Redwall Abbey

A few days ago I realized something. I realized that I don't know who the secondary villain of Mattimeo is! Who do you think it is, General Ironbeak or Malkariss?

I would say Ironbeak.  Malkariss and Nadaz and all those creatures are certainly villainous, but they don't have much agency, in my opinion.  They're more used as a plot device than anything else, giving Slagar somewhere to take the kidnapped creatures to and providing him forces and resources that he wouldn't otherwise have.

Off topic, but I recently went through that book again (it had been multiple years), and was kind of shocked about how the killing of the sparrows by Ironbeak and his crows was just sort of glossed over, ending up as more of a side note than anything else.

I know! I thought Warbeak and all the others were killed until I remembered that Warbeak was safe off south being killed by rats. We never see Warbeak's mother Dunwing after Redwall, so sadly that may mean she was killed by Ironbeak.

I feel like I remember hearing that Dunwing passed in between books, but I don't actually remember. XD It's a been a while.

But on topic, definitely Ironbeak. I feel like Nadaz and Malkariss are more add ons to Slagar, continuing and fleshing out his plot, while Ironbeak is his own thing and much more present in the overall plot itself.

I agree with what Kade and Corn said.

Malkariss and Nadaz were part of the primary plot, where Mattimeo, Slagar, Matthias, and the others were all involved.
Ironbeak was part of the secondary plot, the plight at Redwall while the main plot was going on.

I agree that Ironbeak is more of a villain than Malkariss and Nadaz. Or at least, he was more of an antagonist.

I'm not sure I'd say that. Malkariss was definitely evil enough to be a villain. Ironbeak was the secondary villain, but that doesn't make him more vile than Malkariss and his servants. If anything, I'd be inclined to say that Ironbeak was less evil.