Post by valleylight on Apr 11, 2024 0:51:50 GMT -5
I was going to post my initial reaction on the Spoiler Thread, but the more I thought about Wind, the more I realized there’s a lot to unpack (and potentially discuss.) Especially when it comes to how it handles its antagonists. But also with topics like the cool parallels it makes between characters, as well as between past books like Sky.
I’d love to hear what you think on any of these topics, or completely different observations/thoughts on the book you’d like to share!
First Highlights
So I really enjoyed Wind overall. It’s well-paced, and it has some truly gripping scenes and emotional beats. The protagonists were all solid again. It was good to see tight continuity with Thunder— from Nightheart’s connection with Frostpaw, to the park cats’ integration with the story, to Sunbeam and Nightheart fully learning that they can still support each other when they have to work separately.
Sunbeam’s worry over her family really stood out to me, including the conflicted pity she feels for Berryheart. It’s painful to watch her mother refuse to let go of her pride, even when she’s wracked with infection and barely clinging on to life. It sort of mirrors Frostpaw’s conflicted feelings for RiverClan, in a way. She’s watching her Clanmates settle into Splashtail’s clutches, and there’s little she can do to help, since they won’t accept her or her attempts to aid them. Both Sunbeam and Frostpaw even try to rescue their loved ones by encouraging cats on the inside to intervene, only for their plans to fail.
But I do have some conflicting feelings about Wind, especially in the context of the whole arc.
WindClan
The tree colliding with WindClan’s nursery was, in many ways, a powerful and shocking scene. But I’m sort of torn on the outcome. In some ways, I’m glad no cat was killed. It kept the mood lighter and more hopeful, balancing out Harelight’s death. I really liked seeing Kestrelflight learn from his hasty judgement and dismissal of both Frostpaw and Whistlepaw, and how he took the weight of his assumptions to heart.
It was also lovely seeing Frostpaw’s humility and focus on rescuing the injured, instead of talking with Kestrelflight about how right she was. She never gloats, never stops to say I told you so— she’s just relieved when every cat is safe, and happy that other warriors finally believe her and recognize she’s totally genuine. I really loved the little detail of Featherpelt and Oatclaw thanking her and her friends; it was so sweet and authentic.
While it would’ve been nice to see Appleshine and Woodsong’s reaction to everything, I do think it’s kind of a cool reflection of how Frostpaw, Sunbeam, and Nightheart don’t need to know how they reacted. The three of them helped because it was the right thing to do, and because they cared about and valued every cat in WindClan. So they don’t need vindication or an apology or anything.
On the other hand, if the storm had deadlier consequences, that might’ve had a bigger impact on the narrative, not to mention WindClan itself. Harestar has a history of taking the path of least resistance in his policy and leadership decisions. We got hints from the second Gathering that some of his senior warriors disagreed with his decision to trust Splashtail. Will this brush with disaster be enough to stir him/his Clan to meaningful reflection? Could this event shape a potential Arc 9 WindClan story? A tragedy might’ve left no room for doubt, and better contextualized the title Wind. Death in the nursery or camp would’ve been a very sad and upsetting outcome, but it also could’ve signaled a major shift and leant a different weight to the story. I’m not sure if one outcome is more narratively compelling or not. What do you think about it?
Splashtail
The biggest thing I’m undecided on though is Splashtail. Really, I don’t think I’ll be able to judge his arc until Star comes out, and we see how it handles him. It could be really excellent, but I think it has to put us firmly inside Splashtail’s head to do that. It needs to powerfully and convincingly convey his motivations and state of mind, and clearly explain how he’s gotten to where he is. And it has to follow through and impress us with whatever his plans are moving forward.
Here are my thoughts/theories about Splashtail’s possible motivations, and why I think his current trajectory could work.
I don’t think Splashtail’s turn in the last three chapters feels out of character. We see in the Prologue that he is resolute in his goal of refusing his nine lives and changing the way RiverClan thinks about StarClan. He wants them to become powerful and influential again, especially following Mistystar’s willingness to follow Brashstar/exile Clanmates over her trust in StarClan. Splashtail saw his mentor die fighting on the imposter’s side, as well as one of her brothers being refused funereal rights because he fought against Brashstar. (Which is still so wild to me, when have we ever seen that before in Warriors?)
It’s really chilling and cool to draw comparisons between the scenes in RiverClan’s camp at the end of Wind with the one-sided battle at the end of Sky. In Sky, Sunbeam describes how out of practice and uncoordinated the RiverClan cats are in battle. ShadowClan easily overtakes them. So Splashtail training them fiercely in battle makes a lot of sense— he’s vowed never to allow another Clan to humiliate them and claw away their sovereignty again.
