What Are the Powers of Three? - Sunny's Spiel | Warriors Analysis

I’ve danced around this topic several times in other videos, most notably in my discussions of what caused Power of Three and Omen of the Stars to fail, but I really wanted a chance to sit down and talk about this directly. Most everyone who has heard of either of those arcs in the fandom has some idea of what the powers are, but the reality is much more complicated, and the powers of the three are far less balanced, and sometimes far less powerful, than they claim to be.
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[@Moonkitti]

As far as Lionblaze goes, while he is inconsistent, I don't think his anger was ever the intention. Looking at his "battle training" with Ashfur, and his post-power experiences in Dovewing's Silence, I feel like, although written poorly and with a lot of mistakes, the *intention* was some level of indestructability. I believe they were operating on a "as long as he's fighting his best" rule, however. Especially when compounded with the concept that his fighting skill hasn't actually been implied to get worse, which I feel like it would if it was about his level of adrenaline or his skill itself.

[@Sunnyfall]

I definitely think that's what the intention was, as well. A power like indestructibility just seems to fall apart when you have numerous examples in different situation of the character being destructible.

[@Blaze_the_cat_]

​@@Sunnyfall I've always thought it was he was indestructible against anyone he viewed as an enemy

[@unkwonblue5517]

@@Sunnyfallperhaps he can win any battles against cats only?

[@sirbobthemarvelous]

I was under the impression that dovewing's look into the dark forest was only possible Because it was right before the final battle as cats were on the verge of crossing over and that she couldn't see it without the imminent dimensional tear

[@frozenandchosen]

That’s how I read it too, just wish it was all explained better

[@Hawkkz]

I hope by now that they've finally figured out how to plan these stories more effectively in advance. When I re-visited the beginning of Power of Three not too long ago, I honestly found the way that Lionblaze and Hollyleaf were written are all too similar especially in The Sight. Of course, Lionblaze is practically a personality-less husk without his powers and Hollyleaf has waaay more going for her in terms of character by the end of Omen of the Stars, but you can really feel the effects of the Erins' inopportune planning right up until about that 3rd book in Power of Three. It's obvious that the only protagonist they had a kinda sort-of idea about was Jayfeather and that they thought the rest would just fall in place. But considering how messy Jayfeather's powers ended up being anyway, it really makes me question how exactly they're drafting these books in the first place.

[@BluezPlant]

ohmgosh hello Hawkz! nice wc content you have there

[@WEYffles]

Love your vids!

[@Moony1568]

I don’t think they draft them at all. I think they have rough outlines and then make up the rest as they go. The books that are published are most likely the first drafts (this holds more water when you remember the plethora of mistakes all throughout the books)

[@pillowmoment]

On the warriors website there was a poll for what powers Hollyleaf could’ve had. One of them was “to make others speak the truth.” I think this is a brilliant power that works both inside and outside of the plot. It also pairs well with Jayfeather’s power. He can figure something out, she can confirm it. This power would not have worked in her early character arc, though. She would’ve taken advantage of it and abused it. It would’ve made more sense for her power to have been taken away from her because of what she did. As a punishment. This power could’ve allowed more Dark Forest trainees to admit their faults and go more into depth about how manipulated they truly were, if she stayed around that long. This power does not avoid the issue with Lionblaze and personality. His power was his personality. It’s likely this would've happened for hollyleaf as well. Jayfeather’s power was almost a compromise for his sight. I think his power is just mindwalking. Dovewing’s power makes a lot more sense than any of the others. It’s clear, and exists on the base of something she already has. She is not disadvantaged by losing it, it’s simply hard for her. Her sense of hearing is amplified. That’s all. Most people can imagine how something looks based on the sound or smell, but that’s a loose picture. This part of her mind is, again, amplified. She doesn’t need to imagine this, she can see it. Her power builds on things both others characters and readers have. And it doesn’t meddle too much with her personality, until she loses them of course. The powers make little to no sense. They are framed as so much bigger than they should be. Throughout POT and some sections of OOTS i just liked reading Jayfeather’s parts because they felt a lot more developed. But Hollyleaf’s whole arc is so bare and inconsistent. Her “character development” was clunky. It would’ve made more sense for her to have a power. As she grew more confused she would abuse the power for answers, and she would become more angry, leading to her eventually break. Then, without her knowledge, her powers would be taken away before she disappeared. She would eventually notice, and then everything else stays the same Dovewing’s story would remain unchanged. But she would only be given powers because StarClan didn’t know what else to do. She is distant kin from Firestar. Almost as if they were reaching for anybody else to give the powers to. The idea of a fourth cat is kinds dumb and i think it was stupid, but a good excuse for characters to resolve relationships with others, which was fine. In short: Hollyleaf could’ve had a super cool power, and arc, but she didn’t. Lionblaze was just his power, which wasn’t even that cool. Jayfeather’s power is weird. Dovewing makes more sense The arcs are messy and need to be changed (more Hollyleaf writing slander)

