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Post by Tas on Mar 23, 2017 19:45:48 GMT -5
StarClan is possibly one of the worst-developed and written-about clan and aspect of warrior traditions. There are a few things I want to touch on.
The first is their level of power and what they "can" and "can't" do. In most of the books, they give prophecies but can't explain (or don't know) what they mean. It is hinted that the prophecies come from "somewhere else" and that StarClan only communicates them. Sometimes the dead cats can leave StarClan and actually come down to the clans (short double-take visions leaders and medicine cats sometimes have) and other times they're confined to their territory. But then at other times, StarClan is able to leave their hunting grounds, journey to the clans' territories, and fight living cats. Is StarClan really all-powerful? The cats use phrases like "praise StarClan" and "thank StarClan" but they're certainly not gods. They give prophecies but they "can't change the future of the cats" (even though they do quite a bit). StarClan is simply dead cats who watch over the cats.
Next, the bias in StarClan. Sometimes it seems like Firestar and Yellowfang are the only ones who ever do anything in StarClan.
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Post by owlbranch on Mar 25, 2017 5:47:26 GMT -5
It's just a place for dead cats, but I think they have the power to change cat's futures - not the deaths, but can make them die sooner (which I think is what they tried to do with Cinderpelt), and make then go to different places, which doesn't seem like a lot, but making Graypaw go so close to the twoleg territory when he knew he shouldn't of, let him meet Rusty (but the cat can always choose not to go to the place. It's just a thought that they wouldn't of got if StarClan hadn't given them it). They can also reincarnate - Cinderpelt and Cinderheart - but sometimes cats can reincarnate without StarClan doing anything. I believe in one of the books, StarClan talked about how they didn't make Jay's Wing, Dove's Wing and Lion's Roar reincarnate, but I don't know. Maybe they get the prophecies from Rock or Midnight - they did visit StarClan once, and talked about how they watched the first sunrise and saw every cat's future, but they don't tell them what they mean. Rock said knowing every cat's and Clan's future without being able to change it was a curse, didn't he? StarClan is meant to be a good place for good cats, and he wouldn't want to let them know what he does.
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Post by wheeledwarrior on Mar 27, 2017 11:37:38 GMT -5
I think the power is similar to how many people view God and other religious figures... They see them as all-powerful, but there's no explanation how much power they actually have or proof that they're actually influencing things... This is probably what the Erins based Starclan off of...
However, the conflict comes in is that, unlike most cases of real life religions, we actually see Starclan influencing the living cats and appearing as a physical presence. So the idea that they cannot control what happens is awkward and starts clashing with what readers have seen...
As for the whole thing with the Dark Forest, that can easily be interpreted as a price all dead cats have to pay if they if they appeared to the living. If they enter the living world, they have the chance of influencing it directly, but they also have a chance of being attacked or otherwise having a negative interaction with someone there, and thus not making it back. So no one does this unless they know the interactions can be in their favor, or if it's an emergency. It would certainly explain why no one did this in the previous books.
As for bias in Starclan, Firestar hasn't been there long, so we can't say much about him. However, it's worth noting that other characters, such as Spottedleaf have done a lot. Characters like that are also major within the books, so the Erins probably stick to them because they're the ones audiences are most likely to remember.
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Post by Tas on Mar 27, 2017 13:20:01 GMT -5
This is all true ^^ and I agree completely. I just feel that what StarClan can do is always wavering and is kind of contradictory. They say they can't interfere, but they do all the time.
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Post by Owlmoon on Apr 8, 2017 8:58:20 GMT -5
It's God of the cats.
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Post by Tas on Apr 8, 2017 14:46:26 GMT -5
But it doesn't have god-like aspects, in any way. StarClan has made it very clear that they have no power over the living cats. They don't even make the prophecies! They've explained that most of them come from elsewhere (Midnight and Rock?), and that StarClan only communicates them ... as vaguely as possible.
Jayfeather knows.
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Post by LynxSoul on Apr 9, 2017 14:06:38 GMT -5
Would the issue regarding prophecies Starclan give at times be at least shortened if they were just not as vague about them? I'm not too sure about that. However, I think the main problem I have with Starclan is with their communication sometimes lead to inconsistencies between what they can or can't do.
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Post by Tas on Apr 9, 2017 14:54:55 GMT -5
Shattered Sky Spoilers: In Shattered Sky, Firestar tells them that the clans have to "remember their names" to defeat Darktail. He meant that they had to remember Skystar, Thunderstar, Shadowstar, etc. and the special battle tactics that individual clans have. It would have taken LITERALLY 5 MORE SECONDS to simply say "remember your clans' battle moves". It would have saved them a day of thinking. Luckily, they figured it out pretty fast, but still.
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