The stacked deck (Megamorphs 4), spoilers

[skribs]

I assume most people have read the series, but just in case, spoiler alert.

In Megamorphs 4, it is stated by the Drode that the Ellimist stacked the deck.  Out of the 6 people in the main group, 4 of them are Elfangor's Brother, Elfangor's Time-Shifted Son, the son of Visser One's host body, and an anomaly.  So my question in this thread is two-part:

1) Cassie as an anomaly I get as "stacking the deck".  But what is it about the relationships others have that make them so important to this "deck".  I guess Ax is like Eli Manning to Elfangor's Peyton, but what does Tobias being the time-bastard of Elfangor's human morph, or the fact that Marco is related to the host body of a Yeerk have anything to do with their capabilities?

2) Is there anything about Jake and Rachel that make them special, in this regard?

[DinosaurNothlit]

I have a lot to say about Tobias's inclusion in the Animorphs, so bear with me.  It isn't just that the Ellimist 'stacked the deck' by including him, it's thanks to the Ellimist that Tobias ever existed at all.  He was born in a broken timeline that Elfangor used Ellimist technology to create.  And, the Ellimist knew he would have to erase that timeline, yet, he waited for Elfangor to form a relationship with Loren, and for them to produce a child.  The Ellimist then waited for the exact moment that Tobias came into being, and then erased everything about that timeline save Tobias himself.  The Ellimist obviously had a lot invested in making sure Tobias existed.  The question is, why?

The answer is, I think the Ellimist could see enough of the future to know that Tobias, as the son of an Andalite, might feel out of place in his own human body.  Not consciously, but just enough of a subconscious inkling that he might not fully resist becoming trapped in a morph the way the others would.  I think the Ellimist, on some level, knew that Tobias would most likely turn nothlit.

Fast forward to book #33 (spoilers).  The Animorphs needed someone whose default form was neither human nor Andalite to fool the Anti-morphing ray (a technological advancement that the Ellimist could easily have predicted that the Yeerks would come up with at some point).  If they'd sent a human, their biggest secret would have been revealed, and even if they'd sent Ax, he would have been infested and revealed everything anyway.  One way or another, they NEEDED a nothlit on the team, or the series would have ended at #33.

This is also why, in #13 (spoilers), the Ellimist gives Tobias his powers back but doesn't make him human again.  One reason, at least.  I do also think that Tobias didn't really quite want to be human.

As for Rachel and Jake, the Ellimist says that their inclusion was a 'happy accident,' but I think that's bull.  There's some crazy warrior-gene that runs in their bloodline.  Jake and Rachel both found their calling in the war, Jake as a leader and Rachel as a warrior, in a way none of the others did (except maybe Tobias).  That was no accident.

As for Marco, his mother being Visser One was what motivated him to fight, else he would have quit in #5.  And he had a tactical mind that proved indispensable to the Animorphs, so it was important that he was motivated to fight.

[skribs]

I guess I can see that about Tobias.

Marco could have been the son of a low-ranking Yeerk controller, or just someone who wanted to fight regardless of whether or not Visser One controlled his Mom.  I still don't see that as necessary for Marco to be on the team.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Wait, no, I've got it.  It wasn't that Marco's mom had to be Visser One, it was that Visser One had to be Marco's mom.  Visser One was fairly integral to the Animorphs ultimate success, as we see after book #45 (spoilers) when she dies.  Immediately following her demise, Visser Three gets promoted and scales up the invasion effort, using his own subtle-like-a-sledgehammer tactics.    He tries to start WWIII, he rounds humans up at gunpoint to load them into subway cars to the Yeerk pool, etc.  If that stuff had happened earlier in the series than it did, do you really think the Animorphs would have been ready to do whatever it took to stop it?  Do you really think that the Animorphs circa book #20-ish could have packed explosives onto subway cars, and let any innocent people who got in the way die?

