Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

It's a very difficult thing to show in a children's book that has to reflect to a status quo and features space wizard poo poo, but it's clear Rachel is-- more than any of the rest of the team-- the example of humanity at its most ineffably human. Emotional, stubborn even, but also wildly compassionate and attuned to their own dark desires. Crayak thought this would make her exploitable, but Rachel proved consistently that she could integrate her worst tendencies into a force for good better than any other team member.

That made her their greatest warrior.

And also ensured she'd be the one who wouldn't make it home.

# ? Mar 25, 2023 03:58

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# ? May 26, 2024 14:15

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

RIP to a real one

edit - also as tragic as it is, Rachel at least was good and mattered and made a difference and, to some degree, went out on her own terms doing something she was willing to die for.

Poor Tom, on the other hand, spent years as a slave and then died as a slave

freebooter fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Mar 25, 2023

# ? Mar 25, 2023 04:42

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

The massive balls it took to completely withhold non-Yeerk Tom and have him die as a puppet is one of the most impressively horrific things in the entire series. In absolutely any children's media made after Avatar: The Last Airbender there would be some mandated scene-- even a dream or Megamorphs scene-- of non-Yeerk Tom to twist the knife but also soften the audience's sense of "well at least Tom got to show up, at least once."

But no. Tom never showed up once. Not once. Not really.

He was a victim at the start of the series with the slimmest chance he'd be free, and after what feels like lifetimes of struggle and sacrifice the final answer is-- no. He was never free. Not even for an instant.

It shouldn't be like that, but sometimes it is. That stuck with me.

# ? Mar 25, 2023 05:09

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Tom made his choice in Book 1. He maybe could have gotten out, but he willingly chose to try punch a flame monster so others might escape. He didn't lack for balls.

# ? Mar 25, 2023 05:11

Malpais Legate: Oct 1, 2014

Vandar posted:

These two chapters just loving kill me.

Every time. Every single time I read that final conversation with the Ellimist it just...breaks me.

Yeah, the part where Rachel says "I wanted so much to live. I wanted so much to stay and not to leave" getting followed-up with her sincerely asking if she matters in the end just rips me open. Rachel is my favorite animorph for a number of reasons, but her final moments with the Ellimist are really what hands her that trophy.

# ? Mar 25, 2023 05:23

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

mind the walrus posted:

The massive balls it took to completely withhold non-Yeerk Tom and have him die as a puppet is one of the most impressively horrific things in the entire series. In absolutely any children's media made after Avatar: The Last Airbender there would be some mandated scene-- even a dream or Megamorphs scene-- of non-Yeerk Tom to twist the knife but also soften the audience's sense of "well at least Tom got to show up, at least once."

But no. Tom never showed up once. Not once. Not really.

He was a victim at the start of the series with the slimmest chance he'd be free, and after what feels like lifetimes of struggle and sacrifice the final answer is-- no. He was never free. Not even for an instant.

It shouldn't be like that, but sometimes it is. That stuck with me.

I'd never seen that ruthlessly depressing of a character arc for a character up to that point in my life. I think the only other one that springs to mind from around that same era was the character of Jeri/Juri from Digimon Tamers, a character who starts out on the periphery of the show's circle of competence, slowly and determinately fights her way into it, and then is just ruthlessly smacked out of it to show you the absolute worst case scenario of what can happen in an otherwise typical "kids and monster friends" type show. Literally just "Okay, what happens if someone who's completely not ready for this poo poo falls into the cockpit, almost makes it into the groove with the real heroes and then reality catches up with them... and they don't take it well at all", and then she's just an absolute broken headcase for literally the entire remainder of the show and she never gets the typical triumph-over-tragedy resolution that most characters who go through that trauma tend to get.

It was an incredibly disquieting thing to see, but insanely realistic. Because some people just don't rebound or recover from trauma. Sometimes people take a bad hit, and it just ends them as a person. Tom, similarly, took a bad hit from life and that was it for him.

I've been waiting for the Let's Read to get to this chapter for literal years now because I've always been fascinated by Tom as one of this series almost purpose-built un-redressed grievances and open wounds, just because of how absolutely filthy dirty both him and Jake are done by this ending for him. And yet, realistically, this was probably always the way it was going to end for him. Getting Tom out alive and in one piece was always a miracle that seemed completely out of reach even in a universe where there are literal gods at work tipping the balance this way and that way to achieve otherwise impossible ends. And to my knowledge I don't think that KA Applegate or Michael Grant have really ever addressed the choice they made with Tom at the end of the series, or even over the course of the series either. I know Grant says he regretted letting Melissa Chapman slide into narrative oblivion after the second book, but I don't think anyone's ever asked them their thoughts on Tom, at least as far as I can remember anyway. You can see a lot of what Michael Grant would eventually decide to cover in his later books like the Gone series in just how lovely things end for Tom. He is very much a ruthless "lovely things happen to people sometimes, deal with it" kind of author.

I hope Epicurius posts the closing letter from Applegate along with the final chapter, because that will definitely go a long way towards helping people rationalize the choices that were made all across this book and the books leading up to it, because they still basically stand by the sentiment they expressed in it, even if they admit now with the lapse of time that it was probably way to harsh and reactive to people's absolute outrage over the ending.

nine-gear crow fucked around with this message at 06:02 on Mar 25, 2023

# ? Mar 25, 2023 05:58

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

The one thing Tom does at least get is the knowledge that his little brother was the leader of the resistance all along - I can't imagine he wouldn't be immensely proud of him - and that his Yeerk's plan of betrayal failed, so Jake and the others are still alive and at this point it looks like they've saved the earth. He gets that, at least.

nine-gear crow posted:

I hope Epicurius posts the closing letter from Applegate along with the final chapter, because that will definitely go a long way towards helping people rationalize the choices that were made all across this book and the books leading up to it, because they still basically stand by the sentiment they expressed in it, even if they admit now with the lapse of time that it was probably way to harsh and reactive to people's absolute outrage over the ending.

That letter is an absolute banger. A full-throated defence of serious/mature/grown-up writing, of the ultimate point of fiction to reflect things about the real world.

# ? Mar 25, 2023 07:12

Zore: Sep 21, 2010; willfully illiterate, aggressively miserable sourpuss whose sole raison d�etre is to put other people down for liking the wrong things

Yeah, these chapters are just as brutal as I remembered. I had a really hard time with this book as a kid, probably because I was 10 years old, and it stuck with me for a long, long time. I remember that up until this one came out I had obsessively read and reread most of the books in the series. Pretty sure I cried when Rachel died and definitely cried during some of the later chapters in the book. Its one of the reasons Animorphs holds such a near and dear place in my heart, it was the first piece of media I ever engaged with that affected me like that. And despite having read hundreds of books since, I still haven't really had a fictional character death hit me as hard as Rachel's does here.

