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Eclipse is a pretty famous book.
Most fans know what you're talking about if you say “The New Prophecy” or “A
Vision of Shadows,” but far fewer could tell you the contents of Twilight or River
of Fire with any specificity.
Defining in our memories which events correspond to which book can be difficult, and given
that the arcs are meant to be complete stories when put together, it makes sense.
Eclipse, though, is a bit of an exception, as its title conjures images of its most famous
scene, and the politics and core characters that preceded and succeeded it.
It might be a bit of a surprise, then, to know that I have trouble with the structure
of this book, as so much of what people might be picturing as the Eclipse conflict actually
bleeds over into and is genuinely concluded in the next book instead.
But that's exactly the reason why this series examines one book at a time, to show what
was and wasn't included in the space of each entry, and where our memories may be
faulty.
Eclipse was released on September 2nd, 2008, about 4 months after Outcast and Warrior's
Return, about 2 months after Cats of the Clans and The Rise of Scourge, and the same day
as another new manga that I will cover in the next episode.
It's probably obvious from that summary alone that the number of books has rapidly
increased lately with the inclusion of simultaneous mangas along with the two guide books and,
prior to that, the first super edition.
The authors and, in some cases, illustrators have been switching around quite a bit, with
this entry being written by Kate Cary again, but they are all still trying to work on a
cohesive world and several separate cohesive stories.
Whether or not the Erins, Vicky in particular given she was conceiving all of this, were
stretching themselves too thin is yet to be determined, but it's a fair point to make
now as we enter the second half of the Power of Three arc.
With the first three books covering so little overarching plot and the promises made to
cover the three's powers, the fulfillment of the prophecy, Tigerstar and Hawkfrost's
training of Lionpaw in the Dark Forest, and the protagonists simply completing their training
and getting their names, which they haven't yet, these next three books have an awful
lot to do, and not much time, or perhaps focus, in which to do it.
Before we get into it though, let's first do a check-in with our allegiances.
Stormfur and Brook have returned to the mountains, but with Berrynose, Hazeltail, and Mousewhisker
becoming warriors, there are now 16 warriors again instead of 15, and while they have left
the apprentice den, Foxpaw and Icepaw have come in, so there are 8 apprentices instead
of 9.
Things in the nursery haven't changed except for Ferncloud's kits leaving, and the elders'
den is also consistent.
The only other notable thing in the allegiances is that there is a new cat listed outside
of the clans: a long-haired brown and tortoiseshell tom named Sol.
I wonder how he will come into play in this book.
Anyway, there's a speaking cast of 73 cats this time around, a few less than Dark River
and Outcast but still more than The Sight, and the top 10% of that cast has 69% of the
lines, still more than Outcast but less than Dark River and The Sight.
As far as the she-cat percentage, 51% of the cast is she-cats this time, the first time
in the arc that it has tipped over 50%, and that 51% has 42% of the lines, which is less
than Dark River and The Sight but still greater than Outcast.
That was just not a good book for she-cats.
Now that we have that out of the way though, let's take a gander at the plot.
The prologue takes place in Starclan, with Yellowfang, Spottedleaf, Whitestorm, and Bluestar
hanging out and discussing the prophecy, including an apparent deception of the three apprentices
involved.
They say it wasn't them who lied in the first place, but are still split on what to
do until they just walk away rather than continue to argue.
Left alone with Spottedleaf again, Yellowfang says that a darkness is coming that Starclan
can't prevent, or even protect themselves from.
Okay, I'll bite.
Let's see what tremendous threat is coming.
Back in the living world, our protagonists are still in the mountains, just outside of
the Tribe's territory, and we've apparently skipped over the scene where Jaypaw told his
siblings about the prophecy.
Stormfur and Brook are staying behind in the mountains, and Hollypaw and Lionpaw are busy
contemplating their powers.
Hollypaw wonders if she could fly or how much power they could have and Lionpaw seems dismissive
of the idea, saying they need to live in the real world.
