Winds of Change is a standalone Warrior Cats manga, taking place during the events of Starlight.
After the Clans arrive at the lake, Mudclaw is hopeful for WindClan's future, but he doesn't trust the other three Clans, despite the journey. Tallstar argues with him a few times over this, since he wants all of the Clans to remain friends now that their shared experience has brought them together, but Mudclaw thinks that that's not what's best for their Clan. Tallstar dies, and to Mudclaw's shock, Firestar reports that just before Tallstar died, he named Onewhisker as deputy instead of Mudclaw. Mudclaw is furious, and when Onewhisker asks him to continue being deputy, he refuses.
WindClan goes to their new camp, and Mudclaw sulks, thinking poorly of the new deputy Ashfoot, and refusing to answer questions because he's no longer the deputy, so it's not his problem. Webfoot and Nightcloud privately tell him that until StarClan gives Onewhisker nine lives, they don't view him as leader. This makes Mudclaw wonder if StarClan has in fact followed them to the lake after all.
In the morning, the elders Morningflower and Darkfoot are sick, and Mudclaw helps Barkface look for herbs. When they return, Leafpaw of ThunderClan has already helped the elders, and Onewhisker decides to give a chunk of land to ThunderClan. Mudclaw tries to convince him that this isn't what's best for WindClan, but Onewhisker doesn't listen.
At the next Gathering, Hawkfrost comes to Mudclaw and hints that Firestar might be trying to take over WindClan, and he suggests that Mudclaw might need allies in the future. At the end of the Gathering, Hawkfrost asks him to meet on the island at moonhigh the following day. There, he repeats what he'd said earlier about Firestar, and hints that he wants to be made WindClan deputy in exchange for helping Mudclaw.
Things get even more tense between Onewhisker and Mudclaw: he gives Mudclaw a direct order to train apprentices, and then yells at him for telling the apprentices to imagine that they're fighting a ThunderClan cat instead of a fox. Mudclaw goes to ShadowClan territory and talks to Cedarheart about what he thinks Firestar's planning, and they gain more supporters - although Mudclaw's brother Tornear doesn't want to follow him anymore after seeing Mudclaw almost let a fox kill Onewhisker.
Leafpaw reports having found a new place to commune with StarClan, and Mudclaw and Hawkfrost know they've run out of time: they have no choice but to kill Onewhisker. They plan to rush in, kill him, and get out, but just after they start their attack, a ThunderClan patrol arrives. Eventually Mudclaw realizes that they're outnumbered and that there's no way to win, so he flees. Brambleclaw chases him and they fight; Hawkfrost arrives and helps his brother instead of Mudclaw. Mudclaw gets away and, as he runs, wonders how Hawkfrost could betray him and lie like that... and then he realizes that Hawkfrost may have been lying all along.
Suddenly, lightning strikes a tree and it falls on Mudclaw, and everything goes dark. When he next opens his eyes, he's in StarClan, being greeted by Tallstar. Tallstar confirms that he did in fact make Onewhisker deputy, and explains why he made that decision. Mudclaw regrets his actions, and Tallstar brings him to Onewhisker's nine lives ceremony. Mudclaw gives him a life for determination, and asks Onewhisker to forgive him. He promises to watch over him: that together, they'll make sure that WindClan is safe.
Tropes appearing in this volume:
- Afterlife Welcome: Tallstar greets Mudclaw in StarClan.
- Assassination Attempt: The goal of Mudclaw and Hawkfrost's attack is to kill Onewhisker.
- Battle in the Rain: The attack on Onewhisker in the WindClan camp happens during the rain, which turns into a thunderstorm.
- Blood from the Mouth: Brambleclaw has some blood on the side of his mouth when pinned down by Mudclaw.
- Cain and Abel: Although Mudclaw and his littermate Tornear are very close to each other at the start of the volume, Tornear eventually makes the decision not to support Mudclaw anymore after seeing that his brother would have let a Clanmate die. They come face-to-face and fight each other in the battle, with Mudclaw attempting to kill Onewhisker, and Tornear fighting in Onewhisker's defense.
- Close Up On Head: In one scene, there are two panels showing Mudclaw's eyes next to some sideways blades of grass, and then the next panel shows him waking up in StarClan.