[@CatoftheStorm]

The fourth cat could have been Hollyleaf returning from her exile, her powers restored (or not, depending on her character growth), with some knowledge to defeating the Dark Forest. IDK maybe there was a secret entrance into the Dark Forest in the tunnels or Fallen Leaves, being a spirit, could show her spirit powers or something.

[@TessuDraws]

I hate that the Erins themselves seemed to forget/not know what Lionblaze's power was supposed to be because after he lost it, he kept complaining about stepping on thorns etc. and hurting himself when that was never what his power was. He literally got a torn ear in his first battle and was proud of the battle scar. He got hurt while training with Ashfur, Tigerstar and Hawkfrost. Clearly he could physically get hurt. In battle he just usually wouldn't because, as I read it, he was just so amazing at battles that he could escape unscathed if he wanted. But he could also get hurt. If I don't remember entirely wrong, he intentionally got hurt in a battle after Cinderheart broke up with him to show her that he's not too special to be with her. But suddenly, when his powers are gone, they extended to... Not getting your paws pricked by thorns???? What????????? Erins, c'mon...

[@ravem410]

Exactly, I always thought his power was adrenaline and bursts of pure energy, not invulnerability

[@ocuniverse785]

Jayfeather especially is so odd to me. While Lionblaze and Dovewing stay in about the same place with their powers, (Lionblaze's powers seem to get Less powerful the further past Outcast you go, honestly) Jayfeather just seems to get more powerful as the books progress. He'll just casually pull out a new trick like digging through memories with no fanfare. We never see him discover he can do these things, leaving us to question why he hasn't done it before if he could all along. The "Power of Three" prophecy may as well just be about Jayfeather, because Lionblaze and Dovewing don't even come close to his level. Not to mention he still seems to maintain at least some kind of uncommon sense of empathy after the final battle, even if its a bit dulled, while the other two are stripped down to completely average.

[@motorcitymangababe]

They could have made it just about Jayfeather, or split his abilities up- like, you have a cat with enhanced physical senses, a cat with enhanced mental senses like telepathy/ empathy, and a cat with enhanced dream abilities, like the astral projection and time travel. I feel like the astral projection and dream walking would have also suited Lionblaze as the one who was going into the dark forest. But I also loved op Jayfeather so I would have been happy with his grumpy ass being the sole protagonist.

[@RLane-xz5cj]

It always felt to me that Lionblaze just had "Plot Armor" the power.

[@Kay9youtube]

My problem with this arc and the next in particular is that about half the books are filler. Travelling books like Outcast and Sign of the Moon I skip because I just don't want to read about a bunch of cats walking up and down a mountain, bickering non stop, trying to save another bunch of cats I couldn't care less about

[@jettash0720]

I always thought Lionblaze's power was, rather than not being able to be hurt, but instead just that he wasn't able to be killed in battle, specifically. That's what I remember, at least (it's been a long time). Also, as a side note; I would love to see a novella from Jay Wing's POV just to see exactly what sort of cat he was like without them using any links to Jayfeather

[@theforgottenscribe]

Jayfeather, it sounds like, is just...generally psychic, with the absence of telekinetic abilities. Which yes, can come off as overpowered, but that honestly depends entirely on the story, how it's written, and if that is the only ability that way. Sometimes that can be intentional, but likely wasn't here so I agreed it's a fair criticsm.

