Richard's Animorphs Forum
Animorphs Section => Animorphs Forum Classic => Topic started by: TobiasMasonPark on July 15, 2011, 11:32:58 AM
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This is a topic that I believe should spark some debate here at RAF. I mean, we all have our favourite Animorphs characters, and therefore we have different views and opinions on which character sacraficed the most for the Yeerk-Andalite war. Whether the character is one of the main Animorphs, or an Andalite, or a member of the Chee, vote which main character you feel gave up the most for the war by the end of the series, and then state why you believe that character deserves this title.
Let me start by providing a brief summary of all that our beloved characters sacraficed for the Yeerk War:
First, there's Jake: leader of the Animorphs and responsible for the deaths of 17,000 hostless Yeerks. By the end of the series, Jake lost both parents to the Yeerks, was forced to kill his own brother--and, by doing this, condemming his own cousin to death-- and was infested by his brother's first Yeerk. To add to all that, Jake became the personal play-thing of Crayaks; having experienced countless nightmares of the "big red eye" following the events of the Capture. But, perhaps most important of all, the psychological damages that came from making life-and-death decisions for his teammates, as well as innocent bystanders and hosts alike, is more than enough for Jake to earn this title.
Next, we have Rachel: Jake's reckless and headstrong cousin, and love interest for Tobias. Unlike Jake, Rachel's family was completely cut off from the Yeerk war up until the events of the Diversion. She had a perfectly ordinary life prior to the war, and managed to learn to cope with her double life after meeting Elfangor. Despite her parents divorce (which was unrelated to the Yeerk war) Rachel has sacraficed little in the family department. And while she did have to endure that inner self-conflict of good vs evil, being tempted by Crayak and the "dark side", etc., this is not, in my personal opinion enough to give Rachel the title of the Animorph who sacraficed the most for the war effort. However, that does not mean she wasn't brave, dedicated, and significant.
Thirdly, we have Tobias:the universes personal whipping boy. His father was taken from him; his mother was unfit to take care of him, thus leaving him in the hands of two uncaring relatives; and he grew up as an unloved, socially awkward and constantly bullied. We also have to add the whole "getting-turned-into-a-bird" situation from the invasion onwards, as well as his conflict of "am-I-a-bird-or-human-or-Andalite?" (though that's a separate debate, in my opinion) to the list of why Tobias deserves this slot. But, most importantly, Tobias loses Rachel by the end of the series. The one other human being who actually cared about him was taken away from him, thus forcing him into obscurity and depression. Also, despite having reunited with his mother after more than a decade, he is still alone, because the woman can't even remember him, and seems to care more for her dog than her own son.
Then there's Cassie: tree-hugging moralist of the group, and famous for being the only Animorph to live by the end of the series. Jake was depressed up until the "lets-save-Ax-and-get-ourselves-killed" mission; Tobias was pretty much 100% bird after Rachel died; and Marco tried to mask the pain of his involvement in the war by buying a lot of stuff. And what happens to Cassie? She keeps her parents--who were only involved in the war from book 49 onwards-- and seems to have a respected position in society. She has a boyfriend, and is seemingly okay with everything that happened in the war. Sure, in the beginning of the series, we see a little depth in her character--most specifically in the Departure, where she starts to wonder if her own actions aren't the least bit hipocritical-- but that sort of simmers down once the ghost writers take over. I think we can say Cassie gave the least to the war effort, aside from some psychological trauma.
Marco: pragmatic, realistic funnyman. The kid had it pretty rough after his mother "died"--what with his father slinking into a depression that is only rivaled by Jake's post-war. From the moment his mother dissapeared, Marco had to take care of himself, as well as his father. And if joining a resistance against brain stealing aliens wasn't enough to send him off the deep end, discovering that his mother was the leader of the invasion of Earth would have done it. And he was constantly debating upon the fate of his controller-mother: should I kill her and move on? But, ultimately, by the end of the series, Marco makes it our more or less alright.
Ax: our resident Andalite, and prodigal younger sibiling. He was forever living in the shadow of his older brother, especially after his death. Ax was also tortured with self-conflict: that is, avenging his brother's death by killing Visser Three. And then there's the whole "isolated-alien-living-trillions-of-lightyears-away-from-home" bit that we get from Ax throughout the entire series. But, when you really think about it, up until he gets assimilated by the one, Ax more or less makes it out alright. His parents remain uninfested, he managed to adjust to life on Earth--albiet, still lonely-- and he earned himself a respected position in the military. Sure, his brother was murdered, but Ax was able to cope with that thanks to his friends.
