Final fate of Visser Three/One (spoilers)

[Bootlebat]

Was anyone else disappointed he didn't die? I was at first but now that I think about it his fate is possibly worse than death

[Chad32]

I did not expect him to just give up. I know Yeerks in general are known for surrendering if they know they're about to lose, but it seems out of character for V3/1 personally. I kind of expected one last desperate attack where Ax actually manages to kill him, but I think KA was trying to say that the last battle in a war doesn't always fit the climax to a typical action movie or similar.

As a story, I think it's done poorly, but she was trying to add realism. Just like when she had Rachel, Tom, and Jara Hamee killed, though that didn't actually make things any more realistic.

[DinosaurNothlit]

I dunno, I never even thought about it being unrealistic.  I think that the main reason Visser Three was so arrogant throughout the series was because he was always winning (or at least thought he was).  Once defeated, he becomes a typical Yeerk and surrenders to save his own hide.  In fact, it even reminds me a bit of his actions at the end of #17.  As soon as his life (or sanity) is at risk, he's willing to do whatever it takes to survive.

Nor was I ever all that disappointed he didn't die.  Surprised, maybe, since the big bad villain almost always dies at the end, but not terribly disappointed.  Living the rest of his life the way he would have to, that's probably at least as bad as dying.

No, the real disappointment for me was how the original Visser One died.  She was just becoming an interesting and deep and perhaps even sympathetic character, and suddenly "squish." 

. . . Which is part of why, in my own head-canon, I'd point out that Yeerks can naturally squish down pretty well without injuring themselves, and Marco only assumes she's dead after stepping on her.  I think she's still alive out there somewhere, pretending to be just another Yeerk, and hoping nobody knows the difference.

Technically this is not off-topic, going by the topic's title. 

[Chad32]

To me, Visser One's sympathy went out the door when she considered forcefully infesting her human children, and having the Yeerks in their heads pretend to be the way she hoped those kids would be. She was insane, and her death at the literal hands of eva was great.

[Adam]

I think he could legally be counted as a POW, and hence it would be morally unjustified to kill him on the spot. However, would he be subject to the death penalty? Let's face it, he killed plenty of his fellows and innocents! He was a big ol' meanie-head!

[Chad32]

I believe he is considered a POW, and they sentenced him to life imprisonment. Though someone would probably sneak in and kill him, as happens in prison sometimes to the real sickos.

[Adam]

I don't think a Yeerk would be given a straight-forward prison cell though, so murder by inmates probably isn't likely, in my mind.

[cathey]

Yeah. By Andalite standards, Ax should avenge his brother. I'm pretty unhappy he didn't. I expected him to protest for Elfangor, not Tobias for Rachel

[DinosaurNothlit]

Yeah. By Andalite standards, Ax should avenge his brother. I'm pretty unhappy he didn't. I expected him to protest for Elfangor, not Tobias for Rachel

Whoa, I never even thought about it from that angle, but you're right.

Oh my god I didn't think anything could still make Animorphs' ending any sadder.  :'(  Ax's oath went unfulfilled.  Elfangor's death was never avenged.

Somebody needs to write a fanfic about Visser Three being offered a shot at freedom if he morphs Andalite and goes tail-to-tail with Ax.

[GalagaGuru]

I actually kind of feel like Visser Three's sentence was unethical. Solitary confinement is bad enough, but with what basically amounts to total sensory deprivation, there's no outcome except for him to go completely clinically insane. That is significantly worse than death.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Keep in mind, though, that a Yeerk wouldn't react the same way to total sensory deprivation as a human would.  The main reason it drives humans crazy is because throughout our evolution, we have always had sensory stimuli constantly bombarding our brains.  Thus, when those stimuli disappear, our brains are forced to find ways to keep up the same level of activity.  Which often leads to hallucinations as the brain pretends to see and hear things that aren't there.

