Just as a little disclaimer, I know Tennelleflowers has a video on this, but I haven't watched it, so I hope this isn't too similar! I also haven't run this through grammarly so let's ignore all the typos and grammar mistakes.

Before the more recent books in the A Vision of Shadows and The Broken Code series, SkyClan was very unpopular throughout the fandom. They were left out of fanmade content, and pretty much disliked by the entire fandom. They were even excluded from the official merch when it was released. The only bit of positivity SkyClan recieved was for the character Egg, simply because his name was a meme. However they're more well liked due the recent books in the AVoS and TBC series and Hawkwing's Journey. But why were they the object of such hate for so long? And why do they still receive more hate than the other Clans?

It comes down to two reasons. One is that they have pretty much no unique worldbuilding to the other Clans. They developed a very different culture through living in the gorge, but initially they're not all that interesting as a Clan. They share the same territory as ThunderClan. They're not shown to have different attributes (you can say the same about all the Clans in the later arcs.) They're literally ThunderClan with nice legs. They can jump high. That's it. It can be compared to Harry Potter. All the houses are loved. When the books first came out, Hufflepuff wasn't developed like the other houses. Ravenclaw was at least "the smart house." Hufflepuff was just "a bunch of duffers." So it was no surprise that no one connected with Hufflepuff - because there was nothing to connect with. It was only later when HP became popular and JK Rowling actually developed Hufflepuff when people began to fall in love with it. That's why worldbuilding is so important in a society with categories. If you want readers to love all of those categories, they all have to have something the other categories don't have. And SkyClan didn't possess that.

This is very important because there's very little worldbuilding within the Clans themselves that seperate them from one another. They share the same social structure, the same lifestyle, and the same ideals. They're said to have different traits, but we're never shown this in the series, with the exception of ThunderClan and ShadowClan in the original series, with their traits pinning them as the good guy and bad guy tropes respectively. The only thing that can justify the Clans being seperate groups is their territory differences. Even back in their history, what caused the tribe to split into Clans was originally territories. So the fact that SkyClan shares the exact same territory as ThunderClan weakens them as a society.

Within books and shows, when introducing something to the original group, usually a new character but in this case a new societal group, the new addition must stand out, compliment the original characters/group, and be likable. Introducing something new is a big risk, because it permanently changes the pre-existing dynamic, and can upset fans. Avatar: The Last Airbender did this really well with the introduction of Toph and Zuko into the gaang. They were both likable characters who added something new to the group without taking anything away from the original dynamic. Zuko was only part of the gaang for about ten episodes, and four of those were the final wrap up, which is more plot focused and the group is split. But when you imagine the gaang, it feels like he's been there forever. SkyClan's lack of uniqueness as a society is one of the biggest things that fails them. To make the risk of introducing a new Clan pay off, that new Clan should've stood out and be interesting, but SkyClan was just ThunderClan's kid sibling, even down to their territory.

But what about the culture they developed when they lived in the gorge? They had daylight warriors and new names; making them stand out. So why were they still so widely disliked? The issue here is that they strayed so far from Clan traditions and customs that to readers they didn't feel real. This wasn't helped by their separation from the other Clans. And this worldbuilding wasn't bad worldbuilding, but it wasn't appealing. The names seemed ridiculous to many readers and the concept of daylight warriors didn't fit with normal Clan ideals. Now I think daylight warriors worked perfectly with SkyClan's system, and the names fit too. But it isn't appealing to readers, and in writing that's just as important as functionality. You can make the most functionable world, but if it isn't likable, then you're fucked. RiverClan is one of the most well-liked Clans, despite the fact that they have the least plot relevance, arguably even less than SkyClan when you take AVoS and TBC into account. They're so popular because they swim! Most people enjoy swimming, and find it a fun thing to imagine, and write about. This boosts RiverClan's popularity through one little piece of worldbuilding, all because it appeals to readers. SkyClan's wacky names and temporary warriors gave them a unique culture, but ultimately made them feel like a mockery of the Clans, which was worsened by their physical and plot seperation and the fact that they were introduced secondary to the original Clans. I personally like the idea of the daylight warriors back in the gorge, and some of the names were cute! But many fans were opposed to this because it made SkyClan seem more like a caricature of the original Clans then one of them.

But where SkyClan really failed was their actual relevance to the plot. They served absolutely no purpose up until A Vision of Shadows. This is such a bad move in writing. One of the most wellknown writing principals is Chekhov's Gun, which states that everything mentioned in a story must have relevance and be necessary. So if a gun is mentioned, even off-handedly, that gun should return to serve a purpose later on. I think this is a pretty good rule for writing, though it shouldn't be considered absolute. Everything mentioned in your book should serve a purpose - be that for the plot, character building, whatever. This is a concrete rule for introducing new additions into your main plot. If you're going to introduce a new society that will drastically change the social structure of the existing society, and change the dyanmic for the fans reading it, this new addition should have a big role to play. But SkyClan didn't. Their existence had no consequence on the plot. They added nothing to the story for a long time. Clan life moved on, and SkyClan stayed in the background. Sure, they had their own super edition and manga series, but a lot of people didn't read them. Even as a huge warriors fan, I never finished SkyClan and the Stranger. The Erins introduced a whole new Clan. This Clan should've had a huge impact on the story, but up until AVoS, they could've easily not existed. SkyClan had so much unfulfilled purpose. How was anyone meant to connect to this Clan if they were completely seperate from the plot? The problems with their lack of worldbuilding and foundations could have been forgiven and remedied had they become a driving force in the plot. This is a major writing fail and irreparably damaged SkyClan in the long run.

