Richard's Animorphs Forum
Animorphs Section => Animorphs Forum Classic => Topic started by: aggiematt86 on September 17, 2009, 12:48:13 AM
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Well, it's been around 13 years of reading, re-reading, stopping, restarting, etc. but I finally finished the Animorphs series. I know a lot of people don't like the ending, but personally I don't see why. The Yeerk empire was defeated. Yeah, a lot of good people died toward the end, but like Jake says, that's war, and people are going to die. I liked how they portrayed the world after the war, as well as the Animorphs' lives. I thought the One was pretty awesome, and it left the series open for a possible sequel. Anyway, I'd just like all your thoughts on the ending, and how it made you feel when it was finally over. I thought it was really sad, not only because of Rachel's and the others' deaths, but also by what happened to Ax, Tobias, Jake, and the whole Jake/Cassie thing. I was also pretty bummed that Jake was never able to save Tom. Lastly, I thought the Auxiliary Animorphs were amazing and I'd love to have seen James and the others live through the last battle. But I'm not disappointed with the ending. Applegate is truly a gifted author if she can evoke those kinds of emotions, and she'd been doing it from the beginning, so I have to congratulate her.
Anyway, that's my rambling for today.
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Yeah i read the book for the first time pretty recently, but I was very dissapointed. Everyone died but Cassie, and really she was my least favorite character. Tobachel were my favorite, and well... that didn't end well.
I actually think Tobias was cheated as far as the narrative goes. Rachel dies and he doesn't get a chapter till 3 years later? He should have had either the chapter directly after Rachel's, or directly after Jake's first chapter. As major as Applegate made the R/T relationship throughout the series I'm surprised Tobias' reaction was so downplayed. He was so crazy in love with her and his response to her death was just kinda described in passing by the others. I mean heck, Rachel's last words were that she loved him. That's kinda major concidering she'd never said that to him before.
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Excuse the double negative but...
Doesn't not knowing make the ending a lot more meaningful?
As a writer, I try not to give every detail. That wouldn't be a book but rather a script.
Not knowing Tobias' thoughts or the fate of the Animorphs created the mystique that this cult of fans still follow. Would you be quite as fanatical if you had been given some cookie-cutter detailed ending? I think not.
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I liked, but at the same time didn't like the last book. I like most of it. Didn't used to. The first time I read it, as a little kid, I hated it. But now I've come to realize that Rachel had to die, Jake had to be a broken shell, and you know what? Tobias, even though he's my favorite character ever, had to be broken, too.
I do not agree with the cliff-hanger she left us, though. Yes, yes, yes, Animorphs had to end on a cliff-hanger. I get that. I understand that there's simply no other way to have ended the series. The whole "and then they lived out their days as celebrities, with no more battles ever" thing would have been utterly and completely WRONG as an ending. But . . . I feel that K.A. could have given us a better cliff-hanger than the one she gave us, you know? The introduction of new baddies that we know absolutely nothing about . . . I dunno, the way she did it didn't feel right to me. Still doesn't. We should've either A) learned more about the One and the Kelbrid or B) it should have been Yeerks. Not some last-minute enemy we don't even know.
As K.A. herself admitted, she wrote that ending with fanfiction writers in mind. I write fanfic, I even like a lot of fanfic, but I am of the opinion that no book should EVER be written expressly for fanfic. Harry Potter tried that, too, and look at how that turned out.
[/end rant]
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I've already stated my opinions about the ending over and over. The short of it is that I hated it. The only parts I liked were Marco becoming a celebrity like he always wanted, and Ax coming out of his brother's shadow and being a Prince. I don't think it would be happily ever after what with there being anti-alien terrorists running around. It was just wrong in my eyes.
Back when I was first reading it, I had little understanding of the subtext of the series. Since I came here, I've come to understand the series and the author more. I have always thougth that she is a gifted writer, but I will never agree with the ending.
and that's as much as I care to rehash.
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I've already stated my opinions about the ending over and over. The short of it is that I hated it. The only parts I liked were Marco becoming a celebrity like he always wanted, and Ax coming out of his brother's shadow and being a Prince. I don't think it would be happily ever after what with there being anti-alien terrorists running around. It was just wrong in my eyes.
Back when I was first reading it, I had little understanding of the subtext of the series. Since I came here, I've come to understand the series and the author more. I have always thougth that she is a gifted writer, but I will never agree with the ending.
and that's as much as I care to rehash.
And I still agree with you. :)
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Excuse the double negative but...
Doesn't not knowing make the ending a lot more meaningful?
As a writer, I try not to give every detail. That wouldn't be a book but rather a script.
Not knowing Tobias' thoughts or the fate of the Animorphs created the mystique that this cult of fans still follow. Would you be quite as fanatical if you had been given some cookie-cutter detailed ending? I think not.
