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