Placeholder Image

字幕列表 影片播放

  • After a long stretch of supplemental material, it's time to return to Power of Three with

  • the second book, one that I genuinely have a lot of fondness for, but also difficulty

  • reading at some points.

  • It will be easier to explain this one with more context, however, so I'll get straight

  • into the basics.

  • Dark River came out on December 26th of 2007, 4 months after Firestar's Quest, the last

  • published material, and 8 months after the first book in Power of Three, The Sight.

  • Perhaps the rapid influx of new content earlier in the year motivated or even forced the team

  • to slow down from their rapid-fire release pace, even if four and even eight months are

  • still very short timeframes for a book to be completed in.

  • We'll just see if they were able to do any more planning or polish with the bit of extra

  • time they got.

  • One other factor in the slower speed may be that this one, like The Sight, was written

  • by Kate Cary, which could have given a better chance of continuity over the first two books

  • in this arc.

  • But once again, we'll have to wait and see if that chance was followed through on.

  • As usual, I will begin with an examination of the allegiance changes.

  • Thunderclan, of course, has a new medicine cat apprentice, Jaypaw.

  • With her kits as apprentices Squirrelflight left the nursery and Graystripe has returned

  • with Millie at his side so Thunderclan now has 16 warriors instead of 13.

  • But the really shocking number is that, with Hollypaw, Jaypaw, and Lionpaw added, the clan

  • now has *9* apprentices.

  • Half of the warriors, plus Leafpool have an apprentice so Thunderclan is definitely experiencing

  • a surge in population now, and Icekit and Foxkit are still to come in the nursery, where

  • Ferncloud and Daisy are now alone.

  • This book has a total speaking cast of 79 cats, up 9 from The Sight, and the top 10

  • characters still have 70% of the lines.

  • One thing this arc is definitely good at is expanding the world enough for other cats

  • to shine sometimes, one of the main things that makes this arc so beloved by a lot of

  • fans.

  • Even more pleasingly, 47% of the cast, nearly half, is she-cats, and they get 47% of the

  • lines, exactly the percentage that they should be getting given their prominence in the cast,

  • so that is a great note to start off on.

  • Now, though, it's time to see if the plot will hold up as well as the general statistics

  • do.

  • The prologue has nothing to do with the clans.

  • Instead, someone named Fallen Leaves is preparing to enter a challenge through some tunnels

  • that will allow him to become a sharpclaw, and soon upon his entry he is greeted by a

  • hairless, sightless, somewhat disfigured cat named Rock who, based on his opening line,

  • seems to have similar feeling-sensing abilities to Jaypaw.

  • Rock seems to act as a respected spiritual guardian to Fallen Leaves' group, but he

  • cannot help cats in their challenge, so he invites Fallen Leaves to go in, only pausing

  • to ask him what the weather was like.

  • Hiding the fact that it looked like there might be rain, Fallen Leaves said it was clear

  • and was allowed into the tunnels, hopeful that he could become a sharpclaw.

  • Back in the world we know, Lionpaw, Hollypaw, and Jaypaw are going to the gathering that

  • evening, their first one together.

  • Jaypaw isn't especially enthusiastic but Hollypaw is excited to see Willowpaw and Lionpaw

  • is interested in seeing Heatherpaw again, who you may recall called him brave in the

  • last book for his work in the dog attack on Windclan's territory.

  • Hollypaw is also even bossier and more of a stickler for the code than she was in the

  • last book, leading not only to her littermates getting exasperated with her, but to Graystripe

  • jokingly telling Firestar that Hollypaw is preparing to challenge him for leadership.

  • Hollypaw doesn't seem to appreciate all of the teasing, insisting that she's not

  • leading other cats, just telling them what's right.

  • At the gathering, it seems that the contest from the end of The Sight had a positive effect,

  • as cats from different clans are mingling like friends, with the exception of Breezepaw

  • who wants nothing to do with any of this.