# ? Mar 25, 2023 07:31

kiminewt: Feb 1, 2022

To me, Tom's tragedy is even more heart-breaking.

I think back to that moment a little while ago in the Taxxon cave where Tom is talking to Jake
Jake has had enough and commands Ax to "take him".

Yeerk-Tom is taken aback but I always think about what the real Tom had going through his head. A rush of hope of being free must have gone through him only to immediately be crushed again.

# ? Mar 25, 2023 08:11

Rochallor: Apr 23, 2010; ふっっっっっっっっっっっっｃｋ

I want to bring up Harry Potter a minute for comparison's sake. I was 17 when the last book came out and some of my friends and I went to the midnight release. While we were in line, my friend was doing something with the music kiosks they used to have at Borders. Into the search bar she had typed, for anybody walking by to read, "SNAPE DIES AND IS GOOD" plus whatever page number that was. In that moment I realized that a) I was not mad at all, b) I thought it was funny, and c) I was pretty much over Harry Potter. The "everybody lived happily ever after, except some supporting characters, and also we nicked the best line from Aliens" limp noodle of an ending pretty much sealed the deal and I did not think about the series for over a decade until Rowling went all-in on transphobia.

The furiously angry and frustratingly sad conclusion of Animorphs, the one that we are currently only four chapters into, is something I think about maybe once a week. Poor Tom. Poor Rachel.

# ? Mar 25, 2023 09:07

Capfalcon: Apr 6, 2012; No Boots on the Ground,
Puny Mortals!

Rachel, who had some pretty rocky books in the back half, goes out with the most devastating chapters of the series.

# ? Mar 25, 2023 13:23

pastor of muppets: Aug 21, 2007; We were somewhere around the Living Hive, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold...

# ? Mar 25, 2023 14:53

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

Rochallor posted:

I want to bring up Harry Potter a minute for comparison's sake. I was 17 when the last book came out and some of my friends and I went to the midnight release. While we were in line, my friend was doing something with the music kiosks they used to have at Borders. Into the search bar she had typed, for anybody walking by to read, "SNAPE DIES AND IS GOOD" plus whatever page number that was. In that moment I realized that a) I was not mad at all, b) I thought it was funny, and c) I was pretty much over Harry Potter. The "everybody lived happily ever after, except some supporting characters, and also we nicked the best line from Aliens" limp noodle of an ending pretty much sealed the deal and I did not think about the series for over a decade until Rowling went all-in on transphobia.

The furiously angry and frustratingly sad conclusion of Animorphs, the one that we are currently only four chapters into, is something I think about maybe once a week. Poor Tom. Poor Rachel.

I avoided mentioning Harry Potter in my previous posts because gently caress that terrible series and gently caress the terrible, ableist bigot who wrote them, but yeah it's remarkably badly constructed. I remember being largely "over" Harry Potter by the 4th book when there was a lot of hype about a character dying, only for that character to be Mr. Whatshisface Jock guy we only got really introduced to in that book. There wasn't any real shading or development of him, it was just "oh we're supposed to care because... he's our teammate?" and it felt very narratively unsatisfying.

Meanwhile a character we only saw the tiniest fractions of, Tom, was powerful enough to make an impact crater we still feel decades later. It feels almost ghoulish to praise it as narrative effectiveness directly, as though doing so would cheapen the power of what happened to this character who never existed. Much like nine-gear crow pointed out-- it's insanely realistic. Some people just get a bad hand for no good reason and that's it for them, and honoring that grim reality is what people are really talking about when they talk about maturity in fiction.

freebooter posted:

That letter is an absolute banger. A full-throated defence of serious/mature/grown-up writing, of the ultimate point of fiction to reflect things about the real world.

Yeah Applegrant can be softer now about it and say it was too reactive, but it was absolutely true, and especially needed during a time of relative peace literally months before the US Empire was about to shits its pants globally for years on end.

# ? Mar 25, 2023 20:31

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

mind the walrus posted:

Yeah Applegrant can be softer now about it and say it was too reactive, but it was absolutely true, and especially needed during a time of relative peace literally months before the US Empire was about to shits its pants globally for years on end.

Because, for reference, we are now at May 2001 in terms of the real world timeline with this book. 9/11 is four months away. It's another one of those "you had to be there" type things, but for a lot people, myself included, the ending of Animorphs and 9/11 are weirdly inextricably linked in their historical and cultural memory. Because basically Animorphs ended, people got mad about it, Applegate and Grant published the "there are no happy endings in war" letter, everyone went "ok, boomer", then spent the rest of the summer talking about the ending, went back to school in September, and then

.

And then basically everything that they talked about in that letter came quickly, horrifyingly true, to an extent that I don't think even THEY ever envisioned it would.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 00:31

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

There is a bit in the letter where they specifically say that a lot of the kids who read Animorphs will soon be of voting age, and draft age, and every time I read it I just think that there's a non-zero number of American youth who grew up reading this and then went off to die in Iraq or Afghanistan just a few years later.

mind the walrus posted:

Yeah Applegrant can be softer now about it and say it was too reactive

I may be misremembering it, but I think by the time I read the final book, in Australia at least, that letter was being included as an afterword.

I don't think it's anything they should feel the need to dial back on. I think it's entirely justified to tell e.g. certain kinds of viewers of Breaking Bad that no, they shouldn't be rooting for Walt by the end of the series; and I think it's even more important to underline to younger readers that no, not everything is fan fiction and Mary Sues and wish fulfillment and WWE Smackdown.

And I don't really see how anyone could have read the entire series and thought that it deserved, or would have, anything other than a bittersweet ending. And it's not like it's a total bummer grimdark ending - they won! Earth is saved! And half the Animorphs do manage to mostly process their trauma and go on to live good, fulfilling lives after the war.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 01:38

Rochallor: Apr 23, 2010; ふっっっっっっっっっっっっｃｋ

I'm not going to say that Animorphs was entirely responsible for making me the only anti-war fifth grader in my class (not that many people were pro-war; most were pro-war-not-interrupting Spongebob), but I have a very distinct memory of getting the paper off the doorstep sometime in late 2001 with a photo of smoke rising over Kabul and a big WWII-style headline reading "REVENGE" and thinking, "Hmm, we're not in for a very good decade."

My parents, god bless 'em, took me aside at one point and kind of gently asked me if I knew that one of the girls in my class had nothing to do with the attacks, and I was like, first of all, she's Indian, but more importantly, she's 11.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 02:28

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 6-Jake

quote:

No one moved,

I don�t think anyone even breathed.

Toby, the leader of the free Hork-Bajir, burst onto the bridge. She was scarred and bloody.

<Jake, they�re surrendering. We had to promise them amnesty and a chance to acquire the morphing power.>

I heard her words.