David: traitor to the Animorphs. I doubt anyone will actually give a damn about David, and I don't expect a lot of people to sympathize and vote for him. But you have to see it from David's POV--the kid had everything taken away from him. Both parents were infested by Yeerks; he witnessed Visser Three morphing and destroying half his home; he was left no other option but to live in a stranger's barn and join a group of soldiers that would rather not have him around to begin with. When you really think about it, David was only an Animorph for a week--that's seven or more days that he was allowed for everything to sink in. And obviously David was psychologically unbalanced to begin with. Now, that's not to say that David wasn't wrong in what he did; he was. But you can't just write him off as a horrible human being.
Those are the main choices. I added Erek, James and Elfangor as after thoughts. If anyone else wants to add something--like a character that I forgot-- then feel free to tell me.
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I chose Rachel, and not because she's my favorite character. Point of fact Tobias has that honor and always will. But let me clarify my points here the way you have.
Jake: Yes, he was the leader. He has all of the burdens you've mentioned. But, he was alive at the end of the actual Yeerk invasion. Everything he did can be forgiven within the context of it being a war and being the only leader of the only known resistance to the Yeerks.
The bottomline is he was alive after it all. Yeah, he dealt with feelings of guilt, but in my opinion any crash you can walk away from is a good crash. Before accepting a mission to rescue and/or avenge Ax, Jake would have lived a full life.
Marco: From day one he had aspirations of getting into television and being wealthy. You knew this is pretty much what he was gunning for from day one. Guest spots on Letterman, his own TV show, money and arm candy. Money and fame were what what he asked for and that is what he recieved. (Star Wars reference)
Oh and not only did he get his mother back he is the only one to actually avenge a relative hurt by the Yeerks by killing Visser One. So for his effort in the war, the universe gave him a fair trade.
Cassie: You know what. I just now came to a conclusion about her that I would like to write about in a different post. Keep an eye out.
Tobias: Casulty of war who brought his situation on himself. You know, without the morphing power I think it would have gone the way MM4 called it. But now that he had the power to morph, Tobias had friends and a girl that showed interest in him. His life could very well have taken a different path if he hadn't become enamored with the hawk morph.
Nothlitism = Suicide/self harm in my book and I can't let that slide. Especially when I personally know people who, fictional elements aside, have been through worse and came out fighting on the other end.
Aximili: Wrote book on humans, got out of Elfangor's shadow and landed himself a high ranking position. Went through a lot of personal growth during his time on Earth, even going as far to tell high ranking Andalite to go eff himself and treat Jake like the leader.
Finally there's Rachel. She was headstrong, yeah. I don't penalize her for that. But you have to admit that Jake did put her on the frontlines quite a bit, especially when something dirty had to get done. She was the one that sat there with Ax while David slowly became trapped as a rat. She was the one that risked her life to trick him into the cage.
Jake was never as much of a pawn of Crayak as Rachel was. He was in Rachel's face all too often, trying to lure her into killing Jake. Willing to grant her power beyond belief if she became his slave.
She went through all of the media pressure after going through hereth illint. The worse thing to happen to Jake in the days before the Chee decided to make themselves useful was being grounded. Oh, I feel for you Jake. Rachel had to deal with the media pointing a camera at her and having to put up with the pricks at school running their mouths on top of it. Sure, she landed in a hotel and got to veg out on her dad's credit card, but it's not like she's the kind of kid who expects that sort of thing.
Anyhow, in the end, what's Rachel's big pay off? Dead. If Jake hadn't sent her to infilitrate the Bladeship, Tom's Yeerk would most definitely have destroyed and crippled the pool ship and taken off with the morphing cube and a loyal army of Yeerks to do god knows what to an unsuspecting population elsewhere in the galaxy.
In order to ensure that it didn't happen, Jake sent the only Animorph who could pull it off. The only one who could shed the blood of her own family and not let the fact cause her to hesitate. (Although, give props to Marco for at least having the stones to attempt to kill V1 while she was in his mom)
Rachel died. So, all of the psychological damage that happened to her never had the chance to heal. Jake at least had Marco and Cassie to try and help him recover and Rachel got a really nice funeral. Booya.