Yeerk evolution was very different from ours, though.  For the majority of their history, Yeerks have been sensory-deprived, maybe not to the same degree as Visser Three would have been in solitary confinement, but far more so than humans ever were during their evolution.  To think that sensory deprivation would drive a Yeerk insane, would have to mean that lots of Yeerks would have gone insane simply during the course of their own evolution.  Since that doesn't really make evolutionary sense, they must not be dependent on sensory stimuli in the same way humans are.  They obviously enjoy being able to see and hear, but they don't require it to stay sane.

Of course, one could also argue that Visser Three was already completely clinically insane, so there's that.

[GalagaGuru]

I think the individual's psychology has to be considered. Yeerks may have only been using hosts for a generation or two, but Visser Three has become accustomed to having sight and refined hearing senses for nearly forty years. And again, there is the solitary confinement aspect. He will never speak to another Yeerk, through a host or via echolocation. Considering the prison is maintained by humans and maybe Andalites, he will probably never interact with anyone or anything in any meaningful way.

Imagine a prisoner who wasn't even allowed to read or look at anything besides their cell. Even if they already had paranoid schizophrenia or whatever, the total lack of new information would be devastating to the very foundation of that person's being.

[NickDaGriff]

I agree with DinosaurNothlit here.  No real reason for a Yeerk to go insane just from living in their natural state for the rest of their life.  Social deprivation might be an issue for him, who knows?  But then again, the ol' Visser was never exactly famed for his social skills.

Kinda reminds me of what happened to the Joker in the novelization of The Dark Knight Rises.  Apparently, he was sentenced to life in Arkham Asylum, but then every other prisoner was transferred to Blackgate Prison, leaving him as the sole occupant.  This was inspired by a real life story of a Nazi war criminal who ran one of the concentration camps, and had a whole prison dedicated to keeping him contained for the rest of his life.  He ended up committing suicide after ten years when a guard looked away for too long.

But remember, this is based on human psychology.  Yeerks, by their fundamental nature, have some vastly different thought processes.  Yes, they're sentient and capable of running a civilization, so they're more like us than they are unlike us in the end.  That said, the basic function their body is designed for necessitates and creates psychological function that just doesn't happen in humans.  When a yeerk is in a pool as nature intended, literally all they're doing is swimming around in circles, soaking up sunlight and making ultrasonic clicks to make sure they don't bump into anything too hard.  It's stated a couple times that they barely even interact with each other in the pools.  So social interaction and external stimuli are really not necessary for them to function normally in the slightest.  It's a wonder they even developed their own sentience and intelligence, when you think about it.  But still, they happened, and they don't all turn into Genie the feral child as they mature in the pools.

[cathey]

Yeah evolution is a result of natural selection. Intelligence gave the early homo sapiens a big edge. That's why they survived and humanity came to existence. That's why humans have high IQ, genetically. Parasitic worms that don't communicate much with each other (their first host was some blind, immobile species) developed intelligence? I don't buy that either...

Interesting point by DinosaurNothlit... I never studied the neurological background for hallucination and schizophrenia, but that's a really interesting point. If yeerks were used to the lack of stimuli, would isolation and everything really punish visser three? Though on the other hand, how would the yeerks be able to handle the constant stimuli overload when they tookover another species' brain? I mean, people get exhausted if a basketball game goes on for too long, if they work on a math problem for too long, and if they don't get enough sleep trying to meet a deadline. How do the yeerks handle these levels of excitation? Also, it must have been quite a while since the law of Seerow's kindness came along. The yeerks have already conquered several other worlds by the time they reached Earth. Is it possible that over that course of time, yeerks evolved to be more restless?

Okay I apologize for being such a nerd...

[Chad32]

I haven't really thought about thos things, Cathey. Honestly I would expect V3 to need some stimulus besides the times they clean out his bowl. Then again I'm sure some people would love to find him and assassinate him, so he may not have to endure for long. Finally, how long do Yeerks live, anyway? He's 40+ years old, and small creatures don't typically live for several decades. I don't think Yeerk lifespans are ever mentioned, but I would imagine him being in the last stretch of his lifetime.