Actually i probably would be. Like I said the Tobias/Rachel dynamic was my favorite thing and recently I found a fan rewrite of 53/54 where everyone lived and I found it to be a much more satisfying ending. Everyone was still messed up, everyone was still struggling with personal demons, being alive and not having a cliffhanger did not make it 'cookie cutter'. 'Closure' doesn't necisarily mean 'happy sunshine fun time'.
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I don't necessarily have a problem with the tone, but I guess just the mechanism by which it all happened.
I know a lot of people like the plan involved in *Endgame*. I didn't. I didn't like the fact that somehow, magically, when Earth was saved the war was over. The Yeerks had already conquered two planets. The Hork-Bajir and Taxxon homeworlds were theirs. Yeah, Earth was a pretty major loss but it just all seemed so much cleaner than it should have been.
I didn't like the way Rachel died, though I agree she probably should have. I hated how Visser Three (or I guess One, whatever) was handled. A lot of the epilogue stuff seemed arbitrary. A lot of it worked, but I don't know...why would Tobias only talk to Cassie and Toby? Were those the two he was closest with throughout the series? No. What happened to his mom? What happened to Marco's parents, and Cassie's? How did Jake's parents feel about the fact that their younger son essentially killed their older son? There were just so many unanswered questions because the whole thing was resolved SO QUICKLY...I mean, part of the reason I love series like this, with such rich detail, is that you ask so many questions that you really can't expect to get answered. Like LOST. Is there any way LOST is going to answer every question you've ever asked? No. But SO MANY of those questions were just dropped, ignored, or contradicted that, I don't know, I kind of felt like, so what was the point?
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I don't necessarily have a problem with the tone, but I guess just the mechanism by which it all happened.
I know a lot of people like the plan involved in *Endgame*. I didn't. I didn't like the fact that somehow, magically, when Earth was saved the war was over. The Yeerks had already conquered two planets. The Hork-Bajir and Taxxon homeworlds were theirs. Yeah, Earth was a pretty major loss but it just all seemed so much cleaner than it should have been.
I didn't like the way Rachel died, though I agree she probably should have. I hated how Visser Three (or I guess One, whatever) was handled. A lot of the epilogue stuff seemed arbitrary. A lot of it worked, but I don't know...why would Tobias only talk to Cassie and Toby? Were those the two he was closest with throughout the series? No. What happened to his mom? What happened to Marco's parents, and Cassie's? How did Jake's parents feel about the fact that their younger son essentially killed their older son? There were just so many unanswered questions because the whole thing was resolved SO QUICKLY...I mean, part of the reason I love series like this, with such rich detail, is that you ask so many questions that you really can't expect to get answered. Like LOST. Is there any way LOST is going to answer every question you've ever asked? No. But SO MANY of those questions were just dropped, ignored, or contradicted that, I don't know, I kind of felt like, so what was the point?
I agree with everything you said. Particularly the part about the war being over so quick when earth was won. That always bothered me.
But, being me, I'm going to try to explain it anyway, by saying that, while the Yeerks had two planets under their belts, they suffered huge losses on those fronts, too. The Hork-Bajir, which were already depleted by Alloran's virus, were then killed by the dozen by the Animorphs and of course by Visser Three himself. There can't have been many Horks left by the end. And then you have the Taxxons, a large portion of whom defected to the Animorphs' side by war's end. So, maybe, after they lost earth and its endless stocks of humans for hosts, they simply didn't have enough bodies left to build the ships and things needed to keep the war effort going?
I'm not really trying to justify it, because I agree that it was really poorly explained, and K.A. should have handled it better. I'm just trying to explain why it might at least be possible for it to have gone that way, because as it stands it's a pretty big plot-hole, and I hate plot-holes. *pours fistfull of dirt into plot-hole*
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I was actually never bothered by the war being won shortly after Earth's loss. as has been said, the Yeerk only have so many Horks to use. They lost billions of hosts on Earth, and their psychic amphibians when they lost Leera. The Anati situation went down the tube after Jake warned the Andalites of a trap. To top it all off, there is a rsistance group on the Hork Homeworld that got started between book 30-40. Don't know how that went, and I'm surprised that Toby didn't send her group over to try to retake the homeland, but it's something.
And Taxxons are worse at actually fighting than Humans.
I'd say it's realistic that the tides would turn in favor of the Andalites after that.
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There's one other thing that bothers me, and I have a feeling that a lot of you will disagree with me, but let me put it out there anyway:
Rachel dies after she demorphs, because she's poisoned and injured by the five (or six? I can't remember) morph-capable Yeerks on the Blade Ship. Tom's a Viper (Cobra? something poisonous), there's a polar bear, I can't remember the other morphs.
