Breather Episode: The second half of the arc, which is just about the settlement on the lake, and with the exception of the badger attack and final confrontation of Hawkfrost, this part is generally far lighter than Midnight, Moonrise, or Dawn.
Broken Base: To this day, many people disagree on whether Brambleclaw or Squirrelflight were in the right during their quarrel in the second half of the arc. Some people believe that Squirrelflight was totally in the right for repeatedly trying to warn Brambleclaw about Hawkfrost's bloodthirsty ambitions, warnings he ignored, and because Brambleclaw secretly trained with Tigerstar, despite knowing how evil he was. Others argue that Brambleclaw was in the right because he wanted to get to know his half-brother, whose untrustworthiness Squirrelflight had no concrete proof of, and because of how unnecessarily rude, hostile and judgmental Squirrelflight was during their arguments. A third continent goes with Both Sides Have a Point, saying that Brambleclaw ultimately should've listened to Squirrelflight, but the latter definitely could have handled the situation better.
Some fans believe that Hawkfrost was doing the right thing when he tried to, you know, kill Firestar.
Mudclaw. While he did get to StarClan because he believed he was doing the right thing, there are quite a few fans who try to make it seem like Mudclaw did nothing wrong, and claim that Mudclaw murdering Onewhisker would have been in line with the warrior code.
Harsher in Hindsight: Hawkfrost kicking Stormfur out of RiverClan in Sunset becomes this when you read the novella A Shadow in RiverClan and learn that, in his apprenticehood, he genuinely admired and got along with Feathertail...Stormfur's sister.
He's Just Hiding: Graystripe is an interesting case. From the perspective of the characters, it seemed almost certain that Graystripe was dead or was going to die. The readers, on the other hand, know that it's highly unlikely that Twolegs would kill an innocent cat intentionally, so it was pretty clear that Graystripe was alive, even if he might never return.
It Was His Sled: Hawkfrost and Mothwing are Tigerstar's children, Mothwing is an atheist, Tigerstar comes back, and the forest is destroyed.
Portmanteau Couple Name: Fans who ship Mothwing and Leafpool usually refer to the ship as “Mothpool”.
Romantic Plot Tumor: The second half of the arc can be most accurately summed up as "Brambleclaw/Squirrelflight/Ashfur fight and angst about their Love Triangle" and "Leafpool angsts about her feelings for Crowfeather". In fact, the excessive focus on love drama instead of the adjustments to life at the lake is a serious part of why The New Prophecy, or at best it's second half, is considered one of the weaker arcs.
Ron the Death Eater: Squirrelflight among certain fans, is portrayed to be leading along Ashfur to purposely break his heart and ultimately was 100% responsible for Ashfur's hiddenFace–Heel Turn near the end of the arc. If she's not outright mutilated, Ashfur becomes a victim and she becomes an evil heartless she-cat. All this despite the Word of God that Squirrelflight was not intentionally leading him on.
Seasonal Rot: The New Prophecy is considered a weak point in the franchise due to two things: fans thinking the Great Journey should have spanned many more books than it did (it's wrapped up in one) and the conflict in the second half of the arc being the relationship drama between Leafpool and Crowfeather and Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight. Word of God (Vicky) has even stated Sunset was one of the worst quality books.
The Scrappy: Onewhisker was a very well-liked warrior back in the first arc. Once he became Onestar, he took a huge level in jerkass, which turned him into this.
Strangled by the Red String: Crowfeather/Leafpool doesn't have much buildup. They just suddenly jump from 'acquaintances' to 'in love'. Especially disappointing when contrasted with the more believable growth of Crowfeather's relationship with Feathertail.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Hawkfrost's backstory gave him a lot of potential as either a villain or a hero. He's established early as wanting to serve his Clan well, but tending to take it too far—this could have warped into a Knight Templar attitude over time, or tempered down. He could have been shown to hate Tigerstar for betraying his Clan, or Tigerstar could have been shown to be taking advantage of his Word of God abandonment issues to groom him as a successor. Some even think that Leafpool and Squirrelflight's suspicion of him should have been a Red Herring and that Mothwing was the evil one all along, which would have tied into the message of not judging Tigerstar's kin by appearance. But at the end of the day, his motives for turning evil are just that he's power-hungry.
Unpopular Popular Character: Most characters try to avoid Purdy because of his long-winded stories and senile ramblings. Fans love him for the same reason.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Depends on who you ask, but as mentioned above, some people dislike Squirrelflight's treatment of Brambleclaw in the second half of the arc. After three books of slowly falling in love, Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw are on the verge of officially becoming mates, but when Brambleclaw befriends his RiverClan half-brother, Hawkfrost, he and Squirrelflight have a serious falling out. Squirrelflight distrusts Hawkfrost and this distrust is ultimately proven right when he reveals himself to be an ambitious, murderousManipulative Bastard. Judging by the authors' comments in Squirrelflight's Character Spotlight page and on other pages, readers are supposed to see her as being entirely in the right. However, some people argue that just because Squirrlflight was proven right about Hawkfrost in the end doesn't mean the way she acted and treated Brambleclaw was okay. As soon as Brambleclaw befriends Hawkfrost, Squirrelflight immediately loses her temper and starts yelling at him, berating him when he doesn't immediately agree with her even though she has no concrete proof for her accusations against Hawkfrost. She repeats this several times, even outright accusing Brambleclaw of being disloyal in front of their Clanmates twice, which only ends up pushing Brambleclaw away from her and further into Hawkfrost's influence. Some people also regard Squirrelflight's demands that Brambleclaw choose between her and Hawkfrost as hypocritical because she has a close bond with her own sister, Leafpool.
