellowfang, he “loved too much” but what Ashfur felt for Squirrelflight wasn’t love, it was obsession. He didn’t care about her feelings and only wanted to control and manipulate her.

Now here’s why I don’t think Ashfur should have gone to StarClan. Basically, he attempted to kill four (five if you count Squirrelflight). Just because he failed, it doesn’t take away the fact that he tried to kill four cats. Hawkfrost tried to kill Firestar, but ended up going to the Dark Forest. Plus, if Ashfur had gone to the Dark Forest, the events of the Broken Code would never have happened, and (SPOILERS!) Bristlefrost and Willowshine and a bunch of other cats would still be alive. So I think StarClan made a mistake on this one.

HOLLYLEAF
Hollyleaf was the daughter of Leafpool and Crowfeather, and was a strict follower of the warrior code. She was devastated to find out that she was not Squirrelflight’s daughter, and she tracked Ashfur down and killed him. She fled into the tunnels, and then came back a little later, fighting against the Dark Forest cats in the Great Battle and sacrificing herself to save Ivypool’s life.

Hollyleaf went to StarClan, and this is controversial. Personally, I agree with this. Hollyleaf believed firmly in the warrior code for her entire life, only to find out that she’s NOT the daughter of Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw, and that she’s actually a half-Clan cat, which goes against everything she’s ever believed in. So naturally she can’t think straight. Not to mention that she’s also in a crisis because if Ashfur reveals the truth, she and her brothers could be exiled. So she does the only thing she can think of: kill Ashfur. But also, later, Brambleclaw revealed that Hollyleaf only confronted Ashfur, and when he sprung at her, she lashed out, and he fell and died. So technically it was self-defense, which is excusable. Now if Hollyleaf had only done this, she might have gone to the Dark Forest, but she later made up for it, because she fought in the Great Battle and sacrificed herself to save Ivypool’s life. So I think Hollyleaf belongs in StarClan.

Okay now I know you’re probably thinking “this person is just saying whether this cat should have gone to StarClan or the Dark Forest”, and that’s what I’m doing right now, but that’s not the entirety of my article, I promise. I know it’s going to be a little long, but hopefully it’s interesting enough to keep you occupied. If not, you can always skip this part but at least read the Juniperclaw part, please.

MUDCLAW
Mudclaw was the WindClan deputy, and led a rebellion against WindClan after Tallstar chose Onewhisker as his deputy with his dying breaths. He planned with Hawkfrost, and they attempted to overthrow WindClan, but failed, and when Mudclaw fled, a tree fell on him and killed him. (which is kind of a pathetic way to die, I might add)

Mudclaw went to StarClan, because apparently he thought he was doing it for his Clan. I agree that he should have gone to StarClan, because he didn’t cause particular harm to anyone and didn’t kill anyone (I think). Sure, he started a battle, but Clans start battles all the time.

JUNIPERCLAW
Now Juniperclaw is that one cat that made me hate StarClan. Basically, he was a ShadowClan warrior in A Vision of Shadows. He poisoned SkyClan’s prey, which caused Sparrowpelt or something to have a really bad bellyache. Aside from that, no one else got hurt (if I remember correctly). Unfortunately, he gets exiled for it, but later, he saves Shadowkit, Tigerstar’s son, and then dies to save Violetshine and her unborn kits.

Now you’re probably all thinking, “this guy went to StarClan, right?”

Nope.

Poor Juniperclaw goes to the Dark Forest without even an explanation. Now I think this shows how unfair and unjust StarClan is.

Yes, Juniperclaw tried to poison another Clan’s fresh-kill pile, but he thought he was doing it for the good of his Clan. Sound familiar? Yeah, didn’t Mudclaw lead a rebellion because he thought he was doing it for the good of his Clan? And didn’t he go to StarClan? Hmm……….

Juniperclaw also made up for what he did, and it was clear that he was remorseful. He saved Shadowkit from drowning, and then died to save Violetshine, a SkyClan cat, and her unborn kits. So this is four lives he’s saved, and three of them were part of the Clan that he previously tried to harm. Doesn’t this show some remorse?

Now if Hollyleaf went to StarClan, Juniperclaw should too. Hollyleaf killed Ashfur, and then died to save Ivypool, and went to StarClan, while Juniperclaw died to save three cats and went to the Dark Forest.

But what REALLY annoys me is the fact that Ashfur went to StarClan and Juniperclaw didn’t. Ashfur didn’t show ANY remorse for what he did and did NOTHING to make up for it, while Juniperclaw did. I feel like Ashfur only went to StarClan because he had a poor romance tragedy, while Juniperclaw’s story wasn’t as interesting. Which is kind of dumb, in my opinion.

Anyways, that’s all of the cats I can think of for now.

(Also wanted to point out that somehow Darktail is in the Dark Forest despite not believing in StarClan or the Dark Forest?? How did that happen??)

Now we’ve seen that clearly StarClan doesn’t have the best judgement. Now I propose a solution.

What if….there was just no StarClan at all? And no Dark Forest at all?

I know you’re probably thinking “that’s crazy!” but it would really make the most sense. Because StarClan’s judgement will always be unfair in some way. I know life isn’t fair, but you’re condemning someone to an eternal life in either a good place or a bad place. And the thing is, nothing is ever black and white. It’s always going to be some form of gray. Who decides what is “good” and what is “wrong”? Who decides if something is worth forgiving, or if something is good enough to make up for what someone did?

Now obviously, if StarClan nor the Dark Forest didn’t exist, then the series would be much different. Omen of the Stars would never exist, therefore the Three would never exist and then Power of Three would never exist, and then basically the whole series collapses. So how about let’s add an entirely new afterlife.

This afterlife will be just a plain field with endless wandering, basically like the Fields of Asphodel in Greek mythology. Anyone who lived a neutral life without doing anything notably good or notably bad will go here. Let’s say no one can ever die, no one can ever feel pain or hurt others, and things are just bland and boring. So if Mapleshade went here, she wouldn’t be able to harm anyone.

Now obviously this isn’t the perfect solution, and thus remains the problem of who decides who goes where. So let’s think of a solution for that.

How about we stage it as sort of a court case. When a cat dies, they are brought forward to….let’s say five judges. Then there’s a “prosecutor” and a “defender”. The prosecutor will lay out what bad things the cat did, and argue for them to go to the Place of No Stars. The defender will point out all the good things that the cat did in their life, and argue for them to go to StarClan. Then there’s a neutral cat, who basically mediates the debate and acts as a sort of bystander. At the end, the five judges decide and vote.

Again, this isn’t perfect, but if you’re going to have a StarClan and a Dark Forest, nothing is going to be perfect. So I think this is the best solution that you can get, unless you can think of a better one, which you can tell me in the comments. (I sound like a YouTuber 😛)

Woo I think that wraps up my article!! Hope you liked it, and I hope you have a wonderful day 😃

Swiffers out!