Defending Dovewing🕊 by Sandbreeze

Sandbreeze defends Dovewing.

Hi!
It’s Sandbreeze, and I’m here to defend one of my favorite characters, Dovewing! I loved reading about her, and I always loved to look deeper into her, seeing that she’s actually a good, unselfish cat that just wants the best for those she loves. When I found out she had haters, I was ready to defend her, no matter what! She’s not the whiny, Mary Sue cat that you think she is. She’s actually a very good sister that’s empathetic, gentle, selfless, and has some flaws that aren’t too bad but are enough to not make her a Mary Sue. Now let’s dive deeper into these traits and the cat Dovewing really is.
NOTE: I love Dovewing and Ivypool, so if it looks like I love Dovewing and hate Ivypool that’s not true. Both of them are good cats.
Dovewing’s History
You do not have to read this all! This is just an overview if it’s been a while since you read the books. WARNING: Spoilers up to Sky.
Dovewing was born to Whitewing and Birchfall alongside her sister, Ivykit. Soon they’re apprenticed to Lionblaze and Cinderheart, and they’re like Squirrelpaw and Leafpaw where they want to do everything together. Sadly, Yellowfang reveals to Dovepaw that she has a role in the Power of Three, and she realizes that no one else has her senses. Since she’s the only one that realizes that the beavers are the problem, she and some cats from other Clans journey to the cause of the drought. They take away the dam the beavers are building, which sadly ends in a death, but the rest get back home safely. On the journey Dovepaw had befriended Tigerheart, and so they agree to meet at night. During this time Dovepaw discovers her sister is training in the Dark Forest, and she’s really worried. Ivypaw insists it makes her a better warrior, and she’s partly doing it to get attention because her sister’s getting it all. Or at least, she thinks so(more on she didn’t get all the attention later)During one of her meetings with Tigerheart, she spills the secret about the catmint and he uses that to aid ShadowClan. Dovepaw feels betrayed, thus leading to the end of their meetings. She then earns her warrior name, gets selected to go on a mission to the Tribe, and Bumblestripe develops feelings for her. But Dovewing runs into Tigerheart, and they start meeting again. But after telling about the prophecy to Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight, and Leafpool, she realizes her loyalties needed to be focused on the prophecy(see, she’s not whining about her relationships, she’s helping the Clans). When the battle against the DF comes, she informs ThunderClan about Dark Forest warrior positions and fights in the battle. When Darktail takes over ShadowClan and Tigerheart and his family stay with ThunderClan, they become close again. Soon after, at Purdy’s funeral, Bumblestripe asks if they can start a family, and Dovewing snaps back it’s not the time for the discussion(she’s really stressed and saddened right now, okay?) She soon meets with Tigerheart to discuss their relationship, then she disappears, with Tigerheart disappearing soon after. Moons later she comes back to reveal her new kits, and she meets with ThunderClan before moving to ShadowClan. When the Broken Code begins, Dovewing is listed as a codebreaker and puts herself into exile for a few days, but her father and son bring her back. In a Starless Clan she gives birth to a new litter of kits, but one of them dies of greencough.
Now that we’re finished with history, I’m going to pull out some quotes from the books and explore how these show the good traits Dovewing has!

“I know it hurts to have your Clanmates say mean things about you. But you mustn’t listen to whispers. Warriors will always have an opinion. The most important thing is that you did what you what you thought was right. And you told the truth. In the end, it’s lies that tear a Clan apart, not the truth. I wish you had as much faith in yourself as I do.”

This quote is when Dovewing is talking to Shadowsight when he revealed his vision. This shows the good mother she is, and how reassuring she is to her kits, and everyone else of her “Clans” This seems like some pretty good advice, I wonder where she got the wisdom from.

“Your loyalty makes you who you are. And I know you will love our kits with the same fierce loyalty with which you love your Clan. I love you, Tigerheart. I would have loved you even if you hadn’t followed me here. I will always love you. Not just because you’re the father of my kits, but because you’re you. I’m sorry I made you choose between your Clan and me. No cat should ever have to make that choice. I was scared of facing this alone. I’ve been a coward.”