<What�s the matter?> Toby asked.

She noticed Tobias. She�d only seen him in human morph a few times. Toby is named for Tobias. The free Hork-Bajir see Tobias as their liberator. And Toby, the Hork-Bajir seer, was named in his honor. On the screen I saw the Blade ship slowly picking up speed and pulling away. They didn�t fire at
us.

Tom was dead.

And I wondered how I was ever going to explain it. I had ordered my cousin to execute my brother. How would I ever explain that?

All these years I�d fought to keep us all alive, to stop the Yeerks, always with the hope that someday I would save my brother, that he would come back, that he�d be Tom again. That was why I�d enlisted in the war to begin with. I was going to save Tom.

Tom was dead. The Yeerk in his head was dead.

And Rachel.

And how many others?

General Doubleday�s soldiers who had provided the suicidal diversionary attack on the ground. The auxiliary Animorphs who had gone with them to trick the enemy. How many of Toby�s people? Seventeen thousand Yeerks, frozen. Flushed into space.

Plus.

Plus.

All at my command.

�Jake, I need your okay,� Toby pressed. �The Yeerks want you. They want your assurance.�

<A pack of traitors,> Visser One said, but the fight had gone out of him.

Tom was dead. Rachel was dead. How would I explain this to my parents? Silly to think of that right then. Silly and stupid.

�Jake �� Toby urged.

<Rachel,> Cassie said softly. <Toby, we lost Rachel. And Tom is dead.>

Toby absorbed that, then said, �Jara Hamee, my father, died bravely in battle here today.�

Still I couldn�t say anything. How did I explain �

Marco was still in gorilla morph. He said, <It�s okay, Toby. Tell the Yeerks that Jake will be along in a minute. Tell them Visser One is our captive. Tell them we approve the deal you made.>

<My people may not agree,> Ax said.

<Yeah?> Marco shot back. <Guess what? This is our planet. These are our prisoners. This is our victory. If the Andalite high command doesn�t like it they can come and try to take a piece of us.>

Cassie came to me and sort of leaned into me, as close to a hug as we could get right then. I was afraid she would say something sympathetic, I was afraid she would comfort me, and if she had I think that would have been it, I think my brain would have just shut down because all the pain would
have suddenly been real and deep inside me.

Cassie said, <We still need you. You�re not done yet, Jake.>

The right thing to say. Cassie was good at that. I noted the effect on me, observed my reaction from a million miles away.

I sighed. Okay. Yeah. I still had a job. Do the job.

<Everything else can wait,> Cassie said.

Yeah. It could all wait.

I took a deep breath.

<Okay, Toby. Okay, I�ll be right there. Tell them what Marco said and I�ll get there soon to back you up.>

Toby left with a last, curious glance at Tobias. Me, I couldn�t look at Tobias. I didn�t care if he saw the way I avoided his eyes, I didn�t care, I couldn�t look at him.

I wish to god Tobias had just come after me. Right then. I would have welcomed it.

Instead I focused on Visser One. How had this happened? How had he survived and Tom died? How did he still live? How could that be the result?

 Visser One said. <You�ll be doing me a favor. Whatever death you have for me will be nothing compared to what the Council of Thirteen would sentence me to. They really don�t approve of vissers who lose Pool ships.>

<No. No more killing,> I said.

�What do you mean, no more killing?� Tobias demanded, breaking his ringing silence at last. He stabbed a finger at the visser. �He�s the one responsible for all this!�

<He�s a prisoner of war,> I said softly. <We don�t kill prisoners.>

<No, of course not,> Visser One mocked. <You merely destroy the ground-based Yeerk pool and kill thousands. And you add another seventeen thousand here on this ship. All defenseless, unhosted Yeerks. But you don�t kill prisoners.>

<Marco?>

<Yeah, Jake.>

<The visser is going to remove himself from this Andalite body he has stolen and inhabited for so long. Find a safe place for him. Watch over him.>

<You got it.>

<Cassie? Go get Erek. If he wants the Chee secret to be kept he needs to hide himself. We may have guests soon.>

<Anything else?> Cassie asked.

<Like what?> I snapped. <An apology? To that robot? �Sorry we blackmailed you into helping us?� No. He drained off the Dracon beams and because of that the Blade ship got away. Because of that Rachel died in vain. Because of him who knows what will happen?>

Cassie hesitated, looked down, then turned to go.

I began to demorph, then stopped myself. The visser was still a dangerous foe with a bottomless grab bag of powerful morphs at his command.

I spoke to Ax in private thought-speak. His tail blade flashed and caught the visser unprepared, a flat-side smack against his temple. His host body, the long-enslaved Andalite war prince called Alloran, slumped unconscious.



<Tobias? Marco? Find a box, a jar, something to hold this Yeerk in when he emerges. If he doesn�t come out within two minutes, do it the hard way.>

<That would be my pleasures Marco said.

<Okay, Ax,> I said. <Dial up the Andalite high command. Tell them to stand by for a communication from me. And open a simultaneous channel directly to the Andalite home world.>

Ax hesitated. He turned his main eyes to me even as his stalk eyes remained focused on the visser. <Prince Jake, there is a specific regulation forbidding me as an aristh from contacting the civilian media net. I am required to work through the chain of command, my prince.>

He wasn�t fighting me, just asking for dispensation. The repetition of the word prince signaled his willingness.

I began to demorph, moving from tiger to human, from thought-speak to spoken word. <Ax, as your prince I�m ordering you to ignore those regulations and do what I�ve told you to do.>

<Then I must obey.>

�Yeah. Now, I have to go see about Toby and then I�ll be back. I want to see one slug in a jar and a ticked-off Andalite on screen when I get back.� I left the bridge, trotted to catch up with Toby and followed her to engineering where the signs of a severe battle were evident. Hork-Bajir bodies were stacked in the corridor. Their blood was everywhere. Impossible to be sure which were free Hork-Bajir, our allies, and which had died still enslaved to the Yeerks.

Toby�s people controlled the doorway into engineering where the dispirited Yeerks had taken refuge.

�Do they have a spokesman?� I asked.

Toby yelled, �Sub-Visser Seventy-four, the Animorph leader Jake is here.�

A battered-looking Hork-Bajir female stepped into view. I looked her up and down, putting on my hard act. �We have the ship. We have Visser One. You�re not in much of a position to make demands.�

The sub-visser showed nothing. �Human, you cannot frighten us. We have no hope left and that gives us strength. We will not die of Kandrona starvation - better to die here, now, in battle. We�ll kill some more of your people before we do.�

I nodded. �Fair enough. You want amnesty, access to Kandrona rays, and morphing technology? You�d accept permanent morphing and relocation?�

�As opposed to slow death by starvation or even a quick death now? Yes.�

�I don�t have the morphing cube. But I pledge to use all my influence to gain agreement from the Andalites when they come.�

She stood there, straight, almost at attention for a while, then slumped. �It has come to this after all.�

I nodded. �Yeah. The onboard Yeerk pool needs to be refilled. Send some of your people under Toby�s supervision to handle that. Then you�ll be escorted to the pool in groups of six. You�ll exit your host bodies.�

�And be helpless again,� the Yeerk said bitterly.

