My Thoughts on Juniperclaw and What He Deserves by Squirtpaw

Squirtpaw shares their opinion on Juniperclaw and his fate.

Heyooo y’all, Squirtpaw here, pondering about existence. Bored of world cultures. But it’s gotten me thinking. Lately, we’ve been learning about a king named Charlemagne who was basically devoted to Christianity, so much so he tried forcing other people into becoming Christians. My class debated (and continues to do so) about whether he was a hero or a villain. Now, Charlemagne had pretty bad consequences to those who refused to become Christians… let’s just call it death. Charlemagne is confusing. Just like the one and only…

Juniperclaw.

Sooooo, a lot of people have been constantly arguing that Juniperclaw deserves StarClan, because what he did wasn’t so bad compared to what other cats did (looking at you, Ashfur.). But did he really? I don’t really know. So, in my investigation, I shall decide what I believe Juniperclaw deserves, and my general thoughts on him.

Juniperclaw was a ShadowClan deputy who served under Tigerstar 2’s leadership. He was ambitious and willing to do anything for his Clan. So, when SkyClan came around with some more “conflict”, Juniperclaw agreed that SkyClan should be driven from the lake territories. A lot of battles erupted between the two Clans, and eventually, Juniperclaw took the idea of poisoning their fresh-kill pile. He didn’t really think about the consequences and didn’t think he’d get caught; plus, surely it was for the good of ShadowClan?

Wrong. After Sparrowpelt (a SkyClan warrior) nearly died due to the poisoning, Violetpaw became extremely suspicious of Juniperclaw and ShadowClan as she had caught him at the fresh-kill pile, thinking he was trying to steal their prey. Further investigation led to the truth. Juniperclaw had poisoned SkyClan’s fresh-kill pile, and pretty much every cat living at the lake territories was horrified he would do such a thing. So obviously, he was exiled from ShadowClan.

But he didn’t stop there. He spent the next while hiding around ShadowClan’s territory, thinking about how or if he even could redeem himself. Suddenly, he hears that Shadowkit, Tigerstar’s son, is drowning in a flood. He finds SkyClan cats, including Violetshine carrying unborn kits, and sacrifices himself to save the queen and the kit. However, when he dies, he is sent to the Dark Forest.

But it doesn’t end there! Juniperclaw also fought alongside Bristlefrost, Rootspring, Shadowsight, and others to help take down Ashfur, and even though he helped a LOT, StarClan still rejected him from joining them. However, he happily took on the role of guarding the tunnel between StarClan and the Dark Forest.

And now comes the big question: Was Juniperclaw a hero, or a villain? Well, he truly believed what he was doing was right. He knew it could kill cats, but he believed that was what ShadowClan wanted, to get rid of SkyClan. Check; believed it was right. He got exiled but sacrificed himself to save his former leader’s son AND an expecting queen. Check; redeemed himself for his actions. And finally, he helped in the battle to take down Ashfur. And you can’t just say “well, EVERYONE helped to take down Ashfur”. I didn’t see Mapleshade helping, or Thistleclaw helping, or… well, you get the idea. So…. Check! To conclude this article in a fancy way I’d conclude a school assignment, I decide that Juniperclaw was indeed a hero, because despite his actions, his ONE BAD ACTION, he redeemed himself twice, willing to die for other cats to live. Let me know what y’all think!

Squirtpaw out!