Yeah, Jake, Marco and Tobias died finally, but that was years after the fact. And unlike when they first "died" Rachel didn't get the magical out of an Ellemist/Crayak interference.
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i choose elfangor because first, he gave up his expected life as an andalite - imo not as big of a sacrifice as it could have been since he got loren outta the deal - second, he gave up loren and tobias and his life as a human - imo he was really bummed about this but knew if he didn't the war would shift in a bad way - third, he gave up his life for a seemingly tiny hope in form of often underestimated kids. the ellimist giving him a second chance gave him the opportunity to give up even more
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My vote is for Tobias.
Never had a mom or a dad,got passed between Aunts and Uncles who never gave a rat's rear about him,got bullied in school,really had no friends and was a loner.Then he gets into this war barely knowing anything about then others and finds being a hawk cool(as I would as well.) and gets trapped in morph.It doesn't matter if it was on purpose or not,because its a BIG shot from going to a human to living like a hawk and having to learn all the stuff there is to know.
He then has to come completely ok with the fact he has to kill rodents to live and has to be left out in several missions because he can't morph.Then The Ellimist comes and uses him as a puppet and helps him led the two free Hork-Bajirs to the valley,gets a chance at becoming human again,but soon figures out he really wants to remain a hawk and morph to help his friends.He is troubled by other red-tailed hawks taking his food,Visser Three acting as a family member to get him and more.
BUT then he finds out his dad is really Elfangor,causing MORE pain and loss that he did meet his dad,and watched him die in front of him.Then he finds his mother is alive,blind and doesn't remember him,and tries to connect with her but she seemed to care more for her dog then him.
And FINALLY,Tobias loses his girl and the only one who cared for him in the world: Rachel Life was finally taken from him and he got really depressed that he never really cared anymore after that(neither would I.)
The others had their stuff yes,but in my opinion Tobias gets this vote.
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My vote is for Tobias.
Never had a mom or a dad,got passed between Aunts and Uncles who never gave a rat's rear about him,got bullied in school,really had no friends and was a loner.Then he gets into this war barely knowing anything about then others and finds being a hawk cool(as I would as well.) and gets trapped in morph.It doesn't matter if it was on purpose or not,because its a BIG shot from going to a human to living like a hawk and having to learn all the stuff there is to know.
He then has to come completely ok with the fact he has to kill rodents to live and has to be left out in several missions because he can't morph.Then The Ellimist comes and uses him as a puppet and helps him led the two free Hork-Bajirs to the valley,gets a chance at becoming human again,but soon figures out he really wants to remain a hawk and morph to help his friends.He is troubled by other red-tailed hawks taking his food,Visser Three acting as a family member to get him and more.
BUT then he finds out his dad is really Elfangor,causing MORE pain and loss that he did meet his dad,and watched him die in front of him.Then he finds his mother is alive,blind and doesn't remember him,and tries to connect with her but she seemed to care more for her dog then him.
And FINALLY,Tobias loses his girl and the only one who cared for him in the world: Rachel Life was finally taken from him and he got really depressed that he never really cared anymore after that(neither would I.)
The others had their stuff yes,but in my opinion Tobias gets this vote.
imho what you described is loss and i feel there is a significant difference between what is lost and given. if the question was who lost the most to the war, tobias would have my vote
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Well its just my own thought of this subject.Plus I didn't read all the books so I am not 100% up to speed on everything that happened to him.
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imho what you described is loss and i feel there is a significant difference between what is lost and given. if the question was who lost the most to the war, tobias would have my vote
If we're considering what's given as the stuff they did, knowing what was at risk/what would definitely be lost, and not just deciding who had the worst life at the end of it all, I'd have to say either Marco or Jake gave the most.
Ax and Cassie rarely seemed willing to leave the comfort zone when it came to the big moral decisions (even if Ax's comfort zone was a fair bit broader), and I can't even think of an isolated occasion off the top of my head where Cassie chose to risk/sacrifice something important to her for the sake the mission at hand. Ax does at least earn consideration, however, for how often he had to refuse the opportunity to return home.
Tobias became a nothlit, but the suggested reasons he had for doing it on purpose have nothing to do with benefiting the war effort. The sanity slippage that resulted from the torture was something I feel was taken from him, not something he gave.