While they're debating whether or not they're capable of anything and whether or not they
still need to protect the clan and follow the code, Jaypaw cuts in to say they shouldn't
be talking about it because, assuming other cats believed it, they wouldn't like it
and might be scared of them.
While hunting, and being upset about Breezepaw, they figure out that Jaypaw can probably see
things others can't and Lionpaw is…uh, somehow really strong or unstoppable or something
in battle.
It's a little nebulous.
A…somewhat infamous scene occurs where Breezepaw catches and is praised for catching a very
fat rabbit and Crowfeather instead chooses to comment on Lionpaw's pigeon.
The reasons behind this and potential justifications or morality of this action are so mangled
at this point, especially since we never got either character's point of view, so all
I can definitively say is that Breezepaw's anger is obvious.
What Crowfeather was thinking or feeling is entirely up to interpretation.
Although, the interpretation is definitely being pushed in a specific direction as Jaypaw,
Lionpaw, and Hollypaw all at different points have expressed or will express disdain at
Crowfeather's style of parenting, with less overt warmth than Brambleclaw.
Back at the lake territories, Lionpaw is woken up for training by his mentor, Ashfur, who
has promised they would go hunting with Whitewing and Icepaw.
Lionpaw had a great dream and is annoyed by how curtly Ashfur talks to him, along with
how little his mentor listens to his ideas.
Ashfur seems very considerate about helping Icepaw learn, and helping Whitewing learn
how to teach her, but doesn't afford the same consideration to his own apprentice for
whatever reason.
After getting some serious praise from Icepaw, Lionpaw goes to speak with Hollypaw about
how odd and isolating it is to be part of the prophecy.
Lionpaw also contemplates how knowing he's the most special cat ever might make it easier
for Jaypaw to do boring chores.
Despite all this, life goes on mundanely as usual and Lionpaw laments how there's no
point to being special if no cat knows.
Side note though, there are several cute background character moments going on here that Lionpaw
does not care about, like Icepaw giving her first catch to Longtail and Mousefur and Foxpaw
deciding he wants to be called Foxcatcher as a warrior.
Another fun famous scene happens here where the apprentices gather to share some leftover
honey Leafpool found and Lionpaw, and Hollypaw soon after, brood about how they cannot indulge
in such simple pleasures, but one day all the honey will be Lionpaw's because he is
very very special.
I cannot tell if we were meant to take this seriously but it is extremely funny.
Tigerstar and Hawkfrost berate him in his dreams for not showing up while he was away
in the mountains, and generally seem to be less than thrilled with his accomplishments,
and unconvinced by his new prophecy, taking credit for his prowess themselves rather than
saying he has any special power.
After breaking down his certainty in the prophecy being about him, they demand that he keep
training with them.
Back in the waking world, there are actually a lot of cute moments going on, and next up
is Toadkit playing with Jayfeather's tail and being scared to get stingy medicine on
his nettle pricks.
Also, and for no particular reason, Leafpool mentions that she doesn't keep deathberries
in the store like Shadowclan does.
Anyway, uh, Cloudtail then comes to ask if Cinderpaw is ready for her assessment or if
she should wait until her leg is stronger, but with how downtrodden Cinderpaw is being
injured and, by her judgment, useless in the medicine den, Leafpool assures Cloudtail that
she's good to go.
While out with a hunting patrol the next day, though not hunting himself, Jaypaw finds his
stick again and thinks about the ancients and their potential connections to the Tribe
and maybe even clans.
Also, it seems like Windclan has recently crossed the border against Firestar's warning.
Cinderpaw's assessment is the next day, which Jaypaw is worried about and Hollypaw
wishes she could watch.
They and Lionpaw end up deciding to follow her in secret so they can see how she does,
which leads to another semi-comical scene as Lionpaw and Hollypaw narrate what Cinderpaw
is doing to Jaypaw, until…well, let's say Jaypaw's worry was proven to be valid
as Cinderpaw's leg gave out on her during a pounce and she is quickly brought back to
Leafpool and Jaypaw.
