What An Idiot / Warrior Cats

• Into the Wild
  • There is a battle with RiverClan where Redtail is killed. Tigerclaw reports that he was killed by Oakheart, but Ravenpaw knows that Redtail was actually killed by Tigerclaw himself. Tigerclaw realises that Ravenpaw knows this and plots to get him killed so he can't tell anyone what he saw.
    You'd Expect: Tigerclaw to interact with Ravenpaw as normal, apart from keeping a close eye on him to make sure he doesn't tell anyone else what happened at the battle. Seeing as he's Ravenpaw's mentor, he could easily pass this off as him checking how Ravenpaw's training is progressing.
    Instead: He constantly bullies and belittles Ravenpaw, causing Firepaw to question why Tigerclaw hates him so much and to eventually get the true story out of Ravenpaw.
    As a Result: Firepaw and Greypaw save Ravenpaw's life by tricking Tigerclaw into thinking he died, which means that now three cats know Tigerclaw's true nature rather than just one.
  • Brokenstar has taken over as leader of ShadowClan, and one of the new policies he institutes is to start training kits as apprentices when they're three months old, instead of the standard six months. The problem is, apprentices normally start training at six months for a reason. Several kits are killed, either by Brokenstar's Training from Hell or from being thrown into battle against enemy Clans before they're ready.
    You'd Expect: Brokenstar to realize that training kits too young is a bad idea, and stop. Sooner or later, the Clan is going to run out of kits. No kits means no apprentices, which means no warriors.
    Instead: He reasons that the kits must have died because they were too weak. Not only does he continue training young kits, he tries to steal kits from other Clans, including ThunderClan. This gives ThunderClan a perfect excuse to break into the ShadowClan camp, steal the kits back, and help the rest of ShadowClan (who aren't happy with Brokenstar's leadership either) drive him out. Good riddance.
  • After kits are stolen from ThunderClan, Yellowfang scents the trail of ShadowClan warriors near the nursery. Yellowfang was originally from ShadowClan, but has recently proven her loyalty to ThunderClan. However, Brokenstar has been spreading rumours about her being dangerous to kits, and many ThunderClan cats still mistrust her.
    You'd Expect: Yellowfang to immediately alert one of the ThunderClan warriors to the scent she's found so a proper search party can be sent out.
    Instead: She tracks the scent on her own, despite knowing that she'd likely have to take on the whole of ShadowClan alone to bring the kits back.
    Even Worse: Once ThunderClan realise Yellowfang is missing most cats immediately blame her for the kidnap of the kits and also Spottedleaf's murder, and start calling for her death. She even (temporarily) loses the trust of Firepaw and Bluestar, who were the cats who trusted her most.
    As a Result: It's only thanks to some shrewd decision-making on Bluestar's part that Yellowfang isn't killed by ThunderClan warriors for a crime she didn't commit, and that enough warriors are present to take the kits back from ShadowClan.

• Fire and Ice
  • Fireheart and Greystripe have just brought WindClan back home, and Onewhisker and Deadfoot are escorting them back to their own territory.
    You'd expect: The cats to travel through WindClan territory to ThunderClan territory.
    Instead: Fireheart suggests taking a shorter route through RiverClan territory.
    As a result: The four of them meet a RiverClan patrol and get into an unnecessary battle, in which Whiteclaw dies.
    Even worse: As Tigerclaw points out, the battle sends a message to RiverClan that ThunderClan and WindClan are allies, which will drive RiverClan and ShadowClan closer together and make an attack on ThunderClan more likely.
    And the worst is: According to any available◊ landscape maps◊, it wasn't even a shorter route...

• A Dangerous Path
  • After Tigerclaw's betrayal Bluestar has lost all faith in her clan and in StarClan, and is making poor decisions which put her clan in danger.
    You'd expect: Fireheart and Whitestorm, the two cats who are closest to Bluestar and who know how mentally ill she is, to gently explain to the rest of the clan that Bluestar is no longer fit to be their leader.
    Instead: They both try to hide how ill she is from the rest of the clan and rationalise away her unusual behaviour.
    As a result: Bluestar nearly causes an unnecessary battle with WindClan, in which many warriors would be injured or killed.

• Long Shadows
  • Half of ThunderClan is dying of greencough, which can only be cured by catmint. ThunderClan's supply of catmint has been trampled in a recent battle, but Jaypaw uses his powers to find a supply of catmint in WindClan territory, and asks Lionblaze to get some. However, Lionblaze won't go because he's terrified that his nightmares where he murders Heathertail will come true.
    You'd expect: Jaypaw to ask some other cat to go. Most cats would jump at a chance to save half the clan from greencough, even if it meant trespassing onto another clan's territory. The tunnels leading into WindClan territory used to be a secret but by this point the entire clan knows about them, so in theory any cat could go.
    Instead: Jaypaw decides to guilt-trip Lionblaze into going.
    As a result: Lionblaze eventually goes, but not until Firestar has lost a life to the sickness. Lionblaze also only narrowly avoids murdering Heathertail.
  • When a fire hits the camp, Ashfur takes this opportunity to get revenge on Squirrelflight by forcing her to watch her children burn to death. He brags about his sadistic plot at length to Squirrelflight, who replies that it won't hurt her because they're not really her children.
    You'd Expect: That Ashfur would not believe Squirrelflight, given that she has literally every reason to lie to him about this. ^note She's actually telling the truth, but he has no way of knowing that.
    Instead: Ashfur, for some reason, wholeheartedly believes the words of the she-cat whose children he is about to murder. In fact, he has such faith in her honesty that he immediately lets his victims go... apparently thinking that they value 'being honest to a serial killer' over 'not burning to death'. Yes, Ashfur's batshit crazy at this point, but... really?
    You'd then expect: Squirrelflight to say to Ashfur that she lied to save her kits' lives as soon as they are safe. Her kits are trained warriors, they can easily defend themselves from Ashfur once they're not trapped by the fire.
    Instead: She doesn't, meaning that four more cats now know her secret. This eventually leads to Ashfur's murder, Hollyleaf's death, and Leafpool leaving her position as medicine cat.

• Sunrise
  • Hollyleaf is becoming increasingly obsessed with the warrior code, and both of her brothers have noticed this.
    You'd expect: Them to gently explain to her that the code is only a guide, and that sometimes doing what's right means breaking the code.
    Instead: They do nothing, meaning that Hollyleaf's dwindling sanity completely deserts her when she finds out that her mother severely broke the warrior code.
    As a result: She publicly shames Squirrelflight and Leafpool, tries to murder Leafpool, and then gets herself killed.