Rachel dying was, again, not something she gave. It is, however, something she risked. Buuuuut, that doesn't actually earn her any big bonus points in my eyes, because everybody on every side of the conflict risked their lives constantly. The fact that Rachel got the short end this one time doesn't make her actual risk any more or less significant than anyone else's.
We don't really know enough of the details of the other options to accurately weigh their contribution, imo.
Jake and Marco, on the other hands, practically seemed willing to sell their souls in the name of victory. They both, at some point or another, even became willing to risk the reasons they even got involved in the fist place (Marco's mom, Tom). I voted for Jake, though, because when push came, he shoved. Marco was, until the bitter end, trying to save his parents despite all logic saying he should abandon his dad and kill Visser One. Jake, however, actually got to the breaking point, and committed the strategic fratricide.
And then what does Jake do after winning the war? Instruct others on how to win future wars, ignoring his major depression. That has to count for something.
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This is an extremely difficult question.
Like most of the other posters here i shall go through all the people in the pole that lead to the post.
1: Jake. a brilliant leader, Jake helped control the animorphs and lead them to victory. the animorphs could not have gotten as far as they did without him. while some would say that Jake lost his brother, Rachel, Cassie's love, tobias' friendship and respect, as well as his happiness in the final battle, i would say that Jake gave them. he made the decision, a decision he did not have to make, knowing that he would loose everything. Jake gave up all he had gained from the last three years as an animorph for the human race. that is why i rank jake at number two, for his leadership and sacrifice.
2: Rachel. while Rachel was decisive in battles, and kept to bias going, she was not as important to the war effort as some of the other animorphs. and yes while she did give her life in battle, it was far better than the alternative. if she survived the war, what ever was left of Rachel would either be an empty shell or a psychopathic maniac. Rachel needed battle and bloodshed like a junkie needs her fix. so while she died for the cause, it was actually one of the nicest things Jake could have done for her.
3:cassie gave a lot to the war effort. while not a good strategy person, she was a fantastic people person, and provided insight into morality and morphs. without her the animals would have fallen apart and sunk to the levels of the yeerks. cassie provided the solution to the David problem, Cassie gave up the other animorphs respect at times in order to foster the yeerk resistance and the taxxon rebellion that would bring an end to the war. this is why i rank Cassie at number 3 for who gave most to the war.
4: marco. marco was the most intelligent of the animorphs. he was the most ruthless. he was the one most focused on the end result, maintaining the earth resistance until the end of the war. without him, everyone would have died, the yeerk resistance would have failed. he was the one who provided rationality when there was too much emotion. and in the act of pushing his mum/visser 1 off a cliff he gave the biggest reason why he was fighting, for the war effort. and while after the war he profited, and his mum and dad survived and he was happy, i feel he gave the most to the war effort and resistance through his beautiful mind, and in the end sacrifice. while jake and his war efforts are close, marco wins over jake, because he made the first step towards destroying his family, allowing jake to see what was possible.
5:ax, while having more knowledge about advanced technology and the yeerks then the animorphs, and he was fantastic at battle, he was often too self centered and worried about himself, his people and his personal vendetta against visser 3 to be considered as a contender for who gave the most to the war effort.
6:david. put simply this guy gave nothing to the war effort. he lost a lot, but gave nothing.
7:erik king. the chee were very useful intelligence, and they gave a fantastic amount of time towards the war effort. but due to their reluctance to change their programming they failed to live up to the potiential of effort to the war, and so dont go into the running for giving the most to the war.
8: james gave his life. he knew he would probably die, he knew he would probably loose all of his friends, and he gave a lot in a short time. if he had been around for longer, maybe he would have given more, but he just wasnt around long enough to give as much as some of the others.
eflangor. if you are talking about a war between yeerks and everyone else, then this guy wins hands down. and if you talk about the war against yeerks on earth, this guy gave the means to fight, and the essential knowledge that the animorphs needed to survive. without him there would not have been a war. and for this i place him fourth in the war effort.
tobias. while tobias gave a lot for the war, most he did for altruistic reasons. he became a bird to escape his crap life, he remained a morpher, because to become a human again and not be of importance to the animorphs would mean he was back where he started, a sad depressed looser. while tobias lost a lot from the war, especially Rachael, it was something he would never have had without the war. so sadly tobias does not win any prizes for efforts towards the war.
if this answer was about loss then thats another whole can of worms which i will tackle another day
cheers
Cairnscairns
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i think jake, he got his cosine to kill his brother, killed alot of yeerks, and he was the leader and in the end sorta lost it
Rachel would be a really close second to me, since she gave her life
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I took "Who Gave the Most to the War" to mean "Who aided the war effort the most," and I voted for Cassie. That may seem surprising, but I think that her letting the yeerks take the escafil device was the action that had the biggest effect on where the war went. It showed the taxxons a reason to rebel, and gave the yeerks a reason not to fight to the death when their pool ship was captured. Also, unrelated, Cassie often knew what animals would be most useful for the tasks at hand, and got everyone access to said animals.
