The Last Hope is the sixth and final book in the fourth
Warrior Cats series,
Omen of the Stars.
Tropes appearing in this book:
- Almost Dead Guy:
- Hollyleaf forgives Leafpool and says that she's not afraid to die with her last breaths.
- Spottedleaf tells Firestar that she can't travel with him any longer as her spirit fades away for good. Subverted when she has one last thing to say to him, but it's too late and she dies with it unresolved.
- Firestar uses his dying moments to rid the world of his Arch-Enemy forever. His last words aren't a lament, but a badass quip.
- And I Must Scream: When Beetlewhisker dies in the Dark Forest, his spirit is trapped in his body because StarClan can't reach him and the Dark Forest refuse to take him. This leaves him in a state of perpetual agony until, according to the authors, the Dark Forest is defeated and StarClan finally rescues him.
- Back for the Dead: Hollyleaf had only just returned partway through the last book from being presumed dead, only to be killed by Hawkfrost in this one.
- Back for the Finale: The book was originally intended to be Grand Finale of the series, and still serves as the finale of Omen of the Stars and the plotline that began in Power of Three. The Erins brought back most of the cast of the Original Series, along with several minor characters who hadn't appeared for a while, and a ton of other characters from the backstory of the series: Adderfang, Brindleface, Broken Shadow, Cedarstar (mistakenly called "Cedarheart"), Cinderpelt (in person - er, cat), Fallen Leaves, Flametail, Frostfur, Goosefeather, Half Moon, Hollyflower, Lionheart, Longtail, Mosskit, Owl Feather, Redtail, Runningwind, Silverstream, Slant, Snowfur, Sparrowfeather, Sunstar, Swiftbreeze, Swiftpaw, Tawnyspots, and Whitestorm all make their returns here.
- Backup from Otherworld: The Ancients and StarClan join the Clans to fight against the Dark Forest.
- Big Badass Battle Sequence: Basically, the cat versions of Heaven and Hell start fighting an epic war on Earth, and dozens of cats both living and dead kick ass.
- Big Damn Heroes: Hollyleaf saves Ivypool when she was cornered by Hawkfrost, giving her life in the process.
- Blunt "Yes": Tigerstar's response to Firestar:
Firestar: Has it been worth it, Tigerstar? All the hate? All the death?
Tigerstar: Every moment.
- Book Ends:
- When Omen of the Stars was still intended to be the ending of the main Warriors series, the series began with Firestar entering the forest for the first time and ended with Firestar's death. Kate Cary was also the one to write Into the Wild and also the one to write The Last Hope, so she felt that was fitting and was very pleased to have been the one chosen to write it.
- The last lines of The Last Hope are this in the best way possible.
There will be three cats, kin of your kin, with the power of the stars in their paws. They will find a fourth, and the battle between light and dark will be won. A new leader will rise from the shadows of his death, and the Clans will survive beyond the memories of his memories. That is how it has always been, and how it always will be.
- Call-Back:
- Firestar comments, "I guess fire will save the Clans once more", which brings us back all the way to the first book, Into the Wild.
- Tigerstar's "The Dark Forest is endless" line is a call back to Night Whispers.
- Cavalry of the Dead: The Dark Forest is a villainous variation of this. StarClan and The Tribe of Endless Hunting pull this for the Clans, along with Midnight.
- Continuity Cavalcade: During the big battle, most characters from the original series, several minor characters who hadn't appeared for a while, and a ton of other characters from the backstory of the series, all show up as Backup from Otherworld.
- Continuity Porn: Though the entirety of Omen of the Stars has it, The Last Hope especially does. Not only does it include appearances by many cats from the earlier series and the Expanded Universe, but after Firestar's death, all nine of the cats who gave him nine lives appear to take him to StarClan, with their gifts they gave repeated.
- Courier: Apprentices play this role during the battle against the Dark Forest cats - traveling through a battle-filled forest where any enemy will kill them on sight so that the Clans can send messages to each other on the status of their warriors.
- Crisis Crossover: The Last Hope is as close as you can get to a self-contained Crisis Crossover, with loads of screentime for all past and present protagonists, the final battles with all the past villains, and cameos by nearly every ThunderClan cat from the first arc.
- Darkest Hour: The Clans are facing possible destruction by the Dark Forest.
