The Fourth Apprentice – Trip Through Time | Warriors Analysis

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This is a big step.
Today, we start the fourth main series arc: Omen of the Stars.
In addition to being my personal favorite arc despite its…um, well we'll get to
that eventually, and also being the primary driving force behind my Warriors inspiration
and desire to write Paws of Stars, this arc is also important in the overall trajectory
of the series.
As you will come to see, it marks the end of an era in more ways than one, and ends
up inventing some lore that will persist, and warp significantly, through to the present
day.
The new characters, dynamics, and specific moments this arc created have inspired countless
discussions, animations, stories, and otherwise, and content continues to be made about some
of the fan favorite characters and scenarios to this day.
Yet, this is also the least favorite arc for many fans, and not without justification.
We'll have to get into those reasons eventually, but let's begin by focusing in on this one
book.
The Fourth Apprentice arrived on the 24th of November in 2009, around 7 months after
Sunrise, 5 months after Return to the Clans and Code of the Clans, and 4 months after
Bluestar's Prophecy.
This one was written by Cherith Baldry, who did write the last main series book, Sunrise,
but didn't have to write the super edition that came out most recently, so we can hope
she had a little more time to contemplate what to do with this story.
Starting up a new arc with almost the same status-quo as the last but having to pull
a wholly new plot and set of character arcs from it was always going to be a challenge,
and it isn't helped by the fact that we are introducing a new protagonist to replace
Hollyleaf, who, at the very end, Cherith finally seemed to have gotten a grip on.
We'll just have to see how she and Vicky faced those challenges, then.
For our allegiance check-in, due to how closely Omen of the Stars follows Power of Three,
there aren't as many changes as exist between some arcs, but there still are some.
As we saw in Sunrise, Honeyfern died to a snake, Whitewing became a queen while nursing
her kits, Leafpool joined the warriors list after leaving her medicine duties, and Hollyleaf
was lost as well.
In these allegiances, we also learn that Poppyfrost joined the nursery, expecting Berrynose's
kits, Millie left the nursery, and four new cats have become warriors.
Foxpaw and Icepaw became Foxleap and Icecloud and Toadkit and Rosekit became Toadstep and
Rosepetal…you might recall in Sunrise that Spiderleg said he would start spending more
time with his kits after Leafpool and Daisy lectured him.
With this massive timeskip in his kits lives though, it's unlikely now that we'll ever
see that.
Anyway, with all of these changes in both directions, Thunderclan has 21 warriors listed
instead of 20.
Millie and Graystripe's kits: Briarpaw, Blossompaw, and Bumblepaw, are now the apprentices
of the clan, and Whitewing's kits: Dovekit and Ivykit, are listed in the nursery.
Purdy was also added to the elders' den, which can only be a benefit.
As far as statistics, the total speaking cast size for this book is 72 cats, identical to
Sunrise, but the top 10% of those cats have 70% of the lines, slightly less than Sunrise
had.
51% of the cast is she-cats here, instantly tying Eclipse which had the highest percentage
in Power of Three, but those cats still only have 39% of the lines, which was around the
average for the last arc.
With that said, I am more than ready to jump in because, for better or worse, this arc
is something I will never forget.
The prologue opens in Starclan, where Bluestar, Lionheart, Yellowfang, and Spottedleaf are
talking about how poorly the three's prophecy has gone so far.
Despite that, they are sure they have the right third cat now, and hope that Jayfeather
and Lionblaze will recognize them.
Despite Bluestar's reservations, the group decides on Yellowfang's suggestion of sending
a sign, and they choose not to contact Jayfeather or Lionblaze, but the third cat herself.
Yes I'm sure a baby will be very well equipped to receive the news.
Down in the clans, there is a drought that none of the clans were warned about.
Though every clan is upset, Leopardstar is especially angry, accusing everyone of being
prey-stealers for taking fish from the lake, which should belong to Riverclan.
She declares she will set up border patrols around what remains of the lake on every side.
Lionblaze and Jayfeather discuss this and confirm that Leopardstar lost two lives in
a row recently which would explain her explosive temper.
Lionblaze goes on a patrol to gather water from the lake, and despite a very tense interaction
with Riverclan and Berrynose flaring their tempers further, they succeed.