Now, if "Who Gave the Most to the War" is supposed to mean "Who sacrificed the most in the war," I guess I should have voted for Jake.
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I took "Who Gave the Most to the War" to mean "Who aided the war effort the most," and I voted for Cassie. That may seem surprising, but I think that her letting the yeerks take the escafil device was the action that had the biggest effect on where the war went. It showed the taxxons a reason to rebel, and gave the yeerks a reason not to fight to the death when their pool ship was captured. Also, unrelated, Cassie often knew what animals would be most useful for the tasks at hand, and got everyone access to said animals.
Now, if "Who Gave the Most to the War" is supposed to mean "Who sacrificed the most in the war," I guess I should have voted for Jake.
good point
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To me it's a tie (Yeah I know, cop-out) between Rachel and Eva.
Rachel died and it's pretty hard to beat giving your life up for a war. Not to mention all the mind effing the Crayak did to her, listening to David become a nothlit, and having to decide whether or not to kill him. There are a ton of other things I could mention, but you already know them.
Eva had the chance to be selfish (if you could call it selfish) and be free, but she chose to be selfless and continue to be a slave to Visser One so she could continue fighting the war in her own way. She got free before it was all over, but I'm gonna say it takes a heck of a lot to willingly be a slave simply because you can do, "More Good" than being free.
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Has to be jake...
by the end of the series he lost everything....all for the sake of winning the war...many people dont realise wut it takes to be a leader,let alone a leader of the only resistance on the planet against a full on alien invasion....the guy kept the team going....the decisions he took in the end of the war would destroy anyone yet he took them because he realised the importance of winning the war...
rachel my have died...but by sending her to kill his brother,by sending her to her death,by flushing all those yeerks from the yeerk pool, with all the lives on his head...jake pretty much died evryday of the rest of his life....
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If I had to choose who gave the most to the war, I would honestly say that it was the Ellimist. Sure he was all powerful and just kind of chilled on the sidelines, but he reigned Crayack in and kept him from continuing his crazy galaxy destroying ways. Also, who was the one that made it possible for Elfangor to even give the morphing powers to the Animorphs? Oh, wait, wasn't that THE ELLIMIST? Not only did he arrange that, but he also created the hork-bajir colony and gave Tobias his morphing power back. Also, who could forget that it was the Ellimist who showed the Ani's where the kandrona was?
Pure an simple, hands down, the Ellimist contributed most to the war.
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I think we can all agree that the Ellimist's entire existence was the war :P No doubt.
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It's def. Jake. Not only did he lose both parents, was the only one actually infested at one point, but he pretty much took everything that was thrown at him and yet was till forced to bear through it all. He was forced to make every single decision and after every fight he was teh one who had to receive the blame. Can you imagine how any of the other Animorphs woulda taken it if they had been the ones who had to make the decision to send someone on a suicide mission? He pretty much accepted that Tobias and Rachel's parents would hate him. And I'm pretty sure after that it was an emotional death for Jake. His like was basically meaningless after that(to him). What did he do afterwards? The war pretty much ruined him. Tobias got to sulk by himself, Ax became a hotshot pilot, Marco's king of Hollywood, and Cassie's just happy she didn't have to do anything top ruin her precious morality. And even though Elfangor died, he had a full life. He had a wife and a son. None of that for Jake. Also a guilt ridden life is much worse than death. Rachel died a hero. Jake(if he did die) was seen as the ruthless commander.
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I chose Elfangor.
In my mind, I really can't think of a more tragic hero than Elfangor, in all of literature. First he gave up his family and ran away to Earth out of guilt and shame, and learned to live a happy life there, falling in love with Loren.
Then he was taken away and THEN he found out he had a child. In the book you really could feel just how guilty he felt in that moment, and he was even able to tell that Tobias had a lonely life ahead of him.