- The Coup: Mudclaw, already believing that Onewhisker isn't the right cat to be leader, is manipulated by Hawkfrost until he believes that killing Onewhisker and becoming leader himself is the only way to make WindClan safe.
- Crying Critters: Several cats including Onewhisker and Morningflower have tears running down their cheeks at Tallstar's vigil.
- Doesn't Trust Those Guys: Despite having gone on a long journey with the other Clans, Mudclaw refuses to believe that any of them can be trusted. He even states at one point that he's never trusted ThunderClan and never will.
- Dramatic Thunder: For most of the battle in the WindClan camp it's just raining, but it changes to a thunderstorm when Mudclaw and his supporters flee, culminating in the confrontation between Mudclaw, Brambleclaw, and Hawkfrost.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Rather than Mudclaw dying in a dramatic battle, a tree fell on him when it was struck by lightning. Funny enough, said tree was then used as a bridge, so it's a case of literally dropping a bridge on him.
- Ear Notch: True to his name, Tornear has a chunk missing from his ear.
- Facepalm: Mudclaw facepaws after seeing Onewhisker fall off a tree stump in front of the entire Gathering.
- Killed Off for Real: Tallstar loses his ninth life.
- King on His Deathbed: Tallstar is very weak, and Mudclaw acknowledges that he won't survive much longer. He starts to plan for WindClan's future under his own leadership, but doesn't expect Tallstar to name Onewhisker as his successor instead.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Mudclaw realizes that they have to give up the fight after seeing how badly outnumbered they are.
- Leader Wannabe: The book revolves around Mudclaw believing that he is the rightful leader of WindClan and that he'd certainly do a better job than Onewhisker.
- Literal Soapbox Speech: The leaders use a nearby tree stump as an impromptu "Great Rock" to address the Clans. Unfortunately, it's not big enough to fit all four of them, and Onewhisker falls off of it at one point.
- Murder by Inaction: Mudclaw sees a fox behind Onewhisker and thinks that it might be best if the fox kills him. Tornear warns Onewhisker, and confronts his brother about it afterward; it's this action that made Tornear decide not to support Mudclaw anymore.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Mudclaw says this upon realizing that his coup was wrong all along.
- Perspective Flip: Several scenes in this book were originally seen from Brambleclaw and Leafpaw's points of view in Starlight, but are now seen from Mudclaw's perspective.
- Rapid-Fire "No!": During Mudclaw's Assassination Attempt on Onewhisker, Mudclaw thinks "No - no no no!" when he sees a ThunderClan patrol arrive to foil his plans.
- Run or Die: Mudclaw and his supporters are badly outnumbered after ThunderClan's two patrols arrive, and he knows that their only option now is to flee and hope to survive.
- Scene Cover: Although it doesn't perfectly match a panel, the cover is from the scene where Hawkfrost first brings Mudclaw to the island to talk.
- Series Continuity Error:
- Onewhisker is pictured with a scar on his ear early on. The only previous source that mentioned he had the scar was the books' original app, which said he got that scar from challenging Tallstar in a dream after becoming leader, so since Tallstar's still alive at the start, Onewhisker shouldn't have the scar yet.
- Brightheart and Cloudtail are part of the ThunderClan patrol in the battle at the WindClan camp. In Starlight, they were assigned to guard the ThunderClan camp during the battle while the patrol was away.
- Sickening "Crunch!": Mudclaw's death - being crushed under a tree - is depicted with just one paw sticking out and a "CRACK!" sound effect over it.
- Stargazing Scene: There are two scenes where Mudclaw gazes up at the stars. In the first, he wonders if StarClan really traveled to the lake with them. In the second, he's with his littermate Tornear and they discuss Onewhisker's leadership before being overheard by Webfoot and Nightcloud.
- Still the Leader: With his dying breaths, Tallstar decides that he doesn't want Mudclaw to be the next leader, so he makes Onewhisker his successor instead.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Mudclaw and his littermate Tornear have near-identical markings compared to other tabbies.
- While You Were in Diapers: Onewhisker tells Mudclaw to show more respect to Tallstar, because Tallstar was leader when Mudclaw was a kit mewling in the nursery.
- Wingding Eyes: Some of the dead prey animals have X's for eyes.
- You Fool!: After Mudclaw protests Onewhisker giving away some of their new territory, Onewhisker says that Mudclaw's a fool if he thinks it's just about herbs.