[@Prime_The_Great]

Aside from knowing that Dark Forest was coming, which only helped Thunderclan, Dovewing’s ability didn’t do much in the final battle. Jayfeather united Starclan and Lionblaze’s ability was fighting based. If Dovewing was using her ability to send cats from the living or Starclan to other clans in need, then it could have been more effective in defeating the Dark Forest

[@CelesteTreecat]

Love this retrospective. I think part of the bitterness of this arc was we got a taste of what it could be if fully planned out and realized, but there was still so much to enjoy with the magical motifs. Only real note I have is that I never got the impression Jayfeather was in control of the time traveling, and that either Rock or some other force was responsible for that. From a narrative perspective, though, maybe that doesn't matter as much as I think it does.

[@songbird6414]

I always hoped that Hollyleaf’s ability was a kind of honed intuition, like she could tell when someone was doing wrong, lying, or else. Essentially, the Three would actually represent three steps of how they could combat the dark forest. Hollyleaf could tell when they were doing wrong, Jayfeather could dreamwalk and either double check those suspicions or try to talk the cat out of it, and Lionblaze could, well… Lionblaze. This could have led to so much conflict, too. Hollyleaf’s dedication to the warrior code leading her to be suspicious of any little thing that her Clanmates do, leading to her being paranoid and her friends starting to hate her, increased conflict with Lionblaze and his relationship with Heathertail. Hell, the Ashfur scene could have been so much more impactful than it already was, as each sibling blames themselves for letting it happen. Hollyleaf for not understanding her suspicions about Ashfur beforehand, Jayfeather for not dreamwalking and seeing it, and Lionblaze for not physically saving his siblings during. Each one could feel some guilt for “letting” the fire scene happen and forcing the secret out, and ruining their lives. Hell, take it a step further. Maybe Hollyleaf’s intuition led her to have a deep hatred of herself, as her paranoia is in part due to the fact that she herself is a spit in the eye to the code. We could have seen a character deal with internal strife and mental health issues caused by an ability no one understands and no one can control. But, uh, we got Dovewing. Cool.

[@Spectorwing]

I always wrote off dovewing's newfound dark forest seeing powers as a byproduct of this subtext of the dark forest and living planes like melding or something? I don't think that's ever outright said I just imagined that's how it happened and why tigerstar and hawkfrost could only sometimes visit the living in pot and then whole patrols could visit for a while in oots. This would also give weight to rock's rant about how their birth made things worse

[@WEYffles]

I’m convinced Lionblaze’s power is angst. Pure angst.

[@superfanamber]

Ironically I was just thinking about this the other day. (Specifically Lionpaw getting his ear torn by Breezepaw when he's supposed to be "Invincible".) I've noticed that all of the novellas & super editions we are getting have nothing to do with PoT & OotS timeline. They are either long past it or moons before. (With the exception of Crowfeather's Trial, but that is still after the DF battle when the three no long have their powers.) I think that's because the writing team realize they might/will have to retcon lots of inconsistencies with these particular arcs related to the powers since Lionblaze and Jayfeather's abilities are the most questionable with what they are and how they work.

[@sidegrabsheriff]

The chad Hollyleaf vs the virgin Dovewing

[@ZirconiaGacha]

I mess around with Warriors plot generators a lot, and sometimes the ones based around normalized superpowers are fun. One plot was that everyone gets a power (not considered a superpower most of the time, because it's a normal thing). One cat is thought to not have a power, but it turns out they get superstrength and superspeed to save themselves in near-death situations. So their power only activates when it would be beneficial it them. Also, either Hollyleaf or Ivypool should have been the fourth cat. Move aside, Firestar, you've been here forever. If the fourth cat is supposed to die, Hollyleaf did that during the great battle just like Firestar did.

