Marco instead of Cassie?

[Chad32]

We all know Marco is a good strategist. He could easily become a tactical officer, which may have been more exciting than just become a celebrity in the end.

So what if Jake listened to Marco more than he listened to Cassie? Cassie was often the one he turned to and trusted, but Marco was the better strategist. So, what if?

Well, maybe they wouldn't have some of the rules they had, like never ever killing a Human, or not morphing Humans. Does anyone ever wonder how different the series would be if Marco was the one Jake looked to instead of Cassie?

As a final note, this isn't supposed to be a "we don't like Cassie" thread.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Even though I'm admittedly not a fan of Cassie's, I'm not sure if I would like the series as much if Marco had been Jake's 'trusted advisor' instead of Cassie.  The books were morally grey as-is.  With Marco offering more of his opinions, it would have been much more so.  They would have taken more risks, made more sacrifices for 'the greater good.'  As you pointed out, they would be more willing to kill and/or morph humans when that worked in their favor.  And there were many other situations in the series where they could have gained a tactical advantage by being more ruthless, but didn't because it was 'wrong.'  I don't think Marco would have been as concerned about that as the others were.  As he once said, he sees the bright, clear line between point A and point B.

Would having Marco as Jake's advisor have ended the war faster?  Most likely.  But I think that the characters' descent into immorality that we saw in the final arc would have also happened much sooner.  And that part of the series twisted most peoples' stomachs anyway.  Mine included.

[JFalcon]

  The group might have lost Cassie if that were the case, I can easily see her walking away if her morals were outright violated, she in fact does exactly that when they were going to use taxxon morphs to tunnel into the yeerk pool.

  Since Cassie was the one who stopped all the fights and such losing her would have hurt the group a great deal, their unity would be gone in no time, the minor arguments between Rachel and Marco could have become an outright dislike for one another for all we know, and I think she gave Jake more confidence than Marco would have.

  So sure, some times she irritates me, but without her forcing everyone to hug a tree every once in a while Animorphs just wouldn't be Animorphs.

[Chad32]

Yeah, she would be much more likely to leave permanently if they had done it Marco's way more often. Losing her would have hurt the group. I think that's undeniable. Maybe they should have listened to her less often, but she did lay a valuable role. KA made a well rounded set of personalities with the Animorphs. I did like that.

Yeah, stuff like what happened in the final arc would have likely happened sooner. I forget who's idea it was to blow up the pool in book 52. Whether it was Marco, or someone else. I also forgot how they got that train full of explosives. Been so long since I read that book.

[ChimichangaChupacabra]

...He listened to them equally, using them for different situations and finding a balance.  That's how they won.  If he's listened to Marco overwhelmingly and rarely Cassie, they'd probably still screw up.  And vice versa.

That's the whole point of Jake, he's the glue.  He holds everything together, without really offering any specific hardline skills of his own.  Marco's strategic pragmatic nature tempered by Cassie's solid moral infallibility.  Without Cassie's influence filtering through Jake, they'd be blowing stuff up and leaving David to die and whatever else.  Without Marco's harsh practicality, they'd never accomplish anything.  It's a compromise, a tightrope.

Jake's always been the middle-ground.  Not as perceptive as Marco, as empathetic as Cassie, as headstrong as Rachel or knowledgeable as Ax or pure-natured as Tobias, he's the one who brings it all together.  Jake's capable of both some pretty amazing and horrible things, but with the influence of the other's he's able to use that and make things work.