  • Hollypaw and Lionpaw get in a quick argument about whether Lionpaw's strong desire to

  • see Heatherpaw is right, and whether or not it's equivalent to Hollypaw's desire to

  • see Willowpaw.

  • They don't get into many specifics, but Lionpaw insists they're just friends.

  • I would actually cut in here to sayyou spoke twice, mostly in smalltalk.

  • I don't even know that I would consider you friends at this stage.

  • Anyway, Lionpaw and Heatherpaw get to talk and Heatherpaw is, much like in the last book,

  • more excited at Jaypaw's arrival than Lionpaw's.

  • Jaypaw, though, is still quite grumpy and gets angry with her.

  • Hollypaw gets a hurried hello from Willowpaw, who seems worried about something but can't

  • talk long.

  • Blackstar announces that Tawnypelt has three new kits: Flamekit, Dawnkit, and Tigerkit,

  • the final name of which rings some alarm bells based on Tawnypelt's father, but isn't

  • discussed.

  • Leopardstar gives a short and curt speech that nothing is wrong at all everything is

  • fine now let's go home and the main part of the gathering ends.

  • Importantly though, while every cat is discussing the announcements, Crowfeather tells Breezepaw,

  • and pointedly Leafpool as well, thatThunderclan actually *celebrates* mixed blood.”

  • That's very harsh and inaccurate for a guy who left Leafpool on somber but loving terms

  • two books ago.

  • Lionpaw gets very angry at this, but Squirrelflight calms him down just in time for Heatherpaw

  • to come over and request that they meet up the next night at their boundary, which Lionpaw

  • agrees to.

  • Okay, now that the first chapter is over and the groundwork is laid out, I'm going to

  • speed up a bit on this summary.

  • Hollypaw is worried about a lot of things: Willowpaw and what might be wrong in Riverclan,

  • the current drenching of the camp and territory, whether or not she'll eventually have to

  • fight her new Shadowclan kin, and at the base of all of this, how morality works and if

  • the warrior code could ever be less important than another standard.

  • Brackenfur tells her to stop worrying and start doing but provides no real answers to

  • any of her questions, and Hollypaw hunts all morning while Lionpaw is still asleep.

  • Hollypaw tries to ask him about this and he gets angry and defensive, proving they aren't

  • quite as close as they used to be.

  • She then tries to ask Jaypaw about Lionpaw and he brushes her off like a grump as he

  • complains about being a medicine cat and not having a good relationship with anyone, Willowpaw

  • included.

  • Hollypaw then goes out with Cinderpaw, their mentors, and Birchfall, where Cinderpaw demonstrates

  • remarkable knowledge of fox scents despite never previously meeting one or coming to

  • their abandoned den.

  • Hm

  • Anyway, they get suspicious of Lionpaw and follow him, where they discover him meeting

  • Heatherpaw and get into an angry confrontation about it, leaving Hollypaw worried even with

  • Cinderpaw comforting her and Lionpaw furious.

  • Jaypaw attends a half moon meeting where he hears some mysterious voices and goes into

  • Willowpaw's dream to get confirmation that something is definitely wrong in Riverclan.

  • Yellowfang then gaslights him about being part of the prophecy at all, while also chiding

  • him for invading other cats' dreams.

  • Jaypaw and Leafpool report Riverclan's trouble to Firestar who decides to do nothing with

  • the information since, in the last book, Jaypaw had asked to attack Windclan while they were

  • busy with the dogs using information he got in a similar way.

  • Hollypaw is, unsurprisingly, not happy to hear about any of this, but Jaypaw is tired

  • and decides to leave her to think about it herself.

  • He is still tired when Leafpool takes him out to look for herbs, and he finds a stick

  • with an odd series of scratches.

  • He leaves the stick behind but promises it that he will be back.

