One of the things that's frustrated me the most in the Warriors books is that every arc ends with the same message, which is then learned for approximately 5 seconds and then forgotten again. This is clearly bad fucking writing and really tiring to read.
Going back to the very beginning of the Clans, they all started out as one tribe before splitting up, and the split was never a good thing. It only resulted in many deaths, and the message they were given was "unite or die."
But the Clans never actually united. This was taken to mean "coexist or die." "Don't murder each other or die."
In the first arc, the Clans had to unite in order to fight the biggest threat they'd faced - BloodClan. This should've been a learning point for them - the Clans are stronger together.
In the second arc, the Clans had to unite again and function as one big Clan to survive the loss of their territory and the journey to find a new home. This should've been the turning point. New territory, perfect opportunity to join together. They'd already been doing it! But they all went back to the same system of separation and fighting amongst themselves.
Third/fourth arc, once again the overall message is that the Clans are stronger together and need to unite to face big threats. All the Clans had to fight together to oppose the Dark Forest. You'd think they'd understand by now what StarClan has been trying to tell them - or at least the Erin's would understand that they're consistently promoting change that is never followed through.
This isn't even the end of it! Even AVoS had the same message in the very end - all the Clans needed to unite to survive the storm, even though that shouldn't have been a major threat.
I can't be the only one to have noticed this reoccurring theme that is never actually implemented. That's such bad writing and it's so frustrating because the answer is right there. There's a huge opportunity for the Erin's right in front of them that they just won't take! Every single fucking arc they say the same thing. The Clans are stronger together than apart. Firepaw points this out at the very beginning, and his ideas are brushed off because he just doesn't understand Clan life yet. But what if he's been right this whole time? What if Firepaw, a cat not yet affected by the same almost nationalistic pride as the other cats, was actually right this whole goddamn time? Imagine how much more powerful the books would be if they actually acted on that?
So I think that's how the Erin's should finally finish the series. That's the note they should end it on. Tying their loose strings, finally addressing this theme and offering it some closure while still leaving the ending open ended, giving room for reader imagination. The series should end with the Clan's uniting as one massive Clan. That's it. That's the ending. Open ended. Readers aren't told whether it's successful or not. It just ends with the Clans looking forward to a hopeful new future as one, finally united.
To make this a strong arc (because let's face it, it would be a whole arc) it should start out in the near future of the Clans with a whole new cast of characters, though maybe the elders would be some of the younger characters alive at the end of The Broken Code. It would be refreshing to have a brand new set of characters, and the Erins do better with new characters anyway. There'd be multiple perspectives in different Clans, RiverClan and WindClan + another Clan (probably ThunderClan bc we can't abandon the Clan we've followed this whole time in the last series!) RiverClan and WindClan really need some screentime. Anyway, a huge threat happens. No clue what it would be at this point. It follows the development of this threat, and the attempts to survive it. To highlight the message, the Clans would insist on working alone and severing their connections to the other Clans as they usually do. But this time, they don't miraculously come together to survive the threat. It pretty much destroys them, leaving about half the Clan cats overall. Then the remaining cats are forced to come together and form a working society as one. And then it has a big dramatic hopeful ending.
That's the perfect ending of warriors to me. Because it feels like an ending, it's closure, while still being open ended. It leads on to a whole new chapter, a new way of living. Unfortunately the Erin's would never have the guts to write such a big change...
BUT I WOULD.
I'm making a promise now, as soon as The Broken Code is over (so in a couple of years) I'll write this ending, unless I get impatient and cut it off at AVoS and act like TBC didn't happen (because I still want the new cast to have connections with older characters, though with Wind/River it doesn't matter as much since very little is known about them.) Gives me enough time to finish The Weight of Souls!
@ erins please hire me I need money and I have ideas