Cinderpaw is more frustrated than before and Leafpool is being stubborn about her initial
judgment even as Jaypaw pushes against it because, as he says, she is obsessed with
the past and has to accept that she can't always make things instantly right.
Abruptly cutting off that conversation before it finishes, we skip to the next morning with
Hollypaw as she visits a miserable Cinderpaw and witnesses Poppypaw and Honeypaw get their
warrior names without her, becoming Poppyfrost and Honeyfern.
The latter is still mooning over Berrynose, even more so now that they're both warriors.
Hollypaw is also called with Brambleclaw, Sandstorm, and Brackenfur to speak with Firestar
about the Windclan scents found on their side of the border, along with evidence of killed
prey.
Firestar asks them to go to Onestar and get his side of the story, which they do.
They have to go almost right up to the camp before they scent any cats or prey and they
meet a cold reception when they arrive.
Despite their plea to just talk, Harespring, Ashfoot, and then Onestar all demand that
they go home empty-pawed.
Brackenfur guesses that they might be low on prey themselves, which Hollypaw privately
agrees with, but she believes that it couldn't give them a right to steal prey.
When she reports this to Lionpaw, he seems excited at the prospect of a battle while
Hollypaw just wants them to keep to their own territory and finds his overt aggression
disturbing, briefly wondering if any cat could stop her powerful brother if he decided to
fight over the smallest things.
Following another harsh training session with Tigerstar and Hawkfrost, Lionpaw wakes up
with blood in his nest as he was hurt in the real world as well, which is worrying.
Lionpaw and Hollypaw later find more prey remains on their side of Windclan's border
and Hollypaw is distressed that they would eat prey instead of taking it back to the
elders.
Hollypaw also finds a fox den that leads to the tunnels and hides it from Lionpaw, which
Lionpaw assumes is because she's scared of him starting to see Heatherpaw again.
Back in camp, everyone is getting pretty angry about Onestar and Windclan's invasions but
Jaypaw's attention is called away by Cinderpaw who is unwilling to do much of anything on
her own anymore out of a fear that she won't be able to get better.
This thrusts Jaypaw into Cinderpelt's memory in Cinderpaw's head, and prompts Leafpool
to again comment how Cinderpaw doesn't know and can't know about her past life, spoiling
Cinderpaw rather than pushing her to get better.
Jaypaw complains that Leafpool is obsessed with the Cinderpelt in Cinderpaw and Leafpool
proves he's right by thinking in that moment about her guilt over her mentor's death.
This guilt is causing her enough uncertainty that she's unwilling to do anything to help
Cinderpaw heal, which is making her worse.
Jaypaw, angered by Leafpool's actions, stomps out of camp and down to the lake where he
finds his stick has been carried off into the lake.
Firestar, who happens by, rescues the stick for him and thankfully for Jaypaw asks almost
no questions about why Jaypaw is so desperate to have this particular stick and keep it
here rather than in camp.
When he gets back though, the floating wood and thinking about his own terrifying experiences
with water gives him the idea to potentially use this for Cinderpaw's treatment.
He's going to teach Cinderpaw to swim as a way to strengthen her leg without having
to walk on it.
The next morning, he sneaks her out of camp and, feeling a little more determined as she
now has an avenue to heal, Cinderpaw starts to return to her old energetic self as she
goes down to the lake and starts to haphazardly swim in the water.
Leafpool catches them, but by that point they have proven Jaypaw's technique to be working
and Cinderpaw would like to do it again.
At the medicine cat gathering, it sounds like Littlecloud has someone in mind to be his
apprentice, and Willowpaw gets her full name, Willowshine before everyone goes to sleep.
Jaypaw accidentally intrudes on Littlecloud's dream and hears that Blackstar has been distracted,
allowing Russetfur to organize all the patrols as he is losing his faith.