This quote is just really sweet. I love how forgiving she is about this, even if her mate go to the safe place with her. She’s also selfless in this, saying she’s a coward. This shows the self-doubt she has, so she’s not a Mary Sue.

”Blossomfall stoped and put down her little burden. ‘I’d probably have done the same,’ she admitted. ‘I…I’m not sure I can forgive myself.’”
Dovewing leaned over and pressed her muzzle against Blossomfall’s shoulder. ‘You have to,’ she murmured. ‘For all our sakes. We have to move on from what happened, and find new ways to be strong.’”

I just love this quote because it shows the empathetic part of Dovewing, and how much she cares for her Clanmates. She comforted Blossomfall because she believed that the cats who trained in the dark forest had made a mistake, and they were worthy to belong.

“He’s right. We may have broken the code, but so has nearly every warrior at some point in their lives. We have to trust StarClan to be fair.”

If you don’t like Dovewing because she broke the code, then you’re probably Ashfur(okay maybe that was mean but I don’t know really anybody who hates her because she broke the code). Dovewing’s right. Every warrior has broken the code some time, and Dovewing is only one of many. If you think she broke the code in a bigger way, then think of Finleap and Twigbranch and Crowfeather and Leafpool and Graystripe and Silverstream-and the list goes on.

Dovepaw tried not to hear what any of the cats were saying. Her Clanmates were gathering to witness her humiliation. How could she explain? With a rush of frustration that tightened her throat, she wished fiercely that there were no such thing as the prophecy, and that she didn’t have any powers at all.