- Dark Is Evil: The villains are from the Dark Forest, and almost all are dark brown, dark gray, or black cats.
- The Day of Reckoning: The Dark Forest invasion in this book is the big showdown that the Power of Three and Omen of the Stars arcs have been leading up to.
- Deader than Dead: Several Dark Forest and StarClan spirits receive "fatal" wounds, making their spirits disappear entirely, including Spottedleaf, Brokenstar, Hawkfrost, and Tigerstar.
- Decapitated Army: Most of the Dark Forest cats flee after Yellowfang kills Brokenstar's spirit.
- Dragon Their Feet: Tigerstar, the Big Bad, becomes Brokenstar's dragon in the Dark Forest. However, since Tigerstar is eternally the true Big Bad, he shows up after Brokenstar's death as the final villain in this book.
- Ensemble Cast: The Omen of the Stars arc features four main protagonists: Jayfeather, Lionblaze, Dovewing, and Ivypool.
- Evil Counterpart: Mapleshade is one for Spottedleaf. Both were involved in a forbidden relationship, but had to watch as their former loved one moved on from them and took another mate, this time in a relationship permitted by the code. Spottedleaf's love for Firestar was so great that she approved of his choice and, as a spirit, cared for his loved ones and descendents like her own. Mapleshade, however, was blinded by vengeance, and as a spirit she tried to corrupt and destroy the descendants of her former mate. Suddenly The Last Hope having Mapleshade be Spottedleaf's ultimate opponent makes perfect sense.
- Evil Is Deathly Cold:
- The Dark Forest/Place of No Stars, the Clan cats' equivalent of Fire and Brimstone Hell, is a cold, empty place under a black and starless sky, where no warmth or sunlight ever comes and cats must wander alone.
- The power of the Dark Forest freezes over StarClan territory in The Last Hope.
- Final Battle: The battle with the Dark Forest was meant to be the big finale of the series. It has been built up for the past two arcs, and finally comes in this book, taking up a whole quarter of the book.
- Final Exchange: The book contains quite a few of these.
- Blackstar kills his traitorous warrior Redwillow:
Redwillow: Your time is over. You're nothing but an elder growing old over and over. Why don't you just give up and die?
Blackstar: I am still leader of this Clan. And you have betrayed us all. (slashes Redwillow's chest)
- Ivypool and the villainous Hawkfrost battle, before Brambleclaw kills his evil half-brother's spirit:
Ivypool: You murderer! Liar! Betrayer!
Hawkfrost: You're the traitor. And this time I'll kill you.
Brambleclaw: No, you won't!
Firestar: Has it been worth it, Tigerstar? All the hate? All the death?
Tigerstar: Every moment. The moment Bluestar found you, I became nothing! I have waited all this time to have my revenge! When you're dead, I can rule the Clans or kill them.
Firestar: I will not die until the forest is safe from you. You lived like a rogue. You can die like a rogue.
- Gender Bender:
- Bluestar's kit Mosskit was called male in Forest of Secrets and Secrets of the Clans, and then female in Cats of the Clans and Bluestar's Prophecy. Though the authors decided that the canon gender is female, Mosskit appears as both in different parts of the book.
- Sunstrike is referred to as male:
"Any sign of them?" Sunstrike murmured to his Clanmates.
- Hollowflight is called female:
"If you want to come back, bring a patrol and be prepared to fight!" Hollowflight growled after him. Lashing his tail, Jayfeather marched away from her.
- Sparrowfeather is male in one scene:
Sparrowfeather flexed his claws.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: When Beetlewhisker says that he's going to leave the Dark Forest because he didn't know that they wanted to destroy the Clans, Brokenstar leaps on him and kills him.
- The Hero Dies: The main character of the series, Firestar, dies in this book.
- If It Tastes Bad, It Must Be Good for You: Briarlight complains about healing herbs being bitter, asking Jayfeather why they have to taste so bad. He replies that it keeps rabbits and mice from eating them.
- I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Spottedleaf towards Firestar. When Mapleshade almost kills Sandstorm because she "stole" Firestar from Spottedleaf, Spottedleaf says that there was nothing left to steal and that Sandstorm made him happy. Mapleshade ends up killing Spottedleaf for this.
