The Awful Truth About Mapleshade

The Truth About Mapleshade

by Alexis

Mapleshade by

This post contains spoilers for Mapleshade's Vengeance.

Mapleshade is a character that sparks a lot of debate in the warrior cats community. Many people like her for the sole reason that she is a female villain (because there are hardly any of those) or because she's "relatable," even though saying you relate to her indicates that you think that murder is justified if it's in revenge. I even was a big Mapleshade fan until I realized what exactly was wrong with her character.

The first point I want to make is that Mapleshade was never a good cat. Most people love it when villains have a "turning point," or some sort of tragedy that happens to them that essentially "turns them" evil. Of course, Mapleshade went on her killing spree after her kit's death, but even before that, she was manipulative, possessive, and a compulsive liar.

The first time this is shown is in the first chapter when she tells Appledusk that she's expecting his kits. She states that "Why should it matter that their father lives in a different clan?" when he questions how their kits should grow up. She says that she will lie to her entire clan about the father and when the time is right she will reveal their parentage.

The second point I want to make is that Mapleshade was very, very self-centered. She believed in StarClan and in the warrior code but didn't believe for them to have any authority above her, instead, manipulating it to fit her needs.

The fur on Appledusk’s shoulders twitched. “You have great faith in your Clanmates,” he

murmured.

“No, I have faith in StarClan, and in the warrior code.”

“You think StarClan approves of what we are doing?” Appledusk narrowed his eyes.

“I think our warrior ancestors know that our Clans need kits and we are providing them. How can our innocent kits not have their blessing? They will grow up to be fine warriors, loyal to ThunderClan and RiverClan equally.” Mapleshade turned away before Appledusk could say anything else.

Mapleshade reassures Appledusk that what they are doing is the right thing. She is sure that, in providing kids for both ThunderClan and RiverClan, the warrior code doesn't really matter in this situation and can be easily bent for a loophole. In the next few sentences, she proves that she is possessive. Reedshine, Appledusk's mate inside the clan (see: Why Appledusk is a Filthy Cheater), came to bring him somewhere else. Mapleshade responds with this:

Mapleshade curled her lip. Stay away from him, Reedshine. He’s mine! These kits will make

sure of that!

This proves two things. One, Mapleshade is very possessive of Appledusk. She continues to refer to him as "mine," throughout the book, in various circumstances, while being equally as aggressive to Reedshine. Two, she is just using her kits to further her relationship with Appledusk, which, as most people know, never works. She didn't seem to feel any happiness about her kits other than the fact that their DNA was half Appledusk's.

Appledusk by

As I stated before, Mapleshade is a compulsive liar. When Frecklewish asked to know what the kit's father was, Mapleshade remained silent as she guessed that it was Birchface, her littermate, who had died just a few days ago.

Mapleshade took a deep breath. I have not lied out loud. This was all Frecklewish’s doing. But I cannot turn down this chance to have my kits welcomed with the love they deserve. Appledusk will understand that I have to put ThunderClan first, for now at least.

Frecklewish was ecstatic that her brother's kits would be living on in the Clan, saying that she thought she would never be happy, but now that his kits would be there, she would raise them like her own and teach them that their father was a true ThunderClan hero. Mapleshade could have stopped her there. She could have saved her Clanmate from thinking that Birchface's kits would live on, but she didn't. The fact that Reedshine was so angry after finding out the truth was of no fault but her own.

Mapleshade by

After Mapleshade's kits are born, she thinks to herself that the feud over Sunningrocks would be over once the two Clans realized that they shared warriors. That indicates Mapleshade's true feelings about her kits -- she just wanted them to solve her problems instead of solving them herself. Of course, her feelings about her kits grew fonder as she became more and more of a mother, but her thoughts always drifted back to Appledusk instead of the future of her kits.

As her kits grow up, she becomes more anxious that her Clanmates will figure out that the father of the kits is Appledusk, although it could not be more obvious. When her Clanmates innocently question why they act more like RiverClan than ThunderClan, she becomes furious and overly protective.

Finally, someone figures out who the father is, and it's Ravenwing, ThunderClan's medicine cat. We all know what happens next. Mapleshade loses her kits in the river, and she goes on her little killing spree, killing three cats: Ravenwing, Frecklewish, and Appledusk. Before we go over what exactly they did wrong in Mapleshade's eyes, let's go over exactly how she changed when her kits die.

Mapleshade by

First of all, she gathers the bodies of her kits close to her and speaks to them as if they were awake. This would be expected for a grieving mother, but I personally believe that it was the first step towards her unstable state later on. Secondly, she starts to gather the blame away from her. Once she wakes up the next day, one of the first things she thinks to herself is "It's not my fault." A few moments later, the blame shifts to Ravenwing, and immediately after that, she starts, well, going crazy.

