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themissinglynx · 2 years

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A Documentation of Changes to the Allegiances

So everyone’s probably noted minute changes among the allegiances over the years, but this is here to compile a comprehensive list of changes either in Clan size, the presence or absence of ranks, which cats get descriptions (or even mentioned), how many Thunderclan (and in later arcs Shadowclan) cats from book one survive to the beginning of next arc’s book one, and so on.

This will be going by arc and skipping DotC because it’s not relevant to this conversation. I’ll also include Dovewing’s Silence and Bramblestar’s Storm, as they help cover the timeskip between OotS and AVOS (and were released while DotC was doing its thing).

Also spoilers for the entirety of The Broken Code and I will not be going into A Starless Clan’s changes in allegiances as as of this writing, we only have River out and the allegiances and first few chapters of Sky have not been revealed. Although once the final book of ASC comes out, I will reblog this post with updates to the allegiances.

Also as one final note, I am calling the “perma-queens” by a name that’s less stupid.

The Prophecies Begin

Into the Wild

Thunderclan population consists of 25 listed cats; when including kits and Rosetail, that bumps it up to 33 cats (and of those 33 cats, only 13 of them will survive to TNP)

Famously, Shadowclan has a paltry amount of members, and you can count Windclan and Riverclan’s listed cast on one hand. Shadowclan apprentices do not have descriptions.

Also famously, there are four queens listed, though from inference and semi-retcons, Frostfur, Goldenflower, and Speckletail are the only cats who actually have kits. Brindleface at the beginning of Into the Wild shouldn’t even be pregnant, as the book takes place over the span of three months and, while they’re apprenticed late, it’d be ludicrous to assume they’re born in mid-summer and then apprenticed the spring afterward. If one were to be remaking the allegiances of Into the Wild with more modern philosophies of listing, Brindleface would be a warrior.

Longtail is described as a young warrior, having finished is training two moons ago. While Mousefur and Runningwind are also young warriors, they’re young warriors in the same way Stonefur and Mistyfoot are. Despite this, Longtail is listed above Mousefur and Runningwind.

Fire and Ice

Windclan and Riverclan’s numbers match the paltry amount of cats within Shadowclan. Again, no apprentice section or descriptions given to said apprentices. Is Brownpaw brown? Is Silverpaw silver? The world may never know...

Forest of Secrets

Upon being promoted to warriors, Dustpelt and Sandstorm are placed at the bottom of the warriors list. Also Cinderpelt is listed as Yellowfang’s apprentice despite the fact she has her full name. Despite all of Frostfur’s kits being apprenticed, she’s still listed as a queen.

Crowfur of Windclan and Greenflower of Riverclan made appearances, but were not listed in the allegiances.

Rising Storm

Mindbogglingly, upon Brackenfur’s promotion to warrior status, he’s placed above Dustpelt and Sandstorm. Willowpelt has also moved into the nursery and despite Brindleface’s kits being apprenticed, she’s still listed as a queen.

A Dangerous Path

Frostfur and Brindleface have been moved to the warriors section, between Darkstripe and Longtail.

The Darkest Hour

Goldenflower has left the nursery, but is at the bottom of the warriors section, when if it was sorted by age, she’d be at the top of the list. Frostfur is just above her and the new warrior Cloudtail is beneath the both of them.

Despite being siblings with top-of-the-list Thornpaw, Brightheart (listed as Lostface in the allegiances) is at the bottom of the apprentices section.

The New Prophecy

Midnight

Thunderclan’s population consists of 26 listed cats; when including Ferncloud’s unlisted kits, that bumps it up to 29 cats. Of the 29 cats, 19 will survive to Po3.

Goldenflower has moved back into the nursery, despite not being pregnant with or nursing kits of her own. In a similar vein, Ferncloud has become a matriarch of Thunderclan and has never appeared as a warrior.

Crowpaw is the only non-Thunderclan apprentice with a given description, which is justified in that he’s a major character.

Mothwing is listed as Mudfur’s apprentice, which at least makes sense in the context that she trained as a warrior first and then became a medicine cat.

Moonrise

Nothing special here

Dawn

Applekit, Toadkit, and Marshkit of Shadowclan, Gorsetail of Windclan and Tumblekit of Riverclan made appearances, but were not listed in the allegiances.

This is the book I somewhat consider “Eclipse Lite” due to its inclusion of a bunch of random new cats from other Clans. Nightwing of Shadowclan, Robinwing, Thistlepaw, and Oatwhisker of Windclan, and Swallowtail, Dawnflower, Volepaw, Splashpaw, and Stonepaw of Riverclan all spontaneously appear.