  • Meanwhile, Lionpaw is angry at Hollypaw for being angry at him for breaking the warrior

  • code which is exacerbated when they are asked to train together and Hollypaw does much better

  • since Lionpaw is so sleep-deprived, and Lionpaw retaliates by raking her spine and actually

  • hurting her in a fit of anger, an action he apologies for.

  • Brambleclaw takes him aside to see what's wrong and, after hearing about his problems

  • with Hollypaw, shares the wisdom that he also had trouble being trusted, but while his father

  • was remembered for his faults, he wants to be remembered for his strengths, dropping

  • in the idea that Tigerstar wasn't actually all bad.

  • You can't force someone to believe in you, so he encourages Lionpaw to prove his loyalty

  • to Hollypaw through his actions.

  • Lionpaw then immediately goes to meet Heatherpaw again, and she shows him a completely new

  • and private place: the tunnels under their territories.

  • There, they start up their own little clan, Darkclan, with Heatherstar as the leader (since

  • she found the tunnels) and Lionpaw, later Lionclaw as her deputy.

  • They spend the night there and Lionpaw hurries back to camp with a piece of prey as an excuse

  • for his absence.

  • He then insists to himself once again that he's very loyal and is doing nothing wrong.

  • Following a quick camp scene and another odd moment with Cinderpaw knowing something she

  • shouldn't, this time about badgers, Millie becomes a full warrior but decides to keep

  • her name, with Graystripe, Daisy, Brook, and Stormfur's support.

  • Hollypaw is still worried, though, that not taking a warrior name will cause Millie to

  • not be accepted by Starclan as a true warrior, a fear that Squirrelflight quickly dismisses.

  • A bunch of the apprentices then take an assessment, ending with Mousepaw climbing the Sky Oak

  • and getting stuck until Cinderpaw comes up to help him and falls from the tree herself.

  • Birchfall getting a thorn out is quickly interrupted by Hollypaw fetching both medicine cats to

  • help her friend.

  • Leafpool seems particularly intense and panicked about Cinderpaw's broken hind leg, resulting

  • in Leafpool and Jaypaw getting into an argument about her treatment before Jaypaw enters Cinderpaw's

  • dreams.

  • They end up in the forest territories, which Cinderpaw says she recognizes from being CinderpeltCinderpelt

  • apparently returned as Cinderpaw to take a different path than when she was a medicine

  • cat, and she tells Jaypaw to tell Leafpool that she will recover.

  • Jaypaw passes along all of that information and Cinderpaw wakes up, not remembering anything

  • that transpired in that dream.

  • Lionpaw is once again meeting Heatherpaw inDarkclanin the tunnels, just playing

  • and chatting and wishing they could be together more often.

  • When he leaves though, Lionpaw hears another couple of voices who soon reveal themselves

  • to be Tigerstar and Hawkfrost, and who say they have been watching him before they disappear.

  • To hide the fact that he was out all night, Lionpaw joins the dawn patrol and comes across

  • some Windclan cats, Breezepaw included among them, who say they are learning to hunt in

  • woodlands, prompting cats to think that Windclan is planning to invade.

  • Hollypaw, Jaypaw, and Lionpaw discuss this possibility.

  • Jaypaw wants Firestar to do anything at all, Hollypaw doesn't want any cat to invade

  • so that they can keep the sacred clan balance, and Lionpaw thinks they should leave Windclan

  • alone since he doesn't want to fight Heatherpaw.

  • Another, much more tense gathering comes and it looks like all of Riverclan is attending

  • since they can't stay in their own camp and are going to shelter on the gathering

  • island until the problem goes away.

  • Hollypaw tries to talk to Willowpaw about it, but nothing comes of it and no one seems

  • willing to do anything in support of Riverclan so, after checking on Cinderpaw, Hollypaw

  • decides to dosomething.