- I Was Having Such a Nice Dream: Ivypool is spying on the Dark Forest and is just about to hear the plans for the final battle when Dovewing awakens her.
- I Will Wait for You: Silverstream's spirit says this word for word to Graystripe.
- Kick the Dog: There's one cat that The Last Hope really wants you to know is an evil bastard, and it's not Brokenstar or Tigerstar. It's not even Shredtail. It's Hawkfrost. Sure, Brokenstar murdered Beetlewhisker, but Hawkfrost made it personal when he kicked the corpse and smugly mocked Beetlewhisker. Then, he goes on to nearly kill fan-favorite Ivypool, and actually succeeds in killing Hollyleaf, another fan-favorite (admittedly without Ivypool's absurd levels of popularity). Then, he spends the rest of his screentime rubbing it in to Ivypool and Brambleclaw that he killed Hollyleaf. He really has his death coming.
- Killed Off for Real: Firestar loses his ninth life in this book. Several spirits from the Dark Forest and StarClan are also killed.
- Killer Finale: The Last Hope is the last book of the Omen of the Stars arc, and involves the death of several major characters and supporting side characters, such as the original main character Firestar, Power of Three protagonist Hollyleaf, the ThunderClan cats Ferncloud and Sorreltail, and the spirits of Spottedleaf, Tigerstar, Hawkfrost, and Brokenstar.
- The Last Title: The Last Hope.
- Mama Bear: Lionblaze sets Daisy and Brightheart to defend the nursery, saying that there's no cat more dangerous than a queen.
- Mutual Kill: Firestar confronts the vengeful spirit of his archnemesis Tigerstar. Firestar manages to destroy Tigerstar's spirit, ridding the Clans of him once and for all. However, Firestar dies from the wounds Tigerstar inflicted on him during the battle.
- No Body Left Behind: When Beetlewhisker is killed in the Dark Forest, his body disappears in the living world.
- Not Too Dead to Save the Day: In Sunrise, Hollyleaf discovered that her entire life had been a lie and in violation of the code she'd devoted her life to, has a mental breakdown, and apparently died in a tunnel cave-in. Five books later, she reappeared. In the very next book, The Last Hope, she's dead for real - but only after helping save the day in the final battle!
- No, You: The heroic Brambleclaw has captured his treacherous brother Hawkfrost. Ivypool, Hawkfrost's former apprentice, calls him a traitor, and it shows just how out of it Hawkfrost is when he, the largest ham in the series and eternal master of banter, can only reply with, "You're the traitor."
- Please Wake Up: When Ferncloud is killed, one of the kits wonders what happened, and another one tells them not to worry, that Ferncloud is only asleep and that Dustpelt will wake her up. At this point, Dustpelt is begging Ferncloud not to leave him.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Firestar's final line before killing Tigerstar's spirit:
Firestar: You lived like a rogue. You can die like a rogue!
- Quirky Mini Boss Squad: The Dark Forest warriors, who exist to flesh out the Dark Forest and serve as climactic fights during the book.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Redwillow gives one to Blackstar, sneering that he's just old and should die. Blackstar shuts him up by calling him a traitor and killing him.
- The Resenter: Tigerstar reveals during his and Firestar's Final Battle that he became nothing the moment Firestar joined the Clan. Thus, he had waited for so long to get vengeance on his rival.
- Resignations Not Accepted: The Dark Forest. Beetlewhisker tries to leave, but Brokenstar kills him.
- Screw Destiny: Lionblaze wants to prove to Cinderheart that destiny doesn't control their lives when the latter thinks so. So he starts a fight with a ShadowClan patrol and deliberately lets Ratscar beat him. It backfires, for Cinderheart gets angry at him for being hurt (since his power prevents him from being hurt) and trying to avoid his destiny. The next time he persuades her, she finally chooses him as her mate.
- Series Continuity Error:
- Antpelt is still listed in the Allegiances after dying in the previous book.
- The start of the book mentions that Ivypool had killed Antpelt's spirit in order to prove herself to Tigerstar. It was actually Brokenstar who she'd asked to talk to about becoming a Dark Forest warrior and who gave her the order.
- The book claims that the last time Rock appeared, it had been to tell Jayfeather to let Flametail drown (at the end of Night Whispers). He actually had appeared in Sign of the Moon when Jayfeather was time-traveling.
