Richard's Animorphs Forum
Animorphs Section => Animorphs Forum Classic => Topic started by: Phoenix004 on August 13, 2008, 02:31:31 PM
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As far as I can recall, this hasn't been brought up before so I thought I'd mention it.
In book 29, Ax falls ill because of a malfunctioning gland in his brain which in turn causes the rest of the Animorphs (except Cassie) to become sick. Obviously for the plot to make sense, Cassie couldn't be sick as well otherwise she couldn't be able to save Aftran and Ax. However, it is never said why Cassie may have been immune to whatever infected the other Animorphs. The only reason I could come up with was that since Cassie was born and raised on a farm, she might have a better immune system. This isn't a great theory, since Tobias' hawk body would probably have had a better immune system than Cassie and he still got sick.
So, any theories?
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I don't remember whether or not the book mentioned her actually being "immune" to the disease. It's quite possible that she simply did not catch it, though very strange, since the other Animorphs did. Kids at school get sick all the time, but I don't always get it.
But yeah, it is kind of strange that she would be the only who didn't catch it.
Hmm...
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People are just immune. There will never be a 100% communicable disease. There will always be someone with an immunity.
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I know people can just happen to be immune, it just seems strange that Cassie would just happen to be immune to an alien flu, especially since Tobias should have had a stronger immune system.
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Why would Tobias have a stronger immune system?
Cassie spends most of her days working with sick animals, in addition to the protection exposure to various diseases provide, she's probably also had a lot of shots.
While it would directly repel a specific alien disease, it's still a boost to the system, can't hurt
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Cassie doesn't kill and eat wild rodents on a daily basis.
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uh-huh.
You also will note that birds are typically more suspectible (sp) to diseases that humans have cleaned away by cooking food.
One of many key points in the difference in live spans
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well it seems like she was one of the few that actually got all her shots lol, maybe those helped
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she's probably also had a lot of shots.
exactly what I was thinking.
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"Stronger" and "weaker" in immune terms is fairly subjective, too. It isn't so much that either Cassie OR Tobias has a 'stronger' system. Rather, they are geared to combat different TYPES of diseases.
Cassie might be immune to MORE diseases than Tobias (or vice-versa), but he might be immune to DEADLIER diseases, things that would kill her in a day or two, and still be vulnerable to bird-borne illnesses that she would NEVER encounter or experience, because they aren't communicable to humans.
It isn't comparing apples to oranges. It's more like comparing apples to giraffes.
There is really NO comparison.
Well, there are my two cents.
[By the by, the only reason I can talk on this subject at all: I've committed a great deal of my free time pre-RAF to working at a wildlife rehabilitation centre *irony*, and I was given a half-ream of 'reassurance' information that 'guaranteed' that certain illnesses weren't a personal hazard to the workers.
I learned which diseases were dangerous to each animal with which I worked, and I was thoroughly educated on the dramatic differences between the immune systems of different animals. I did a lot of hands-on work with birds, more than any other animal.
Suffice to say, if you need to know ANYTHING about the digestive, circulo-respiratory, nervous, immune, or skeleto-muscular systems of birds, ESPECIALLY raptors, I am an excellent person to ask.]
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People are just immune. There will never be a 100% communicable disease. There will always be someone with an immunity.
Here I have to agree with Yorick. It probably has little to do with the strength of her immune system. It's more likely that she just happened to be naturally immune to the disease.
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I always chalked it up to Cassie's stronger constitution from doing physical work a lot. That and pure dumb luck.
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I've always figured it was dumb luck, but also, like it's been mentioned, she probably got a lot of shots, and has a strong constitution.
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cassie seems to be special in many ways, (remember mm4) and im sure its just part of the plot, who knows maybe she just got sick last like after the book ended or something.
But everyone else has valid points with the shots and being involved with animals and things like that so i shall not repeat them.
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Maybe K.A. was struggling between whether or not she should make Cassie a Mary-Sue. ;)
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1. What's a Mary-Sue
2. It might be a combination of her working with animals and having all those shots and her having sum kind of special power(Megamorphs#?)
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*Irony, thy name is Blue* ::)
A Mary-Sue (or a Gary-Stu, for a male) is the character who is 'special'...
so VERY special that there are several hundred thousand of them in modern literature. *Gag*
Usually, she is ALWAYS right, has eyes/hair that change colours, a magic power of some sort, and everyone loves her. She sometimes sacrifices herself to save others, but she usually survives by some strange means. She has a weird name. She can be a total witch, and everyone still wants to be her best friend. She is loved by the hottest guy in the story.
