Things wrap up very quickly these last four chapters. Fireheart realizes that Tigerclaw sent out a bunch of patrols that morning to leave the camp undefended. He sends Cloudpaw to go and find them. He arrives at the camp to watch as Tigerclaw pretends to attack the rogue cats. Brokentail attacks Dustpelt, who was guarding him. Fireheart realizes Tigerclaw is missing from the fight and arrives at Bluestar's room in time to hear the warrior tell Bluestar he will kill her as many times as is needed to save ThunderClan from a weak leader. Bluestar and Fireheart are able to stop him, but Bluestar is in shock.
Graystripe bursts in looking for their leader. They are losing the fight and need her help. He sees Tigerclaw badly wounded and held down by Bluestar and Fireheart and asks what is going on. Fireheart quickly fills him in, leaving Graystripe to help Bluestar, going out to the fight himself. Suddenly help arrives. Leopardfur and her warriors appear out of no where, followed by Whitestorm. The rogue cats run, defeated. Leopardfur leaves, saying she had come to discuss the kits but will come back later. Tigerclaw's full betrayal is revealed to the clan and he shows no remorse, only anger at being thwarted. The clan is hurt, Bluestar is in shock, and Fireheart can't help but wonder if Thistleclaw would have been like Tigerclaw - and that is why Bluestar made her choice.
He is sentenced to exile. He makes the offer for three cats to go with him. Darkstripe turns him down - because Tigerclaw plotted without him. Longtail turns him down, insisting that he is loyal to ThunderClan. Lastly, Dustpelt turns him down because Redtail was his mentor. Tigerclaw leaves, informing the clan that he will be back for his revenge - especially against Fireheart. Fireheart goes to get Yellowfang and overhears her in her den talking to Brokentail. She confesses to him that she is his mother and Fireheart watches as she feeds Brokentail some poisonous berries. Brokentail dies his final death, murdered by Yellowfang. Fireheart keeps silent about what he had seen and Yellowfang tells him she tried everything but Brokentail died despite her efforts.
That night Fireheart dreams of Spottedleaf, who tells him that StarClan is calling him and not to be afraid. He awakens, wondering if Spottedleaf was foretelling his death. Outside the warriors den the cats are gathered and they are upset - dawn is approaching and Bluestar still has not named a new deputy, breaking with tradition of naming one under the moon. Suddenly Bluestar comes out and names Fireheart her new deputy - much to the shock of the clan, and the anger of quite a few cats.
Whitestorm supports Fireheart, for which he is grateful since Whitestorm was the logical choice to become deputy. Darkstripe, Longtail, and Dustpaw all angrily follow his orders and Whitestorm warns Fireheart to watch them. Cinderpaw goes to get a magpie for Bluestar from the fresh kill pile, but she immediately drops it because it is rotting from the inside out and full of maggots. Both Fireheart and Cinderpaw worry this means that Bluestar will rot from the inside. Leopardfur shows up asking for the kits yet again. Bluestar starts to argue with her when Graystripe speaks up and says the RiverClan cats can have them. Later he and Fireheart go to the border to give them away and Fireheart tries to talk him out of giving up his kits. But Graystripe is not giving them up, instead he leaves with them.
This was a sad ending to a sad book. It feels like Tigerclaw's betrayal is causing everything to fall apart. Bluestar looks old and weak - and does not announce a new deputy in time. Cinderpaw is recovering but for a while she was greatly depressed over Silverstream's death. Graystripe has left the clan to avoid a fight he knows ThunderClan has no heart for.
Darkstripe, Longtail, and Dustpelt still all hate Fireheart. And their reasons for refusing Tigerclaw were interesting. Dustpelt's was the best. He denied Tigerclaw to honor Redtail, who he had been very close to. Finding out your hero murdered your other hero would have to be devastating. Longtail's reason was second best - he insisted that he was loyal to the clan. Fireheart thinks him a coward but I have to give Longtail the benefit of the doubt. He did save Fireheart when he was drowning. He could have let him die but instead he chose to follow the warrior code even though he hates Fireheart. Lastly there is Darkstripe. His reason I find disturbing. He denied Tigerclaw beause Tigerclaw plotted without him and did not confide in him. This bothers me. He wasn't angry over Redtail's murder like Dustpelt. He didn't claim loyalty to the clan like Longtail. He turned him back on Tigerclaw not because of his crimes, but because he was not privy to those crimes. Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but Darkstripe's answer worries me.
And lastly, could Bluestar have picked a worse deputy? I know Fireheart is the hero of this story, but he was the worse possible choice. Whitestorm would have been better. He is a calm, rational warrior. He has been a warrior for a long time and is well respected. And, perhaps most importantly, he is clan born. As much as the clan loves Fireheart, and as much as they see him as one of them, I imagine it is going to chafe picking not only an outsider, but an outsider who is so young. Fireheart is barely a warrior. I understand Bluestar feels she cannot pick Darkstripe or Longtail, but there had to have been better choices. Again, you know, Whitestorm leaps to mind.
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