Mapleshade and Her Crimes by Ravenpaw

Ravenpaw takes a look at Mapleshade and the crimes she’s committed in her life and afterlife.

Hi everyone! Today I’ll be discussing Mapleshade’s crimes and the motives behind them.
First of all, we should examine Mapleshade’s crimes that led to her going to the dark forest.

-Mating with a Riverclan warrior (Not as criminal as the other things she’s done, but still against the warrior code.)
-Killing Ravenwing
-Killing Frecklewish (Thunderclan)
-Killing Appledusk and attempting to kill Reedshine

Dark Forest Crimes

-Pretty much ruining Crookedstar’s life
-Killing Spottedleaf and attempting to kill Sandstorm
-Working for Ashfur

Okay, seven crimes. Not very good, is that?

Crime #1: Mating With a Riverclan warrior

This first crime isn’t as bad as the other ones. Many cats have mated with cats from other clans, but they didn’t go to the dark forest for it, so this one is okay. Lying to your clanmates about who their father was, however, is definitely not as okay. I know Mapleshade never technically said Birchface was their father, but letting the dead warrior’s sister and father believe that their dead family member was going to live on in his kits was just cruel of Mapleshade. I understand that Mapleshade was just trying to help her kits, but it was the wrong thing to do.

Crime #2: Killing Ravenwing

First, let’s talk about why she killed Ravenwing. Ravenwing told Oakstar that Mapleshade’s kits were not Thunderclan and not Oakstar’s son’s, which led to Mapleshade’s banishment from Thunderclan. Once, someone said that Ravenwing should have helped Mapleshade through it, and found another way to help the kits, but I disagree with this. What did Ravenwing owe to Mapleshade? To him, a warrior had kits with a warrior from another clan, a warrior that had killed a warrior and apprentice from his clan, and he told Oakstar because he was just being a good medicine cat. He didn’t know that Oakstar was going to banish Mapleshade, but to Mapleshade, Ravenwing wanted Mapleshade to be exiled, which was why she killed him.
Next, let’s talk about the way she killed him. She killed him by the Moonstone, because she knew it was his sacred place. This was a kind of evil and cunning thing to do, and after his fellow medicine cats buried him, she uncovered him and left him for a hawk. This was a savage thing to do, and proved that, after her kits drowned, she had little to no honor.

Crime #3: Killing Frecklewish (Thunderclan)

Ah yes, Frecklewish. Let’s see, why did Mapleshade kill her? Well, it’s pretty clear: Mapleshade was told by Nettlepaw that Frecklewish had watched Mapleshade’s kits being swept away by the river, but had done nothing. Also, when Oakstar was banishing Mapleshade, Frecklewish practically screamed at Mapleshade to get out. But I can see why; I mean, wouldn’t you be just a little mad if someone said that they were going to have your dead brother’s kits, and then it turns out they lied to you? I’d be mad, too. As for the standing-by-while-watching-kits-drowning thing, I don’t know which side to pick. On one paw, Frecklewish could have thought that some other Riverclan warrior would have saved the kits, or she maybe wasn’t very willing to throw herself into a river to save half-clan kits. On the other paw, Frecklewish broke the warrior code by not helping the kits, and you may not know that that’s the reason why she went to the Dark Forest. For being “careless with the lives of kits because she is angry, and she assumes that someone else will take the responsibility of trying to save them”. I don’t think she fully deserves to go to the Dark Forest, but standing by and watching the kits drown isn’t the best thing either.
Now, the way she died was horrible. Mapleshade lured her to Snakerocks, where an adder bit her. Since they had no medicine cat, they weren’t able to help her, and she eventually died. To make it all worse, she woke up in a forest of shadows! Imagine dying a horrible death and then expecting to wake up in Starclan, and then finding that you’ve been banished to the Dark Forest!

Crime #4: Killing Appledusk and attempting to kill Reedshine

Appledusk, Appledusk. I hate him. It’s pretty clear to see why Mapleshade killed him. He blamed her for the death of their kits, then, to top it all off, had kits with another cat! He literally cheated on his mate! And Reedshine? Well, she was really annoying to read about, but wasn’t as bad as Appledusk. She never asked to be the victim of an attempted murder, and she never knew about their secret affair. She didn’t get angry when she found out, and she was a loyal mate.
I think Appledusk fully deserved what happened to him. I don’t think it was enough to get him into the Dark Forest, but he did do some terrible things.

Crime #5: Pretty much ruining Crookedstar’s life

Honestly, this was really smart of Mapleshade. She knew how fed up Crookedkit was of his mother not appreciating who he was, and used him, feeding on that pain and jealousy. She is kind of the reason Rainflower died though soooooo…
Also, she was against Willowbreeze and Crookedstar! How dare she! They were like, the cutest couple. I don’t have a lot to say about this crime.

Crime #6: Killing Spottedleaf and attempting to kill Sandstorm

Okay, but this was one the most heartbreaking scenes in The Last Hope. I completely hold this against Mapleshade. She canNOT take our Little Leaf away from us and get away with it!

Crime #7: Working for Ashfur

Honestly, Mapleshade was a small part of TBC, so I don’t have a lot to say.

After analyzing all of her crimes, It’s clear that Mapleshade does belong in the Dark Forest. That won’t stop me from making her my favorite villain, though. Honestly, I probably would have done the same thing. I mean, I wouldn’t go on a killing spree, but I would pursue revenge after everyone turning me away.
This was my first article, so feel free to add anything you would like about my article in the comments!

Ravenpaw