[@NixFaerie]

I always thought Lionblaze's super power was supposed to be speedrunning training cause they always mentioned how weirdly fast he was at picking up and mastering new moves but lets be real all of his stuff got forgotten and muddled when they got bored of him not too far into the mega-arc

[@michaelvance8003]

For jayfeathers OPness I get it, but one thing:he sucks in battle.He usually needs help getting around new area and can’t fight because of his blindness.Makes him a pretty easy target unlike dovewing and lionblaze.Feel like that’s why they made him a warrior at the start of the series, to show that he does not have the qualities for even a tiny bit of self defense.

[@Cloverrfrostt]

I think Hollyleaf would have been better if she had a power. She was originally intended to have one and it’s only fair she get one. I like the idea of her being able to see multiple outcomes of the future. In a perfect world, I would make Jayfeather’s only power the ability to hear other cats’ thoughts and I would change Lionblaze’s power to the power of being able to see visions of the past at will. Lionblaze can still be really good at fighting, but I wanted him to have some other power as well. I like the idea of each one of them representing, past (Lionblaze), present (Jayfeather), and future (Hollyleaf).

[@Diamondr11Blue]

Im stilled years later Holly didn't have powers. It basically excluded her from her own siblings from after all the truama with squirrelf, then to write her as dying? Dovewing sucks

[@isabellp.5730]

Yes! Then Jay could tell which cats were training in the DF, Lion could see the reasons WHY they did so, and why dead cats ended up there (to facilitate a growth of empathy and changing of the warrior code), and Holly could help with battle planning since she can see different ways it could pan out.

[@Cloverrfrostt]

@@isabellp.5730 Yes! That’s a good idea

[@GoldenSeraph]

I am listening to this video on my way home and at the moment Sunnyfall mentioned watching your step, I tripped over a brick. I'll make sure to listen to this advice-

[@prcervi]

my favorite take of lionblaze's power is in tennelle's rewrite, where within a set limitation he just can't take injury but his anger issues make him not be in those set limitations for most of his fights

[@floweralex6789]

i LOVE your videos!, i find your voice very calming to listen to and in my opinion you have a unique opinion! after i watched some of your videos i emidiethly subscribed! Keep these amazing videos going Sunnyfall!

[@sirbobthemarvelous]

Wellz Lionblaze was a significant effort towards lifting to pushing trees I guess. Or ya know, the invincibility thing is inconsistently written

[@iidrbubbles]

I like to headcanon Hollyleaf having had a power. Leadership over her two brothers as it always felt like that when they were working together.

[@TheAshfurApologist]

Lionblaze is ironically my favorite of the THREE, simply because his appearance was inspired to be similar to Sandstorm, and I love me some Sandstorm. Not a great reason to like a character I suppose, but who cares.

[@motorcitymangababe]

See, I thought Lionblaze was just supposed to be a classic berserker Ala Redwall's Badger Lords. Divine wrath and unstoppable force that's main effectiveness is through fear and tanking. He's not indestructable, but he's durable enough that most injuries don't make it through the battle lust enough to slow him down or catch him up enough to allow for the opportunities for critical hits. His power is very much a "Force of nature on the battle field" than any specific fighting ability or inability to be harmed. Aaaaaaaaaand now I'm wistful for a version of Lionblaze with a similar arc that Cregga Rose eyes had.

[@theshaddowedsnow6838]

My best guess in their intention is Lionblaze can't feel pain? I mean base don Dovewing's silence and him not realizing he's hurt most of the time, it's the most likely scenerio... though let's be honest the Erins themselves probably don't know what his power is to this day

[@ravem410]

Well, that can be caused by adrenaline as well.

[@theshaddowedsnow6838]

@@ravem410 well yeah, but not necessarily, and adrenalin is being able to ignore pain and have a higher tolerance, not a complete immunity

[@ravem410]

@@theshaddowedsnow6838 Lionblaze does not have complete immunity so, would it not be fitting? He can feel wounds but sometimes he’s just in the heat of the moment and can tend to forget he does. Like the fight alongside the tribe? His ear was stinging, but that was the only wound. He could feel it however.

[@Diamondr11Blue]

The authors really messed up by not giving hollyleaf a better role with the prophecy just to make useless dovewing 'special' smh

[@tristanwaits5688]

First! Anyways, love this video. Really wish they did better with the Three's powers.

