Post by Sea Drops by a Bird on Jul 16, 2017 12:59:17 GMT -5
TLH was good, but mostly because it was the "final" book (I put it in quotations because initially we weren't going to hear from the cats around the lake again, until this new series). It was kind of the Erin's equivalent to a Michael Bay film, where it isn't really good but there's lots of explosions and shiny things and pretty girls so you're too distracted and entertained to really care at first.
One of the reasons why it was so messy is because warriors fell victim to what often happens when any series runs for too long, and they start over explaining their mythology and it makes everything so much more complicated and makes it make way less sense. StarClan falling and the Dark Forest rising was interesting, and when they gave cats...I'll call them enhanced abilities in POT I kind of looked the other way because besides Jayfeather, they didn't really over do it. But with Dovewing's straight up super powers (she could see into StarClan and the Dark Forest- come on) and dead cats dying and them going all Freddy Kruger on us, not to mention teleporting? That part was very unclear it just made it messy and not as good as it could have been.
If I had written the series, and I planned for this to be the final one with Firestar, I would've scrapped a lot of the mystical mumbo jumbo, since it didn't really make sense and they didn't explain it. I mean how do you dream your way into the dark forest, and then in a dream travel with dead cats to the real world and your body teleport to another part of the forest! And then travel back into the dark forest, wake up from your dream and be back in your nest! If the Dark Forest had that kind of power, they could've ended the clans a lot sooner. Clearly they were already more powerful than StarClan.
What I liked about the first arc was how they subverted expectations and had Firestar fighting the final battle against Scourge, the cat who killed Tigerstar instead of Tigerstar himself, and I guess I always knew that eventually it would come back to that battle, but it could've happened without them shoehorning Firestar into the prophecy as the basically useless fourth cat they all of a sudden need. Tigerstar would always come for Firestar; he didn't need to be the fourth, and it just made the book longer and added unneeded tension. They were told they needed a fourth, but given no hints or clues what so ever as to who it might be- it could literally be any cat with or without special powers! And StarClan were complete buts about it, because they wouldn't just say who it was but then they'd show up and say who it wasn't. Look either you know or you don't, either you want to be helpful or you don't, you can't have it both ways. And for Bluestar to say it was obvious it was Firestar ticked me off because IF IT WAS OBVIOUS WHY YOU NO SAY!!! WHAT DO YOU GAIN FROM MAKING THEM CHASE THEIR TAILS IN CIRCLES WHEN YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DIES IF THEY DON'T FIGURE IT OUT!! YOU CAN'T SAY YOU DON'T KNOW AND THEN ACT LIKE YOU ALWAYS KNEW!!
What I'm saying is Firestar would always have been crucial to final battle where Tigerstar is the main villain, because there is no scenario where Tigerstar wouldn't naturally go after Firestar. There was no need for a fourth or for it to be Firestar cause we already know he's a special snow flake. And the only thing he really did as the fourth was kill Tigerstar and then die.
And when it came to the three, I felt like Lionblaze got the short end of the stick because it seemed like they couldn't really decide what to do with his powers. I guess because while Jayfeather and Dovewing's powers could easily be kept secret but his couldn't, they often altered his skill in battle depending on the scene. My interpretation of "can't be beaten in battle" is pretty literal, but for them it was more of an "eventually he'll win the fight most of the time." But I guess when you have a cat who actually can't be beaten in battle, then you call into question the validity of any battle he's in.
I just would've liked for it to be more evenly dispersed, instead of the majority of the book being kind of filler and then everything happening at the end. Also for it to be clear how things are happening and why. Where does the Dark Forests power come from? How did they ever even learn the limitations and extents of the power they have? See when you get too deep into the mythology of a universe, you start raising more questions than you can sensibly answer.
One of the reasons why it was so messy is because warriors fell victim to what often happens when any series runs for too long, and they start over explaining their mythology and it makes everything so much more complicated and makes it make way less sense. StarClan falling and the Dark Forest rising was interesting, and when they gave cats...I'll call them enhanced abilities in POT I kind of looked the other way because besides Jayfeather, they didn't really over do it. But with Dovewing's straight up super powers (she could see into StarClan and the Dark Forest- come on) and dead cats dying and them going all Freddy Kruger on us, not to mention teleporting? That part was very unclear it just made it messy and not as good as it could have been.
If I had written the series, and I planned for this to be the final one with Firestar, I would've scrapped a lot of the mystical mumbo jumbo, since it didn't really make sense and they didn't explain it. I mean how do you dream your way into the dark forest, and then in a dream travel with dead cats to the real world and your body teleport to another part of the forest! And then travel back into the dark forest, wake up from your dream and be back in your nest! If the Dark Forest had that kind of power, they could've ended the clans a lot sooner. Clearly they were already more powerful than StarClan.
What I liked about the first arc was how they subverted expectations and had Firestar fighting the final battle against Scourge, the cat who killed Tigerstar instead of Tigerstar himself, and I guess I always knew that eventually it would come back to that battle, but it could've happened without them shoehorning Firestar into the prophecy as the basically useless fourth cat they all of a sudden need. Tigerstar would always come for Firestar; he didn't need to be the fourth, and it just made the book longer and added unneeded tension. They were told they needed a fourth, but given no hints or clues what so ever as to who it might be- it could literally be any cat with or without special powers! And StarClan were complete buts about it, because they wouldn't just say who it was but then they'd show up and say who it wasn't. Look either you know or you don't, either you want to be helpful or you don't, you can't have it both ways. And for Bluestar to say it was obvious it was Firestar ticked me off because IF IT WAS OBVIOUS WHY YOU NO SAY!!! WHAT DO YOU GAIN FROM MAKING THEM CHASE THEIR TAILS IN CIRCLES WHEN YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DIES IF THEY DON'T FIGURE IT OUT!! YOU CAN'T SAY YOU DON'T KNOW AND THEN ACT LIKE YOU ALWAYS KNEW!!
What I'm saying is Firestar would always have been crucial to final battle where Tigerstar is the main villain, because there is no scenario where Tigerstar wouldn't naturally go after Firestar. There was no need for a fourth or for it to be Firestar cause we already know he's a special snow flake. And the only thing he really did as the fourth was kill Tigerstar and then die.
And when it came to the three, I felt like Lionblaze got the short end of the stick because it seemed like they couldn't really decide what to do with his powers. I guess because while Jayfeather and Dovewing's powers could easily be kept secret but his couldn't, they often altered his skill in battle depending on the scene. My interpretation of "can't be beaten in battle" is pretty literal, but for them it was more of an "eventually he'll win the fight most of the time." But I guess when you have a cat who actually can't be beaten in battle, then you call into question the validity of any battle he's in.
I just would've liked for it to be more evenly dispersed, instead of the majority of the book being kind of filler and then everything happening at the end. Also for it to be clear how things are happening and why. Where does the Dark Forests power come from? How did they ever even learn the limitations and extents of the power they have? See when you get too deep into the mythology of a universe, you start raising more questions than you can sensibly answer.