  • Cutting to Jaypaw, Hollypaw is gone, and Leafpool is trying to force Cinderpaw to remember her

  • life as Cinderpelt and getting mad with Jaypaw for him getting mad at her for trying to feed

  • her the wrong herbs and sometimes not wanting to actually cure herwhich is reasonable,

  • on Jaypaw's side.

  • Leafpool then patronizes him and quizzes him on herbs he already knows but immediately

  • pivots to saying she loves himMMM okay.

  • Jaypaw finds the stick again, Leafpool says it's just a stick, Jaypaw tries to spend

  • time with it, and Leafpool pulls him away until Jaypaw recruits Lionpaw to get the stick

  • with him.

  • Jaypaw is now hearing voices from the lost stick.

  • You know, if this wasn't Warrior Cats I think there would be a problem.

  • Jaypaw dives into the lake and barely makes it out with the stick in his teeth.

  • The stick thanks him.

  • Lionpaw thinks this is a problem.

  • Lionpaw is also doing badly in hunting and Ashfur is angry at him, which gets worse when

  • he is teased by and loses a fight to Berrypaw.

  • More Tigerstar Hawkfrost time, this time with actual training, and Lionpaw uses the move

  • he was taught to beat Berrypaw.

  • Time for Hollypaw again who hasn't lefthuh.

  • More camp scene, more clan tensions, more training, and then Hollypaw actually leaves

  • finally to go find Riverclan and help them.

  • They aremoderately accepting of her presence after Willowpaw vouches for her, and explain

  • that it's twoleg kits playing in their streams and scaring off the fish that have driven

  • Riverclan from their camp.

  • That said, Leopardstar decides to hold Hollypaw semi-hostage until her clan fetches her back.

  • But that won't be too long because back in Thunderclan they've already missed her

  • presence and are preparing to look for her and Leafpool begs Jaypaw to dream his way

  • into finding Hollypaw somehow, but Jaypaw can't just fall asleep on command so, despite

  • Leafpool's intense levels of worry, he goes off on his own to spend quality time with

  • his stick, leading him to watch a conversation between Fallen Leaves and Rock, the one shown

  • in the prologue.

  • But Jaypaw follows Fallen Leaves for longer than we saw before, enough to see the tunnels

  • flood, drowning Fallen Leaves and causing Jaypaw to feel like he's drowning too.

  • Lionpaw is having more fun times with Heatherpaw and doing moves to impress both her and Tigerstar.

  • Heatherpaw mentions that she was late because Gorsetail's kits tried to follow her and

  • after a night spent together, Hawkfrost growls that Lionpaw is a traitor and berates him

  • for several pages, which I've heard is a technique *truly* proven to improve your relationship

  • with someone you are trying to gain any loyalty from.

  • Lionpaw then joins a small fight against Windclan at the border where he gets his ear nicked

  • by Breezepaw but is mostly just happy to show off for Tigerstar, and that battle convinces

  • him to break off a relationship with Heatherpaw, much to her chagrin.

  • Back with Hollypaw, she promises not to tell anyone how badly Riverclan is doing and is

  • rescued by Squirrelflight.

  • Her mother is sympathetic but scolds her for running off to meet a friend from another

  • clan and thinking she could solve the problem on her own, a criticism that seems to land

  • painfully.

  • Hollypaw tells Firestar not to attack Windclan but can't tell him why thanks to her promise

  • to Riverclan and also Cinderpaw seems to be doing better and is regularly playing catch

  • with Jaypaw in the den.

  • Both medicine cats go to a tense confrontation with Onestar in the Windclan camp, which is

  • cut off by Gorsetail crying that her kits, Sedgekit, Swallowkit, and Thistlekit, are

  • missing.

  • Windclan believes that Riverclan has stolen their kits and prepares to launch a war.

  • Despite Tigerstar telling him not to care about anything but Thunderclan, Lionpaw goes

  • to his littermates and tells them where he thinks the kits are: in the tunnels, given

  • what Heatherpaw said.