[@crappy-doodle3894]

I just discovered your channel and already know I’m going to love it!!

[@mochasandwords6966]

I personally see Lionblaze as having Hulk type powers!

[@sweetsartcorner]

I very much love the Power of Three Arc but I wish theyd invested a bit more time in planning ahead. Warrior Cats often feels like fastfood-writing, just throwing out as many books as quickly as possible without bothering to plan out an outline for where the story is going? Season 6 felt like the worst offender of this though, there were really weird time jumps and retcons in the middle of the season for some reason.

[@jaybam2276]

If Hollyleaf *were* to have a power, what do you think it would be?

[@pikathemimikyu6655]

She would have the power to blow up any cat who breaks the Warrior Code

[@olivergardener5285]

She'd be able to see past others words to see if they were lying, or telling the truth. Or to be able to see their secrets.

[@olivergardener5285]

@Sara Moustamandi Jayfeather has the ability to walk in peoples dreams and things relating to that as far as I know of. That does not correlate to reading minds. Jayfeather can not magically tell if someone was lying or telling the truth. He'd use common sense, but wouldn't be 100% accurate. Hollyleaf on the other hand is all over the warrior code, obsessed with it. So, having a power of bringing justice by seeking out truth from lies, would be different from walking in others dreams.

[@olivergardener5285]

@Sara Moustamandi and she was better off without a power, but this video was about the 3's powers, and theorizing on what Hollyleafs power would've been.

[@tonaholcomb8602]

There was a reason that i lost interest in the series when this arch came out, I wasn't a fan of the powers. I never got to Dovewing's arch but hers seemed like the most balance but by then it was way too late. It wasn't very well thought out over time and again Hollyleaf didn't even get one (i do agree that her not getting one was good but still) Besides for Jayfeather's ability to do anything the plot needed the rest of the felt arbitrary. I think it would of been better if he was either the central focus, or his ability split between the three. Or even just... comprehensible powers, it might of worked better.

[@michaelvance8003]

My second comment jayfeather was big use of the final battle cuz otherwise starclan would fight with their clans only, and feel like lionblaze was probably a main fighter in the battle.And even dovewing with her senses alerted everyone of everything.

[@ScottSmith-zo8iw]

So, this is something I've thought a lot about while writing fics so I'm going to go over my opinions of each of the powers. Starting with Lion. While I very much like your interpretations of his power there's one scene that makes it kind of hard to justify in my mind, that being the fox scene. (The one that leads to yellow telling jay to let everyone die) Where his inner monologue says something along the lines of he was worried the fox might actually hurt him, this implies that it would be very unlikely for it to have hurt him at all. I very much prefer your interpretations of this though cause it feels kind of overpowered in the originals. My rating and notes are 4/10, the writers needed make things clearer. Dove's power is simple, she sees and hears things that are far away. Her powers are simple to explain and understand while not feeling overpowered (most of the time). Her power is also interesting and feeds into her personality well. So overall 9/10 good job. Jay, 2/10 why is it so complicated? You basically HAVE to nerf it to make it understandable to write if you don't, that makes it generally a nightmare. And while it is kind of fun to work on the limits of this power to make it understandable that doesn't make up for that fact that it is so hard to understand in the first place. Then, there's the time travel which is never explained and might not even be a part of his power in the first place. I generally like mind readers but this is just not it for me. I really think it could have benefited from more time to work on it before they put it in the books.

[@ScottSmith-zo8iw]

I have been wanting to talk about this for while now so I'm gonna take the chance while it's here, here's an interpretation of each of there powers that I use for my fics. Dove: Just generally good already I don't really like changing it. Lion: Immortality based on intention. If someone wants to kill him they can't, if they only want to hurt him then that's fine and his powers won't kick in. This is able to explain both the fox scene and the dark forest scene, while also giving you an insight into the villain's motives. It's also less overpowered. Jay: Knowledge of dreams. Both what a person sees at night and what a person wants. I like this one cause it's easy enough to explain while giving his powers very clear limits. If what a person is thinking isn't directly related to something they want then he can't see it, it also allows him to keep the whole thing where he enters people's dreams. It also doesn't give him power over said dream so he has to work with what he's given, and also can't do something dumb, like summon a dead guy just cause. In conclusion because dreams don't have to be reasonable giving him power over dreams seem like a bit much to me.