Meanwhile, Jayfeather is adjusting to being the clan's only medicine cat, including
as Firestar loses a life to a wound from a sudden fox attack that Jayfeather wasn't
in time to heal.
He feels insecure about his abilities without his mentor around, and it isn't helped when
Leafpool comes back from a hunting patrol without any prey, proving to Jayfeather that
she's useless as a warrior.
He and Dovekit almost simultaneously smell a fire, though the returning water patrol
manages to put it out.
Oh also Berrynose is being a very overly-protective and condescending mate to Poppyfrost now that
she's expecting kits.
Chapter 3 finally picks up with our new protagonist: Dovekit, who is going to her apprentice ceremony
with her sister, Ivykit.
Dovepaw receives Lionblaze as her mentor and Ivypaw is given Cinderheart.
Unfortunately, their first day of training will have to be a water patrol rather than
anything fun, but Dovepaw is still excited to see more of the territory, and go out with
her sister.
Dovepaw readily takes in all the information she can get, including the sights and smells
of the patrols of warriors in Shadowclan and Windclan.
We don't have time to dwell on that, though, because Berrynose and Spiderleg got stuck
in the mud.
Cinderheart and Thornclaw help to get them out, unknowingly using Jayfeather's stick
and causing the medicine cat to get very angry, which no one really understands.
Rainstorm from Riverclan also attacks Ivypaw for sniffing at an already-dead fish on the
ground and falls into the mud as well, but they save him and take him to their camp to
recover.
Ivypaw immediately apologizes for getting Rainstorm hurt but Cinderheart and Dovepaw
assure her it's not her fault.
Lionblaze is asked to go on the patrol to bring Rainstorm back and he brings Dovepaw
along, but Cinderheart and Ivypaw aren't coming.
Ivypaw isn't upset at all though because Cinderheart promises to teach her some fighting
moves while they're away.
Mistyfoot greets the patrol curtly and refuses to let them see Leopardstar, which Dovepaw
assumes is because they were worried about that sick cat in the camp, one Lionblaze hadn't
noticed at all.
A moon later, Dovepaw has a dream where she talks to a Starclan cat and hears that hardship
and blood loss are just part of being in a clan.
Before Dovepaw can respond, she fades away with only a single message on the breeze:
After the sharp-eyed jay and the roaring lion, peace will come on dove's gentle wing.
She promptly ignores this because there's no reason for Starclan to have contacted her
of all cats.
Oh also Dovepaw is an amazing hunter, being praised by several warriors and shaping up
to be the best hunter in the clan.
Ivypaw meanwhile, didn't catch anything because she missed the squirrel she had found.
The clan talks about what could be making the lake dry up and Dovepaw says that, obviously,
it's those brown animals that are blocking the stream outside clan territory.
Everyone decides this is nonsense and that Dovepaw is making it up, and Ivypaw is especially
annoyed because it seems like she's just trying to get even more attention than she
had already.
Lionblaze, however, asks Dovepaw to follow him out of camp, where he quickly tests her
with Jayfeather and determines that she is the third cat, which Dovepaw doesn't believe.
Still, the brothers let her know what they know up to this point, that they all have
powers as part of a prophecy and no other cats can know.
Dovepaw insists that Ivypaw must be involved as well, but they tell her she has to accept
that she is different from her sister, as they have with Hollyleaf.
Dovepaw says that proves they could be wrong again, but when she tells them about her dream,
Jayfeather instantly recognizes Yellowfang's description and knows that they were correct
about her.
Lionblaze tries to talk to Firestar about the brown animals Dovepaw saw but is roped
into a discussion about how he should forgive his parents, especially Squirrelflight, instead.
That said, Firestar does agree to work together with the other clans to send a patrol to check
out what might be blocking the stream.
At the gathering, Dovepaw points out Leopardstar as the cat she noticed being sick and, unfortunately,
she is still sick now, a moon later.
The clans agree to send two cats each to investigate the blockage, although Mistyfoot has to answer
for Leopardstar since she was so convinced the other clans just wanted to weaken Riverclan
or steal their fish.
Lionblaze and Dovepaw are chosen from Thunderclan, disappointing Ivypaw especially, who hoped
they could always do everything together, and Dovepaw quickly becomes uncomfortable
with lying about how she learned of the big brown creatures.