Runningnose tells Littlecloud to help him restore his faith and Jaypaw wakes up annoyed
that he got nothing useful from this meeting.
Hollypaw has a bad dream about Lionpaw sneaking up on her from the tunnels and is awoken for
the pre-dawn patrol to Windclan's border.
While out, she spots what she thinks is a lion, but considering she mistook her brother
for a fox in her dream, her recognition of animals might not be entirely accurate right
now.
Also, when Hollypaw later chats with Cinderpaw, it seems that she too is burdened by how important
she is and how much responsibility she has when compared to her friend.
Leafpool and Jaypaw help Millie have her kits, two she-cats and a tom named Briarkit, Blossomkit,
and Bumblekit.
Also, it seems that some cats are still annoyed with Millie for keeping her kittypet name
and Spiderleg is annoyed with his kits for being kits.
Amidst all this, Jaypaw suddenly gets a vision of some sort of cold, pressing, all-encompassing
darkness and a strange tom enters camp.
His name is Sol, and he seems very calm and knowledgeable in the clans, despite being
a stranger to them.
Thornclaw doesn't know why he escorted the tom into camp, and both Jaypaw and Leafpool
sense the power he wields, at least in his words, so they follow him into the forest.
There, he tells them that a great emptiness is coming and the sun will go out, which Starclan
didn't tell Leafpool but which Jaypaw recognizes from his vision.
Sol is escorted out of camp and Jaypaw hopes that he is wrong.
That night, Windclan attacks Thunderclan in their camp and Onestar says it is because
they are true warriors, fighting for the prey and territory they need and standing up to
Thunderclan, who apparently believes they are the most important clan around the lake.
With an initial skirmish over, Windclan flees and Thunderclan breaks into patrols to follow
them into the forest.
It turns out Windclan used the tunnels to get here, and Firestar gets his patrol, including
Lionpaw to start blocking one of the entrances so they can't use it again.
As they are working, a Windclan patrol attacks.
Hollypaw's patrol is doing well for a while, but are overwhelmed as more warriors come,
and Brambleclaw orders Hollypaw to go to Blackstar for help, which she does with some reluctance.
Tawnypelt takes her to him, and with Russetfur's prodding, Blackstar agrees to assist so with
the extra help of Shadowclan, Hollypaw launches back into the fight.
Back in camp, the queens, elders, and Cinderpaw are all preparing to fight despite their differing
weaknesses and Jaypaw decides to go out into the territory to bring injured cats back to
the hollow, which Leafpool reluctantly allows after several requests.
Jaypaw is also told by Graystripe to warn Firestar about Riverclan having joined the
fight on Windclan's side.
All four clans are now fighting on Thunderclan's territory.
Lionpaw is doing really well in the battle and takes Riverclan's arrival as a new challenge
to race off and deal with, but Firestar appears ready to consider retreat.
Lionpaw is stopped from beating a trembling Mosspelt by Firestar, who says she knew she
was beaten and he didn't need to keep pushing, leading Lionpaw to briefly regret his wild
anger.
He seems ready to keep fighting on his own though while his allies are bleeding, and
then he sees Heatherpaw.
Convinced that she told her clan about the tunnels and brought danger to his clan, he
attacks her, but she says Sedgekit was the one who told Windclan instead.
Lionpaw doesn't believe her though and declares she will be his enemy forever before he lets
her run.
Crowfeather comes to check on his apprentice and Lionpaw, still filled with anger, nearly
kills them, horrifying both Windclan cats just as the sun goes out above their heads.
Everyone is terrified by the sudden dusk-like light in the middle of the day, and the fighting
stops, but the sun does eventually return and the medicine cats are left to check every
cat's wounds while the clan wonders what happened.
While they're checking, Squirrelflight collapses and it turns out she was hiding a long, deep
wound across her belly.