  • The three of them venture down together despite the rain and quickly find Heatherpaw and Breezepaw

  • doing the same.

  • Jaypaw leads them through the dark tunnels since he's used to using his other senses

  • and also he has Fallen Leaves to help him, a ghost no other cat can hear or see.

  • They find the kits but the river is starting to flood just like in Fallen Leaves' time

  • and they need to get out before they all drown, which they do by swimming to the top of the

  • cavern and out of the little hole that leads to the river and down to the lake (all of

  • course based on Jaypaw's deduction that he saw the stick lost in the tunnels but he

  • found it by the lake, so there must have been a connection).

  • Jaypaw wishes Fallen Leaves well and the apprentices return the kits in time to stop the war; Heatherpaw

  • and Lionpaw share one last goodbye, and Hollypaw sees this to mean that she has to stop being

  • friends with Willowpaw too since she's not a medicine cat anymore, and has to follow

  • the warrior code.

  • Tigerstar and Hawkfrost also congratulate Lionpaw for making the right decision.

  • Friendship is worthless, but he has the chance to be a great warrior with them.

  • That's much better.

  • I will begin by declaring what might be a controversial opinion: I prefer Dark River

  • to The Sight.

  • Most second books in the series are looked upon less fondly than the first books of their

  • respective arcs, but in this case, it feels a lot like Dark River *is* the first book

  • in the arc.

  • Where The Sight meandered around randomly and had no ties to the supposed main plot

  • until the last scene, Dark River picks up with still very young apprentices as our points-of-view

  • and has each of them truly begin showcasing who they are, what they want to do, and taking

  • actions in accordance with their goals, which also opens them up to wider Thunderclan and

  • all-clan conflicts that could potentially drive some tension in the arc.

  • Windclan and Riverclan's border dispute and their respective reasons for being wary

  • is a relatively nuanced, albeit short-lived plot, and letting all three of our protagonists

  • take a part in the solution made it feel like a well-rounded story.

  • But the resolution was very clean and left little possibility for an overarching story

  • arc beyond Lionpaw's new shadowy mentors and the still mostly-untouched powers plotline

  • so, as in most of Power of Three, the big draw is going to come in the characters.

  • Let's begin with Hollypaw, mostly because she's the one I hear the most discourse

  • about for this book specifically.

  • Dark River Hollypaw is already different from The Sight Hollypaw, but in subtler ways that

  • you probably wouldn't be able to get from a plot summary in any article or video you

  • saw.

  • Hollypaw is definitely still a follower of the code, and still encourages that in the

  • cats around her.

  • Like in the Sight, she's even still showing off bits of her hypocrisythough I have

  • my own piece to say on how extreme that part is given that her only out-of-clan friend

  • was a medicine cat who is meant to cross borders anyway and that she was trying to save another

  • clan, much like Fireheart did in his youth, rather than just sneaking off to find a girlfriend.

  • And even if it wasn't fair for her to scold Lionpaw for what he was doing, the point of

  • the book was her learning that they both had to let go of their friends so she could focus

  • on her own clan and the code, so I don't think it's as bad as people make it out

  • to be.

  • All this aside though, the *source* and *intensity* of all these behaviors she carried over has

  • changed quite a bit.

  • The Sight made it clear through the medicine cat switch plotline that Hollypaw was motivated

  • in large part by ambition, finding a way to be important in the clan, and that being a

  • great warrior, then perhaps more, was the only way she could do that since she didn't

  • like her job as a medicine cat.

  • Now, she actually shies away from ambition and feels uncomfortable rather than proud

  • when cats equate her bossy behavior to being a potential leader.

  • Her goal now really does seem to be following the warrior code in the strictest, least nuanced

  • way she can, to the point that she actually becomes less intelligent and capable of her

  • own opinions when it comes to matters of morality that might overlap with the code.

  • There are absolutely ways you could string these characters together, but this book didn't

  • do a great job of it on its own.