Then he had to live with that. For 13 years. And when he finally got the chance to fight the war, he got completely owned, and on his deathbed saw his son. (Which was a good thing, but how terrible would it be to finally see your son and realize that you have two minutes with him, and that's it.)
Then he got nommed.
I think that significantly qualifies him to be the Universe's official chew toy. (Or the ellimist's at least.) And he unfortunately passed his bad luck down to his kid.
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Tobias. Let's see, he gets trapped in the body of the hawk, although some would argue his life was infinitely better as a hawk, learns Elfangor is his father, gets tortured, and then has to watch his love die. Yes, I'd say even if he didn't give as much as some others, he still gave everything, if not his whole life like Rachel.
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I think that Tobias is a close second to Jake. His life pretty much sucked the entire book. Finding out that Elfangor was his father was more of a pro than a con in my opinion just because he used to have no idea who his dad was. Then, he found out he was like the most influential person he had ever met. Jake had pretty much everything he cared about ripped away from him at one point or another. Also Crayak and the Drode were screwin with him every night in his dreams.
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Yeah, that's a good point. Jake was like the target for the Ellimist, and mostly the Crayak. I don't remember it mentioning the Crayak in anyone else's dream.
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Jake. Brother killed cousin killed. And a kind of guilt nobody else had. As the leader any failiures could be blamed on him. I imagine him after the war just sitting alone, imagining new scenarios that could have saved everyone.
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I chose Rachel, and not because she's my favorite character. Point of fact Tobias has that honor and always will. But let me clarify my points here the war ......Finally there's Rachel. She was headstrong, yeah. I don't penalize her for that. But you have to admit that Jake did put her on the frontlines quite a bit, especially when something dirty had to get done. She was the one that sat there with Ax while David slowly became trapped as a rat. She was the one that risked her life to trick him into the cage.
Jake was never as much of a pawn of Crayak as Rachel was. He was in Rachel's face all too often, trying to lure her into killing Jake. Willing to grant her power beyond belief if she became his slave.
She went through all of the media pressure after going through hereth illint. The worse thing to happen to Jake in the days before the Chee decided to make themselves useful was being grounded. Oh, I feel for you Jake. Rachel had to deal with the media pointing a camera at her and having to put up with the pricks at school running their mouths on top of it. Sure, she landed in a hotel and got to veg out on her dad's credit card, but it's not like she's the kind of kid who expects that sort of thing.
Anyhow, in the end, what's Rachel's big pay off? Dead. If Jake hadn't sent her to infilitrate the Bladeship, Tom's Yeerk would most definitely have destroyed and crippled the pool ship and taken off with the morphing cube and a loyal army of Yeerks to do god knows what to an unsuspecting population elsewhere in the galaxy.
In order to ensure that it didn't happen, Jake sent the only Animorph who could pull it off. The only one who could shed the blood of her own family and not let the fact cause her to hesitate. (Although, give props to Marco for at least having the stones to attempt to kill V1 while she was in his mom)
Rachel died. So, all of the psychological damage that happened to her never had the chance to heal. Jake at least had Marco and Cassie to try and help him recover and Rachel got a really nice funeral. Booya.
Yeah, Jake, Marco and Tobias died finally, but that was years after the fact. And unlike when they first "died" Rachel didn't get the magical out of an Ellemist/Crayak interference.
I chose Rachel as well and I couldn't have said it any better. I believe the Animorphs wouldn't have won the war without Rachel, not with everybody reluctant to do this and do that, they needed somone who could go all out. The highest point of her sacrifice to the war was in The Return when she decided she had to be the one to do the dirty work for the team... But I didn't like how she thought she was a bad person and had to live with the fact....it was heartbreaking for me to read, she saw herself that way because of how other people viewed her but in my opinion she wasn't really that bad. I don't think I can completely explain my thoughts about Rachel's sacrifice but I think you guys understand what I mean. All that psychological damage and she didn't have the opportunity to heal. I'm just glad the Ellimist was able to put her mind to rest before she died.
I would have chosen Jake because he was willing to give, he did give but in his case I felt like the sacrifices were forced on him. There was too much pressure and it was almost like he didn't have a choice. I mean that scene around the camp fire where every one was urging him to be the leader was too much seriously, GIVE THE GUY A BREAK. Whereas Rachel was willing to give anything to save the Human race. To bad she was constantly criticized for trying her best.
