How Thunder Made Frostpaw, Nightheart, & Sunbeam Better by Briarpaw

Briarpaw reviews Thunder and how it makes the trio better. Spoilers for Thunder ahead!

Okay, so I just finished Thunder, and I knew that I *NEEDED* to write this.
I believe that Thunder made each of the main characters a LOT better, and made them all grow and change. So, let’s get started!
*HUGE SPOILERS FOR THUNDER AHEAD, PROCEED WITH CAUTION*
First up, Frostpaw!
Frostpaw was just attacked at the end of Shadow, and ends up surviving thanks to Whistlepaw. She’s taken to the horseplace, where Smoky has Twolegs heal her. The book mentions that she has something strange on her flank when she’s done, so they might have spayed her? I’m not sure, I don’t have cats, so if someone with them could explain, that would be great 🙂 Anyway, she survives, and is visited by Riverstar, who speaks with her. He tells her she has to go on a ROADTRIP with someone else, and she decides on Nightheart. They leave and meet the cats of the park, who teach her how to meditate. By meditating, Frostpaw finds out things that make her uncomfortable, such as how Splashtail was the one who tried to kill her, as she thought that he loved her. 🙁 She victim blames herself, but the park cats and Nightheart help her get through that, and she realizes it wasn’t her fault. The books have had trouble with victim blaming before(cough cough Spottedleaf’s Heart cough cough), and it’s actually really nice to see a character get through that and realize that it is NOT her fault. Just saying, if you are ever in a situation where you are being manipulated, whether it’s a friendship, relationship, or something else, IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. Understand? It is most definetly NOT your fault. There, I said it. Now, back to Frostpaw. She meditates more, and finds out that Curlfeather, her mother, was involved with Splashtail’s Evil plans to take over RiverClan, and had manipulated Frostpaw into becoming a Medicine Cat Apprentice. Frostpaw doubts herself, but is reassured by Riverstar. She, Nightheart, and two park cats, Waffle and Wasp(who are ADORABLE), head home, and they hear that Splashtail will be the new Leader of RiverClan, and that they’re too late. But Frostpaw realizes she can still change things, and that’s the end of her story for now. They had her have moments of realization, such as realizing that Splashtail is Evil and that her mother was too, as she went to the Dark Forest, and that it wasn’t her fault.
Now onto Nightheart!
Nightheart and Sunbeam are mates, and she came to ThunderClan for him. Bramblestar announces that he’s going to step down and become an Elder, and that Squirrelflight will be the new Leader of ThunderClan, with Ivypool as her Deputy(FINALLY!!!). Bramblestar and Squirrelflight chose Nightheart to go with them, but they can’t reach StarClan because it’s cloudy. They go back, and Nightheart supports his mate in her first trial, but in the middle of it, he has to go back to the Moonpool with Bramblestar and Squirrelflight. He meets Frostpaw, who tells him about her vision, and the two set out. They grow close, but Nightheart still thinks about Sunbeam all the time. They meet the park cats and learn about meditation, but Nightheart doesn’t find it as useful. He learns that there’s more life outside of the Clans, and that he should be more accepting(which I think is kind of a step towards LGBTQ+ in the series, which I might make another article about some other time). Nightheart helps Frostpaw stop victim blaming, and they head back home with Waffle and Wasp. He sees Berryheart leave the Clans, and her ask Sunbeam to come with her, but she denies it, to his relief. I think that his relationship with Sunbeam will explored more, but I’m glad that they finally put Frostpaw with another one of the main characters, even if I was expecting it to be Sunbeam 😛
Speaking of Sunbeam, it’s her turn now!
At the end of Shadow, Sunbeam followed Nightheart to ThunderClan. The fandom wasn’t super happy about that, as Sunbeam seemed to be submitting to Nightheart, which makes Nightheart leaving even better. Sunbeam isn’t sure what she’s doing in ThunderClan anymore while he’s gone, but she continues fighting back, even talking back to Cherryfall, an older and more conservative Warrior. She realizes that she has a place in ThunderClan, even without Nightheart, because she’s not just about Nightheart. Sunbeam is her own cat, and that’s really proved in this book. I feel like the writing team’s really been listening to the fandom’s feedback and complaints, which may be a few more steps closer to LGBTQ+ characters!!!
Anyway, that’s all I had to say today, and I hope you all enjoyed!
What did you think about Thunder?
-Briarpaw