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...o, thnx ;D
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I know people can just happen to be immune, it just seems strange that Cassie would just happen to be immune to an alien flu, especially since Tobias should have had a stronger immune system.
It also seems strange that they would all just happen to be at the construction sight RIGHT when Elfangor crashed, and one of the controllers just happens to be their vice-principal (or was he the principal, I can never remember), and that one of those kids just happened to be Elfangor's son (or is tobias the ellimist's son, I forget exactly what happened in that one).
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Mostly cause she was narrating. But it would have been interesting if she started to get the symptoms while on the mission.
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It also seems strange that they would all just happen to be at the construction sight RIGHT when Elfangor crashed, and one of the controllers just happens to be their vice-principal (or was he the principal, I can never remember), and that one of those kids just happened to be Elfangor's son (or is tobias the ellimist's son, I forget exactly what happened in that one).
The whole thing with them meeting at the construction site was not a coincidence, as revealed in Megamorphs #4. The Ellimist set the whole thing up.
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actually drode accused it, but the ellimist neither confirmed nor denied it. we can guess that he did, but no one's a hundred percent sure whether or not he did.
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actually drode accused it, but the ellimist neither confirmed nor denied it. we can guess that he did, but no one's a hundred percent sure whether or not he did.
Oh come on. It is the ellimist after all. Of course he stacked the deck. I seriously doubt he would rely on luck and coincidence. Yet another reason why it shouldn't be surprising that Cassie seems to be the utility animorph who basically does everything the rest can't.
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It also seems strange that they would all just happen to be at the construction sight RIGHT when Elfangor crashed, and one of the controllers just happens to be their vice-principal (or was he the principal, I can never remember), and that one of those kids just happened to be Elfangor's son (or is tobias the ellimist's son, I forget exactly what happened in that one).
The whole thing with them meeting at the construction site was not a coincidence, as revealed in Megamorphs #4. The Ellimist set the whole thing up.
Thank you Captain Spoil Alert. -_-
I suppose it's my fault though for posting here. I usually try to avoid this board, for that exact reason.
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I think Cassie was immune for a variety of reasons, some of which have been suggested.
1. She dealt with diseases and animals every day
2. Dumb luck
3. She was an estreen; maybe, since it affected morphers, this was a perk
4. She is an anomaly! In MM#4, she was the one whose mind was least fooled. The Drode was po'ed because the Ellimist knew that Cassie was a "freak," an anomaly.
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she was immune because she was the current narrator. simple as that.
the book wouldn't have been nearly as interesting if she was home throwing up while jake saved the day.
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she was immune because she was the current narrator. simple as that.
the book wouldn't have been nearly as interesting if she was home throwing up while jake saved the day.
then I guess the real question is why was this a cassie-narrated book. ;D
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Because Cassie narrates all of the 4's and 9's until the end. ;)
Also, epic necro!
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I like the idea best that it's all in there heads, and Cassie was too focused to let it get to her. As for her being the narrator of the book, it could have been solved by her getting sick at the last minute. Then we wouldn't be wondering why she never got sick. She just took longer to get there.
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its really fairly simple. since an immunity to an alien disease in a human genome IS possible, though probably rare, the elimist likely found somebody with that quality and shoved them into the group just in case.
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One thing that really bugged me is that none of them thinks to morph out as a way to get rid of the bug. I mean, sure, they'd probably be re-infected fairly soon upon demorphing,
but Ax, for instance, could morph something non-lethal, explain the procedure to the team, and then demorph and get his head fixed that way.
Admittedly, the books have already addressed diseases and injuries that aren't morph-fixable, but this is all pre-Gafinilan. No rule had been made for it.
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One thing that really bugged me is that none of them thinks to morph out as a way to get rid of the bug. I mean, sure, they'd probably be re-infected fairly soon upon demorphing,
but Ax, for instance, could morph something non-lethal, explain the procedure to the team, and then demorph and get his head fixed that way.
Admittedly, the books have already addressed diseases and injuries that aren't morph-fixable, but this is all pre-Gafinilan. No rule had been made for it.
but what about jake morphing the eel?
he was sick AS an eel and afterward too.