- Redtail is mentioned to have given Firestar a life for courage. He actually gave Firestar a life for justice; Lionheart was the one who gave the life with courage.
- Series Fauxnale: The Last Hope was intended to be the grand finale, and included the big battle between the Clans and the Dark Forest that they'd been building up to for two series, wrapped up other plotlines, and gave characters one last moment of glory, including some long-dead characters making a cameo. More books ended up coming out afterward.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Blackstar delivers an epic one to Redwillow and kills him on the spot.
- Shut Up, Kirk!: Firestar asks Big Bad Tigerstar if all the hate and death was worth it; Tigerstar responds "every moment."
- Sky Face: The Simplified Chinese cover.
- Talking Is a Free Action: Graystripe is overjoyed to see Whitestorm again when StarClan shows up for the Final Battle, but Whitestorm cuts him off, saying, "This is a battle, not a reunion." Then, on the next page, a random Dark Forest mook offs Mousefur when she stops fighting to talk with Longtail. However, when Tigerstar shows up, he stands around talking with Firestar for a few pages before they actually fight.
- This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself:
- When Ivypool attacks Hawkfrost to avenge Hollyleaf's death, Dovewing runs forward to help her, but Firestar blocks her, saying "Let Ivypool settle this." Brambleclaw ends up going instead and kills his half-brother's spirit.
- Immediately afterward, when Firestar and Tigerstar are ready for their Final Battle, Graystripe is about to step in, but Whitestorm holds him back, saying that it's Firestar's battle. Sorreltail also holds Sandstorm back when it looks like Tigerstar is overpowering Firestar.
- Throwing the Fight: Lionblaze tries to Screw Destiny by losing a fight. It doesn't really work out.
- Title Drop: The Last Hope gets dropped at least five times in the book, two of them from the prologue alone.
- Together in Death: Rather painfully subverted. Spottedleaf made a promise that this would happen with Firestar when he eventually dies; however, shortly before this happens, Spottedleaf is killed Deader than Dead and undergoes Cessation of Existence.
- Took a Level in Badass: Daisy. When she joins ThunderClan, she's absolutely terrified of living in the wild and has no useful skills. Attempts to train her in even the basic self-defense fail miserably, and for a long time the only thing she does for her Clan is looking after kits. It takes her a long time but she eventually shows willingness to defend her Clan, and manages to get training just in time for battle with the Dark Forest, where she proves to be a pretty effective fighter.
- Uncertain Doom: Cloudtail was mentioned as lying motionless in battle, and fans didn't think they'd ever learn if he survived or not (until Bramblestar's Storm, Dovewing's Silence, and a sixth series were announced and he re-appeared in those).
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Unexpected Character: Lots of unexpected characters pop up in The Last Hope, such as Redtail, Raggedstar and Mosskit. But almost nobody was expecting Brambleberry's cameo appearance at the beginning where she is one of the first cats to ever successfully give Jayfeather a lecture. - Unreliable Narrator: The author who wrote the book said that Dovewing hallucinated Firestar walking away from Tigerstar, and that he actually died from wounds received in the fight with him. Then again, another of the authors stated that Firestar died from the smoke of a nearby tree that was struck by lightning, so this may actually be a case of unreliable God.
- Walking Wasteland: This is part of the power of the Dark Forest. If they enter the physical world, everything they touch starts to decay. During The Last Hope, a huge army of Dark Forest warriors appear on WindClan territory and their decay powers start turning it into a second Dark Forest. Fortunately, Ivypool and Hollyleaf chase off the warriors before it can happen.
- Would Hurt a Child: The Dark Forest cats appear to have no qualms about attacking kits or elders, because a ShadowClan kit ends up dead during the final battle.
- Writers Cannot Do Math: Firestar's nine lives is quite the Continuity Snarl for various reasons, but when you count how many he lost in the books, it altogether adds up to him having only lost seven or eight lives when he dies for good: Scourge in The Darkest Hour, rats in Firestar's Quest, a falling tree in Dawn, potentially the fox trap in Sunset (which the authors and books have flip-flopped on), greencough in Long Shadows, a fox mentioned at the start of The Fourth Apprentice, Russetfur in Fading Echoes, wounds from Tigerstar in The Last Hope.