In my opinion, SkyClan should've been introduced back into the main Clans straight away. Instead of being filler in Firestar's Quest, it should've been part of the main plot. One way of going about this would be through The New Prophecy. Instead of Firsstar going to rebuild SkyClan, the six travelling cats could've found a small, struggling but surviving SkyClan living alone. They could've uncovered SkyClan's history and brought this damaged Clan back with them when returning with the news of the Clans territory being destroyed. This way, a whole new era could begin in a new territory. Part of TNP could be about SkyClan forging an identity among these bigger and stronger Clans, and finding how they fit in among them.

But if I could truly rewrite SkyClan in the series, I'd do a little bit more than that. Let's tackle the worldbuilding problem. How can I make SkyClan stand out? I suppose I could introduce a whole new kind of territory, but I have a different idea. Looking at ThunderClan and ShadowClan, as well as WindClan and RiverClan, we can see how similar their territories are. Both ThunderClan and ShadowClan have a forest territory around the lake, however they're different kinds of forests. RiverClan territory is a grassland like WindClan, however they have more rivers and don't utilise their open territory. Instead their use of their land is centered around water. So what if SkyClan still has the same territory as ThunderClan, but they use it differently. See, one thing I wish Warriors did was lean into the fantasy element. What if SkyClan lived in the trees? Just as WindClan had tunnelers, these cats have different behaviours than realistic cats, but its still possible for them to live in trees. Just imagine it; SkyClan sleep in nests in the branches in trees, they hunt squirrels and birds, steal eggs from nests, and venture to the ground when they must. They jump from tree to tree, traveling between them with ease. Camp is one huge tree. Imagine an apprentice touching the ground for the first time. Imagine a fight with SkyClan, playing off their technique of jumping down from trees, where warriors drop on their opponants from above, then leaping back into safety faster than their enemy could fight back. It would be like fighting with the sky itself. And, of course, it lays homage to their name - SkyClan live closer to the sky then any other Clan. 

Maybe its just me, but that makes SkyClan sound really fucking cool, and its definitely unique.

So how would I add them into the series? I'm not sure where chronologically I'd put them in. It works best that they travel with the Clans to the lake territory like I said before, but I also like the idea of them showing up among an already established settlement, shouting "surprise, motherfuckers," and then forcing major change in the Clans. As we saw in AVoS, the addition of SkyClan causes a big change territory wise and conflicts around that. But I'd like to see more than that. I want to see the societal changes that SkyClan would bring. A new Clan would cause a shift in power. If SkyClan allied with another Clan, they would bring about a major threat. Would they even be accepted by all the Clans? After all, SkyClan's existence creates a lot of questions. The Clans would have to look back on their history, realising that if history can purposefully erase an entire Clan, what other secrets might be hidden? We all know history is written by the victors, what other lies have been told? And then the Clans have to look at StarClan; they let this happen. Does that mean StarClan is less powerful than the Clans thought? How can SkyClan be great if they allow an entire Clan to be exiled? Maybe one or more of the Clans believes StarClan did this intentionally, and that SkyClan should be destroyed. Maybe the other Clans experience the warriors equivalent of "white guilt." SkyClan's return could bring about much-needed evolution for the Clans. Just think of the social oppurtunities SkyClan's return could bring! If they'd lived alone for so long, their culture would've evolved differently to suit their new circumstance. We saw that in how they adapted to living in the gorge. So maybe their medicine cat is allowed to have kits, they need the numbers after all. Their religion would be different, as StarClan abandoned them. Maybe they welcome outsiders, since their numbers would be smaller. They wouldn't be used to living among groups of cats, and the constant tension and shifting alliances between them. They wouldn't be used to all the rules, all the political intricacies. There's so much that could be explored with SkyClan settling around the lake, that opens up a lot of doors for the Clans.

All in all, as a newly introduced Clan, SkyClan had a lot of expectations to meet and a lot of purpose to fulfill, but ultimately failed to live up to its potiential. Had SkyClan been a little more memorable, and had influence over the plot, the Clan could've been a great success and done wonders for the series, but due to its complete seperation from the Clans it flopped. I love SkyClan, and I'm so happy they've finally been introduced to the Clans, but I just wish they'd been handled better. I'd like to give a rewrite a go where SkyClan joins the Clans earlier on (and lives in trees!) Would anyone be interested? If so, would you prefer SkyClan settling into the lake with the Clans as they find it, or showing up after the Clans have already settled? If anyone else has any ideas on how the SkyClan debacle plays out, I'd love to hear them!