Unpopular Opinion: Mapleshade 100% deserved the DF
This has apparently been a controversial take, however I fully believe that Mapleshade deserved her Dark forest ending. I want to start by saying she is my absolute favorite villain, simply a tragic story of a broken mother.
Spoilers ahead (never learned how to do the spoiler warning apologies): Mapleshade's Vengence did not set her up for a good redeeming story which is honestly what I was hopeful for. I wanted her character to be tragic, and to a degree she is. Her choices however were her's alone and she continued to make every wrong choice possible.
When first being questioned about her expecting kits, she never once corrected them on who the father would be. Even if she did not want to say they were fathered from Riverclan, she could have denied that they belonged to the DECEASED SON of the CLAN LEADER killed specifically by the cat who did father her kits. That imo is strike 1. She could have said literally anything else and it could have altered her story.
When facing her banishment from Thunderclan, she acknowledged the river was too high. She knew this. She still CHOSE to take herself and her kits across the river, while she herself had very little swimming experience. She could have chosen to wait until the river was down or hidden herself away. Every choice she made directly lead to her fate, absolutely NO ONE forced her to lie, no one forced her to choose the path she took. Her actions determined what path would be available to her. She was selfish.
TL/DR: Mapleshade deserved the dark forest. She made every wrong choice that would inevitably lead to the death of her and her children. Wonderful villian, she does not deserve redemption.