Ravenwing! This was all his fault. He had jumped to conclusions, shattered the Clan’s trust in her, forced her Clanmates to judge her for something beyond her control. Because of his actions, Patchkit, Larchkit, and Petalkit had died. Every breath that Ravenwing took was a breath he had denied Mapleshade’s kits.

"For something beyond her control," is another way that Mapleshade proves that she is excellent at never taking the blame to herself, instead shifting it to whoever's closest.

Rage swelled inside Mapleshade’s head until the sounds of the forest faded away and her vision blurred. She stumbled along the edge of the border, not caring when her claws scraped on stones or brambles dragged at her pelt. Her skin throbbed with heat and she was dimly aware of being thirstier than she had ever been in her life, but even when her paws splashed through a tiny stream, she couldn’t muster the energy to stop and drink.

Now let's discuss the three cats that Mapleshade chose to "avenge" her kits.

1. Ravenwing

Ravenwing by

I honestly have no idea what Ravenwing did wrong. He had always suspected who the father of Mapleshade's kits were and he was just doing his job when he reported it to Oakstar. Oakstar was the supposed grandfather of the kits, and Frecklewish was the aunt. Many people hate on Ravenwing because he insisted on telling the Clan, but what else was he supposed to do? Mapleshade said she'd reveal the truth when they were older, but right now, Oakstar and Frecklewish would be the most sympathetic. It would be even worse if she revealed the truth later because they would be even more furious.

Ravenwing's death was unneccessarily harsh. Sure, he told the Clan, but what he did was nothing compared to Appledusk, who had done much worse. She hid behind the Moonstone and slaughtered him, saying: "If I could kill you three times over, I would!" She hid back behind the Moonstone after the medicine cats came in and buried him. But then she uncovered his grave, letting a hawk come and eat his body. This was definitely too far. As a medicine cat, he was closer to StarClan than most cats. Killing him at the Moonstone, their sacred place, and then uncovering his grave so that his body would be destroyed, went way too far, even for a grieving mother. At this point it is obvious that Mapleshade has some serious mental problems.

2. Frecklewish

Frecklewish by

Mapleshade, when she decided to kill Frecklewish, was too mentally disoriented to think clearly, let alone listen to reason. Nettlepaw was with Frecklewish when the kits fell into the river, and she was clearly shocked and grieved to hear that the kits had died. There were several RiverClan warriors by the river, including Appledusk, who was the murderer of her brother. Besides, Mapleshade had just betrayed the name of her brother by pretending the kits were hers. Of course she would be angry, and wouldn't want to go near them.

Nevertheless, Mapleshade decided that Frecklewish was the next cat who needed to die. She thought to herself that the warrior code said to protect all kits, no matter what Clan they were from, although she has almost never followed the warrior code in her lifetime. She's using the warrior code as justification for her crimes and dismisses it as unimportant when it applies to them.

3. Appledusk

"Appledusk Deserved It" by Draikinator

I both love this art and hate this character. I think that Appledusk was the only one who truly deserved to be punished. He went out and had babies with Mapleshade, and then almost immediately went back and had them with Reedshine, while still acting like he loved them both. That's not cool. I just feel like there could have been so much more potential to make his inevitable death more interesting. Here are some ways I think his death could have been so much better:

One, Appledusk could have expressed his undying love for Mapleshade in an attempt to save his own neck, not realizing Reedshine was behind him, who jumps on him from behind, hisses some killer lines, and then kills him. Mapleshade and Reedshine then look at each other and decide to be besties.

Two, Appledusk admits that he never loved Mapleshade and that Reedshine was the only one for him. Reedshine smugly purrs that Mapleshade and her kits were never a part of his life. Mapleshade then kills Reedshine and watches Appledusk's hope fade away as she rips out his throat. Alternative theory: She somehow gets the kits out of Reedshine's belly (Shykit, Willowkit, and Applekit) and raises them as her own, with different names (I'm thinking Vengeancekit, Clawkit, and Murderkit. Just kidding).

Three, Mapleshade manipulates Perchpaw into thinking that Appledusk was the bad guy, tricking him by saying things like "Appledusk was never proud of you. He wanted your sister instead," "He lets kits die! How can such a murderer be allowed to live?" and "You'd be doing the Clans a favor to get rid of him." Perchpaw kills him and lives with Mapleshade as her evil apprentice. And those are just some theories.

In conclusion, Mapleshade seems to be very popular around tween girls because she's "relatable," (which makes you think how many 10-year-olds have thought of murder recently), and simply because of the fact that she's a female villain. We really don't have any of those. We have the ultra-manly Tigerstar and Hawkfrost, the love-struck Ashfur, the sly Sol, and whoever the heck the imposter is, but other than Mapleshade, there aren't any female villains.

I'll end this post with some beautiful art.