(The neat thing is though, while in Wind we see the island alive with viciously fighting, meticulously trained cats, the camp itself still mirrors its state in Sky. Frostpaw is embarrassed then by the way the dens are falling apart, since they’re too busy trying to hold themselves together to tend to it. Now, the camp is still in disarray, littered in debris that’s largely ignored. RiverClan hasn’t fixed its need for true leadership and unity— it’s only learning to defend the tatters of their fractured home.)
But back to Splashtail. I think where we see that once sharply-manipulative and conniving schemer start to come apart is when Frostpaw returns. He is taken totally off-guard, and he has to pivot (a bit shakily) from noble and straight-forward ascension to admitting some of the elements of Curlfeather’s plot. I assume his plan initially was to ease his Clan into his beliefs on StarClan, and convince them that they are better off not relying on a leader with nine lives, since Mistystar lived so long she “became weak” and ineffectual, and left her similarly weak Clan in disarray upon her death.
Now, with Frostpaw dogging his every step and claiming he was not chosen by StarClan, Splashtail tries to dig in his heels and avoid his leadership ceremony while maintaining his Clan’s trust. But the other Clans make it clear that they will take his refusal to accept nine lives as proof of Frostpaw’s truthfulness and his guilt. And RiverClan makes it clear they want him to accept his nine lives immediately. So he’s forced to compromise on the one central, guiding tenant of his ambition. He does what he partly scorned Curlfeather for, and uses StarClan’s “approval” to insure his leadership position. And I think he starts to snap because of that.
He’s betrayed himself. While he didn’t actually accept nine lives, he’s made himself out as beholden to StarClan and the leadership model he hates. He’s severed the one moral tether that secured him mentally while he bloodied his paws on his own Clanmates.
He tries to speed-run his plans of changing RiverClan’s minds on StarClan. But he’s only keeping his position on the basis of StarClan’s acceptance. So when Duskfur, Icewing, and Mothwing desert RiverClan—leaving the Clan with no real medicine cat, and surely destabilizing his leadership in the eyes of everyone— on some level, he knows he has to maintain his leadership through fear and show of force.
One thing that’s stayed consistent through ASC is how much Splashtail hates being condescended for his youth. I think he genuinely sees Mistystar’s age as the biggest weakness in her leadership tenure. In his eyes, she lived far too long, and was too unwilling to make changes or challenge the status quo. He sees his youth as a strength, not a weakness. (Funny then how he condescends Frostpaw for being “too young and vulnerable,” but such is the unwitting hypocrisy of pride I guess.)
So when Harelight tells him he’s still very young and has much to learn, I think that hit just the right pressure point for him. He might have been planning to kill Harelight beforehand, but he also could’ve been planning to make him step down. We don’t know yet. Either way, he probably plotted in league with Berryheart, who (I assume) is so far down the rabbit hole of self-pity and self-righteousness that she thinks any immoral actions she takes are justified, and ultimately the fault of cats like Tigerstar who mistreated her. They are the ones who are truly in the wrong. (I love the comparisons everyone’s making with Mapleshade!)
But yeah, I think that final challenge to his authority on the basis of his immaturity was the point of no return for Splashtail. He kills Harelight, presumably signaling the beginning of his reign of terror.
Of course, a lot of this is just conjecture. It’s very possible that Star might disprove/contradict most or all of my thoughts about Splashtail’s motivations.
But if it is close to the mark, one thing I do like a lot about his arc in Wind is that Frostpaw basically succeeded from Chapter One. She brought about the complete collapse of his original plan, his philosophical goals, and his hopes of leading RiverClan by respect instead of fear. There’s no more buy-in or shared belief when it comes to his followers— he’s basically strong-arming them into obedience now. And that’s not likely to last him long, especially when he has only one life to lead.
I think part of why he might have accepted Berryheart is that, she’s so desperate and deranged, she may be the one cat he can still possibly hope to pass on his legacy to.
Tradition and Innovation
Speaking of Berryheart, I initially thought that Wind mostly paused the secondary plot of Clan-swapping and the changes to the Warrior Code. This makes a lot of sense narratively, as it just doesn’t come up all that often with the major events featured. But there’s a lot more of the Code plot in Wind than I realized— especially the themes surrounding it.
Berryheart, previously concerned with affirming the Warrior Code and honoring StarClan, is now deputy to a cat who’s opposed to StarClan. Splashtail does want to reclaim some old ways (aggressive loyalty to one’s Clan especially.) But he’s also intent on pretty radical reform that flies in the face of a lot of the traditions Berryheart sought to uphold earlier in ASC. Our protagonists point out this apparent inconsistency in the last two chapters of Wind.
