Why The Clans Take StarClan Too Seriously by Mallowpaw

Mallowpaw argues why the Clans take StarClan’s word too much at face value.

StarClan is the group of (virtuous) cats in the Warriors afterlife that send the living cats omens and visions. They have an influence over the natural environment of the world (e.g. creating storms and causing trees to fall down). They can even create shooting stars.

The living Clans are known for their dependence on StarClan. They do not make choices or decisions without StarClan’s approval. Leaders depend on StarClan for their nine lives. Medicine cats depend on StarClan to send them visions. StarClan is heavily intertwined with the culture and customs of Clan cats. But as one reads the series, they might start to wonder: are the Clans, perhaps, too dependent on StarClan?

This article will examine several events or decisions that occurred or were made based on the Clans’ dependence on StarClan, and decide if the living Clans are too dependent on StarClan.

The first event that I will be examining occured in Fading Echoes. In this book, Ivypool receives a false vision from StarClan (it actually came from the Dark Forest, the counterpart of StarClan where cats who did bad things in their life go) that she shares with her leader, Firestar. The vision said to take back the land ThunderClan had given to ShadowClan a few moons prior to encourage peace. Firestar ultimately decided to follow the word of ‘StarClan’, and he started a battle with ShadowClan to try to get the clearing he gave away back.

This battle resulted in the death of Russetfur, and the loss of Firestar’s eighth life. ThunderClan won the battle after Lionblaze accidentally killed Russetfur, but it was noted that no one felt any true victory in their hearts- because it truly wasn’t StarClan at all who sent the vision.

But this battle and the treacherous vision that led up to it show that Clan cats do, indeed, take StarClan’s word* above practically all else. After Ivypaw told Firestar of the vision she had, he threw away his basic values and morals (of peace and teamwork with the Clans) because StarClan said so. Russetfur died because the cats took StarClan’s word so seriously. There’s a saying (usually said by antagonists) in the series that goes along the lines of ‘would you walk off a cliff if StarClan told you so?’ From the looks of it, the answer is ‘yes’ for most Clan cats. Firestar has long been characterized as valuing peace and collaboration between Clans to the highest degree. On the word of StarClan, he threw that all away.

The second incident I will be citing occured in Bluestar’s Prophecy. As shown in Goosefeather’s Curse, Goosefeather, ThunderClan’s medicine cat in Bluestar’s younger years, received a curse from StarClan that caused him to see everything that was to happen in the future but have no way of stopping it. This caused him to go somewhat insane later in life (as shown in Crookedstar’s Promise and Bluestar’s Prophecy), and signs of that were showing early in Bluestar’s apprenticeship.

In this book, Goosefeather receives an omen (flattened fur on a vole) that he perceives as meaning that ThunderClan should attack WindClan and destroy their herb supplies (this omen was very likely false, and in his growing mental instability, Goosefeather interpreted something that was not an omen as an omen.) Pinestar, ThunderClan’s leader at the time, went along with this, and led the Clan in an attack against WindClan. In this attack, Bluestar’s mother, Moonflower, destroyed all of WindClan’s herbs before being killed by WindClan’s medicine cat, Hawkheart. Nothing good came out of the situation.

This supposed message from StarClan, like Ivypool’s, was false. But ThunderClan still thought StarClan had sent them the omen. As a result of a supposed message from StarClan, Pinestar decided to invade the camp of a fellow Clan and destroy their herb supply, leaving any queens or sick cats to die in the coming leaf-bare, when herbs would be scarce. The cats are so utterly dependent on StarClan that they would leave any kits, queens, or sick cats to die because StarClan said so. The real question at this point is what the Clans wouldn’t do if StarClan said so.

Even more so than Ivypool’s false vision, this shows that the Clans put StarClan’s word far, far above any morals or values that they have. Even Firestar’s core personality is compromised to follow StarClan’s word. Even the potential death of innocent sick cats or kits doesn’t phase the Clans when following StarClan’s visions and omens.

To conclude, the Clans put the word of StarClan far above what they should, to the point that they would leave innocent cats to die and throw away any other values they have based on an omen from StarClan. Thank you for reading.

*When I say that ‘StarClan’s word’ caused the events I cited in this article, I mean that the Clans thought it was StarClan’s word, and would’ve acted the same had it truly been StarClan who gave Ivypool her vision and Goosefeather his omen.