Aside from Cats Outside the Clans, Midnight the Badger features in a new category called “Other Animals”.

Starlight

Spiderpaw has spontaneously dropped beneath Whitepaw despite being older than her.

Despite dying on-page last book from gravity and rocks, Smokepaw of Shadowclan still appears as Oakfur’s apprentice until the end of the arc.

Darkfoot and Nightcloud of Windclan made appearances, but were not listed in the allegiances.

Twilight

Despite having earned her full name, Leafpool is still listed as an apprentice.

Despite dying on-page last book from aggressive kittypets, Talonpaw of Shadowclan still appears as Rowanclaw’s apprentice.

Tumblekit of Riverclan made an appearance, but was not listed in the allegiances.

The Cats Outside the Clans section has been renamed to Other Animals to account for the very not cats Midnight the Badger and Pip the Terrier alongside the barn cats Smoky, Daisy, and Floss.

Sunset

Daisy has joined Thunderclan as a matriarch.

Daisy’s kits and Sorreltail’s kits are not listed in the allegiances at all.

Ferncloud is still listed as “mother of Dustpelt’s kits” despite Birchpaw being an apprentice and she likely not yet being pregnant with Icekit and Foxkit.

Tallpoppy is listed as a queen despite her kits being (what’s implied to be) Birchpaw’s age. I’ll elaborate more in the next entry.

Power of Three

The Sight

Thunderclan’s population consists of 32 listed cats. However I’m not going to count Stormfur and Brook since they’re only staying in the Clans as refugees so that bumps it down to 30 cats. Graystripe and Millie joins Thunderclan in this book, so that bumps Thunderclan’s headcount back up to 32. Molepaw, Rainwhisker, and Goldenflower have also conspicuously disappeared between arcs. Anyway, on the 32 cats I’m actually counting, the only deaths this arc are of Honeyfern and Ashfur and Hollyleaf famously gets put on a bus by the end of the arc.

Finally kittens are listed alongside their mothers in the nursery! At least only for Thunderclan.

Apprentices of other Clans still are not given descriptions and kittens of other Clans are still entirely unknown.

A noteworthy absence of Tallpoppy’s kits: Applepaw and Toadpaw. They’re described as close to Birchpaw in age, who’s a warrior named Birchfall now. Why aren’t they listed?

Similarly, the hilarious error of Smokefoot featuring in Shadowclan. Sure, this technically is a different cat than TNP’s dead apprentice (who’s dark gray, not black like Smokefoot), and while it’s not unheard of for two cats with the same prefix to be in the same Clan at once (Mousewhisker and Mousefur, Silverpaw and Silverstream, Lizardfang and Lizardstripe, etc), it still insinuates the idea that the Erins forgot Smokepaw died and made him a warrior.

Dark River

After moving out of the nursery, Squirrelflight is placed at the top of the warriors section. Likewise, Graystripe and Millie are placed at the bottom of the list.

Icekit and Foxkit are given descriptions!

Tawnypelt of Shadowclan, Gorsetail of Windclan (different cat than the earlier one), and Graymist of Riverclan have named kittens listed after them, but unlike Icekit and Foxkit, they’re not described.

Dawnflower of Riverclan remains in the nursery after her kits’ are made apprentices despite never mothering another litter in the future. Mayhaps she’s a matriarch herself?

Outcast

A wild Toadfoot is spotted in Shadowclan! Where’s his sister tho? Also Tawnypelt’s kits have disappeared.

Icewing has had her kits! And sadly, Dawnflower has returned to her warrior duties. Mayhaps she wasn’t a matriarch after all...

Eclipse

Oh boy, here’s the big one! This is the book that adds a bunch of brand-new warriors into all the Clans! All of them are placed beneath the previously established warriors, which ends up with the canonically older Ratscar beneath the young warrior Toadfoot. Here are the new additions:

Crowfrost, Kinkfur, Ratscar, Snaketail, Whitewater, Olivepaw, Shrewpaw, Scorchpaw, and Redpaw of Shadowclan

Leaftail, Dewspots, Willowclaw, Antpelt, Emberfoot, and Sunpaw of Windclan

Mintfur, Otterheart, Pinefur, Rainstorm, Duskfur, Nettlepaw, Robinpaw, and Copperpaw of Riverclan

Long Shadows

Cinderheart, Poppyfrost, and Honeyfern are listed beneath Lionblaze and Hollyleaf despite being older than and (at least for Honey and Poppy) made warriors before them.

Gorsetail returns to her warrior duties, situated between Nightcloud and Weaselfur. Likewise, Graymist returns to being a warrior herself, and she’s moved to between Rippletail and Dawnflower.