PS- did anyone else get goosebumps when her final thoughts were cutoff in mid-sentence or am I the only one?
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PS- did anyone else get goosebumps when her final thoughts were cutoff in mid-sentence or am I the only one?
Oh yeah, me too! Mostly because that extended conversation with The Ellimist lulled me into a false sense of security thinking that he might offer her a chance to join him in his quest, mirroring what Crayak tried to do but in this case waiting until her life was played out before giving her the choice to. I thought it would be a bit of a cop-out, but I wouldn't mind too much since I enjoyed Rachel tremendously as a character and this is one way to keep her in the game while taking her out too. And since this was actually before I read The Ellimist Chronicles, I figured that book would be a continuation of Rachel agreeing to The Ellimist's proposition to join him.
Then she was cut-off mid-sentence and I felt stupid for thinking Applegate would pull any punches in the grand finale.
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I agree with NateSean. Rachel did give the most during the war. Let me just include the fact that she got a lot of unfair opinions from her team mates(minus Tobias) about her being a blood thirsty war freak when all she ever wanted was for the Yeerks to be defeated period! She got to be the one to do all their dirty jobs when they were busy critisizing her and being hypocritic. They all knew what had to be done but neither of them had enough bravery to do it. Rachel rocks!
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Um, would you mind typing in proper type. It's a stab to the grammar natzi inside me.
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Done that.
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Thank you.
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I think that either Rachel or Jake gave the most.
In a way they all had roles and Rachel's was that of the one who would do the dirty work and not really get scared. I think her taking that role sort of led to her mental instability so that in a way she did give it up to the war. Also, in the David arc she overwatched trapping him so that the others wouldn't have to. Also Rachel sacrificed her life.
On the other hand, Jake accepted the responsibility of leader. He had to make the tough decisions, so I guess he gave the animorphs the direction and strength to win. He also had to accept the toll this took on his mental health. By the end he was prepared to almost give anything to win the war, sacrificing his cousin and brother, despite how his parents and Tobias might feel about him.
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That's really difficult to say, but I think Rachel gave the most to the war, because she gave everything. She gave herself to the war, because in some parts she lost herself. She did what she had to, no matter how bad it was, you can see it with David: She was the one (with Ax) who stayed with him 'till the end and she sent the others away to save them. But it was not like it didn't bother her, no, in fact it was horrible for her but she did it. In the end she gave her life willingly for the sake of the war although she was scared and she didn't wanted to. She hid the truth of the plan from everyone just to save the plan and so she gave up the chance to really say goodbye to everyone. She was so brave that it touched me everytime I read the last two books.
She gave everything and the others thought she was crazy and bloodthirsty, but she did what she had to do although they thought so.
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Was there ever actually a scene in the books where Tobias comforted her/reassured her about the whole issue with everyone seeing her in an unflattering light? The only scene I can remember is him just mentioning that they were all wary of her. I don't remember him adding anything to that, though. Felt kind of off-character to me... they have one of the strongest relationships in the entire series, but Rachel was pretty much on her own in the final arc.
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I don't now if there ever was such a scene, but I remember this one scene in the and of #32 when Rachel is whole again and he said to her: "<Yeah. Let's go, Rachel,> he said. <The two of you and the two of me.
Let's go.>"
I think this shows how he loved her the way she was even if she had this two sides inside her.
And yes in the final arc she was all alone because except Jake nobody knew what she would do. So there was no one to help her.
A bit off topic, but I loved the scene when Tobias learned what Jake did and when he understood Rachel would die. This sowed how much he loved her.
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I don't now if there ever was such a scene, but I remember this one scene in the and of #32 when Rachel is whole again and he said to her: "<Yeah. Let's go, Rachel,> he said. <The two of you and the two of me.
Let's go.>"
I think this shows how he loved her the way she was even if she had this two sides inside her.
Oh, awesome! I honestly didn't remember that - I've only ever sat through #32 once. I was referring to any Tobias-Rachel scenes in the final arc, but all the same it's good of you to point this scene out. Yeah one could easily take it as a way for him to acknowledge and accept her two sides.
I guess it would've felt repetitive to have scenes like this in the final arc when they have more pressing concerns, but a small moment or two between them would've been nice, especially after the events of #48 The Return.