�I keep my word,� I said.

I started to leave then stopped. �Toby? I�m sorry about Jara Hamee. He was ��

�He was the first of the free Hork-Bajir,� Toby said fiercely. �He was the father of his people. And he was my father.�

I started back for the bridge.

I mean, really, what do you say at this point?

Chapter 6-Cassie

quote:

Rachel dead? How could that be? How could that be real?

She�d been my best friend forever. Teased me about my clothes as I teased her about her obsessive shopping. How long ago had that been? A hundred years?

She�d wanted to be a gymnast but thought she was probably too tall ever to be really good. And of course all that was in the past, too.

She had this way of seeming untouched by what went on around her. Unaffected. Above. She was a person who could walk through a car wash and come out dry. She could move through a mosh pit and never be jostled. She could wear a white dress to dig in the mud and somehow never get a spot
on her. But the war had touched her. She�d changed, and she�d known she was changing. The war had revealed a hidden part of her soul. She alone, of all of us, she alone liked it. Loved it, even. She had enjoyed the fight.

Sometimes I imagined her as a Viking. Or as a knight on a quest. That�s what she was: a joyful warrior.

And she had died fighting against impossible odds.

Like a hole inside me. Like someone had taken a knife and carved a hole in my chest. Like I might cave in, be swallowed up and disappear in that hole.

Beautiful Rachel.

Poor Tom.

And now, all of us, the survivors. The victim-perpetrators.

I found Erek. I simply walked through the Yeerk ship calling out in thought-speak. A wolf prowling strangely empty, silent corridors.

He appeared before me. He�s an android, one of a long-lived species called the Chee. Their creators, the Pemalites, are extinct, but the pacific instincts of the Pemalites live on in these magnificent thinking machines.

Erek is at least five thousand years old, and the person we knew by that name was really just a holographic projection that disguised the machine beneath the illusion.

I demorphed.

�Hi, Erek.�

�Hi, Cassie.� He smiled sadly. �Jake sent you.�

I nodded.

�I see. He feels guilty.�

�No. Not guilty.�

His eyes narrowed. �Then what? He used me, blackmailed me, manipulated my programming to get me to break through the security grid and take control of this ship.�

�You drained the Dracon beams.�

�What did Jake expect me to do? I had given him control when he needed it. I wasn�t going to enable him to kill.�

�The Blade ship got away. Rachel � Jake had Rachel with Tom. Rachel and Tom are both � and the ship got away anyway. Thanks to you.�

The Erek hologram disappeared. He was an android now, a thing of steel and ivory vaguely in the shape of a dog walking erect. �And I�m supposed to feel regret because Jake ordered his cousin to kill his brother and I didn�t allow him to massacre everyone else on the Blade ship?�

That made me mad and I guess I showed it.

�So, you, too, huh Cassie?�

�Jake did what he had to do.�

�Did he? Someone flushed the Yeerk pool into space. Did he have to do that, too? They were unhosted Yeerks. They were harmless.�

�We needed a div -� I stopped myself.

�A what? A what did you need? A diversion? You�re going to tell me you needed a diversion so Jake massacred seventeen thousand sentient creatures? A diversion?�

I took a deep breath. �Jake says maybe you should get off the ship, Erek. The Andalites will most likely be coming aboard soon. It�s up to you whether you go on keeping your existence secret. We won�t divulge it.�

�I see.�

�Bye Erek.�

He nodded. Then, as he was passing, he took my arm in his pseudo-hand. �Take care of Jake. He�s going to need you.�

So both Visser Three and Erek take the same position on the flushing of the Yeerk pool, as did, if you remember, Elfangor.,But still, Erek is wise enough to know that Jake is going to need Cassie, They are, as Cassie put it, victims/persecutors.

quote:

It was granted me to carry away from my prison years on my bent back, which nearly broke beneath its load, this essential experience: how a human being becomes evil and how good. In the intoxication of youthful successes I had felt myself to be infallible, and I was therefore cruel. In the surfeit of power I was a murderer, and an oppressor. In my most evil moments I was convinced that I was doing good, and I was well supplied with systematic arguments. And it was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either�but right through every human heart�and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains � an unuprooted small corner of evil-The Gulag Archipelago, Alexander Solzhenetsyn

Epicurius fucked around with this message at 06:30 on Mar 26, 2023

# ? Mar 26, 2023 04:53

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

I like Erek's smug nature here. Feels appropriate. Nice touch with Toby's father. F to the real ones.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 05:18

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

quote:

Cassie said, <We still need you. You’re not done yet, Jake.>

Goddrat, Cassie. I say again, if she chose to use her insight into people for ill, she could be the worst of the lot.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 05:53

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

quote:

<My people may not agree,> Ax said.

<Yeah?> Marco shot back. <Guess what? This is our planet. These are our prisoners. This is our victory. If the Andalite high command doesn�t like it they can come and try to take a piece of us.>

Good line. Marco knows that the Andalites can still annihilate the forces of Earth if they choose - but I like the exhaustion on show here, the short tempers, the sticking up for themselves.

quote:

<He�s a prisoner of war,> I said softly. <We don�t kill prisoners.>

<No, of course not,> Visser One mocked. <You merely destroy the ground-based Yeerk pool and kill thousands. And you add another seventeen thousand here on this ship. All defenseless, unhosted Yeerks. But you don�t kill prisoners.>

Also a good line. V1 is correct that what Jake really means is "we don't kill prisoners if I have to look them in the eye."

quote:

The Erek hologram disappeared. He was an android now, a thing of steel and ivory vaguely in the shape of a dog walking erect. �And I�m supposed to feel regret because Jake ordered his cousin to kill his brother and I didn�t allow him to massacre everyone else on the Blade ship?�

And what does Erek imagine that Blade Ship is going to do next?

This more or less sums up why I sort of admire but can never really respect or understand pacifism as an ideology; because it clashes with basic utilitarianism.

edit - probably not a spoiler to say that this is the last appearance of Erek or the Chee, which always annoyed me a little but I didn't recall that it's prefaced here by the Animorphs explicitly saying that they'll want to keep their society a secret. It does make it an interesting thought experiment to wonder how they go about telling the full story of the war years while editing the Chee's contribution out, though...

freebooter fucked around with this message at 08:28 on Mar 26, 2023

# ? Mar 26, 2023 08:25

kiminewt: Feb 1, 2022

Another thing I liked, though it's not really in-line with the rest of the themes:

quote:

�Jake, I need your okay,� Toby pressed. �The Yeerks want you. They want your assurance.�

The respect the Yeerks now have for this 16 year old boy, and drat did he earn it.