Willowshine has received her full name, yet is still listed as Mothwing’s apprentice.

Sunrise

A funny error has Jayfeather listed as Leafpool’s apprentice and he doesn’t feature in the apprentice section.

Apprentices from other Clans are finally given appearances! Still nothing on kittens though.

Omen of the Stars

The Fourth Apprentice

Thunderclan’s current headcount includes 36 cats (37 including the forgotten Millie). By the end of The Last Hope, six cats have died and seven new kits have been born. However, if we also include Dovewing’s Silence, Bramblestar’s Storm, and the ensuing timeskip, by the time The Apprentice’s Quest starts up, four other cats (not counting Seedpaw, whose entire life is within this timespan) die and five other kittens are born, plus Stormcloud joins.

OotS is a right mess.

Anyway, OotS starts with 37 cats and ends it with 38 cats, but only 26 cats from the beginning of OotS live to see the dawn of AVoS.

Upon being removed from her position as medicine cat, Leafpool has been placed right next to her sister Squirrelflight in the warriors section, somewhere midway through the list, between Thornclaw and Spiderleg. Graystripe has been moved to the top of the warriors section too.

Oh, there you are, Applefur, right next to your brother! Also Thistleheart of Windclan went missing.

The non-Thunderclan apprentices and kits from Po3 graduated into warriors during the timeskip and they’ve all been moved to the bottom of the list.

Flametail is listed as Littlecloud’s apprentice despite being a full medicine cat just like Willowshine.

Snowbird returns to her warrior duties after mothering her first litter (who never appears, but for the people taking notes, it’s Cloverfoot, Berryheart, and Buster/Rippletail ShC) and she’s placed below her retconned brother Ratscar.

Dapplenose and Pouncetail of Riverclan have moved into the elders’ den despite appearing as apprentices in The Sight and becoming warriors in Outcast.

Likewise, Duskfur and Mosspelt sit in the nursery for quite a while. While Duskfur apparently has Podkit and Curlkit during this time, as they feature in Mistystar’s Omen, but Mosspelt never has another litter after Willowshine, so what’s she doing there?

Speaking of the Riverclan nursery, Icewing is placed between Mintfur and Minnowtail in the middle of the list, now that three of her four kittens are warriors.

Fading Echoes

Upon returning to her warrior duties, Whitewing is placed below her (younger) mate Birchfall.

Kinkfur’s been sitting in the nursery for a while. Again, our look into the nursery is haphazard, but later books confirm her kittens to be Sparrowtail, Mistcloud, and Dewkit.

Night Whispers

Nothing special here

Sign of the Moon

Nothing special here

The Forgotten Warrior

Dovewing and Ivypool of Thunderclan and Pinenose, Ferretclaw, and Starlingwing of Shadowclan have become warriors and have been moved to the bottom of their respective lists.

Despite being made a warrior last book, Troutstream of Riverclan is still listed as an apprentice.

The Last Hope

Despite being Lionblaze’s sister, Hollyleaf is placed at the bottom of the warriors list.

Ivytail of Shadowclan has been a queen this entire arc, yet has not made any kits. Either she’s something like a matriarch or she has (off-page) kittens who die before or during the Great Battle. In her next appearances in Dovewing’s Silence and Bramblestar’s storm, she’s an elder.

Weaselkit is mentioned as Pinenose’s kit, but considering she literally just became a queen and not a lot of time occurs between her promotion and this kit dying, I’m unconvinced it’s Pinenose’s.

Stoatpaw of Shadowclan is a ginger tom who shows up in the book, but is never listed in the allegiances.

Despite being made warriors last book, Furzepelt of Windclan, and Mossyfoot and Hollowflight of Riverclan are still listed as apprentices. Likewise, Boulderfur features as a warrior, yet is still listed as an apprentice.

Dovewing’s Silence

Poppyfrost is misplaced towards the bottom of the warriors list after Molepaw and Cherrypaw are apprenticed.

Brightheart is supposed to be nursing Snowkit, Amberkit, and Dewkit, but she’s not in the nursery and the kits aren’t present.

Whiskernose of Windclan and Rushtail of Riverclan are never warriors. Well, technically they were, but as far as allegiances go, they were never warriors. Whiskernose and Rushtail became warriors in Sign of the Moon, yet were never listed as such in the allegiances. They both retire to elders here.

Pouncetail, Grasspaw, and Spikepaw (and Stoatfur but we’ll get to them later) of Shadowclan, Crouchfoot, Larkwing, Slightpaw, Featherpaw, Hootpaw, and Oatpaw of Windclan, and Shimmerpelt, Lakeheart, Heronwing, Lizardpaw, Havenpaw, and Perchpaw of Riverclan all spawn out of nowhere. Have another Eclipse Lite group.