Dovepaw is struggling with how different she is in this scene, and she just wanted to be with her sister so they could do they the things together they wanted to do as apprentices. She struggles with the weight she carries, and that’s all loaded on a young apprentice! If you think this quote is selfish, it isn’t. All the characters think of themselves and one point, and don’t you all do too? I surely do, thinking that I was as good at this as they were, or things like that.
Now that I’ve gone over these quotes, I’m going to dive deeper into her character and give some reasoning!
DOVEWING AND HER SENSES
Imagine if you were Dovewing. You’ve had enhanced senses since you were born, and then they’re suddenly gone, without any warning at all. It would be hard to adapt to that. No one can just be like, “Oh, they’re gone now. Oh well.” Everyone would at least have a feeling of loss, and feel like they’re blind and deaf. Even Ivypool would be like this, feeling a sense of loss. Dovewing also noted about a lot of buzzing in her ears, and that must’ve been annoying. Adding to that, the distrust and suspicion that rose in ThunderClan saddened her, and she was angry that everybody still distrusted and kinda bullied the cats that had trained in the Dark Forest. All of this added on top of the weight she was carrying.
Looking at attack comments
One of the ways I find ways to defend characters is by looking at claims Warrior fans will make about her. There was a place I looked at, I’m not going to say where or who, but some of them said: “She sucks without her powers” and “She ditched Bumblestripe, leaving him heartbroken.” So, let me try to explain, and hopefully you’ll listen to my defense. For the power thing, Dovewing literally just lost something she’s had since birth. She could hear and see really well. When she lost all that, she felt trapped and closed in. It even quotes that in Dovewing’s Silence. She simply just lost confidence in herself, which adds to another reason that she is not a Mary Sue. Not too much lost confidence for too long that she’s a depressed character, but enough to not make her a Mary Sue. She doesn’t suck without her powers, in the recent books she’s still hunting and it looks like she’s gained enough confidence that she can be an ordinary cat.
Now, for the Bumblestripe thing, he literally asked for kits at Purdy’s funeral! Purdy was a great friend to Dovewing, and she just seemed really sweet to him in her novella. Bumblestripe could’ve asked for kits later on, or hint it when Dovewing was ready, but clearly he didn’t see that. Dovewing was pressured by Bumblestripe, and she didn’t really have strong feelings for him in the first place. She felt like she was being forced into a relationship, and when she became friends with Tigerstar ll again she realized where her heart truly belonged. She had no other choice when she found out she had kits, and she had good reasons for moving to ShadowClan.
DOVEWING AND TIGERSTAR 2
So, Dovewing couldn’t control her love. Nobody could, as you can see in the forbidden romances in Warrior cats it was hard to ignore it. Most of them ended up with kits because they couldn’t ignore the feelings. Since it was against the code to meet with another cat with feelings other than friendship, Dovewing had to go in secret, and it was hard for her. She genuinely loved Tigerheart, and meeting in secret was the only way to get her to stop from going crazy. You would say the same thing for a forbidden romance you like, wouldn’t you? (and if there are people that don’t like forbidden romances then…well look at my reasoning above). When she found out she was pregnant, she dreamed of a place that would make sure her kits were safe. She knew this was the only way, so she did it for her kits. When she and Tigerheart(now Tigerstar 2) went back to the Clans, she knew the only way for her kits to be accepted more was to go to ShadowClan. And raising her kits without her mate wasn’t going to work out, so she had to go to ShadowClan. Plus, Tigerstar 2 needed support in rebuilding his Clan back up.
Dovewing doesn’t hog and brag about her powers in this scene, she’s stressed about it. She wishes she was an ordinary cat, and she doesn’t shove her powers into other cats’ faces. She’s not a Mary Sue, she struggles with how different she is.
DOVEWING AND THE THREE
All the Dovewing haters say that she shouldn’t have been in the Three, and Ivypool or Hollyleaf would’ve handled it better. But the prophecy was like, shoved into her face, they said she had to save the entire Clans, or else they’ll all be destroyed and they’ll be gone forever. People say that only Ivypool had pressure when she was in the Dark Forest, but Dovewing was pressured too! She had to carry the fate of the Clans on her shoulders(at least Lionblaze and Jayfeather carried it too, but it’s still a lot), and at the same time worry about her sister being a spy and not getting hurt, and her love that she couldn’t control. She really had a lot on her, didn’t she?
DOVEWING AND IVYPOOL
There was a person I met once that said: “Dovewing, NEVER cared about Ivypaw’s feelings.” But she did! I clearly remember Dovewing seeing Ivypool getting injured in the DF while she was sleeping, and she felt a rush of worry for her. She asked her about it and told her to be more careful, but Ivypool was under pressure and snapped back that it was fine. Dovewing kept trying to make up with her so many times! In Dovewing’s Silence, Ivypool said that all the Dark Forest cats had personal reasons for joining. Dovewing thought herself this: Was I the reason for that? That means she probably knew that Ivypool was jealous because of her, and Dovewing never asked for the attention. She never asked for the prophecy. All she ever wanted was to be an ordinary apprentice that could fight alongside her sister and have fun with her. But this when the DF came in all that was ruined and there had to be some cats to help kick out the evil cats once again(*sighs* so much revenge. Jeez). But Dovewing does think this:
“Maybe it won’t be so bad, having these powers, if I can use them to help my Clan.”
For all of those people that said Dovewing never wanted her powers, here’s the quote for you:) Dovewing is showing a selfless act here, and she’s not being selfish. She wants to help her Clan, and save them from the Dark Forest. She lets her sister be a spy, even though she’s really worried about it, because she knows that it will help the Clans and that she won’t be excluded. Both sisters played an important role in the destruction of the Dark Forest, not just Ivypool.

CONCLUSION
Dovewing is a great cat that is not a Mary Sue, cares for her sister, is under pressure with a lot of things, cares about the cats she loves, and is empathetic.
Here’s a good video by Bright Guardian Akira that goes over Dovewing leaving ShadowClan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogi4qz43RWg
And here’s another video by her that’s a very beautiful song about Dovewing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKOc1D4tVmk
Articles
If you’re still neutral on Dovewing, here are some great articles by BlogClanners that discuss the character she really is!

Defending Dovewing by Briarshine

Why I love Dovewing by Irispaw

Note: I forgot if these defended Ivypool or not, but if they attack her I’m sorry. I love both sisters, and I don’t see why you have to love one and hate another.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my article! I gathered as much evidence as I could to show you Dovewing deserves love, not hate! Of course, there will always be divided opinions on this, and I know that I won’t convert everyone to the good side, but I wrote this to show what you’re not noticing about her!
After the sharp-eyed jay and the roaring lion,

Peace will come on Dove’s gentle wing.

Sandbreeze out!