Now he just needs somebody to hold him and have a nice cry but like Cassie said, there's a little bit more to go through.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 13:40

Capfalcon: Apr 6, 2012; No Boots on the Ground,
Puny Mortals!

freebooter posted:

edit - probably not a spoiler to say that this is the last appearance of Erek or the Chee, which always annoyed me a little but I didn't recall that it's prefaced here by the Animorphs explicitly saying that they'll want to keep their society a secret. It does make it an interesting thought experiment to wonder how they go about telling the full story of the war years while editing the Chee's contribution out, though...

Probably steps up the Yeerk Peace Movement a lot.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 13:56

Kazzah: Jul 15, 2011; Formerly known as
Krazyface; Hair Elf

"Oh, that week we were all in the Arctic? Actually Ax was at home for that one, he spent the whole time swapping between morphs and running all our lives. Real classic sitcom two-dates-at-once type stuff."

# ? Mar 26, 2023 14:00

Capfalcon: Apr 6, 2012; No Boots on the Ground,
Puny Mortals!

Kazzah posted:

"Oh, that week we were all in the Arctic? Actually Ax was at home for that one, he spent the whole time swapping between morphs and running all our lives. Real classic sitcom two-dates-at-once type stuff."

Lol, that's true.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 14:06

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

freebooter posted:

And what does Erek imagine that Blade Ship is going to do next?

This more or less sums up why I sort of admire but can never really respect or understand pacifism as an ideology; because it clashes with basic utilitarianism.

Yeah Erek and the Chee are an indictment of "third way" bleeding hearts (may be using that term wrong) that only consider societal arithmetic in terms of the present and showing the limits of that approach. It is presumptive and arrogant to think a person can play chess where real lives are sacrificed in order to achieve a complicated social end goal, but what Applegrant show is that it is just as presumptive and arrogant to ignore that macro level reasoning and act according to simple axioms, because lives still get lost and opens up areas for bad actors to do even worse things.

quote:

edit - probably not a spoiler to say that this is the last appearance of Erek or the Chee, which always annoyed me a little but I didn't recall that it's prefaced here by the Animorphs explicitly saying that they'll want to keep their society a secret. It does make it an interesting thought experiment to wonder how they go about telling the full story of the war years while editing the Chee's contribution out, though...

Way too many of the aliens are used as cheats to get the kids out of situations with relatively little blood on their hands. The Chee make more sense on paper than most, but I'm not surprised the end for them is basically a "Well you see we---murmur murmur murmur---and that's the story of how we all got out of Space Tijuana!" handwave.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 17:02

CidGregor: Sep 27, 2009; TG: if i were you i would just take that fucking devilbeast out behind the woodshed and blow its head off

A little late on this, but I think what was most striking to me personally about Rachel's end here is that it wasn't Tom that ultimately killed her, or Chapman, or Visser Three/One, or even Crayak/Drode.

It wasn't one of any number of big, noteworthy villain names throughout the series that finally brought down the toughest, most brutal and ruthless fighter on the team.

It was just some random, unknown, no-name Yeerk, with no presence in the story before or since.

One quick smack of a polar bar paw and it's over. For all the times they squeezed through and survived, that was all it took.

That kinda really sucks. In a thematically appropriate way.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 18:24

Chucat: Apr 14, 2006

mind the walrus posted:

Way too many of the aliens are used as cheats to get the kids out of situations with relatively little blood on their hands. The Chee make more sense on paper than most, but I'm not surprised the end for them is basically a "Well you see we---murmur murmur murmur---and that's the story of how we all got out of Space Tijuana!" handwave.

Speaking of that, it does make me wonder why Jake didn't have Erek use holograms for the fake attack rather than getting every non-main-Animorph ally killed, there's precedent for it from when he did that fake colony and so on. I mean I know the answer was "He didn't think of it and Erek wasn't exactly in the mood to help him out with ideas" but it is something rather odd.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 18:40

Rochallor: Apr 23, 2010; ふっっっっっっっっっっっっｃｋ

Chucat posted:

Speaking of that, it does make me wonder why Jake didn't have Erek use holograms for the fake attack rather than getting every non-main-Animorph ally killed, there's precedent for it from when he did that fake colony and so on. I mean I know the answer was "He didn't think of it and Erek wasn't exactly in the mood to help him out with ideas" but it is something rather odd.

I think Erek is pretty strong but maybe not "take direct hit from shipboard laser cannon" strong. IIRC he and his dad got a little injured from the handheld Dracons. It's also probably exponentially more difficult to produce a massive hologram like that instead of a couple people, his graphics card would be slowing down to like 8 FPS.

The final scene with Toby really makes me wish she had been a more major figure in the series. The Cassie book where she was a main character was great, as well.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 20:21

Capfalcon: Apr 6, 2012; No Boots on the Ground,
Puny Mortals!

Also, even if he didn't kill anyone, Eric would be acting to enable a military operation as a direct participant, which probably violates his programming.

# ? Mar 27, 2023 02:08

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 7-Marco

quote:

Ax and I watched fascinated, repulsed, maybe a little triumphant, as the Yeerk crawled slowly from the Andalite ear.

I had found a lockable briefcase, a very human artifact stuffed under a control panel. It was filled with chocolate chip cookies. Some Yeerk, probably a human-Controller, had developed a sweet tooth and it would be hard to get a good cookie on a Yeerk ship.

I ate a cookie and held the case open for the slug-like creature that was the true Visser One.

 Ax said conversationally.

<Yeah, well, better not, I guess.>

Tobias had returned to what was his normal form. The red-tailed hawk perched on a railing. The laser eyes drilled into the Yeerk. I was not at all sure that Tobias wouldn�t swoop over and nail the visser. I wasn�t at all sure I�d stop him.

I�m probably the least emotional of the group. It�s always been my virtue and my failing that I see the clear path from A to Z without the distraction of moral considerations. I don�t want to say I�m ruthless, I�m not. But I have the ability. I can see the ruthless way clearly. I have to sort of add the morality back into the equation after the fact.

I had no deep qualms about the seventeen thousand, any more than I had about our attack on the ground-based Yeerk pool. I knew why Jake had sent Rachel to Tom. I agreed with his thinking. But then, I wasn�t in love with Rachel. I wasn�t some lonely kid trapped in a hawk�s body, half in one
world, half in another with only Rachel�s love tying me to my humanity.

Maybe Tobias would eventually accept what Jake did. Maybe not.