All of her family crowds around worriedly, but once the medicine cats have done their
job it's in Starclan's paws.
The clan discusses how the battle was neither won nor lost, and while Lionpaw seems perfectly
happy to keep fighting, the rest of the clan is battered and unwilling to face another
fight so soon.
Jaypaw then tells Lionpaw about Sol's message and its connection to the day's events, leading
them and Hollypaw to seek Sol out to find more about the prophecy that even Starclan
doesn't know.
They find him in an abandoned twoleg nest and, using leading questions and a calm, hypnotic
voice, Sol presents himself as a wise figure who knows more about the prophecy than they
do.
He says that the power is theirs to control rather than Starclan's or the warrior code's,
which knocks Hollypaw off her paws as she can't imagine what would happen if she was
more powerful than the code.
The three ask Sol to live just outside their territories so they can keep talking to him
and getting advice, which he agrees to.
However on the way back they run into a Shadowclan patrol and Sol decides to stay with them and
Blackstar instead, instantly breaking the three's trust as soon as he got it.
Yellowfang then comes to Jaypaw in his dreams with some other Starclan cats and says that
he needs to serve his clan without asking too many questions because all will eventually
be revealed, which does absolutely nothing to calm him.
Back in camp, normal things are happening but it also seems like Millie is developing
a cough.
That's not great.
Squirrelflight is doing better though, in that she's healing but definitely not all
better yet.
Lionpaw is also visited by Tigerstar in his dreams, without Hawkfrost, and when Lionpaw
says he might not need Tigerstar's training anymore, the dark tabby furiously attacks
and holds Lionpaw down as he wakes up.
A gathering is happening that night and Millie has whitecough, but it's okay because Jaypaw
can still come.
Windclan comes as well, eventually, and it is actually Shadowclan who seems to be missing
until Blackstar comes in, alone with no one but Sol, and declares that Shadowclan won't
attend any more gatherings.
Sol knows more than Starclan and Blackstar has long since lost faith in the strength
or accuracy of his ancestors, so he is going to avoid following their lead now.
Jaypaw talks to Yellowfang and finds out Starclan can't do anything about it, so by his account,
it's time for the three to fulfill their destiny.
Lionpaw has a nightmare about killing Heatherpaw and feels horrified about how violent he has
become, but after a couple of quick clan scenes and a discussion of what they can, or rather
can't do about Sol and Shadowclan, we are ready to end the book off on a high note as
Hollypaw, Lionpaw, *and* Cinderpaw are made warriors, Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Cinderheart.
This is a dense book, and I think it is arguably the best one in the arc.
There are various funny, heartwarming, and telling moments to distinguish each of the
characters and their relationships to each other.
I could easily argue that, even more than The Sight, this book is one of the best in
the series for just showing off a unique and interesting cast of characters who I would
happily watch just living their lives and chatting.
In addition, this is one of the biggest moments I would point to in saying how important it
is that Jaypaw be a medicine cat.
I don't agree with Spottedleaf and Leafpool's initial reasons for forcing him into the position,
but his dealings with Cinderpaw in this book show him to be one of the most passionate,
innovative, and effectual medicine cats the clans have ever had, and it is amazing that
he doesn't get his own name at the end of this book along with his siblings.
If I were writing this series myself, hint hint, I would use this as one of the main
reasons for Jaypaw to realize that he does want to be a medicine cat, when given the
choice.
Lionpaw, or Lionblaze now, is also given pretty good material in this book as an overly dramatic
little boy dealing with his own newfound importance and also a cat with intense anger issues and
an inability to be beaten that leads him to being cocky and violent in ways that scare
his sister, his enemies, and, later, even him.
Definitely some rich stuff to chew on emotionally in helping him develop.
Hollypaw, now Hollyleaf, really isn't a focus for this one, which is unfortunate as
she's the only main character we still don't have a definitive power or journey set for.