  • Lionpaw has probably the most well-known journey from this book, in his relationship with Heatherpaw

  • and, eventually, Tigerstar and Hawkfrost as well.

  • Despite being very well-known, this is one of the clunkier aspects of the story.

  • It repeats a lot of elements from Leafpool and Crowfeather's romance, down to the Thunderclan

  • cat turning the Windclan cat down out of duty and them breaking up amicably despite knowing

  • each other for a very short time, and it is worsened by the reactions of Hollypaw, Tigerstar,

  • and Hawkfrost.

  • Hollypaw tells him *twice* that he shouldn't be so close with Heatherpaw, and only once

  • after they have actually started meeting, but Lionpaw is thinking about Hollypaw's

  • judgment of him in nearly every chapter, and he goes as far as to scare and physically

  • hurt his sister on separate occasions because of his insecurity.

  • I don't think this is a bad plotline, actually.

  • It makes sense for the characters and Lionpaw having anger issues is an interesting fault

  • to have to confront throughout his arc, but he is absolutely not a victim in this book.

  • I have more in-book problems with Tigerstar and Hawkfrost than I do with Hollypaw.

  • We don't know exactly why, at this point, but they are trying to get Lionpaw to trust

  • and train with them much in the same way that Tigerstar ahemhelped, Hawkfrost and Brambleclaw.

  • But they only have a couple of scenes together, most of which are Lionpaw thinking about how

  • proud Tigerstar *would* be for the moves he *already learned* at some point offscreen,

  • and with what we do see of them, Tigerstar and Hawkfrost are actively worsening their

  • relationship by arguing with Lionpaw and taking the same stand as Hollypaw.

  • Not really the technique I would have used to get a cat to trust me, guys.

  • Jaypaw meanwhile is uhhhh a massive grump with negative empathy for any cat aside from

  • himself and sometimes his littermates.

  • He is disinterested in other cats' problems, unsympathetic with both Lionpaw and Leafpool,

  • and tries to use his powers and knowledge of Windclan and Riverclan's weaknesses to

  • justify attacking them rather than helping them in any way.

  • The only cat he really seems to put in the work to care for is Cinderpaw, and this seems

  • to be partly motivated by spiteing Leafpool who is refusing to treat her.

  • He also has a…very odd relationship with that stick.

  • Nothing much to say about that yet, it's just strange from an outside perspective.

  • Speaking of Leafpool, and Cinderpaw as well, how Leafpool treats both her and Jaypaw in

  • this book is not okay.

  • This isn't an ableism issue as much as it was in The Sight.

  • Instead she is just desperate and controlling of Jaypaw in ways that are inappropriate for

  • a mentor or a family member (because Leafpool is his aunt, remember) and she gets upset

  • whenever he doesn't use his power in exactly the way she wants him to.

  • Particularly egregious is her inconsistent willingness to treat Cinderpaw at times because

  • of her connection to Cinderpelt and the necessity that Cinderpelt be able to live a "better"

  • life as a warrior this time, a sentiment that actually is ableist.

  • I covered this whole topic in a video a while ago but the whole Cinderpelt reincarnation

  • was a mistake.

  • Dark River is a tight little story with many flawed characters and, despite a few clunky

  • choices and insensitive treatment, it still becomes much more engaging than The Sight.

  • However, we're now two books in and lacking in any direction for the overall arc, so we'll

  • have to see if that improves or only gets worse when we catch up with the third book

  • in a future episode, of our Trip Through Time.

After a long stretch of supplemental material, it's time to return to Power of Three with

字幕與單字

單字即點即查 點擊單字可以查詢單字解釋

B1 中級 美國腔

洶湧暗河 (貓戰士第三部第二本) - 穿越時空 - 貓戰士分析(Dark River – Trip Through Time | Warriors Analysis)

  • 5 0
    WarriorsCatFanWhiteClaw 發佈於 2024 年 02 月 18 日
影片單字