(although i wish they'd tried, too)
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um... one of the symptoms was uncontrolled morphing (hence why they panicked when jake got sick). They probably didn't think it was possible for ax to morph something. especially since another symptom was being delirious
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I am not sure if this has already been mentioned but human immune systems are actually quite advanced you could put something from mars in your bloodstream and your body would probably be able to produce a couter to it. Also Cassie spends alot of time around sick animals which could make her immune system "stronger" so she did get the virus but her body was able to counter it the others couldn't especially tobias.
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Maybe she wasn't immune, maybe she was just lucky.
By the way. I'm born and raised on a farm too but I don't have a very good immune system. I'm even allergic to cats (and we still have three of them at home)
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Mira is unlucky exception then... Exposure to diseases is good for your immune system (if they don't kill you). children in rural areas also tend to have fewer allergies, because they are exposed to germs to fight off (allergies are linked with our immune system being designed to fight off the plague and dystenery and being bored and overreactive in today's antiseptic conditions) this varies from place to place, when my father visited East Africa he noted that Polio was just a boring flu to the locals, conversely very isolated populations tend to die easily of the flu. so i would say Cassie, by her environment (vet) and genetic lottery was immune.
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I always figured poor Cassie needed something interesting about her. I'm sorry to any fans of hers, I love the girl but her books were always kinda boring.
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I always figured poor Cassie needed something interesting about her. I'm sorry to any fans of hers, I love the girl but her books were always kinda boring.
Except for the one were she sprayed Visser 3
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I always figured poor Cassie needed something interesting about her. I'm sorry to any fans of hers, I love the girl but her books were always kinda boring.
Except for the one were she sprayed Visser 3
I always liked Cassie and Ax's books the best. Their books always had more thinking and introspection than the rest. To each his own I guess.
Cassie didn't get sick First, as mentioned before, because all of her shots are current. Second, Cassie has really good hygiene from the nature of her and her parents' work. Even though she might wear Jeans with bird poop on them I'm sure she washes her hands pretty consistently. That would certainly be a habit that she picked up from working in the barn around sick animals, if not to protect herself to protect one sick animal from the next. Washing your hands alone is enough to drastically decrease your chances of getting sick.
Remember: although the disease was deadly for Ax it was only a flu for the humans. What is the first thing they tell you to do when the flu is going around? Right, wash your hands. Also, I believe Cassie is a vegan or vegetarian. I'm not saying that the two are healthier than meat eaters just that they are more likely to be aware of their health. I'm sure Cassie was getting more than enough of her serving a veggies and fruits throughout the day. What is the second or third thing you are likely to hear when the flu is going around? Plenty of Vitamin C, fruits and veggies.
That's why I always thought Cassie didn't get sick.
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As far as I can recall, this hasn't been brought up before so I thought I'd mention it.
In book 29, Ax falls ill because of a malfunctioning gland in his brain which in turn causes the rest of the Animorphs (except Cassie) to become sick. Obviously for the plot to make sense, Cassie couldn't be sick as well otherwise she couldn't be able to save Aftran and Ax. However, it is never said why Cassie may have been immune to whatever infected the other Animorphs. The only reason I could come up with was that since Cassie was born and raised on a farm, she might have a better immune system. This isn't a great theory, since Tobias' hawk body would probably have had a better immune system than Cassie and he still got sick.
So, any theories?
Also, why didn't the virus spread through the school and the Animorph families like wildfire? (Ax said that it was very contagious). After all, Ax was AT a school dance when he first got sick.
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Well that could have happened, Tim. Because we only get the books from the Ani's POV, we won't see the sickness spread across the school.
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One thing that really bugged me is that none of them thinks to morph out as a way to get rid of the bug. I mean, sure, they'd probably be re-infected fairly soon upon demorphing,
but Ax, for instance, could morph something non-lethal, explain the procedure to the team, and then demorph and get his head fixed that way.
Admittedly, the books have already addressed diseases and injuries that aren't morph-fixable, but this is all pre-Gafinilan. No rule had been made for it.
but what about jake morphing the eel?
he was sick AS an eel and afterward too.
(although i wish they'd tried, too)
Jake was sick as an eel in the water system. Why didn't the flu spread all over town and even into the Yeerk Pool via the water system?
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Well that could have happened, Tim. Because we only get the books from the Ani's POV, we won't see the sickness spread across the school.
Then KA should have taken pains to mention the flu outbreak either in this book or a succeeding book.