Like I said, I think Rachel's death was necessary, tonally and thematically. It was kind of fatalistic poetic justice, in a way. All the same, poetic justice really only works if there's no other way it could have happened, no other option or possibility for redemption.
And I don't know, based on all the information available to her, I think Rachel was kind of dumb for using grizzly morph.
The grizzly is big, powerful, predatory, strong. But in that situation I think the elephant would have suited her better. Brute force, thick skin, raw weight and power. Especially in a limited space like the Blade Ship. Tom would have had a tougher time penetrating her skin, and all the other predators would have had the advantage of speed, but even that can be beaten with blunt force. She had tusks. She had massive feet. I don't know. The biggest danger would have been that she put a hole in the Blade Ship and got sucked out, but hell that's what ended up happening to her anyway.
Again, this is just me. I love poetic justice when it works. But this seemed kind of forced and unnecessary to me.
And Chad, you're right. Bases were covered, but the closer I read this series the more I realize how badly they covered them.
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Elephants don't have thick skin. Tom could still have taken her down. Real wild elephants avoid snakes because of this.
Rachel went with bear because she was most familiar with it. But she wasted time bashing controls, and didn't get clear shots on Tom or the polar bear morpher. The lionesses didn't have much impact on her at first, and the main reason the bison was able to get her so hard was because she was trying to finish off the polar bear.
Of course, grabbing the dracon beams off the wall and blasting everyone on high setting could have done the trick, but it would have been an ***pull.
Rachel died because KA wanted her to die. No other reason.
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Whether elephant skin or bear fur is more impenetrable is a toss-up, but at the very least, Elephants weigh a lot more and it would take a lot more poison to achieve the same effect. And I don't think Tom would have been able to bite her in the face like he did.
The point is, though, we seem to agree that her whole death scene was just a tad contrived.
And really, in the whole scheme of things, unnecessary.
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I used to say that her death wasn't in vain because Tom would have blasted the pool ship otherwise. But I eventually realised that it's just a BIT wierd that not a single other Yeerk on that ship decided to do it anyway. Get revenge on the Animorphs without any consequences. It wouldn't have secured Earth, due to the andalite fleet being nearby, but they would have still gotten revenge.
So Yeah.
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anijen and Chad speaking sense ITT as usual.
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I didn't like #54 much and I seem to remember someone spoiling it for me that Rachel dies. :( Why did Tom have to die? There goes Jake's dream of FINALLY getting his real brother back. He never even got a chance to speak to him again. I wish theie would have been more Ax and Tobias chapters, also.
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I stopped reading the series when i was younger about halfway through, i still loved it but it died out in my hometown and the animorphs club my friends and i made also died. God i miss the 90's and elementary school...anyways i recently started reading them again and i skipped ahead to the very last book and the Ellimist chronicles.
The last book made me really sad. I cried, mainly for Rachel and Tobias. I still get choked up that they didn't get a happily ever after. Rachel was my favorite, Tobias was my second favorite, and then Jake and soo on...
I think the author did a great job at finishing it without finishing it. I loved how she made Jake go a little insane and how she let Cassie move on.
How do i feel about this book? I feel incomplete and like a continuation is long over due.
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It's one of those things that you just can't quite put a finger on... The ending just doesn't feel right...
I think the whole thing is Jake's fault... He kinda got really messed up in the head, and came up with this complex battle plan that 'worked' in the end, but probably could've been a little more complete and polished, if he weren't a nervous wreck dealing with the lives of the people he cared about the most...
Jake is my favorite character, and I really felt kinda sorry for him throughout the books...
I have a question, though: Why did Rachel have to die? Could she not have lived a normal life after the war? Was she so changed that she really couldn't live without the war, as Jake seems to have believed?
Personally, I believe that she could've adjusted just fine, with help from Tobias and her family... She didn't need the slaughter. I just don't believe that that one part of her became her one need through it all.
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i think Rachel dying had more to do with her eagerness to fight. She just kind of threw herself into dangerous situations, and it just kind of caught up with her. I think in the effort to end the war, it probably could have been done differently if certain other things happened instead, but in this case it was necessary.
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ATTENTION: Here is a true ending for the Animorphs series that ALL fans will appreciate. This ENTIRE series NEVER actually happened. I repeat this ENTIRE series NEVER actually happened. The Animorphs series, every single book is a POSSIBLE future.
Let me explain.
We all know of the Andalite Seerow and of course Seerow's Kindness. He gave interstellar travel to the Yeerks which allowed them to leave their homeworld and travel the stars. They immediatly started infesting other races like the Taxxons, and Hork-Bajir then finally humans.
We also know of the Ellimist who are very powerful and can alter space and time, but do not interfere unless intelligent life is threatned. Now that the facts are stated here's my ending.
