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Visser, Chronicles Book #3 This book is written by KA Applegate herself. Prologue quote:“Honey?” That's the drowning of Eva seen we've heard so much about. Two things I noticed and wondered. First, is Visser One right? Is the "stamp of failure" already on Marco? Or is this just Visser One imposing her cynicism and Yeerk morality on him, which is sort of my thought. Also, her description of sailing as "the perfect blend of force and subtlety" seems to describe Visser One herself. Maybe it's no wonder she likes sailing. Chapter 1 quote:“Honored members of the Council of Thirteen, I am present at this trial under protest. I do not deny your right to hold me for trial. You are entitled to know anything and everything about my loyal service to the Empire. But that my inquisitor should be none other than my most relentless enemy, himself a traitor, is intolerable!” So, this is the first time we see the Council of Thirteen, or at least most of them, not counting the two in the robe. It's also interesting that of all the charges that carry the death penalty, the most severe one, the only one that's punished by death by Kandrona starvation is "sympathy with a subject species". I think it says a lot about the way Yeerks think.
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# ? Jan 20, 2022 03:45 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 11:10 |
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Did I miss something, or unlike in #12 does Marco's condition... not actually get resolved? And it never even gets a explanation?
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# ? Jan 20, 2022 03:46 |
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Fuschia tude posted:Did I miss something, or unlike in #12 does Marco's condition... not actually get resolved? And it never even gets a explanation? It gets a technical explanation, sort of. In Chapter 12, Ax tells them that emotional distress can screw up morphing. It never gets resolved, though, other than we can assume that Jake yelling at Marco to get over it is what Marco needed to feel better.
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# ? Jan 20, 2022 04:00 |
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Just lol at Visser Three charging someone else with murdering subordinates.
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# ? Jan 20, 2022 04:51 |
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quote:treason by murder of subordinate Yeerks, which carries a sentence of exile to punishment duty.” I'm shocked Visser Three isn't before the council for this daily. There has to be a line between "punishing failure" and "Visser Three getting angry and killing a dude because he had the bad news."
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# ? Jan 20, 2022 05:01 |
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Clearly that's because failing Visser Three is classed as suicide.
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# ? Jan 20, 2022 06:16 |
FlocksOfMice posted:I'm shocked Visser Three isn't before the council for this daily. There has to be a line between "punishing failure" and "Visser Three getting angry and killing a dude because he had the bad news." Comms must be cleared through Visser Three directly, via your supervisor, see directive 6622.45
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# ? Jan 20, 2022 06:56 |
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FlocksOfMice posted:I'm shocked Visser Three isn't before the council for this daily. There has to be a line between "punishing failure" and "Visser Three getting angry and killing a dude because he had the bad news." That does kind of raise the question, how is this 3d holographic trial being conducted instantaneously, anyway? If they all have FTL comms, why hasn't a resistance member anonymously uploaded V3 Underling Murder Supercut.mp4 to LiveYeerk already?
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# ? Jan 20, 2022 07:42 |
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They're political crimes, essentially. It's treason by murder of subordinate Yeerks. V3's murders of subordinate Yeerks are all in service to the glorious Yeerk Empire, of course.
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 00:14 |
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FlocksOfMice posted:I'm shocked Visser Three isn't before the council for this daily. There has to be a line between "punishing failure" and "Visser Three getting angry and killing a dude because he had the bad news."
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 00:22 |
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ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:They're political crimes, essentially. It's treason by murder of subordinate Yeerks. V3's murders of subordinate Yeerks are all in service to the glorious Yeerk Empire, of course. Ravenfood posted:If Visser 3 ever ends up before a tribunal for whatever reason and has already lost his position, I'm sure all of those deaths would be brought up against him. They're looking the other way until they aren't. Good points. They're not saying murdering subordinates is, inherently, treason. Still, it speaks to how Visser Three's "leadership" style is probably the closer to the Empire's mean that we might otherwise think if they have to codify a specific punishment for murdering subordinates. I imagine more than one bitter sub-visser had an "accident" happen to an underling who was about to get a promotion. It's especially interesting that it's the one crime that doesn't result in death. No sense wasting that many Yeerks who are perfectly capable of directing slave labor around, I suppose. Still, it just goes to show how much the Yeerk Empire is a totalitarian hell state rife with factions and cliques working for their own end. We already saw Visser One play some power politics on Three at the start of the series, to the detriment of the Empire's goals, and you don't have political trials with rivals prosecuting each other in a remotely stable system.