Still, Jayfeather insists it is a secret, and Dovepaw acquiesces.
For the journey, Shadowclan chooses Toadfoot and Tigerheart, Riverclan chooses Petalfur
and Rippletail, and Windclan chooses Whitetail and Sedgewhisker.
All eight cats then set out together on their journey.
Some, Toadfoot especially, are fairly guarded and territorial, but each cat is given a distinct
enough identity to feel like a unique part of the group, and despite this being another
instance of having several chapters dedicated to travel through unremarkable landscapes
and minor dangers, it is made better by having each cat's personality and relationships
to the others firmly cemented early on, such as when Rippletail rallies everyone to save
Petalfur from a twoleg, or how hostile Toadfoot is to Dovepaw due to her being an apprentice
and displaying, from his point of view, that Firestar didn't take this mission seriously.
Petalfur and Rippletail, despite being more amicable, are the most defensive and insecure
since the drought has sapped their clan of its primary resource for food and, obviously,
their leader hasn't been doing well.
Whitetail and Sedgewhisker, therefore, end up the most willing to cooperate and act as
a voice of reason and source of levity respectively.
Tigerheart is the only one who remains in the background at this point, but that will
change with time.
Periodically we cut back to Jayfeather who is just worrying about the prophecy and being
a camera into Thunderclan while they're gone, following in the pawsteps of his mother,
Leafpool, ironically.
The only really important thing to note here is that Ivypaw is getting more noticeably
irritated now that Dovepaw is off on a special mission and she's stuck with normal training,
but also of some importance is that Berrynose continues to be condescending and overprotective
towards Poppyfrost and Breezepelt gets in a fight with Berrynose and Jayfeather at the
border that quickly turns into insults about their family rather than clan tensions.
Back on the journey, Lionblaze is worried about Dovepaw's capabilities, being so young,
and Petalfur and Rippletail finally find a pool of water…with Dovepaw's help, and
teach the others to fish.
Dovepaw is the only cat who actually tries some though.
They continue trying to follow the stream and Dovepaw misses sensing both a dead deer
and the stream itself, becoming frustrated as she realizes the fish earlier and the extreme
amount of scents in the twolegplace were distracting her.
She doesn't think she can be distracted; she has to be alert all the time to keep them
safe.
But Lionblaze tells her she's not responsible for them, they're working together.
In any case, they quickly pass a twolegplace where they meet more kittypets and then notice
that they're approaching the brown animals.
Back in the clans, Cinderheart pleads with Jayfeather to help Poppyfrost, who is definitely
depressed, and ends up letting out in her emotions that she misses Hollyleaf so much.
Jayfeather agrees to do what he can and follows Poppyfrost into her dreams, where she declares
that she must see Honeyfern, despite his protests.
The next day, after his normal duties, several cats exclaim that they can't find Poppyfrost
and Jayfeather guesses where she is, tracking her all the way to the Moonpool…where, unfortunately,
Breezepelt's scent is as well.
Back on the journey again, they find an enormous barrier of logs clearly blocking the stream,
but the brown animals are still around, building and strengthening it.
After a quick twoleg interaction, the group meets Woody, a cat who lives here right now
and knows about the brown animals: beavers, and that the twolegs brought them.
He says he'll show them around the dam but still thinks their quest is silly and doomed,
because the beavers are very strong.
That night, after they hunt, they launch an attack on the beavers and they quickly realize
they are losing.
Even as Lionblaze realizes that Tigerheart used a battle move that Tigerstar had taught
to him in his Dark Forest dreams, it's not enough for him to come out unscathed.
Save for Lionblaze, all of them get some sort of injury and don't seem to be making a
dent in the beavers.
Worst of all though, Rippletail is killed, and Dovepaw declares they never should have
come.
Back in the clans again, Jayfeather meets Poppyfrost and hears her lament that Berrynose
doesn't care about her, that he never stopped loving Honeyfern, and that, after the first
time she went to Starclan when she was very sick, she knows she can go again.
She has to, to see her sister.
Breezepelt then appears and threatens them both, openly attacking Jayfeather as Poppyfrost
backs away.