I’m really curious to see where the writers take this alliance in Star, and I’m hoping they’ll use it to more clearly intertwine the primary and secondary plots of ASC.
Finding balance when it comes to “tradition vs. innovation” and “the letter vs. the spirit of the law” is such an interesting theme. Like how Berryheart asserts that the Warrior Code as previously written had legitimate precedent and reasons for existing. Cats like Puddleshine call into question the leadership-ousting law. There’s a felt need for more care and balance to be placed into the additions to the Code.
Then there’s how not all of Splashtail’s objections to the status quo are completely invalid. We see in Bramblestar the need for elderly leaders who have been through debilitating trauma to step down sometimes. It’s better for both them and their Clans. Challenging tradition can be necessary and beneficial, and not just subversive. I’m really hoping Star can fully leverage this dichotomy in its antagonists, just as ASC has subtly built upon it throughout. It’s honestly quite refreshing how those themes are woven into so many aspects of the arc.
To give one example, Wind helped me notice those themes much more clearly in Nightheart’s arc. In Flamepaw’s journey toward becoming Nightheart, he goes from resenting his family’s legacy and the expectations it places on him, to discovering his unique identity and personality. But he also learns to accept and even appreciate his heritage. He makes a real change in ThunderClan by helping his Clanmates embrace “both-and” instead of “either-or.”
In so doing, he helps resolve some of the tensions and uncertainties left over from TBC, when Brashstar’s reign splintered ThunderClan’s identity and prompted cats to wander. Wind is full of celebrations of ThunderClan’s history and storytelling traditions, and Nightheart even feels proud to call Firestar his ancestor for the first time, without any strings attached. He can be who he is, while still loving ThunderClan. And we listen to those stories alongside Wafflepaw and Wasp, who themselves have taught Frostpaw and Nightheart a great deal by sharing their traditions with them. It’s a long-established culture for the Park Cats, but an innovation for the Clans.
Circling back to the Warrior Code, Nightheart encouraged Bramblestar to step down in a somewhat unprecedented way, innovating for his Clan’s good. But he did so from a place of deep respect for his leader, and all the remarkable things Bramblestar did in his personal history. For Nightheart’s story, there’s so much healing found in understanding/reconciling the past and present, tradition and innovation. And that’s just what Frostpaw does in Thunder, by visiting Riverstar’s descendants, and finding inspiration for her Clan’s future.
I’d love to hear what you think on any of these topics, or completely different observations/thoughts on the book you’d like to share!
First Highlights
So I really enjoyed Wind overall. It’s well-paced, and it has some truly gripping scenes and emotional beats. The protagonists were all solid again. It was good to see tight continuity with Thunder— from Nightheart’s connection with Frostpaw, to the park cats’ integration with the story, to Sunbeam and Nightheart fully learning that they can still support each other when they have to work separately.
Sunbeam’s worry over her family really stood out to me, including the conflicted pity she feels for Berryheart. It’s painful to watch her mother refuse to let go of her pride, even when she’s wracked with infection and barely clinging on to life. It sort of mirrors Frostpaw’s conflicted feelings for RiverClan, in a way. She’s watching her Clanmates settle into Splashtail’s clutches, and there’s little she can do to help, since they won’t accept her or her attempts to aid them. Both Sunbeam and Frostpaw even try to rescue their loved ones by encouraging cats on the inside to intervene, only for their plans to fail.
But I do have some conflicting feelings about Wind, especially in the context of the whole arc.
WindClan
The tree colliding with WindClan’s nursery was, in many ways, a powerful and shocking scene. But I’m sort of torn on the outcome. In some ways, I’m glad no cat was killed. It kept the mood lighter and more hopeful, balancing out Harelight’s death. I really liked seeing Kestrelflight learn from his hasty judgement and dismissal of both Frostpaw and Whistlepaw, and how he took the weight of his assumptions to heart.
It was also lovely seeing Frostpaw’s humility and focus on rescuing the injured, instead of talking with Kestrelflight about how right she was. She never gloats, never stops to say I told you so— she’s just relieved when every cat is safe, and happy that other warriors finally believe her and recognize she’s totally genuine. I really loved the little detail of Featherpelt and Oatclaw thanking her and her friends; it was so sweet and authentic.
While it would’ve been nice to see Appleshine and Woodsong’s reaction to everything, I do think it’s kind of a cool reflection of how Frostpaw, Sunbeam, and Nightheart don’t need to know how they reacted. The three of them helped because it was the right thing to do, and because they cared about and valued every cat in WindClan. So they don’t need vindication or an apology or anything.