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 02:10 |
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Chapter 2quote:My name is Edriss-Five-Six-Two, of the Sulp Niar pool. So we see that Visser One is a compassionate boss. And, really, this chapter brings up the fact that, among the Yeerk, laws exist at the convenience of the powerful. Even if there's a law against killing subordinates, if you're strong enough to do it, you can do it and there's no consequence. The law is a weapon. It's because Visser One is weak right now that she's on trial. That's the real crime; being weak and out of favor. Chapter 3 quote:That report came from the Yeerk who would later rise to the rank of Visser Three. Of course back then he was a lowly sub-visser, like myself. Higher on the ladder, certainly, but still a sub-visser. These are, of course, the events of the Andalite Chronicles. Also, as Visser Three is learning, the danger of denouncing someone is that they can denounce you right back.
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 04:08 |
I love the little commentary on pointing.
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 04:17 |
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This hyper-serious alien space trial has suddenly turned very Ace Attorney out of nowhere.
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 05:00 |
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The way the Yeerks interact with each other reminds me of Wormwood and Screwtape in the Screwtape Letters.
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 05:03 |
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I think one of the reasons this book works so well is because the frame narrative is genuinely its own narrative in addition to the backstory, and advances the series' overall plot. The Council all wearing robes - even the Taxxons - is hilarious and gives me Robot Elders from Futurama vibes: (That has to be a Star Trek reference right? Given both the Futurama writers and KA were big fans?) Epicurius posted:That's the drowning of Eva seen we've heard so much about. Two things I noticed and wondered. First, is Visser One right? Is the "stamp of failure" already on Marco? Or is this just Visser One imposing her cynicism and Yeerk morality on him, which is sort of my thought. "Stamp of failure" is definitely a harsh Yeerk way of putting it, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Marco we know - often ruthless, cynical and hard - developed after his mother's death and he was a different sort of kid beforehand.
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 08:54 |
It's also a sign of how easily the Yeerks underestimate their foes.
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 09:02 |
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OctaviusBeaver posted:The way the Yeerks interact with each other reminds me of Wormwood and Screwtape in the Screwtape Letters. Wow, this is extremely accurate. Could definitely see KAA being a Lewis fan. The Ellimist has a slight Out of the Silent Planet tinge to him.
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 15:28 |
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Animorphs came first of course, but Venture Bros. had a Council of Thirteen too. They were all (initially) shadowy, hidden figures, not just two of them. In any case, whether it's akin to a robot elder or Dr. Z, you just gotta read the "council representative" type role like Garoff in a theatrical, over-the-top manner, right?
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 19:22 |
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feetnotes posted:Animorphs came first of course, but Venture Bros. had a Council of Thirteen too. They were all (initially) shadowy, hidden figures, not just two of them. There's no textual evidence that the head of the Yeerk Council of Thirteen is not David Bowie.
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 21:03 |
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OctaviusBeaver posted:There's no textual evidence that the head of the Yeerk Council of Thirteen is not David Bowie. It would explain a lot about the Yeerks, actually.
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 21:37 |
They've proven already they like faking their own deaths
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 21:40 |
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I'm loving these court room theatrics. Next person who accuses me of implying something is in for a right shock.
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 23:24 |
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OctaviusBeaver posted:There's no textual evidence that the head of the Yeerk Council of Thirteen is not David Bowie. Epicurius posted:It would explain a lot about the Yeerks, actually. There are no known human members of the Council of Thirteen, and no one has thus far been able to prove that David Bowie was 100% human. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!
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# ? Jan 21, 2022 23:39 |
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Chapter 4quote:<Silence!> Visser Three erupted. He leaped forward, whipped his Andalite tail up over his head, blade quivering, ready to strike, ready to slice my head from my shoulder. What she says is what we were saying....no Yeerk has risen to the Council without breaking the law they promulgated. She also manages to plant that suspicion that Visser Three found out she knew where the Humans were and planned to kill her for it (while in reality, she knows it was just mindless bureaucracy). But this is Yeerk politics, which is all brutal backstabbing. Chapter 5 quote:Stored Memory Transfer Protocol So a few interesting things here. First of all, we see the Yeerks don't really have "civilian" communication. No entertainment broadcasts, no news, no cellular phone calls. Radio waves are just used for military communication. Also, what are your thoughts about Essam so far?
