Warriors: What If?

Graystripe

What if Graystripe hadn't been taken by the Twolegs?

Well first of all, he would never have met Millie. To some people, this is not a bad thing. But imagine the comedians! We at CloudtailGrandmas would lose about half of our murder books XD
More importantly, the Clan would lose a few of its members like Blossomfall, Bumblestripe, and Briarlight. (sadly, I don't entirely find this to be an issue).

But I wanted to point out that while his lack of a disappearance might not have affected many story plots, it might have affected his character. Being taken away from the Clans gave Graystripe many things. 

First, it gave him a temptation to just be away from the Clans, to leave Silverstream's death and his illegal kits in his past. 

Second, it gave him the ability to think about those conflicts in his life and realize that he truly was a Warrior at heart, and as much as I don't want to say it, Millie gave him a reason to continue living. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Graystripe was depressed until that point. He shows this a great deal when he abandons ThunderClan for RiverClan earlier on in the end of the book- he attaches himself to his kits and to a foreign Clan because he couldn't deal with the loss of his mate. When duty called him back to ThunderClan he did return home, but he was not alive. Not until he went on this journey permanently away from his responsibilites and was able to find himself. And of course, a part of finding himself was getting that new love for Millie, and taking the time to remember his roots and what truly made him a Warrior.

So I think if he hadn't left, he wouldn't have regained his spirit and potential as a Warrior. He would have just gone through the motions, and maybe something could have happened and maybe he would have fallen in love with someone. But Graystripe needed a strong cat, and future ThunderClan cats would not have given him that.

What if Graystripe didn't come back after being taken away by the Twolegs?

In the comics, Graystripe was shown to be very lazy. He took to being a kittypet like a fish to water. It is very VERY easy to allow comforts to lure you from your true path. And I think he definitely would have become a Smudge-esque cat, becoming fat and lazy and maybe occasionally going out with Millie or something.

In the Clans, well obviously the same cats as earlier would not exist. I think Firestar would have lost the support from his friend, but honestly he had given up on Graystripe for a long time and the tom didn't really do anything significant when he returned. It was a wonderful surprise to see him come back in The Sight, but that was it. He kind of just slipped in to the role of all the non-main characters: he just became another Warrior in ThunderClan. 

That's ok, honestly. I would have missed him, but he was gone for about 4 books and in that time a LOT happened. He was an interesting character, but his journey was a personal one, and his ties to most things in the Clans like his kits had already been severed in just the right way that his disappearance wouldn't have made too much of a difference.

(Graystripe was one of my favorites, and I loved  his little comic trilogy. And you can hate all you want, but yeah Millie actually was pretty good for him at least emotionally. She herself has some serious issues and I still feel bad for her kits. But she helped Graystripe in the comics in the best way.)

I'll leave you with that. Comment all the things down below!

Blaze