Warrior Cat Rants

Mudclaw: Like

(Spoilers for The New Prophecy)

I think Tallstar shouldn't have made Onewhisker leader. Mudclaw was a loyal cat and never broke the code in his life although that doesn't really matter. He was furious when Tallstar suddenly had a change of mind. Tallstar was dying and his mind could have been playing tricks on him. He wasn't in a good state, neither was his mind. It could have meant nothing at all since his mind was going crazy.

Everyone knew that Tallstar always wanted to keep an alliance between WindClan and ThunderClan. Mudclaw would have broke it up just like Onewhisker did, perhaps in a different way. He would have made WindClan independent unless they desperately needed help. Mudclaw was ambitious, but so are other cats. He had ambition to be leader for his Clan, not destroy the rest or take over the whole lake. His ambition was for the good of WindClan, not the worse.

Mudclaw felt like his loyalty to the Clan wasn't enough, and that all his effort on serving his Clan well meant nothing at all. Tallstar threw the strong loyalty he had for WindClan away just to keep ThunderClan and WindClan friends.

"Tallstar's decision to replace Mudclaw with Onewhisker was a terrible betrayal of Mudclaw's loyalty. Would Mudclaw have made such a dreadful leader? Yes, he was ambitious - but his ambition was to become leader of his Clan, and no cat can doubt that he would have surrendered all his lives to defending his Clanmates and the Clan's borders." - Cats of the Clans, page 50

"Mudclaw was fearless, fiercely loyal to his Clan, and determined to be a strong leader without having the bloodthirsty ambition that polluted the paths of leaders in other Clans. When Tallstar dismissed him and appointed Onestar in his place, Mudclaw felt utterly betrayed. He saw no reason behind Tallstar's decision, except that the old cat had lost his mind just before losing his ninth life. A challenge to Onestar's leadership seemed entirely logical and Mudclaw was encouraged by a significant number of cats who shared his disbelief--not just from his own Clan, but ShadowClan and RiverClan, too." - The Ultimate Guide, page 106

No other cat had witnessed Tallstar's change of mind in WindClan. It would look suspicious that Firestar would announce that Onewhisker, who was his friend, would be leader. There was no WindClan cat to prove that it did happen, and that Firestar and Brambleclaw didn't make it up.

Mudclaw was protective over borders but Blackstar and Leopardstar were, too. Mudclaw wasn't protective because he wanted bloodshed; he wanted to protect his Clan, not kill anyone. He would have been stricter than Onestar and have dealt with situations more better. He would have punished Crowfeather for being disloyal to his Clan, and I believe that he would have done more than saying "Prove your loyalty".

I think that he would have made a good leader for WindClan and make them stronger without causing unnecessary battles with ThunderClan just to show that he wasn't Firestar's friend. Mudclaw was never as friendly with him like Onewhisker in the first place. Mudclaw also had some experience while Onewhisker didn't, and would be in more control than Onewhisker. He had a lot of his Clan on his side and they knew he was loyal and a good choice for WindClan. He wouldn't have to prove that he was by attacking ThunderClan.

Yes, Mudclaw started a rebellion to overthrow Onewhisker and gets accused of "wanting to murder him". There are other ways of overthrowing a leader without killing them. Look at Brokenstar's situation. He was overthrowed off his leadership and wasn't killed. Just because he wanted to overthrow Onewhisker doesn't mean he wanted to kill him. I think Mudclaw's proven that he's loyal to his Clan and wouldn't kill a cat just like that. He's not fox-hearted.