Hollyleaf's Breakdown in Sunrise

(Spoilers If you have not finished Sunrise yet)

Just a little while ago I was finishing off the final book in The Power of Three arc in the Warriors book series When I noticed something that I haven't noticed before.  Hollyleaf, one of the major characters begun to experience a pretty major downfall towards the end of the book.  When I say a downfall I mean that she had a MAJOR emotional breakdown, because she had begun to have her faith in the Warrior Code begin to shatter.  I know that a couple You-tubers named LZRD WZRD and Tennelle Flowers have briefly touched on this topic, but I want to dive headfirst into Hollyleafs head and break down her breakdown and eventually figure out what triggered her. 

In order to get an understanding of what has happened more recently in the series, I have to put myself and you all into the story that has happened this far into the Power of Three (this is going to be a review to refresh your memory if you have read the book, and throwing those who ignored the spoiler warning at the top of the page into the story).  Recently in story time, Hollyleaf has been struggling to find her identity because Ashfur completely lost his mind in Long Shadows, cornering Squirrelflight, her, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze in a wildfire between a cliff and a wall of flame, challenging Squirrelflight.  This lead to her leaking some information that shook up the entire family saying, "They are not my kits."  All throughout Sunrise, Hollyleaf is struggling with this concept which eventually completely shatters her faith in the Warrior Code.

But where I want to start to look in more detail is what happens to cause that shattering that had occurred, and the actions that followed her breakdown (So pretty much the last five chapters).  In the last five or 6 chapters, there is a series of events that eventually lead to me to take a second to get my breath back and continue reading multiple times.  The first of these events that might have had an impact on her breakdown is when Hollyleaf found out Leafpool was her mother (For those who are not familiar with the medicine cat code, medicine cats can't have kits).  In the chapter where this is revealed, I would say that we are within Hollyleafs perspective of the events unfolding.  We could tell that this is one of the major points when she starts to lose it because when she first found out about it, "she bounded away, her paws slipping on the dead leaves so that she slid to the bottom of the rise in a tangle of legs and tail.  Scrambling to her paws, she pelted toward the deepest places of the forest...She didn't know where she was going, only that she wanted to outrun the lies"  (Hunter 252).  This reaction is one of those points when I began to realize that there was something else at play.  Something that was dark and beyond what I had read prior.  Her faith in the Warrior Code was beginning to die.

Another potential thing that might have pushed her over the edge was finding out that Crowfeather was her father.  Though it is never mentioned directly that you can't have a mate from another clan, it is frowned upon that one would mate with someone that was from a different clan.  Hollyleaf however, was rather disappointed when she found out that she was half clan, as a matter a fact, she was very upset about it.  A day went by after finding out this information and she decided that she was going to do something that would change everything that she thought was true, resulting in the loss of her faith in the Warrior Code.  

Then we get to the gathering, where things start to get very interesting and dark compared to the other parts of the arc. At the gathering she speaks, "'You think you know me,' She began again, ' And my brothers, Lionblaze and Jayfeather of Thunderclan. You think you know us, but everything you have been told about us is a lie..." (Hunter 305)  She goes on to explain to everyone at the gathering that she and her littermates are from Leafpool and Crowfeather.  After the announcement, the Gathering erupted into nonsense.  A million things are written in the book, and I imagine that all of these things are happening at once, If I had the opportunity to animate this scene, I would have all the side conversations going on in split screens, But that is beside the point.  While all these things are going on, she breaks to exit the clearing, and runs all over Thunderclan's territory, ending up in the medicine den.

After all of these events occur it is as if she is completely numb to everything.  This just reminds me of the question from the musical Wicked: Are people born wicked, or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?

The truth is I believe that people (or characters in this context) go through many events, and maybe the smallest thing sets them off.  For Hollyleaf, the thing that made her turn was the recognition that the one thing that she had dedicated her life to had been challenged.  Through a series of events, very close together in her character arc had been the start of her demise.

One thing is certain: That one scene where Ashfur flew off the rails started a chain of events that lead to the demise of one of the Strongest, most faithful characters of the series.

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Hunter, Erin. Sunrise. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2009.