The Last Hope

The Last Hope is the final book in the Omen of the Stars arc. Firestar is the cat depicted in the center of the cover.

Dedication
For Dan, in hope

The Blurb

 * The end of the stars draws near. Three must become four to battle the darkness that lasts forever....


 * After countless moons of treachery, Tigerstar's Dark Forest apprentices are ready to lay siege upon the warrior Clans. As Jayfeather, Dovewing, and Lionblaze prepare to lead their Clanmates into battle, they await the arrival of the mysterious fourth warrior who is prophesied to help lead the Clans to glory.


 * The darkest hour the Clans have ever faced has dawned. Hopes will be shattered and heroes will rise as the warriors fight for their very survival.

The Praise

 * "To battle the darkness that has no end, three must become four. The sixth and final episode of Erin Hunter's Omen of the Stars Warriors series draws the looming confrontation between the Clans and the Tigerstar's Dark Forest warriors to a feverish conclusion. A full throttle finale to a reader acclaimed series. (P.S. This edition contains an adventure game.)"
 * —Barnes and Noble

Plot Summary

 * In the prologue, Half Moon, Owl Feather, and Broken Shadow have a meeting with Slant. Bluestar and Spottedleaf of StarClan appear to discuss about preparation, as there is little time until the Dark Forest attack the Clans. Half Moon notices Midnight and Rock joining the cats. Midnight mentions that she had known Rock since the dawn of the Ancients, and they had watched the first sunrise over the lake. She also mentions that they saw the future of the Clans, Tribe, and the Ancients in the sunrise reflected in the lake, though, they fear that a final sunrise will make the ending, just like it created the beginning. The four were born to light the darkest fires, but evil was born like a littermate alongside the four. The meeting cats decide that they will fight alongside the Clans to defeat the darkness that is rising.


 * The Dark Forest cats are planning to explore different territories of the Clans, and Ivypool is aware that this is just to get the Dark Forest recruits to know each territory, so they can attack the Clans more easily in the final battle. Ivypool is chosen to be the guide for the ThunderClan territory patrol. As they explore the territory, Tigerstar asks Blossomfall to explain to the cats about ThunderClan's technique of climbing in trees to then pounce on their foes, but as she explains, she reveals secrets and techniques to enemy warriors. They find a ThunderClan patrol, and Tigerstar orders to attack, but Ivypool convinces him against it.


 * After revealing to them that there is a fourth cat, Jayfeather finds Dovewing and Lionblaze, surprisingly, in the same dream that night. Lionblaze and Dovewing find out that Jayfeather can see in dreams, and Jayfeather feels that they need to go to the tunnels, and he leads them down there. They find Rock there, and Jayfeather introduces Lionblaze and Dovewing to Rock. Jayfeather realizes that the three were summoned by Rock to this dream, so that they could speak with him. Rock reveals that if the Three weren't born, the Dark Forest wouldn't exist. He demands they do not give up after so little search for the fourth, and the dream ends with Rock wailing for the Three to find him or her.


 * Mothwing visits the ThunderClan camp to take Jayfeather away to see something. At first Jayfeather suspects she had found some way to reunite the medicine cats, as when he had visited her earlier they promised to visit each other if any progress was made in that area. Firestar allows the two to go, and Mothwing takes him to RiverClan territory, and shows him a single smoldering reed, which, oddly, had been smoldering for days, even in the midst of rain and dewfall. Jayfeather interprets this as an omen to find Flametail, the ShadowClan medicine cat apprentice who had fallen into the lake and drowned. After he does (in a dream), Flametail admits to the other medicine cats that he had, in fact, drowned rather than having been killed by Jayfeather.


 * Jayfeather, Lionblaze, Dovewing, and Hollyleaf reveal the secrets about their destinies and the Dark Forest to Brambleclaw, Leafpool, and Squirrelflight after Firestar tells them to. They are fascinated by the destinies, yet worried about the upcoming final battle. After this, they all apologize to each other about past events, such as Leafpool's betrayal, and Brambleclaw forgives Squirrelflight. Lionblaze realizes that if they have the courage to accept their destinies, he has the courage to accept his.


 * Jayfeather summons the other medicine cats of each Clan to a dream, and he tells them about the Dark Forest and final battle. They agree to unite the divided StarClan, so they go to the Moonpool, and the StarClan cats appear. The four medicine cats convince StarClan to unite, and Bluestar reveals the fourth to Jayfeather. She takes him to the fourth's dream, who, as he then finds out, is actually Firestar. Jayfeather then tells Firestar that he is the fourth, and then takes him to see the training Dark Forest cats. After, that, he takes Firestar back to the Moonpool where the StarClan cats await. With this, the four medicine cats agree to take their leaders to the Island so that the four reveal this to the leaders.