A second cat appears and joins Breezepelt in his attack, one Jayfeather can't identify,
and it looks like Jayfeather will lose until Honeyfern appears from Starclan, chasing both
warriors off.
Poppyfrost can't see her but she asks Jayfeather to pass on a message, that she misses her
and that Berrynose does love her, but is scared of losing another mate.
Yellowfang also comes to say Breezepelt's accomplice was…someone she knows, a sign
of great trouble, and that the Dark Forest is rising.
It's a powerful scene over all but I still wish Starclan was a little less cryptic when
they're in mortal danger.
Once again cutting back to the journey, the group mourns for Rippletail and is prepared
to head home until Lionblaze says they need to find a different way to free the water
and Petalfur suggests tearing the dam itself apart, with a more intentional plan than the
last time.
They get the kittypets they met on the journey to come back and help dismantle the dam while
Whitetail, Sedgewhisker, and Woody distract the beavers.
Petalfur shows herself to be quite clever as she suggests aiming for the thickest branches
at the bottom since, if they come undone, the whole dam might come apart.
They begin, and Tigerheart falls off of the dam at first, but comes back more angry and
passionate rather than hurt.
Petalfur leads them in pulling the dam apart as she is able to predict where the water
will go and the dam does break, bringing with it a flood that sweeps the cats away.
So hey back in the clans Jayfeather wakes up and takes Poppyfrost home, being quickly
greeted by a very worried and loving Berrynose.
We also get a quick reminder that Cinderheart is comfortable in the medicine den because
Cinderpelt and Rock appears to admit that yes, he knew about Jayfeather's parents,
but didn't tell him to preserve his status in the clan for the sake of the prophecy.
Jayfeather is furious, and he picks up a stone to break his precious stick and connection
to Rock immediately.
One final time, we go back to the traveling group where Dovepaw saves Tigerheart from
the flood and Petalfur gets the water out of his chest.
Whitetail thanks Starclan for their victory and Dovepaw and Lionblaze thank themselves,
knowing it was their powers that helped them get this far.
They head back home as friends, though they break up as soon as they reach each of their
borders.
Dovepaw happily greets Ivypaw again, saying she missed her, and Ivypaw says she was worried
Dovepaw wouldn't care.
Dovepaw assures her that they're best friends, no matter what.
While out on a walk that night, the sisters note that the lake does seem closer than before,
and it'll be even better to see when it's all filled up again.
Ivypaw gets a splinter from Jayfeather's stick on her paw, but thankfully wasn't
hurt.
They each say they're glad to have each other and won't leave ever again.
Then Poppyfrost's kits are born and Jayfeather leaves her with Berrynose while he tells Lionblaze
what happened at the Moonpool and Lionblaze tells him Tigerheart is probably training
in the Dark Forest, along with Breezepelt, according to Jayfeather.
They know now that the Dark Forest is able to break through, and when they start a battle,
it will be a real one.
The pacing of this book is all told, pretty good, managing to include a reintroduction
to the clans, the old and new casts of this book, a main journey plot with a whole new
cast, location, problem, and solution, and a side plot around Poppyfrost that feeds lightly
into what we can now assume will be the overall arc's narrative on the Dark Forest.
This book didn't jump headfirst into a Dark Forest-centric plotline, but there will be
time for that, and considering they had to introduce and endear us to a whole new protagonist
with a new character, power, and set of relationships, it's okay to go light on the arc's plot
for now, as long as we can get more into that later.
Speaking of that new protagonist, let's talk about Dovepaw, as she is the main focus
of this book.
Well she already has a distinctive personality and role, but it's not what much of the
fandom has credited her with.
She is very passionate, sometimes even sassy, being defiant to Jayfeather and especially
Lionblaze when they try to rope her into a role she doesn't want or cover up her power
for, in her mind, no reason.
She does not want to be part of the prophecy and never really loses that through the book,
but there is a surprisingly powerful moment on the journey where she wakes up and hears
that Lionblaze has taken her shift because she's an apprentice and she shouldn't
have that much responsibility or weight on her when she's so young.
Dovepaw responds that the prophecy and Starclan didn't wait for her to grow up before thrusting
on that responsibility, so why should Lionblaze himself?
