Was Mapleshade In The Wrong? by Firetail

Firetail wonders if Mapleshade was at fault.

Contains spoilers for Mapleshade’s Veagnance

The biggest mistake we make when thinking about Mapleshade, is judging her by what she did. If you went through what she had gone through, wouldn’t you have done the same thing? In fact, the first time I read Mapleshade’s Veagnance imeidietly felt sorry for Mapleshade. So, why is Mapleshade not completely evil?

Mapleshade was very-well thought of in the eyes of her clanmates. She was very good friends with Frecklewish, and the only secret she kept from her clan was that she loved Appledusk of RiverClan.

After having Appledusk’s kits, Ravenwing reveals to Oakstar that Mapleshade’s kits are not pure-blooded. Mapleshade begs for mercy, but Oakstar has none for her. Frecklewish then strikes her in the face. This is the first strike against Mapleshade.

After bitterly leaving her clan, which would be enough for me to lose it, she goes to find refuge in RiverClan. But the river between the two clans was too feirce, and her kits were swept away. Appledusk’s patrol finds the kits, washed up on the rocks, dead. Mapleshade was devastated. This is is the second strike.

Mapleshade enters the RiverClan camp, to find Appledusk has been cheating on her the entire time, and denys loving Maleshade to her face. Then, RiverClan’s leader heartlessly refuses to give her refuge, and she is exiled from the clans. This is the third strike.

Three strikes, you’re out.

Mapleshade was furious, and she could never sleep, because all she could hear was her dead kits screaming for help. So one by one, she avenged her dead kits. Now she did this in a very violent way, but what would I have done? Killed all of ThunderClan and RiverClan? Probably. So what she did was for the sake of the dead. Yes, she had evil intentions, but she was so devasted, she felt as if she had nothing to lose. She was a great cat, but was she evil? Was StarClan right to send her to the Dark Forest? The anwser is, yes, she was evil. And no, StarClan could’ve given her a chance. She was not in her right mind when she did those things, and her heart was broken. Yes, she did not regret going to the Dark Forest, but she could’ve had a chance. That’s all that matters. And did they give her a chance? No, they didn’t.

That is my point. Mapleshade was evil, but all of the things she cared abot were taken away from her, and other cats rubbed it in her face. Mapleshade is one of the most misunderstood cats for this reason.