 * The battle with the Dark Forest is announced and the cats start the training to defeat them, but in between a practice session with Ferncloud and Daisy, Lionblaze suddenly recalls Midnight's words: The journey you make is your choice. He realizes that everything is his choice, and he runs over to Cinderheart and declares that he needs to talk to her. Lionblaze tells Cinderheart that everything she does is her choice, and convinces her to choose her own destiny, not Cinderpelt's. Cinderheart then chooses to become a Warrior rather than a medicine cat and lets Cinderpelt's spirit leave her body. She also chooses to be with Lionblaze again.


 * After being questioned by Brambleclaw, Ivypool reveals to him that Blossomfall, Mousewhisker, and Birchfall are training in the Dark Forest. When Leafpool comes in the medicine den, she asks to assist Jayfeather, even if it is just collecting moss, but Jayfeather tells her it would be a waste of her skills and he wants her working with him. Leafpool is shocked and reminds him that she is no longer a medicine cat, but Jayfeather tells her that there is a battle coming and that if they must go against StarClan for the sake of the Clans, then they must. Leafpool apologizes again, and Jayfeather replies that there nothing to forgive. Afterwards, the battle starts.


 * ThunderClan has already defeated a Dark Forest patrol. Dovewing scents fresh blood and Ivypool and Tigerheart enter the camp with Hollyleaf in their jaws. Dovewing suspects that Tigerheart caused the injury to Hollyleaf, who is bleeding badly. Ivypool tells Dovewing that Hollyleaf saved her life. Hollyleaf wakes up for a brief moment, saying that she couldn't bear to go to StarClan without knowing her mother. She forgives Leafpool, saying that she was a good mother, and then bleeds to death afterwards from a throat wound among others.


 * During the battle, Breezepelt attacks Lionblaze, only to be stopped by Ivypool, who asks if he really wants to destroy the Clans for Brokenstar's sake, but Breezepelt reveals that he wasn't doing it for Brokenstar, and he tells Ivypool that he, Hollyleaf, or Jayfeather should have never been born. Breezepelt tells Lionblaze that it's his turn to die, but Crowfeather stops him, and tells him to leave. Breezepelt obeys and flees from the battle. Leafpool apologizes to Crowfeather. Mousefur is killed by a Dark Forest tom.


 * Mapleshade tries to murder Sandstorm, because she had every blessing StarClan stole from Mapleshade. Spottedleaf stops her, but the Dark Warrior reminds Spottedleaf of her stolen love. Spottedleaf gets angry and tells her there was nothing to steal and that Sandstorm made Firestar happy, and Mapleshade slaughters Spottedleaf. Sandstorm chases Mapleshade away, Firestar comes over and begs her not to leave, stating that she said she would wait for him in StarClan. Afterwards, Spottedleaf fades. After Spottedleaf is killed for a second time, Ferncloud is murdered by Brokenstar, who is then killed by Yellowfang.


 * Brambleclaw comes into camp, bringing Hawkfrost and killing him after he confronts Ivypool. Tigerstar comes forward and congratulates Brambleclaw on a job well done, and the final confrontation between Firestar and Tigerstar is faced. Firestar ends up killing Tigerstar, but in the process Firestar also dies from his wounds. Brambleclaw declares that the battle is over, and that their victory belongs to Firestar. Every cat cheers for Bramblestar, who is now ThunderClan's leader. Bramblestar chooses Squirrelflight as his deputy. Bramblestar says that everything she does is for the best of reasons, and he understands. Leafpool thanks Squirrelflight for everything, and Squirrelflight tells her that she would do it again in a heartbeat. Squirrelflight then accepts her deputy role.


 * The entire prophecy is given at the end by Rock and Midnight: There will be three cats, kin of your kin, with the power of 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 memories of his memories. This is how it has always been, and how it will always be.

Trivia

 * The title and cover of the book were revealed on July 12th, 2011.
 * Prior to the book's release date, author Kate Cary has often referred to "The Last Hope" as "The Final Hope".
 * Along with the original copy, there is also an Enhanced eBook, which contains multiple bonus features. According to the website, the book contains the following features:
 * Three exclusive videos from Erin Hunter about writing Warriors over the years; the heroics of Firestar; and story ideas that got left on the cutting room floor.
 * Confidential notes from Erin Hunter including a behind-the-scenes look at how she chose which cats would die, and the truth about Midnight.
 * A brand-new interactive game only available in this enhanced ebook.
 * A sneak peek at Warriors Super Edition: Yellowfang's Secret.
 * Molepaw and Cherrypaw are mistakenly listed as kits in the allegiances, even though they became apprentices in The Forgotten Warrior.
 * Many other errors like this this are in the allegiances.
 * There is a typo that refers to Dovewing as "the Dovewing".

Publication List

 * The Last Hope (EN), HarperCollins (hardcover), 3 April 2012
 * The Last Hope (EN), HarperCollins (eBook), 3 April 2012
 * The Last Hope (EN), HarperCollins (Enhanced eBook), 3 April 2012