The point being, there were a couple times, before the Animorphs knew that Edriss's tactics were working in their favor, when the only thing keeping them from killing her was that she was Marco's mom.  In (spoilers) #15, for instance, Rachel has V1 by the throat, and Marco is forced to reveal the truth in order to stop her.  Had that not been the case, V1 would have died, V3 would have taken over, and thousands of people would have been rounded up at gunpoint and infested before the Animorphs probably could have stopped it, innocent as they still were back then.  And, again, these are all things the Ellimist could have reasonably predicted even without a concrete view of the future.  Hell, we even see Edriss go through hosts like tissues in VISSER, but then becomes strangely compelled to stay with Eva, which is never explained . . .

Man, when you start thinking about all the 'butterfly effect' moments in Animorphs, all the times everything could have turned out so differently, it's trippy.

[skribs]

Hmmm...it's been about 15 years since I've read the books.  I've since given mine away, and can't justify to myself yet re-purchasing them all.  I don't remember too much about the specific details.  That line about stacking the deck is one that stayed with me.  I guess I forgot how important she was.

[Dogman15]

These are all great reasons, and great analysis. I tried saying some of this stuff in that other thread with the three questions, but you guys are much more eloquent.

Skribs, if you want, you can find the fan-made ebooks online for reading.

Also, if you like that one line by the Drode, you may like my performance as the Drode here: http://animorphsforum.com/index.php?topic=13920.0

The MP3 specific to Megamorphs #4, where this line is said: http://www.mediafire.com/file/5jx7b9mh4qdivnj/Drode_Megamorphs_4.mp3

[Snakie]

Wait, no, I've got it.  It wasn't that Marco's mom had to be Visser One, it was that Visser One had to be Marco's mom.  Visser One was fairly integral to the Animorphs ultimate success, as we see after book #45 (spoilers) when she dies.  Immediately following her demise, Visser Three gets promoted and scales up the invasion effort, using his own subtle-like-a-sledgehammer tactics.    He tries to start WWIII, he rounds humans up at gunpoint to load them into subway cars to the Yeerk pool, etc.  If that stuff had happened earlier in the series than it did, do you really think the Animorphs would have been ready to do whatever it took to stop it?  Do you really think that the Animorphs circa book #20-ish could have packed explosives onto subway cars, and let any innocent people who got in the way die?

The point being, there were a couple times, before the Animorphs knew that Edriss's tactics were working in their favor, when the only thing keeping them from killing her was that she was Marco's mom.  In (spoilers) #15, for instance, Rachel has V1 by the throat, and Marco is forced to reveal the truth in order to stop her.  Had that not been the case, V1 would have died, V3 would have taken over, and thousands of people would have been rounded up at gunpoint and infested before the Animorphs probably could have stopped it, innocent as they still were back then.  And, again, these are all things the Ellimist could have reasonably predicted even without a concrete view of the future.  Hell, we even see Edriss go through hosts like tissues in VISSER, but then becomes strangely compelled to stay with Eva, which is never explained . . .

Man, when you start thinking about all the 'butterfly effect' moments in Animorphs, all the times everything could have turned out so differently, it's trippy.

The significance is that Marco's presence on the team lead to Visser One's collusion with them in Visser, which ultimately contributed to her political downfall.  The Animorphs might not have won the war if it had stayed a stealth invasion as Visser One's plan stated, and they certainly wouldn't have been able to topple the entire Yeerk Empire if Visser Three's tactics hadn't lead to the amassing of most of the population of Yeerks near Earth.

Marco's connection there helped pull the whole thing apart, in a way.

As to the OP's question, I guess I just answered it from my perspective where Marco is concerned.

As for Ax...eh.  If he hadn't been Elfangor's brother he might not have integrated into the team and accepted the humans with morphing powers, and victory probably wouldn't have been possible without an Andalite in the Animorph's corner.

Tobias?  That one's always been questionable.  As popular and fun to read as that character was, he was the absolute least important to the end game.  Sorry Tobias. As another poster mentioned, he was pretty useful at foiling the anti-morphing ray, I suppose. That seems like grasping at straws.

Both Jake and Rachel were "accidents" at that construction site.  They weren't part of the Ellimist's plan, even though they were arguably the 2 most important characters in the end.

[Dylan]

I think it's the fact that Jake and Rachel were accidents that made The Crayak so interested in them. It's funny because back when the poparena was still making reviews (omg throughback ), he mentioned how in the stacked deck idea, it was Tobias who was the most important animorph and he did the least in the end game.