#broken code theory

After VoS it is pretty clear that Ashfur is the imposter, but I don’t believe he was acting alone. Mainly because we hear him talking to someone in VoS, and I don’t think he could follow something like this through without someone telling him to. I believe someone else is masterminding this.

Anyway here are my reasons for saying I believe that Mapleshade is this mastermind:

ThunderClan is suffering the most.

I know Mapleshade has been haunting RiverClan for years but maybe since she has realised that ThunderClan are the ones who exiled her and her kits in the first place. I know Appledusk cheating on her really sucks but I’ve always been surprised that it wasn’t ThunderClan as a whole she extracted her revenge on once she died, as well as Appledusk’s descendants.

Additionally SkyClan is barely suffering, which would make sense if this were Mapleshade because SkyClan weren’t even around when she was alive. Sol is another suspect of mine to be this mastermind, but if it was him, surely he would want SkyClan to suffer the most?

This would explain why Dovewing and not Tigerstar was named as a codebreaker, she used to be ThunderClan

The Warrior Code is what is being targeted

Whoever is doing this is making the clans suffer by following the code. Wouldn’t this be the perfect revenge for someone who suffered because they broke the code? The code was turned against Mapleshade so why not turn the code against the clans?

Also all the cats named in the codebreaker vision either are, or have something to do with, half clan cats. Except Twigbranch but she kept flip flopping clans so I would say that counts. All of these connections go back to ThunderClan in some way.

As a note I know that Tree was named as a codebreaker in Lost Stars but he seems to have been completely forgotten since so I’m not counting him here at the moment unless they actually remember him again.

The Dark Forest connection

So StarClan is trapped in a puddle in the Dark Forest. I find it odd that something as important as that wouldn’t be guarded at least some of the time. I know no one was there when Shadowsight was there but she might have been elsewhere, which kind of leads me to my next point...

Moving between afterlives

Mapleshade knows how to move between the Dark Forest and the living world. She did it in Crookedstar’s promise and Oots. These instances were slightly different to current method that the imposter seems to be using, but they are very similar.

Also you can’t tell me that she didn’t at least try to access StarClan to see her kits and/or take possible further revenge against those she had killed. Maybe she actually did find a way in? Or maybe she found ways to get to other afterlives while trying to access StarClan?

She could easily persuade and manipulate Ashfur

They both share a connection in that, Mapleshade was cheated on and Ashfur probably felt like he had been cheated on, if Mapleshade found this out it might have made Ashfur easier to manipulate.

She could easily manipulate Ashfur by promising him being loved by Squirrelflight again, as long as he pushed this codebreaking agenda for her. She would use him because he actually knows current ThunderClan cats on a personal level so he would fit in better than she could

Fan Service

Mapleshade is definitely the most popular Warrior Cats villain, she’s everywhere, she even won a poll on the Warriors Website for being the most popular villain. If I were an editor I would want to cash in on that by bringing her back since we never saw her spirit die in The Last Hope.

Ok I think that’s it for my points about Mapleshade but I just want to quickly go over some of my other suspects and what is holding them back from being the mastermind in my opinion.

Sol - He could easily get information out of other spirit cats to find ways to access afterlives, and manipulating Ashfur would be easy for him, Sol even said that he would be back, but never came back. The main thing holding me back from believing it’s him is the whole SkyClan thing, and I’m not sure if he knew how significant the warrior code was to the clans, but apart from that I would say he’s a really strong contender to be the mastermind.

Darktail - He would also be a good contender for similar reasons to Sol, but he had pretty much no connection to ThunderClan so why would most of the codebreakers come from, or be associated to ThunderClan if it is him? Also he had his revenge, he killed his father, I know he might still be angry but I feel like his arc is pretty done.

Tigerclawstar or Hawkfrost - I put these two together becuase they are both double dead so bringing them back might be tricky, and if it is them, why would they name Mothwing as a codebreaker? Although this could explain maybe why Tigerheartstar wasn’t named and Shadowsight was the one who was special.

Sleekwhisker - I have no reason other than I would like to see her again and I feel like killing her offscreen and making her the mastermind might be something the Erins would pull.

Maybe Skystar or Moth Flight but they are in a puddle right now.

Spiresight- Maybe. He would potentially have the motive but I don’t think it’s in his nature, but he definitely knows more than he’s currently letting on.

i’m a little late to the whole ‘who’s possessing bramblebaby debate’ but! i have a theory. the newest preview slightly disproves the ashfur thing, and while it’s still possible, i think it’s someone who is slightly less suspecting.

Ok so I currently believe Ashfur is the imposter, judging from the prologue this guy is definitely a StarClan cat.

I got thinking, what if a portion of StarClan was unhappy with how disregarded the warrior code has become so they started a revolt.

The reason StarClan can’t be reached could be largely due to them currently fighting each other (Like Bramblestar’s vision?). I wouldn’t be surprised if they can’t be fully reached even after the Moonpool thaws.

I think this revolt may have been lead by Skystar, because he would, let’s be honest here. But also because I imagine he has been weak for a long time due to the dissapearence of his clan, he was almost forgotten entirely. He’s probably had time to regain his strength now. (Also note how SkyClan are the only clan not suffering too much in this weather).

I believe Ashfur took over Bramblestar in order to start reinforcing the warrior code properly. Ashfur would know all of ThunderClan’s senior warriors personally and would be able to play to their personality to get them on his side.

I imagine from here, there will be a similar takeover of all the clans either by possessing leaders or senior warriors, deputies or even medicine cats.

so, to start with, we already know a few things: 1, that the imposter is from starclan or the dark forest as he told shadowsight that he's able to travel between starclan, the dark forest and whatever ghost realm the spirits exist in and 2, that he's got at least one accomplice

i actually think both the imposter and his accomplice started out in starclan, because it seems by the time lost stars started that starclan was already trapped or whatever it is that's happened to them because there had been a lot of discussion in that book about being unable to contact them, however in the prologue we had

this scene. it specifically calls one of the cats a spirit cat, while the other is called a starclan warrior, and i think that distinction is important to note because as we all know, the imposter was the one talking to shadowsight, and NOT starclan.

i think this is all pretty solid evidence that there's at least two spirits behind this.

but i also think that the spirits can manipulate/control other spirits IF theyre already dead

shadowsight, when he had been a spirit, had been guarded by spiresight. spiresight literally stayed behind to make sure all the cats he traveled with were safe and all those cats are now in shadowclan, where the imposter is being healed. its also important to note that the only time the imposter has been seen was when OTHER spirits saw him so just because bramblestar's body is unconscious, doesn't mean the imposter is in the body. when he left it to confront shadowsight, bramblestar's body had slumped over entirely.

it's therefore not out of the realm of probability that the imposter left bramblestar's body to do SOMETHING to spiresight, because that's a very... damning thing to say. "i'll be able to bend any cat to my will, just ask that skinny black cat with the yellow eyes"?

its also very interesting to note that none of the cats who died in the battle went to starclan- rootspring could see all of them, quite easily.