What Happened to Yellowfang in OoTS? by silver20star

silver20star takes a look at Yellowfang’s decisions in Omen of the Stars.

When it came to the dark forest rising, Yellowfang made a lot of rash decisions. She lied to Squirrelflight about being barren, she often spoke poorly of Leafpool despite her being the one who helped her hide her kits, and near the end of Omen of the Stars(OoTS) she was all in favor of letting the other clans (including her former one) perish. The oddest thing about this is that the medicine cat is usually wise and collected. Why was she acting so paranoid when it came to the three prophecy?

The answer to that is simple: Brokenstar finally made Yellowfang break.

In Fading Echoes Yellowfang, Spottedleaf, and Jayfeather all journey into the dark forest to investigate. While there the three cats run into Brokenstar. Yellowfang is stunned by him. She is instantly flung into horrible memories that Jayfeather also witnesses. Noticing that she was internally panicking, Spottedleaf orders her to go home saying, “You’re no help to us while Brokenstar is around. He clouds your judgment”-Fading Echoes 288.

According to Spottedleaf, Yellowfang’s rationality disappears when it comes to Brokenstar. That fear explains a lot about her decisions in OoTS and even before then. In the Power of Three Yellowfang is more concerned about the three learning about their father at the correct time. She is on Jayfeather’s side, despite the cat not knowing it. But when she found out that Brokenstar was going to rise with the dark forest, she became more paranoid about the prophecy, even saying in The Last Hope that the prophecy was more important than how he felt.

Let’s start from the beginning. The news that Leafpool was pregnant with three kittens who would hold the stars in their paws was quite alarming to her. Despite others trying to reassure her she wasn’t, Yellowfang blamed herself for Brokenstar’s treachery. She gave him to Lizzardfang who then horribly abused him. So, she thought that, if Leafpool’s kits were given to the wrong cat, they would turn out just like her son. She admits this in the manga at the end of Bramblestar’s storm. “You had to take care of Leafpool’s kits and I thought it was the only way I could persuade you. I thought it was for the best”.

Her lie to Squirrelflight was a spur of the moment decision that she made in desperation. Does that make it okay? No. But Yellowfang’s fear of history repeating itself muddied her thinking. She was not her usual wise self.

But what about her judgment of Leafpool? How could she berate Leafpool after she worked with the cat to hide her secret. Well, her feelings were also out of whack.

When Jayfeather pressed the issue Yellowfang said she needed to be punished and should never be a medicine cat again. Yet when Squirrelflight and Leafpool were being trialed, she was the only cat who vouched for them stating, “It seems to me that Leafpool sacrificed everything she loved to be a loyal medicine cat to her Clan. Can we ask more than that?”-Squirrelflight’s hope pg. 346.

Note that, when Leafpool was being punished, a lot of the Starclan cats were blaming Yellowfang for Brokenstar rising. Take the prologue of Night Whispers. Yellowfang’s old mentor, Sagewhisker berates her for not only stopping the battle that kills Russetfur but also for having Brokenstar. Is it possible that her anger towards Leafpool was actually anger at herself that she took out on her? After all, her feelings about the matter did change once she had rid the world of Brokenstar once and for all.

Later on, Yellowfang sees Lionblaze fight two foxes. She takes that as an omen, meaning that the only clan meant to survive was Thunderclan. She tells Jayfeather, “It must be Thunderclan’s destiny to survive while the others perish” and that if Thunderclan falls “…all four clans will fall into darkness”.

She already believes that the other clans, including Shadowclan, are doomed to fall. That means that Shadowclan would once again be destroyed by her son, adding to the guilt and anger she was already feeling from the Shadowclan ancestors blaming her for Brokenstar. And that’s why, when Jayfeather reminds her, she was formerly a part of Shadowclan, she angrly insists that she was a Thunderclan cat. Not only have the Shadowclan ancestors pushed her away when Starclan split, but she also thought Thunderclan cats were the only ones destined to survive.

In The Last Hope, Yellowfang finally frees herself from Brokenstar. She kills his spirit once and for all. It’s only afterwards when she apologizes to Squirrelflight and argues that both her and her sister deserved a spot in Starclan. Her mind was once again clear. Just as Spottedleaf said, Brokenstar clouded her judgment, opening her wounds and making her lose whatever rationality she had.

Oh, and the Ashfur thing? Remember that Yellowfang was not the only cat Ashfur tricked into forgiving him. Hollyleaf, one of the cat’s he tried to kill, forgave him too and was his friend until he possessed Bramblestar.

Yellowfang made a lot of bad decisions when in Starclan. Her flaws didn’t die with her. She was still the same cat who could make mistakes and a cat that could be swayed by strong negative emotions.

0l47awl44zka1.jpg (3605×2645) (redd.it)