Gray Wing deserved better by Patch Leaf

Patch Leaf shares why they think Gray Wing deserved better.

Hey everyone, I’m Patch Leaf. This is my first article so please exuse any mistakes I made but I felt too strongly about this to not write about it. Also major spoilers for Dawn of the clans, so don’t read if you haven’t read the series.

I have recently read the entirety of the Dawn Of The Clans and it is, so far, my favourite warriors arc. My favourite character was Gray Wing, obviously as this article is about him, and I feel that he, not only, deserved better from his clan mates and kin and also from the writers.

It’s safe to say that Gray Wing is one of the most selfless cats in the entire franchise, raising both Thunder and Turtle Tail’s kits as his own, always looking for the good in other cats and putting others first, he even went back on his own decision to leave the mountians just because his mouse-brained kit brother left by himself. He rarely ever lost his temper or attacked and when he did it was, in my opinion, very justified. For example, the time Sparrow Fur got attacked by One Eye and he lashed out at Jagged Peak, this was very justified as Jagged Peak, who isn’t their adoptive or biological father, told Sparrow Fur that she could leave and didn’t bother to tell Gray Wing that she had gone. Imagine if your uncle had allowed you to go to the other side of town by yourself to go and visit your father, who had already kidnapped you, without any means of contacting your parents, no money and didn’t tell your parents where you had gone and if or when you got attacked or lost, he didn’t own up to his mistake and instead said you ‘insisted’ to go and then attacked your parents just because they said something that hurt their feelings even though it was deserved. Gray Wing’s anger was very reasonable, he had just found out a kit, who was his daughter, was badly injured by someone he already didn’t trust (One Eye), you would understandably be furious. This is just the first of many times that Gray Wing wasn’t consulted or just overlooked.

Another example is the kits he had raised since birth and treated as his own (Thunder, Sparrow Fur, Owl Eyes and Pebble Heart), they all treated him awfully, with Thunder abandoning him for his father, who had already rejected him as a kit, just because he felt like it, yes he returned but he still left Gray Wing and the cats he had been with since he was brought back by Gray Wing, who selflessly took him in. Turtle Tail’s kits were also pretty harsh to him and valued their biological father, who was not only responsible for their mother’s death but also kidnapped them, over Gray Wing who had been nothing but kind and loyal to them despite not having any responsibility to, all they wanted to do was leave him and go to visit Tom, or train with Tom and even Owl Eyes said that although they loved Gray Wing, they all felt like orphans and implied that they didn’t really see him as a father. This hurt my heart to see Gray Wing always be treated as a second option even though he had risked life and limb for his adopted kits, they took him for granted too much and, in my opinion, really didn’t deserve to have such a kind and wonderful cat as their father.

Yet another example is his brothers, Clear Sky and Jagged Peak, they treated this poor cat like dirt with Clear Sky turning evil and attacking his own litter-mate just because of some stupid borders that he created for litterally no reason other than to have power. And Jagged Peak is no better, he left the cat who dropped his own responsibilities and left the only home he’d ever known to save him just because he liked Clear Sky better, and when he was kicked out for being injured, he decided to suck up to Gray Wing and shove himself in the family that he had created with Turtle Tail and their kits. Gray Wing even said, multiple times, that he didn’t feel comfortable with Jagged Peak and the kits being so close as he had no ties to them and he wasn’t their father, but did he listen…no. He is the reason that Sparrow Fur was injured and that she and her brothers were kidnapped by Tom as he didn’t keep a close enough eye on them, despite always wanting to be so close to them. Then Clear Sky didn’t help because he just let a random kittypet through his oh-so-precious forest with three strange kits and as a result Turtle Tail was killed.

The Erin’s did Gray Wing no favors either, killing him off when he had finally got his own biological kits and a mate, who he loved dearly. The only reason he had such bad asthma is because he saved Clear Sky from a forest fire because he still loved his brother deep down despite how hostile he had become. Gray Wing should have had more time with his family because he had worked so hard to get it and was so happy with them. He is an amazing cat who deserved the world.

Okay that’s my rant over, I just love Gray Wing so much and he is my favourite character over all and I really think he deserved so much more love from everyone really. Thanks for reading and please let me know if you have other opinions, I love reading your thoughts. Just remember this is my own opinion and just for fun, I mean no disrespect to your favourite characters or opinions.