[@madysonandres9571]

Cool video!

[@twinfoxes4321]

Yeah I agree I do love Jayfeather but he is op

[@Diamondr11Blue]

I mean he kinda deserves a decent role after being treated horribly because his blindness and being basically betrayed by leafpool

[@rainstriderstreamflower5645]

Holly actually realized that she wasn't the 3rd 😺 btt she ran away. She only knew who the 🥉 🐈 was following her return. If Hollyleaf truly was the 3rd 🐈 she would've remained in TC for StarClan's sake.

[@starshine9205]

What made me lose some interest in the series is you think your figuring out the rules of what starclan and the dark Forrest can do, but it all changes. the dark Forrest is supposed to be gone but now, in the newest arc there're back. it makes the whole power of three seem useless.

[@ravem410]

The darkforest is never supposed to be gone, but rather a lot of the occupant’s are in another plane. This causes for more peace.

[@user-yb9fo8ip1v]

Oh no, dovingwing can see AUs...

[@ilpoomatili9549]

Me: oo more battle cat content. Brain: its 12 am, go to sleep! Me: but.. Brain: you arent her subscriber, neither have you read that ark! Me: but, its warrior cats Brain: oh why didin't you say so, go ahed

[@misskathleenready]

Lionblazes power is adrenalin rush

[@vanilla4983]

My best guess for Lionblaze is that his power is developmental, in which Lionblaze’s power might not have worked until outcast. He does get hurt after that during training but that might be because he considers it as “training” and not a “battle”. Though it would be a little weird since Dovewing and Jayfeather could use their powers from the get go.

[@fennelfin]

What are the TWs for paws of stars (I might of asked before but I can't find itnfknkfs)? I've read a lot of VERY gory/explicit things on the internet so I like to check before I read anything, sorry.

[@Sunnyfall]

I don't describe anything gorey or explicit, especially in detail. About the closest is that standard warriors injuries happen with a level of removal from the disgust or pain that would be there if you were seeing / feeling it yourself. I skip over births and things, and the ships aren't a focus, so I don't think you'd have anything to worry about if you're all right with canon Warriors content.

[@fennelfin]

@@Sunnyfall Okay :D Thank you. I'll probably read it then.

[@mystuff789]

What I found confusing was "There will be THREE, kin of YOUR KIN" prophecy when Dovewing isn't realted to Firestar, Sandstorm, Squilf or Leafpool. And then there was the fourth cat...were the writers just throwing plot points away and/or around?

[@RainbowRatArt]

But dovewing is related to firestar? A lot of the clan is so it could refer to lots of cats but still dovewing is kin of firestars kin. Her mother is whitewing who is the daughter of cloudtail who is the son of Princess who is the sister of firestar.

[@mystuff789]

@@RainbowRatArt Ohhhh!!! Thank you for clariffying! It's been a long while since I read the books so I forgot who was related to who. Now it makes sense!

[@RainbowRatArt]

@@mystuff789 happy to help ^^

[@holly6227]

I thought lion blazes power was he can’t die

[@drswag0076]

if i can summarize the powers of three from a scientific standpoint as well as a comparison to real life factors of the body. starting with my favorite, Jayfeather, it's obvious he's using a form of telepathy which is the process of communicating using the power of one's mind and yes to those asking, yes Jayfeather has the shining so lets keep the Stephan King jokes to ourselves okay? next with Lionblaze, his super strength and invulnerability derives from sudden bursts of adrenaline which spikes occurs during moments requiring feats of physical prowess such as when someone you see is crushed under a tree or trapped in a tipped over car. for Lion, this is a supernatural variation on that. lastly for Dovewing, the obvious bit here is the increase of the stimulation increase of the senses for Dove's case is hearing. and that's my take on the biology of the powers thanks for humoring with me as this is total speculation and over analysis meaning that there's a possibility that i'm totally wrong here.