Right before they enter the Blade ship (FADE OUT). The Ellimist and Seerow are standing on the Yeerk homeworld. The Ellimist turns to look at Seerow and says to him "What you saw is what will transpire if you give the Yeerks the power to travel the stars. You will be responsible for the death and enslavement of COUNTLESS intelligent beings."
Seerow has a look of absolute horror on his face. He replies <I did not posses the knowledge of the consequences of my actions. If I had I would not have made that decision. I would not have given the Yeerks the technology.>
The Ellimist fixed Seerow with an intense stare and replied "You now posses that knowledge. You may still give the Yeerks the technology OR leave this planet and never return."
"What is your decision?"
For Seerow, there was no choice involved.
THE END
That is how Applegate should have ended it. No cliff-hangers, but a perfect unexpected twist that wil make jaws hit the floor. The idea actually popped into my head and I haven't even finished the series. I don't actually know 100% how the series ended, but I've read enough to get the gist and I think my ending is better.
If you agree or disagree with my ending please let me know. I want it to be judged.
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I'm sorry but I don't think that would work, I think it suffers more of the problems that 54 already has, thinking whats the point of it all... Mainly because you could assume 2 things, seerow dose the same thing, and its some temporal loop and you don't know what happens in the end. Or he leaves the yeerks homeworld and none of it ever existed.
But unlike some people I do really like the ellimist being involved.
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I don't really mind the Ellemist being involved. It was a good in-universe reason for why the Anis always survived. Then he dropped the ball in 54. Oops.
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Look to me the ending: All the animorphs dying except sweet little authors mouthpiece Cassie bugs me.. why does it bug you Chad?
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there are a lot of reasons why the ending bugs me. The one or two dozen unresolved plot points. The death of Rachel and Tom. The fact that only three of the Anis are happy after the war, then one of those three gets assimilated and another possibly dies after ramming the bladeship. The only one left being Cassie, who abandoned Jake after he changed. Which reminds me of an old bible story about God carrying a man during his times of greatest need, instead of leaving him.
The final plan where they won only by lucking out that no one besides Tom on the Bladeship decided to shoot the poolship, and KA's justification for Rachel dying never making sense to me.
It was just horrible and in my opinion almost completely unsalvagable. Plus everyone thinks the ending would either be this or the other extreme instead of some middle ground in between.
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I...actually agree with most of what you said, now that I think about it. But I think you missed one detail.
The final plan where they won only by lucking out that no one besides Tom on the Bladeship decided to shoot the poolship
During the fight, Rachel smashed the main weapons console.
The main weapons station was right there, a sort of waist-high, freestanding lectern. I threw myself back into it and heard a nice crunch as it toppled.
I imagine that would have made it a little hard for them to fire on the Pool Ship. There are also a few other mentions of Rachel smashing control panels or viewscreens, so who knows what else she could have broken. Still, KAA could have emphasized this a bit more, so that less people missed it.
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I actually enjoyed book fifty-four, it was kind of the way I figured things would end. I don't really know if I agree with Ax becoming possesed by that alien, he was my favorite Animorph, but I didn't think it ended to poorly and thought that it could have been worse.
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Oh yeah, she does smash some stuff. But you're telling me there's only one control consol for every gun on the ship? Or that the ship only has main guns? I guess it is believable, though.
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But the proposed ending in which seerow basically presses the reset button would be a total cope out.
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Oh yeah, she does smash some stuff. But you're telling me there's only one control consol for every gun on the ship? Or that the ship only has main guns? I guess it is believable, though.
Well, we don't know much about the design of the Blade Ship. The other cannons may not have been powerful enough to destroy the Pool Ship. Or at least not powerful enough to destroy it quickly.
In any case, firing on the Pool Ship would have been more complicated and unpredictable than "fly up to the Pool Ship, turn our biggest guns on it, and blow it to smithereens." With the andalites closing in on Earth, I can definitely see the yeerks deciding to forget them and just get out of the system.
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I liked the final also, but I was a bit disappointed by Cassie, I tend to agree you could see that she was KA's Favourite character, so it’s a bit of a cop out. I say that, mostly because I wish Tobias and Ax got more time in 54. It could have been twice as long and not been dragged out.
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Elephants don't have thick skin. Tom could still have taken her down. Real wild elephants avoid snakes because of this.
Rachel went with bear because she was most familiar with it. But she wasted time bashing controls, and didn't get clear shots on Tom or the polar bear morpher. The lionesses didn't have much impact on her at first, and the main reason the bison was able to get her so hard was because she was trying to finish off the polar bear.
Of course, grabbing the dracon beams off the wall and blasting everyone on high setting could have done the trick, but it would have been an ***pull.
Rachel died because KA wanted her to die. No other reason.
Totally agree.
After all the situations the Anis been in, the way Rachel died, felt a little cheap, but also honorable, if you think about it.