She muses about how Windclan's attack and, briefly, Sol's corruption of Shadowclan
compare to the warrior code but she's definitely more sidelined than either of her brothers.
One cat who does get a lot of focus though is Cinderpaw, now Cinderheart.
She has a genuinely compelling journey towards realizing her own strength again and finding
a way to move past her injury without hurting herself further or wasting away in the medicine
den.
However, while a lot of her journey is told through Jaypaw's choices as a medicine cat,
a lot more of it is told through the lens of her reincarnation and Leafpool's feelings
about it.
Cinderheart carries Cinderpelt's memories in her head enough for Jaypaw to think they
are in her conscious brain, she has impulses to protect kits based on Cinderpelt's last
memories being of dying to protect kits, and she is able to help out with wounds after
the big battle, not because she learned anything in the medicine den but because of intuition
based on Cinderpelt's knowledge.
I already said my piece about the Cinderpelt reincarnation stuff though, twice now, so
I'll let it be.
On a new note, Onestar has certainly changed since his reluctant strength in The New Prophecy,
but I wouldn't truly call it badly handled at this point in time, because Firestar's
attempts to reach out to him and Onestar shutting him down for thinking his clan is the most
important feels like a natural progression if Onestar's aim is looking strong and independent
to his clanmates, half of whom participated in a coup against him.
We don't see much of that development since we aren't in Windclan and I think some of
it could have been made more explicit in the Firestar and Onestar dialogue we got, but
at this point I still consider him a good, albeit tragic character.
One truly odd thing in this book is the pacing, however.
The first three chapters essentially wrap up the Tribe plot from the last book, chapter
5 is our first hint of there being problems at Windclan's border, chapter 9 is the first
hint that Blackstar may be losing faith, we briefly meet Sol late in Chapter 11, and then
4 chapters, 12-16, are spent on what comes to be known as the Eclipse battle because
of the book it is in and the event that ends it.
Even after that, though, it isn't until chapter 20 that our protagonists meet Sol
again and as soon as they talk to him and are enthralled enough to invite him back as
their mentors, Sol willingly, in clear view of them, chooses to stay with Shadowclan instead
because it's…maybe a more valuable option to him?
There was no need for Hollypaw, Jaypaw, and Lionpaw to follow him to Shadowclan's camp
and see him abandon them for Blackstar.
Sol willingly doing this in front of the very powerful and trusting young cats he only just
got the trust of makes him look stupid, which is the opposite of what he should be as a
master manipulator archetype.
Of course, I already covered a lot of this in my video dedicated to Sol but now that
it is coming up in the timeline, it feels especially important to point out how quickly
his potential was ruined.
And then, three chapters later, we see Sol again, having effectively taken over Shadowclan
and corrupted Blackstar away from Starclan before the book ends.
Whatever Sol is doing will have to bleed into the next book, which feels a little odd given
how much time it took to get us to the point of Sol being a threat or even a presence at
all.
Sol's existence as a threat lasted only 4 chapters at the very end of this book, despite
Eclipse being known for him, and his lack of presence in the narrative or effect on
anything before the final chapters renders him feeling more like an odd rushed side character
than a primary villain.
Piling on the sickness happening with Millie, Windclan's feud with Thunderclan, the training
Lionpaw is doing in his dreams, Squirrelflight's injury being healed, Hollypaw's entire arc
and power, and Jaypaw getting his name are all at least touched on but not remotely resolved
by the end of this book can make it feel like this book and whatever comes next will be
more of a two-parter rather than either entry being able to stand on its own.
Eclipse is, as I said earlier, a dense book with a lot of different plot and character
beats for our main cast and characters all across the clans, but throwing so many disconnected
elements together without enough time for all of them or connections between them can
leave the book feeling a little disjointed as well, especially when examined in isolation
without the preceding or succeeding books.
But with two books left to go, we'll just have to see if Sol is capable of rising to
be the antagonist this arc really needs when we return to the main series in a future episode,
of our trip through time.