It was weird. I was watching our greatest foe place himself literally into our hands. We had beaten Visser One.

Maybe later we�d celebrate.

�Ax, pick him up.�

Ax picked up the Yeerk holding him between two fingers, gingerly, as though it was something dirty. He dropped it into the briefcase. I closed the lid and turned the combo lock.

�I guess we won, Ax.�

<Yes.>

�Shouldn�t someone be singing �God Bless America�?�

Ax looked puzzled and decided to let it go. He said, 

The remaining Yeerks on the bridge were being very cooperative now. Seeing your great leader in a box will do that, I guess. Anyway, they followed Ax�s instructions.

It took a few minutes and then, on the screen there appeared a wary Andalite face.

<What do you want, Yeerk?>

Ax said, <We are not Yeerks. I am aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, the brother of Prince Elfangor. You have correctly identified this signal as originating from a Yeerk pool ship, but this ship is now under the control of �> He frowned, uncertain, and turned a quizzical stalk eye to me.

I shrugged. �This ship is under the control of the Earth Liberation Army.� I grinned. It was a wonderfully grandiose name for a handful of kids.

Ax repeated it word for word to the skeptical Andalite.

<Do you seriously expect to me to believe that humans have seized control of a Yeerk Pool ship, aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill? Clearly you are a Controller. Just as clearly this is a clumsy trap.>

Cassie returned. She took in the scene and decided to stay quiet.

�He�s got us there,� I admitted. �He has no way of knowing whether we�re really us or Controllers.�

Ax said, <There is a Yeerk Blade ship heading �> He consulted a display panel and gave the coordinates. <You may be able to intercept them.>

The Andalite officer said, <Anything else, Yeerk? Is there another part to this pitiful attempt at a trap?> He was about to sign off.

Jake arrived. �Where do we stand?� he asked me.

I motioned at the screen. �This genius thinks we�re Controllers trying to set him up.�

Jake nodded. �Perfect,� he said dryly. �How do we get around this?�

<Tell him you�ll surrender the Pool ship to them.>

It was Visser One! No. No, it was the Andalite Visser One had infested for so many, many years: Alloran-Semitur-Corrass. I�d forgotten all about him. Ax had knocked him unconscious, now he was coming around. He climbed to his hooves, looking like a stunned blue deer.

The Andalite officer said, <So the deception is over. I see the visser has revealed himself.>

Alloran started to say something, then turned his face and main eyes to Jake. <With your permission?>

That was one weird moment. Alloran was an arrogant, determined, even criminally ruthless Andalite war prince. Or had been once, long ago. And then, for a long time, that face had been the face of our deadliest enemy, Visser Three/One. And now he was meekly waiting for Jake�s okay.

Jake nodded and in a very respectful tone said, �Please continue, War-Prince Alloran.�

Alloran�s main eyes flickered, a slight display of emotion. <Who are you?> he demanded of the Andalite officer.

 He hesitated and there was a slight, ironic smile. An Andalite smile, of course, which is all in the eyes. <The Dome ship Elfangor.>

Ax swelled about a size. <A Dome ship named for Elfangor. There is no higher honor for a warrior.>

<A well-named ship,> Alloran said. <Now, officer-of-the-day Offeran, you�re going to want to contact the captain because you have just captured a Yeerk Pool ship. We will advance at space normal speed to any point you name. All Bug fighters will be deployed around the ship, and as we reach the rendezvous point you will see all Bug fighters self-destruct. At that time we will detach the Pool ship�s main engines. All weapons will be powered down. This ship will be perfectly helpless.>

That got Offeran�s attention. He turned a shade of lighter blue. It was kind of as if in the middle of World War II the Japanese Navy had called up the U.S. Navy and said, �Hey, we�re going to turn over our biggest aircraft carrier to you. Come on over and pick up the keys.�

Suddenly the scene changed. The face on the screen was older. This Andalite had a burn scar on his scalp and was missing one stalk eye.

<Captain-Prince Asculan-Semitur-Langor,> Ax said in private thought-speak.

�Big time?� I whispered under my breath.

<Very big time.>

The captain favored us with a long, hard, serious look. Then he said, <Visser, I refuse to ->

I saw it coming. The old Andalite was going to chill us. It wasn�t my place to butt in, maybe, but I couldn�t let this old creep screw everything up by committing himself. Once he said what he was getting ready to say it would be impossible for him to climb down.

�Hey, Ax-man,� I said brightly. �Is it true the Andalite home world is watching all this? Can I wave to them?� I waved like one of the idiots outside the Today Show. �Hi, everyone! Howard Stern rules! Yaaaah!�

Well, that stopped everyone and everything dead. You could practically see the wheels turning in old Asculan�s nasty-looking head. Jake looked for a minute like he might slap me silly. And Ax basically turned to stone.

But then Jake gave me a nod. He got it.

So did Alloran. 

Asculan had a mean look to him now. Furious. He was a person in a trap. A powerful person in a trap, not used to being trapped, not liking it.

Jake stepped into Asculan�s line of sight. �Captain Asculan, we know that the Andalite fleet is devoted to the destruction of the Yeerk threat. And we know that you must be personally committed to that goal.�

I translated in my head: We know you�ve come here to turn Earth into a great big charcoal briquette because you think it�s the only way to stop the Yeerks.

�Because of your devotion to duty it may almost seem a disappointment to reach your goal at long last, only to discover that your foe has essentially surrendered.�

Translation: It�s over.

�At this point we have to set aside the necessary ruthlessness of war, the suspicion and hostility, and turn instead to the more satisfying duties of making peace.�

Translation: Your people back home are watching and if you come in guns blazing, annihilating a peaceful people, your own peaceful civilians will never stand for it.

�Our victory could never have occurred without the support of our Andalite friends.�

Translation: Look, we�re willing to share the credit. You people did squat for us, but we�re willing to spread the kudos around freely.

�I look forward to our two peaceful peoples working closely together, to forming a deep and abiding friendship. We have so much to learn from our Andalite brothers, just as we have already learned so much from the great Elfangor and his no less courageous and resourceful brother, Aximili.�

Translation: The Dome ship Elfangor is going to come in and annihilate all of the real Elfangor�s work? Kill his little brother who happens to be a ready-made Andalite hero? Guess again, you mean old fart.

The captain listened to all this impassively. But I could see the steam sort of leaking out of him. By the end of Jake�s little speech his eyes were glazed over. He knew he�d been trapped but good, and the truth was, he was probably relieved.

<Who exactly are you?> Asculan asked Jake. I jerked a thumb at my friend. �This is Jake. Jake Berenson. President of Earth.�

Jake isn't president, but he's proven himself a diplomat

Chapter 8-Jake

quote:

We flew the Pool ship to a rendezvous point just beyond the moon�s orbit. As we�d promised, we deployed the Bug fighters by remote control and blew them up. We detached the ship�s engines and waited. Waited for hours.

