[a painted bust of Hollyleaf surrounded by falling holly leaves]

Why Hollyleaf was Too Fragile for the Warrior Life by Cosmiceyes

Cosmiceyes takes a look at Hollyleaf’s actions and why she might have acted that way.

[a painted bust of Hollyleaf surrounded by falling holly leaves]
Artist unknown (Source: Pinterest)
[a painted bust of Hollyleaf surrounded by falling holly leaves]

OK, so, Hollyleaf. We all love her, right? She’s one of the best-known and often loved characters in the Warriors fandom. But did she really have the heart of a true warrior?

Now, some of my opinions might be controversial, so I’d like to just say that I will accept disagreement of any kind. I have nothing against her. But here, I’m going to discuss why Hollyleaf was too fragile for the warrior life.

First of all, her obsession with following the warrior code. Psychologically, I’d suggest that this shows some fragility, a need for control, routine and order in her life. Perhaps it also suggests a subconscious fear of the unknown, so anything that seems to lie outside of the code, or breaks it, gives her a fear that she is spiralling out of control and she needs to regain it.

Two: She is fixated on her (later revealed non-existent) place in the Prophecy of Three. In either Long Shadows or Sunrise, she is shown to have a rage about the prophecy and Ashfur/Squirrelflight’s revelations, thinking she DESERVES it in an angry way. This is almost close to following the thought patterns of confirmed villains in Warriors. She longs to be a leader and to have more power than the stars–which brings me back to the control issues.

Three: The killing of Ashfur. Sure, Ashfur’s revelation would have hurt ThunderClan and the Three, but it technically wouldn’t have gone against the warrior code. Hollyleaf was so desperate to regain what she saw as a lack of control in her life, and set it back to hw it was before the storm, that she herself–the cat most obsessed with the warrior code–breaks it in the worst way possible: killing a Clanmate. What does this say about the state of her mental health?

Four: When she returns to ThunderClan, Hollyleaf is reserved, snappish and distant with her Clanmates, often shown to be sharp-tongued and short-tempered. She probably feels as if she has zero control whatsoever over what her Clan thinks of her, after they realize she was Ashfur’s murderer.

And finally, five: her reaction to Leafpool and Crowfeather. On learning that Leafpool is basically the source of all her misery, Hollyleaf tries to force Leafpool into suicide, saying: ”I’ve killed once; I can do it again!” By this point, her mental state is so shattered that she isn’t even thinking about the code she loved so much. She’s gone over the edge, and then she escapes Clan life and everything she’s done–”No one will ever understand.” She runs from responsibility because the consequences are out of her control.

I feel like I have to acknowledge that Hollyleaf did die saving Ivypool, so she must have nobility and a true warrior’s heart in her. But she may have been too mentally fragile to accept that sometimes being a warrior means having to break the code for the greater good. What do you think?

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