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 05:17 |
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Oh, so they cop to it, if the Council was forced to acknowledge Visser Three killing subordinates all the time he'd be on the chopping block and Yeerk politics is predicated on breaking the rules and not getting found out and they all know it. I love this, this is great so far.
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 05:37 |
Epicurius posted:
The stamp of failure is on him.
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 06:02 |
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That weakling should have started a second, simultaneous war against an entire species to grab a dozen Hork Bajir.
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 06:11 |
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FlocksOfMice posted:Oh, so they cop to it, if the Council was forced to acknowledge Visser Three killing subordinates all the time he'd be on the chopping block and Yeerk politics is predicated on breaking the rules and not getting found out and they all know it. I love this, this is great so far. Probably even less of the 'not getting found out' so much as 'being valuable/important enough that ousting you is not worth the effort, until it is, and then all those previously ignored violations become ammo'
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 08:37 |
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Lol at Visser Three being dumb enough to actually fall for that low tier bait. If I was on the Council of Thirteen, I wouldn't for a second belive the charge that he was conspiring with the Andalites, but I'd honestly start thinking of replacing him with someone less boneheaded simply for rising to that bait.Epicurius posted:Also, what are your thoughts about Essam so far? Dude is the classic example of a mid tier bureaucrat in a tyrannical state. A guy smart enough to follow the rules but not smart enough to realize the rules are only there as an excuse for the strong to punish the weak. If you make your bosses happy, the laws have no threat to you. Mazerunner posted:Probably even less of the 'not getting found out' so much as 'being valuable/important enough that ousting you is not worth the effort, until it is, and then all those previously ignored violations become ammo' It's also telling that once you get to Visser rank, you don't have to do memory dumps. Not because Visser are more trustworthy. If anything, it's the exact opposite. If they had to start enforcing all the laws on the leadership... well... They'd run out of Vissers before they ran out of crimes.
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 08:47 |
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It's not so much an empire as a giant mutual hostage situation
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 10:40 |
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I do think it is interesting that the Yeerk homeworld actually isn't "free". To some extent the Empire is an Empire in exile because they don't actually have the strength to push the Andalites off their own home planet yet, or, presumably, to fight the Andalites on the Andalites' home territories either.
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 11:10 |
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It’s funny that Visser One’s accusations against Visser Three actually carry more weight because backstabbing and double-crossing is how the whole Empire is run.
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 16:49 |
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ANOTHER SCORCHER posted:It’s funny that Visser One’s accusations against Visser Three actually carry more weight because backstabbing and double-crossing is how the whole Empire is run. Yup. Visser Three was assuming that he was favored enough, and Visser One was disgraced enough, that he could take her overlooked crimes and now finally use them against her. But he's quickly learning that she's not yet at the point where the Council is willing to hear about them, and, likewise, that he's not yet so above reproach that the Council will automatically overlook any of his crimes she brings to light. He walked into the room with his ego fluffed, thoroughly convinced that this was all theater with a foregone conclusion and he was going to see his greatest rival destroyed and everything of hers given to him; actually, he's in a fight and now he's been caught flatfooted.
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 17:31 |
The really sad thing is, if you put One in charge of infiltration and Three in charge of combat, they'd be a highly potent team. But as always, egos.
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 21:03 |
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Is Visser Three actually good at combat? He's certainly personally formidable but it seems like his only real military victory on screen in the series so far is defeating a vastly outnumbered Andalite Dome Ship at the beginning.
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 21:23 |
WrightOfWay posted:Is Visser Three actually good at combat? He's certainly personally formidable but it seems like his only real military victory on screen in the series so far is defeating a vastly outnumbered Andalite Dome Ship at the beginning. At the very least being able to read Alloran's brain seems like it would be a massive strategic advantage for him.
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 21:27 |
He had them cold in book 5, and springs a couple of pretty good traps. He's certainly a better fighter than infiltrator.
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 21:46 |
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WrightOfWay posted:Is Visser Three actually good at combat? He's certainly personally formidable but it seems like his only real military victory on screen in the series so far is defeating a vastly outnumbered Andalite Dome Ship at the beginning. At least a few times, we see him set up effective ambushes against the Animorphs.
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 21:47 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 11:10 |
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And there's plot armour too. The animorphs escape death by mere millimetres at least once per book; V3 should have killed them several times over but they keep rolling 6!
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# ? Jan 22, 2022 21:53 |