Then, in a rush, perhaps two dozen of the slightly goofy-looking Andalite fighters came swooping around us. They surrounded us, shredder weapons aimed. It was a hair-raising moment.

Then the Dome ship Elfangor and another Dome ship came in from different directions. Dome ships are very cool and typically Andalite. They�re built a little like palm trees. There�s a long trunk with engines at one end and a bulge for weapons and living quarters in the middle. On top you have a big glass dome over grass and trees and even streams and little hills. The Andalites are a grazing species: They love an open meadow.

Dome ships are also exceedingly well armed. I don�t know who wins a straight-up fight between a Yeerk Pool ship and an Andalite Dome ship. But I know who wins when the Pool ship is disarmed and without engines.

The Andalites ran sensor probes and satisfied themselves that we were powered down and that no other Yeerk ships were in the immediate vicinity.

Asculan arrived soon after by shuttle, along with a half dozen tough-looking Andalite marines and as many officers. I sent Ax to meet them at the space dock. I waited on the bridge. Marco had insisted, saying that I had to play the part of the big boss. �The boss doesn�t go down to the airport, he sends a limo or whatever. The boss waits in headquarters.�

�Is that so?� I said.

�Yeah. Look, Jake, you�re a sixteen-year-old kid. But the Andalites don�t know that, right? Play the part. Be the part.� He laughed.

Tobias sent him a murderous look that stalled the laughter.

Very quietly Cassie said, �Tobias, this is a big moment. Don�t you think Rachel would want us to enjoy it as much as we can?�

 he snapped. <If she were alive I�d ask her.>

The Andalite contingent swept onto the bridge. They were playing their own roles.- Thewarriors very intimidating, fanning out to keep everyone covered, the captain himself moving with self-conscious dignity.

The junior officers must have been mostly technical types because they looked around like starving men at the big brunch buffet. They couldn�t stop themselves from touching the Yeerk display panels and controls with greedy fingers. They exchanged giddy looks that said, �Can you believe we�re on a Yeerk Pool ship?�

All of them, including the warriors, kept stealing looks at Alloran. He had been infamous even before being made into the first and only Andalite-Controller.

I took a deep breath and said, �Captain, thanks for coming over. As soon as we can settle some details, I�ll be glad to turn this ship over to you.�

<Details?>

�Yes. The Yeerk prisoners of war have been promised the opportunity to be subjected to the morphing technology. So have a number of Taxxons down on the surface.�

<Denied,> the captain said.

It took me aback. I hadn�t expected a flat denial.

�I promised them.�

<You had no right to promise what you do not own.>

I didn�t want to get mad. Fortunately I had Marco to do that for me.

�Hey, we�re handing you a Yeerk Pool ship. And by the way, there are another couple of dozen major Yeerk vessels back in orbit around Earth and you can snap them up easy. Thanks to us.�

<We�re very grateful,> Asculan said blandly, speaking to me and refusing to directly acknowledge Marco. <But Yeerk technology, while no doubt fascinating to my officers, is less sophisticated than our own. It is of interest, but no more than that.>

Marco erupted. �We won your lousy war for you, you pompous old -�

�My promise to the Yeerks and the Taxxons will be honored,� I said, trying my best to sound determined and confident and forceful.

<The morphing technology is the property of the Andalite people. I am aware that you are morph-capable yourself, as well as a number of your people. Despite the fact that this was illegal, we don�t intend to take any action against you for that. But the technology will not be made available any
further.>

Cassie said, �Sir, don�t you understand? This is the way out. The Yeerks are parasites who require other bodies in order to see, to move about freely. As long as that�s the case they�ll be trouble. Maybe not for us or for the Andalites anymore, but for someone.�

<Now you�re proposing the technology be made freely available to the entire Yeerk species?> Asculan laughed derisively. <You can�t be serious. This will never happen. No Yeerk, no Taxxon will ever be given the morphing technology. Am I clear?>

No one said anything. I was stunned. It was clear to me now: We had no way to convince the Andalite military. They had their �weapon,� they were going to keep it. And if that meant the war continued, that was fine with them.

And what did I have that could make them change their minds? Nothing. With the Pool ship and its information in their possession they�d be able to destroy the remainder of the Yeerk fleet. As for the Taxxons on Earth and the remaining leaderless, cutoff, isolated Yeerks on Earth, that wasn�t the Andalites� problem: They knew we�d deal with that.

Checkmate.

I was honestly tempted to surrender the point. We had won. Earth was saved. What did I care if the Taxxons on Earth were rounded up and killed? That�s what would happen, there was no alternative, Taxxons could never be allowed to live on Earth. And what did I care for promises made
to the Yeerks on board the Pool ship? I had tried to keep my promise. If I failed, so what?

Marco must have read my mind. He drifted up beside me and whispered in my ear. �We give in now, they own us.�

As often was the case, Marco was seeing things I�d overlooked. He was right: The human race had just opened their first negotiation with an alien species with far superior technology. If this relationship started from an acceptance of Andalite superiority and human weakness it would always be that way. We�d end up being second-class citizens on our own planet.

But what was I supposed to do about that? I looked at Tobias. Nothing. He was gone into his own world. Cassie could only look troubled. And Ax, well, Ax had done what he could, he had defied his own leaders, but he was, after all, an Andalite.

But, then, Ax said, <Captain-Prince Asculan, I hereby declare a challenge.>

A dozen Andalites stopped breathing.

I looked at Marco. He shrugged. He had no clue either.

Asculan laughed. <Aristh, you are not in a position to declare a challenge. You would have to beof princely rank or have the support of an Andalite of princely rank.>

Silence.

Then, Alloran said.

A very long silence.

In a low, dangerous tone, Asculan said, <Alloran, you are under suspicion already for your actions on the Hork-Bajir world, I wouldn�t ->

<What I did on the Hork-Bajir world was precisely what you and the fleet were preparing to do to this world,> Alloran shot back. Asculan focused all his eyes forward, a sign of intense concentration for an Andalite. 

 Alloran grated. 

At that moment I think if someone had so much as sneezed there would have been a fight. Asculan�s tail blade was twitching. He was ready to throw down.

But not all the Andalites shared his feeling. Some of the officers and even some of the warriors looked troubled. Troubled by their boss. Andalites take their laws seriously.

�Is someone going to maybe tell us what a challenge is?� Marco muttered.

It was Ax who answered. <It is the right and obligation of any Andalite warrior to challenge the order of a superior if he believes that superior is violating the fundamental rights of the electorate -the people.>

�You�re kidding,� Marco said. �How do you people ever fight wars if you can challenge anything your superior officer tells you to do?�

<If my challenge fails I will be harshly disciplined,> Ax said. 