He doesn't get to reply because Sedgewhisker comes back but I'd have liked to see his
answer because Lionblaze seems, at least mildly, to be the least in-favor of the prophecy and
the quickest to point out the burden it has already had on their lives.
Not to mention, Dovepaw would still have a point if she mentioned that Lionblaze and
Jayfeather already *have* pushed her into responsibility too quickly, using her power
to aid them in finding the beavers and requiring that she join them at their level to keep
the prophecy going and a secret from everyone, including her sister.
She's already a unique and sympathetic protagonist who could definitely have some interesting
dynamics going forward with the two toms who have really only joined her out of necessity,
rather than care.
On a power level, Dovepaw does seem to have limits to what she can smell and see.
She notes Windclan and Shadowclan patrols at their own borders, but doesn't mention
anyone in their camps, and when she later meets cats from the different clans she knows
nothing about them to start off with: not their names, faces, scents, or personalities.
That was, in fact, a very overwhelming part of the journey for her.
She was also overwhelmed by the numerous senses in the twolegplace, and was able to miss smelling
a dead deer because of the fish scent in her nose.
Despite this, we also distinctly know that her senses were able to smell and see beavers
2-days of journeying away so…well her power at this point is as nebulous as the other
two, and I would like to see it more solidified so it could become more a part of who she
is.
Notably, she also truly loves her sister, and Ivypaw feels the same way.
They consistently want to be together, actively try to include each other in everything they
do, and get upset when they're away from each other.
Ivypaw does display a tiny amount of competitiveness and irritation in different parts of the book
but is mainly reacting in a reasonable way here, and both sisters end up reconciling
with no loose ends at the last chapters of the book.
Guess Ivypaw might just be a minor support character then.
Sounds great.
It'll be good for Dovepaw to have a stable, caring relationship in her life.
As for our other protagonists, Lionblaze has actually lost most of the overly-emotional
nature, pension for violence, stupidity, recklessness, and rivalry he had before, only expressing
occasional forlornness over having to cope with the prophecy, which he shares with Dovepaw.
He acts almost like a beacon of wisdom for the young apprentice and the closest thing
to a compassionate paternal figure that she has through most of the book.
We'll see if that part continues but it isn't really what I would have expected
from the last arc's portrayal of Lionblaze.
Although, um…in Dovepaw's literal first days of training, she had already given away
twice that she could sense things beyond normal cats…and it took a moon more before Lionblaze
thought to intervene.
So maybe a bit of Lionblaze's stupidity has carried over.
Jayfeather meanwhile has stayed pushy about the prophecy and possessive over his stick,
until he breaks it anyway, but mostly spends the book worried: about his own prowess, about
his mentor, about Dovepaw's place in the prophecy, about the danger Lionblaze and Dovepaw
will be in and what effect that would have on the prophecy.
He doesn't have a strong connection with his clanmates save for a lasting interest
in Cinderheart and enough care for Poppyfrost to want her not to die, but he was also in
the background for this book.
Maybe that will change in time.
Now, Hollyleaf's name is mentioned 12 times here, a third of those in Starclan's prologue,
and the one time it is mentioned aloud is when Cinderheart says she misses Hollyleaf.
Lionblaze never thinks about her and neither of the brothers speak about her or even mull
over their feelings for more than a couple lines.
Starclan and Cinderheart seem more shaken by Hollyleaf's death than her own siblings,
which…feels unrealistic, given how raw those emotions would still be from their point of
view.
Because this arc continues so closely after the previous, it does seem weird when its
plot and baggage aren't addressed.
Finally, and as a tiny minor note, the back of this book contains the first full adventure
in the Warrior Cats Adventure Game, which is exciting to me and very few other people
at this point.
But if you want to hear more about that, go watch my video on those specifically, because
they aren't relevant here.
The Fourth Apprentice is honestly an overall good start to the arc, considering it had
the very odd task of both continuing off of Sunrise and starting a whole new cast and
story of its own.
Dovepaw is a nice character, the amount of depth they gave the other members of the beaver
crew and their relationships was refreshing, and it sprinkled in enough hints about what
is to come for me to be excited.
But if the Dark Forest is rising, who will be a part of it, and what do they plan to
do?
That, however, we will have to explore in a future episode, of our trip through time.