hi!

the deaths in THE PROPHECIES BEGINS are intense to me, mainly becuase i wasn't expecting such deaths when i was in grade 5 lol. they were unique (in their own way) and i've never had an experience similar. some iconic deaths (in no particular order):

- stonefur's execution: a starving, beat up deputy that beat a healthy and thriving darkstripe, and did more than expected against blackfoot despite being no match for large white tom at the time (would've loved to see a fight between the two, both in their prime). the whole scene was incredible - a pile of dead bones, the dialogue, the intense atmosphere you could feel while reading. a great read.

- brokenstar's death: not as glorified as you'd expect, but you could feel the sadness and betrayal. hard for a medicine cat, harder for a mother.

- tigerstar's death: when scourge gutted tigerstar in a single blow and we got to read his graphic 9 life loss - WOW. my jaw dropped at that power move.

- silverstream's death: what the actual heck was this scene? graphic is the bare minimum to describe this tragedy, and after reading CROOKEDSTAR'S PROMISE... intense and absolutely heartbreaking.

- swiftpaw's death, brightpaw's new warrior name: reading about this dog fight was one thing, reading about brightpaw's injuries was another, then they added official art for brightpaw. swiftpaw's death was chaotic. then the aftermath of brightpaw went through; her disgraceful name change from bluestar, the taunting, cloudtail professing his love and protection, eventually learning to use basic herbs and still being able to fight and perform warrior duties. a brilliant character and formidable warrior.

there are only a couple deaths that stand out to me, mainly because i had some strong feelings about the events that carried out in this book (which also left some questions that have not been answered, but my friend tells me that some will be answered after A VISION OF SHADOWS.

- feathertail's death: feathertail was the character we all needed but didn't deserve. the mirror image of her mother; beautiful, graceful, passionate, calm, forgiving. i loved her dynamic with everyone she interacted with, and her love for her friends and family was well received and noted. her death was tragic one; i was even touched by crowfeather's homage to her with her warrior name. i wish we had more time with her, i think she would've been an excellent mother. although, with the events of CROOKEDSTAR'S PROMISE, i very much believe that mapleshade had a paw to play.

- hawkfrost's death: i LOVED hawkfrost. something about his character really struck me, and while i was sad at his death i think his death was fitting. i think he would've beat brambleclaw otherwise if that stick was not there, and the emphasis on the gurgling sounds was chilling. the blood turning the lake red? holy. i have questions about ashfur and berrypaw at the time. there's a weird vibe there.

- mudclaw: look, i'm not saying i side with mudclaw (actually i do, especially as the events of A VISION OF SHADOWS continue to go on) but can you blame his reaction? like from mudclaw's perspective: you're telling me that onewhisker and his best friend who is leader of thunderclan is telling me that tallstar replaced me, his deputy for literal years, on his dying breath? get the heck out of here. i'd fight back too. i really do believe that of starclan didn't intervene, he would've been leader of windclan, and i think that would've done a lot favours in the future (i personally believe mudclaw is like blackfoot as a deputy: extremely loyal and devout to the clan. i don't think he would've sided with the dark forest in the grand scheme of things, but we will never know). he had a symbolic death, and the build up to it was a good read for me.