Funnily enough, despite Larkwing and Featherpaw supposedly being Sedgewhisker’s children, she’s still in the nursery.

Willowshine is finally no longer listed as Mothwing’s apprentice.

Bramblestar’s Storm

Stoatfur of Shadowclan is a tortoiseshell and white molly who helps Thunderclan fight the badgers. Wake up, everybody, we got Rowanclaw 2.0 here, but now they have a completely different appearance! Problem is, in Dovewing’s Silence, they’re a tortoiseshell molly and in Crowfeather’s Trial, they’re a ginger tom, so who knows what they really look like? They only exist for this tiny timeskip era, so who knows?

A Vision of Shadows

The Apprentice’s Quest

This marks a few substantial changes to the allegiances: 1) The introduction of Skyclan into the other four Clans, 2) the introduction of more permanent non-Thunderclan POVs which will enable me to add Shadowclan to our population statistics, and 3) the death of the apprentice section of the allegiances. I assume this last one was due to the new management. Some fun occurrences happen because of this style of listing.

Thunderclan starts out the arc with 41 cats. 8 of these 41 cats don’t make it to see TBC. In the meantime, Blossomfall has a litter of four, Ivypool has her three kits, and Lionblaze decides to saturate the clan even further with his genes by having three more kits, giving ten additional cats. Adding in Twigbranch and Finleap and removing Dovewing, that leaves us with 44 cats by the end of the arc.

Next up to the chopping block bat is Shadowclan, starting the arc out with 31 cats, 17 of which will not make it to TBC, leaving only 14 cats who did. Grassheart’s litter of three, Snowbird’s third litter of three, Dovewing’s litter of three, Berryheart’s second litter of three, and Yarrowleaf’s litter of two, plus the three Guardian cats (and his girlfriend) Tigerheart brought back to Shadowclan with him helps boost that number back up to 32.

The apprentices (and unseen kits) from Thunderclan, Windclan, and Riverclan have become warriors and are placed neatly at the bottom of the warriors list. Take note because this is probably the last time this will happen so neatly.

Oddly enough, Shadowclan’s apprentices lack descriptions. So do Riverclan’s kits. Weird.

Thunder and Shadow

Larkwing is listed as the apprentice of Furzepelt, when she was a warrior last book and during the timeskip.

Also I’m going to be ignoring the mess that will be Shadowclan and Skyclan for the next few books because it’s just tangled and gross and I don’t wanna bother.

Shattered Sky

Despite being made a warrior before Lilyheart’s litter, Sparkpelt is listed below Larkfur, Leafshade, and Honeyfur. Speaking of Lilyheart, she’s been relocated to Blossomfall’s old spot, between Briarlight and Bumblestripe, instead of her original position between Molewhisker and Snowbush.

After moving out of the nursery, Heathertail is placed at the bottom of the warriors list.

Shadepelt and Foxnose are now warriors, but instead of being put at the bottom of the list, they’re just minorly edited with their warrior names. Likewise, Icewing is put at the bottom of the list after returning to her warrior duties.

Darkest Night

Breezepelt is oddly placed at the top of the allegiances.

After her kittens become apprentices, Lakeheart just disappears. Forever. Where has she gone off to? What do her still surviving children, Harelight and Gorseclaw think about it?

River of Fire

Fernstripe of Windclan becomes a warrior and, probably due to being the deputy’s apprentice, she’s put at the bottom of the list.

The Raging Storm

A lot of queens have their kittens apprenticed: Blossomfall, Cinderheart, Snowbird, and Tinycloud. All four of them are placed right at the bottom of their respective warrior lists.

The Broken Code

Lost Stars

Ah yes, the arc that could’ve wiped out a good chunk of the established cast, yet only took care of- *checks notes of all five Clans*

Thunderclan lost five cats and two others were put on a bus, plus three litters (yes, three, I’ll get to that later) brought the number back up by seven, so we’re back to square one with the number of Thunderclan cats: 48 at the beginning and end of the arc. Great.

So Shadowclan has 32 cats starting out, four of them die and there are no births in this arc, leaving us with 28 cats.

Skyclan starts off the arc with 33 cats, but I just noticed Cloudmist and Cherrytail are suspiciously absent from the list, so that’s actually 35 cats. Only Sandynose died that entire time and we get Beekit and Beetlekit in addition, leaving us with 36 cats total.

Windclan starts off with 25 cats, and loses one of them. Great job, Windclan.

Last up to bat, Riverclan starts off with 27 cats, gains three more, and loses three of them, sustaining equilibrium at 27 cats.