Alloran said, <Asculan, under the law you may declare an emergency and continue until we can arrange for the challenge to be judged at a later time. But I do not see how a court could agree that this negotiation over prisoners can possibly be called a legitimate emergency. In which case you
would lose your rank and position and be exiled.>

 Asculan snapped.

I felt like a bystander at an event that would determine the fate of the world. This was an all- Andalite show. Their law, their sense of right and wrong. I resented it. But I couldn�t do anything but hope it would work out.

At last Asculan said, He seemed to think we should all leave the bridge and let him hold his meeting.

�I fought for this ship, Captain,� I said. �You were invited aboard.�

Probably not a good idea to antagonize the old monster, but I wasn�t going to start playing the wimp now. We had paid for this ship. It was ours. If we gave it up it would be to allies, not overlords.

Asculan led his officers away. The rest of us let loose one very long sigh.

�What now?� I asked Ax.

He couldn�t answer. He seemed to be shivering.

Alloran answered instead. <Asculan will contact the fleet high command. They will talk to theirpolitical advisors and try to decide whether they can win a challenge. It would be a sort of trial, with each side presenting evidence and witnesses. The entire Andalite electorate would have a vote. It would consume perhaps half a day.>

Marco said, �So what are the odds?�

Alloran shook his head. <I have been away from the home world a very long time. I do not know much about my people anymore. But the high command will make a cautious assessment. They are not bold or adventurous, they are more politicians than warriors. If Asculan comes back here prepared to go forward with the challenge, it will mean they are very, very confident of winning.>

�Okay. And by the way, Alloran, thanks for standing up for Ax. And all of us.�

Alloran turned his main eyes to me. He gave me a strange look. <I never hoped to be free again. You freed me. I have done what I have done in my life. I am what I am, though I may have gained at least some wisdom through the years of enslavement to Visser One. Just the same, I will always be
Alloran, the Butcher of Hork-Bajir. Alloran, the only Andalite to be taken alive by the Yeerks. But, disgraced, even despised, for whatever I am worth, I am yours to command.>

The speech was delivered in a low thought-speak tone, all emotion severely controlled. But then Alloran whipped his tail blade over his head, so fast it cracked like a whip. He smiled the subtle Andalite smile and yelled, <Do you know who did that? Do you know who moved my tail? I did. I did. I did it.>

I smiled, but more for him than for me. If he would forever be the Butcher of Hork-Bajir, what would my name be?

Alloran�s exuberance seemed to shake Ax out of his funk and he raised his own tail to touch the blade to Alloran�s. <Welcome back, War-Prince Alloran.>

Asculan did not return to the bridge. He sent one of his junior officers, a calculated insult. But I guess no one really likes to admit face-to-face that they�re beaten.

<Captain Asculan issues the following orders: Four morphing cubes will be made available to aristh Aximili to use as he sees fit. Aristh Aximili is hereby elevated to the rank of prince. Prince Aximili is appointed liaison between the Andalite fleet and the people of Earth.>

Asculan�s officer waited, expecting a reply.

Ax said, <Thank the captain for me. I will carry out my duties to the best of my ability. My challenge is hereby withdrawn.>

And at that moment, with that polite exchange of messages, the war against the Yeerks was over.

i guess suffering has made Alloran humble, i'll say that even though not a lot of attention is paid to Ax over the course of the series beyond him being the butt of jokes, this is a very different Ax than the one we first met.

# ? Mar 27, 2023 03:37

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Alloran continues to be right

# ? Mar 27, 2023 03:48

Mazerunner: Apr 22, 2010; Good Hunter, what... what is this post?

Marco finding a random briefcase of cookies both owns and provides a nice bit of much needed levity

# ? Mar 27, 2023 03:57

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

Epicurius posted:

slightly goofy-looking Andalite fighters

Vindication!

e: I forget how Andalite names work. Would Asculan-Semitur-Langor be related to Alloran-Semitur-Corrass, or the same rank, or is Semitur just the blue alien deer scorpion version of "Smith"?

Tree Bucket fucked around with this message at 04:52 on Mar 27, 2023

# ? Mar 27, 2023 04:07

Tunzie: Aug 9, 2008

Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul and Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil have no component of their names in common while being brothers.

# ? Mar 27, 2023 04:59

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

Okay, so that probably rules out theory one. And it sounds like theory two is unlikely, given Asculan is big-league.
Alloran-Wang-Jones it is, then.

# ? Mar 27, 2023 05:03

mind the walrus: Sep 22, 2006

Mazerunner posted:

Marco finding a random briefcase of cookies both owns and provides a nice bit of much needed levity

I choose to believe they're Famous Amos.

I also have to admit that it's believably frustrating that these Guerilla Fighters are about to get run over by the "good" Colonial dickheads before enough of their safeguards-- Ax ensuring communicaes are broadcast to the homeworld, Alloran's freedom ensuring he'd have the ability to stand up for them, the pragmatic logic of the morph cube being able to neutralize the Yeerk/Taxxon threats-- help bail them out, and the book is still wise enough to make you realize it's essentially dumb luck that their proposals met with people who had sense.

# ? Mar 27, 2023 08:29

Strom Cuzewon: Jul 1, 2010

Tunzie posted:

Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul and Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil have no component of their names in common while being brothers.

Sirinial and Esgarrouth are their parents middle-names, so there might be some patronym/matronym thing going on. Or it could just be a naming quirk of their family. The only other Andalite family we see are Aldrea's, and we dont see Seerow or her brother's full names.

quote:

The speech was delivered in a low thought-speak tone, all emotion severely controlled. But then Alloran whipped his tail blade over his head, so fast it cracked like a whip. He smiled the subtle Andalite smile and yelled, <Do you know who did that? Do you know who moved my tail? I did. I did. I did it.>

Rather dusty in here.

# ? Mar 27, 2023 08:56

Jim the Nickel: Mar 2, 2006; friendship is magic
in a pony paradise
don't you judge me

I have a distinct memory of reading this part of the book when I was 13, and picturing the briefcase full of loose cookies, and how Visser One's sticky slug body was probably covered in crumbs while he was in there.

Also, late to the party but reading that last Rachel chapter made me tear up, especially the end, about wanting to stay and not go. So devastating and tragic at the end to be reminded how much all of them are still kids, despite it all.

# ? Mar 27, 2023 11:32

kiminewt: Feb 1, 2022

I always imagined it as a transparent plastic jar, despite being clearly described as a briefcase. I stand by my canon.

# ? Mar 27, 2023 11:52

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# ? May 26, 2024 14:15

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

The Andalites being so consistently lovely is incredibly believable and yet seems like such a bold choice for a "YA" book. I love it.

# ? Mar 27, 2023 12:41

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > Comedy Goldmine > Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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