On the other hand, if the storm had deadlier consequences, that might’ve had a bigger impact on the narrative, not to mention WindClan itself. Harestar has a history of taking the path of least resistance in his policy and leadership decisions. We got hints from the second Gathering that some of his senior warriors disagreed with his decision to trust Splashtail. Will this brush with disaster be enough to stir him/his Clan to meaningful reflection? Could this event shape a potential Arc 9 WindClan story? A tragedy might’ve left no room for doubt, and better contextualized the title Wind. Death in the nursery or camp would’ve been a very sad and upsetting outcome, but it also could’ve signaled a major shift and leant a different weight to the story. I’m not sure if one outcome is more narratively compelling or not. What do you think about it?
Splashtail
The biggest thing I’m undecided on though is Splashtail. Really, I don’t think I’ll be able to judge his arc until Star comes out, and we see how it handles him. It could be really excellent, but I think it has to put us firmly inside Splashtail’s head to do that. It needs to powerfully and convincingly convey his motivations and state of mind, and clearly explain how he’s gotten to where he is. And it has to follow through and impress us with whatever his plans are moving forward.
Here are my thoughts/theories about Splashtail’s possible motivations, and why I think his current trajectory could work.
I don’t think Splashtail’s turn in the last three chapters feels out of character. We see in the Prologue that he is resolute in his goal of refusing his nine lives and changing the way RiverClan thinks about StarClan. He wants them to become powerful and influential again, especially following Mistystar’s willingness to follow Brashstar/exile Clanmates over her trust in StarClan. Splashtail saw his mentor die fighting on the imposter’s side, as well as one of her brothers being refused funereal rights because he fought against Brashstar. (Which is still so wild to me, when have we ever seen that before in Warriors?)
It’s really chilling and cool to draw comparisons between the scenes in RiverClan’s camp at the end of Wind with the one-sided battle at the end of Sky. In Sky, Sunbeam describes how out of practice and uncoordinated the RiverClan cats are in battle. ShadowClan easily overtakes them. So Splashtail training them fiercely in battle makes a lot of sense— he’s vowed never to allow another Clan to humiliate them and claw away their sovereignty again.
(The neat thing is though, while in Wind we see the island alive with viciously fighting, meticulously trained cats, the camp itself still mirrors its state in Sky. Frostpaw is embarrassed then by the way the dens are falling apart, since they’re too busy trying to hold themselves together to tend to it. Now, the camp is still in disarray, littered in debris that’s largely ignored. RiverClan hasn’t fixed its need for true leadership and unity— it’s only learning to defend the tatters of their fractured home.)
But back to Splashtail. I think where we see that once sharply-manipulative and conniving schemer start to come apart is when Frostpaw returns. He is taken totally off-guard, and he has to pivot (a bit shakily) from noble and straight-forward ascension to admitting some of the elements of Curlfeather’s plot. I assume his plan initially was to ease his Clan into his beliefs on StarClan, and convince them that they are better off not relying on a leader with nine lives, since Mistystar lived so long she “became weak” and ineffectual, and left her similarly weak Clan in disarray upon her death.
Now, with Frostpaw dogging his every step and claiming he was not chosen by StarClan, Splashtail tries to dig in his heels and avoid his leadership ceremony while maintaining his Clan’s trust. But the other Clans make it clear that they will take his refusal to accept nine lives as proof of Frostpaw’s truthfulness and his guilt. And RiverClan makes it clear they want him to accept his nine lives immediately. So he’s forced to compromise on the one central, guiding tenant of his ambition. He does what he partly scorned Curlfeather for, and uses StarClan’s “approval” to insure his leadership position. And I think he starts to snap because of that.
He’s betrayed himself. While he didn’t actually accept nine lives, he’s made himself out as beholden to StarClan and the leadership model he hates. He’s severed the one moral tether that secured him mentally while he bloodied his paws on his own Clanmates.
He tries to speed-run his plans of changing RiverClan’s minds on StarClan. But he’s only keeping his position on the basis of StarClan’s acceptance. So when Duskfur, Icewing, and Mothwing desert RiverClan—leaving the Clan with no real medicine cat, and surely destabilizing his leadership in the eyes of everyone— on some level, he knows he has to maintain his leadership through fear and show of force.
One thing that’s stayed consistent through ASC is how much Splashtail hates being condescended for his youth. I think he genuinely sees Mistystar’s age as the biggest weakness in her leadership tenure. In his eyes, she lived far too long, and was too unwilling to make changes or challenge the status quo. He sees his youth as a strength, not a weakness. (Funny then how he condescends Frostpaw for being “too young and vulnerable,” but such is the unwitting hypocrisy of pride I guess.)