Regarding the placements of these cats, everything seems way more haphazard. Take Blossomfall’s kits: Stemleaf is placed below Rosepetal, matching the pattern of being lazy with new warriors, while Eaglewing maintains her position above Dewnose, and Shellfur and Plumstone, mentored by cats farther up the list, are placed right beside each other at the bottom. On a similar note, Cinderheart, Blossomfall, and Ivypool have been rocketed up to somewhere in the middle of the list, while Spotfur, Snaptooth, and Flywhisker are kept neat and tidy at the bottom of the list with Leafshade being dragged down there when she was a little further up the list. It’s really strange, very cluttered, and it’s like the new team is scrambling up a Rubix cube to keep us on our toes.

At least Shadowclan and Skyclan are faring better as their new apprentice generations are all grouped together at the bottom of the list, but keep an eye on Flaxpaw and Hoppaw and Kitepaw and Turtlepaw. Windclan had no apprentice generation to speak of and while Riverclan had its young cats put at the bottom, you still got Breezeheart and Nightsky mixed in with Lakeheart’s litter.

The Silent Thaw

Sorrelstripe and Sparkpelt moved out of the nursery and they were thrown in a random spot! Also note the placement of Ivypool’s litter; they’re all situated right beneath their mentors.

Ah yep. Flaxfoot, Hopwhisker, Kitescratch, and Turtlecrawl all were just edited to have their warrior names and remained under their mentors instead of put at the bottom of the list.

Violetshine and Bellaleaf moved out of the nursery, and they were thrown somewhere. Same goes for Heathertail, but Featherpelt and Havenpelt got stuck at the bottom of the list again.

Again with Riverclan kits being vague and often unhelpful; Curlfeather’s kits just list their genders and not their names, which is odd. Lakeheart’s kits just listed their names and Havenpelt’s kits had proper descriptions. This is a first.

Veil of Shadows

These lists are practically identical save for one or two dead cats and also Havenpelt moved up towards the top of the Riverclan warriors list for some reason. But really. In five highly overpopulated Clans in an arc stressed with tension, why are there no bodies dropping.

Darkness Within

Squirrelflight and Lionblaze are the acting leader and deputy of the Clan so far, and Rootspring is just edited to stay below Dewspring while Needleclaw got zipped up next to his spot. Also the editors remembered Cherrytail and Cloudmist exist, finally. Featherpelt also jumps up the list a fair bit for some reason.

The Place of No Stars

Lemme guess, just a birth? Okay, Appleshine and Woodsong became warriors and they’re put underneath their mentors, look at that. Where are the dropping bodies?

A Light in the Mist

So upon being removed from acting deputy, Lionblaze is placed at the bottom of the warriors list. And even though this is the next book, Wrenflight, Songleap, and Splashtail are once again just edited beneath their mentors to have a warrior entry and not moved to the bottom of the list.

So about Spotfur’s kits, she gives birth at the end of Daisy’s Kin which is co-current with and released alongside The Place of No Stars, so why they weren’t listed in A Light in the Mist?

In Conclusion

The allegiances barely stook to any rules and that’s what made it this giant cesspool of gobbledygook to begin with.

Over the course of the series existing, queens were a more and more temporary rank and the extremely old Daisy is the only matriarch around anymore, newly-named warriors are either placed at the bottom of the list or right below their mentor, the kits are usually described, every apprentice-aged cat and older is given a description regardless of Clan status, and the apprentice section has been done away with. While I wouldn’t call TPB’s cat sorting perfect when it comes to sorting by age, by the time Po3 and OotS rolled around, Thunderclan cats were more or less arranged in the order of birth. The other Clans unfortunately had to play more fast and loose.

If I were the madlass assigned to fixing these lists, I’d do what any sensible creature with more than three functioning braincells would do: list the cats by age and put them back where you got em from if they left the warriors list for a while. This also counts for elders and queens; I’d sort the queens by age and put the oldest queen on top, even if there was a younger queen who has older kits. For cats who jump Clans, just stick em with the cats who are around the same age as them (kind of hard to do that when Ferretclaw’s nowhere to be found and your Clan’s full of younger people).

So anyway, I’ve been slaving away at this for the past nine hours with barely any breaks and what I thought would’ve taken me only part of a morning and afternoon took me most of my day, so I’m gonna do more imparative things on my agenda, finally relieved I got this off my chest.

Last note, I encourage you to compare the allegiances of Bramblestar’s Storm and Crowfeather’s Trial, as they highlight the differences between the highly optimal Po3/OotS philosophy of sorting and the extremely lazy AVOS and onward philosophy.

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