2. I think it is extremely important for them to keep the leaders free. The fight would have been much harder if they had to deal with a) the Yeerks and b) the public's opinion being swayed around by a Yeerk'd leader. A person in a position of power could more easily, in both power and the ability to hide their true intent, have them hunted down as bandits. And I would imagine if a person in a leader position had a Yeerk, it would be much easier for Yeerks to 'trickle down' through the system, soon taking over people that actually enact the leader's plans, slowly removing the need for secrecy. Really, the Yeerks need to stay secret was a huge help to the Animorph's in this series.
3. Realistically, I don't think any of them were controllers. It would make no sense if any of them were, that would mean there would be an active presence in another country, and how did we not hear about it? (Though, in back-handed defense of the series, we never did find out how the Yeerks got 'into' the Andalite military.)
We could surmise that there was a Yeerk presence in another country, but that people caught on and snuffed them out, I won't speculate on what countries inhabitants would be most likely to do that (stereotyping etc.) If I had to pick and blindly assume what the book said was true, I'd probably say Russia, because it is far enough removed from American influence/geographically that it seems logical to assume that news wouldn't reach America, even if Sarah Palin can see them from her back yard.
4. I'm glad I started writing fanfic about adding new Anis to the series, because it gave a fresh perspective on the predicament David was in. I think he genuinely had some problems from the beginning, which was a huge part of the failure to integrate him into the book. (I could write a huge paper on analysis of him, but for the sake of brevity I'll truncate.) I can sympathize with him to a certain extent, but in the end it was his own character flaws that lead to his downfall so I can't sympathize with him too much. (Breh, I'm messing the three books up in my brain, I should stop and re-read exactly where this books stop and the others begin.)
5. I think that our opinions would have been swayed in different directions of David, no matter who started out narrating. We would have seen him as more of a tragic character as Cassie or Tobias, we would have seen him as massive potential if Jake started it out, we would have seen him as probably trash if we started out with Rachel, and who knows with Ax. I like that he was started out with Marco, Marco's calculating and suspicious mind really helped us kind of see all angles (as much as possible anyway.) He was constantly picking up clues and delving into David's surroundings and David himself. I don't think we would have gotten as much character depth out of David if Marco wasn't somewhere in the trilogy. I think it ultimately works out well, over all, that it was Marco, Jake, and Rachel with the descriptors I gave above.
6. I liked Marco's little observation bit on who usually ends on on who's side before they begin deliberating, saying that usually him and Rachel were usually on the same side of the issues. They were usually the ones in the series that were willing to do the dirty work that needed to be done to further their aims. Each of their opinions really lined up with their views throughout the series, Tobias kind of idealistic, Cassie willing to take risks in the name of morality, Ax just working with facts, tactics, and experience yet willing to do whatever Jake told him, Marco cautious and calculating, and Rachel just wanting more firepower. And Jake, just going with what the majority wants to do, usually.
7. I probably would have made him an Animorph and tried to integrate him into the group somehow. While it really bit them in the butt, it wouldn't have right, tactics-wise or in fairness, to not give him a chance to fight for his parents.
8. It's hard to say how much of his resistance was based on his personality and how much of it was based on basically being crash-landed in a worst-possible-case scenario. I think if I were in his position, I would have just went along with the group while trying to find out as much information as I could before doing anything on my own, though I definitely would not commit to following Jake around blindly. At that point in time, I think my main concern would be staying protected from the people who basically wrecked my house.
9. Probably a couple months ago in full, though I've referenced it recently from time to time.