So when Harelight tells him he’s still very young and has much to learn, I think that hit just the right pressure point for him. He might have been planning to kill Harelight beforehand, but he also could’ve been planning to make him step down. We don’t know yet. Either way, he probably plotted in league with Berryheart, who (I assume) is so far down the rabbit hole of self-pity and self-righteousness that she thinks any immoral actions she takes are justified, and ultimately the fault of cats like Tigerstar who mistreated her. They are the ones who are truly in the wrong. (I love the comparisons everyone’s making with Mapleshade!)
But yeah, I think that final challenge to his authority on the basis of his immaturity was the point of no return for Splashtail. He kills Harelight, presumably signaling the beginning of his reign of terror.
Of course, a lot of this is just conjecture. It’s very possible that Star might disprove/contradict most or all of my thoughts about Splashtail’s motivations.
But if it is close to the mark, one thing I do like a lot about his arc in Wind is that Frostpaw basically succeeded from Chapter One. She brought about the complete collapse of his original plan, his philosophical goals, and his hopes of leading RiverClan by respect instead of fear. There’s no more buy-in or shared belief when it comes to his followers— he’s basically strong-arming them into obedience now. And that’s not likely to last him long, especially when he has only one life to lead.
I think part of why he might have accepted Berryheart is that, she’s so desperate and deranged, she may be the one cat he can still possibly hope to pass on his legacy to.
Tradition and Innovation
Speaking of Berryheart, I initially thought that Wind mostly paused the secondary plot of Clan-swapping and the changes to the Warrior Code. This makes a lot of sense narratively, as it just doesn’t come up all that often with the major events featured. But there’s a lot more of the Code plot in Wind than I realized— especially the themes surrounding it.
Berryheart, previously concerned with affirming the Warrior Code and honoring StarClan, is now deputy to a cat who’s opposed to StarClan. Splashtail does want to reclaim some old ways (aggressive loyalty to one’s Clan especially.) But he’s also intent on pretty radical reform that flies in the face of a lot of the traditions Berryheart sought to uphold earlier in ASC. Our protagonists point out this apparent inconsistency in the last two chapters of Wind.
I’m really curious to see where the writers take this alliance in Star, and I’m hoping they’ll use it to more clearly intertwine the primary and secondary plots of ASC.
Finding balance when it comes to “tradition vs. innovation” and “the letter vs. the spirit of the law” is such an interesting theme. Like how Berryheart asserts that the Warrior Code as previously written had legitimate precedent and reasons for existing. Cats like Puddleshine call into question the leadership-ousting law. There’s a felt need for more care and balance to be placed into the additions to the Code.
Then there’s how not all of Splashtail’s objections to the status quo are completely invalid. We see in Bramblestar the need for elderly leaders who have been through debilitating trauma to step down sometimes. It’s better for both them and their Clans. Challenging tradition can be necessary and beneficial, and not just subversive. I’m really hoping Star can fully leverage this dichotomy in its antagonists, just as ASC has subtly built upon it throughout. It’s honestly quite refreshing how those themes are woven into so many aspects of the arc.
To give one example, Wind helped me notice those themes much more clearly in Nightheart’s arc. In Flamepaw’s journey toward becoming Nightheart, he goes from resenting his family’s legacy and the expectations it places on him, to discovering his unique identity and personality. But he also learns to accept and even appreciate his heritage. He makes a real change in ThunderClan by helping his Clanmates embrace “both-and” instead of “either-or.”
In so doing, he helps resolve some of the tensions and uncertainties left over from TBC, when Brashstar’s reign splintered ThunderClan’s identity and prompted cats to wander. Wind is full of celebrations of ThunderClan’s history and storytelling traditions, and Nightheart even feels proud to call Firestar his ancestor for the first time, without any strings attached. He can be who he is, while still loving ThunderClan. And we listen to those stories alongside Wafflepaw and Wasp, who themselves have taught Frostpaw and Nightheart a great deal by sharing their traditions with them. It’s a long-established culture for the Park Cats, but an innovation for the Clans.
Circling back to the Warrior Code, Nightheart encouraged Bramblestar to step down in a somewhat unprecedented way, innovating for his Clan’s good. But he did so from a place of deep respect for his leader, and all the remarkable things Bramblestar did in his personal history. For Nightheart’s story, there’s so much healing found in understanding/reconciling the past and present, tradition and innovation. And that’s just what Frostpaw does in Thunder, by visiting Riverstar’s descendants, and finding inspiration for her Clan’s future.