Sorry if I got a little emotional and carried away.
Not at all, not at all, that was wonderfully written! She was definitely a more complex character than people give her credit for.
There are subtle little moments with Rachel that I found myself re-reading several times for no strong reason. I would've liked to have listed a few, but I don't have my books with me and there's only one I remember at the moment, late in the second-half of #53:
"My brother left the bridge of the Pool ship. He would be taken by Bug fighter up to the Blade ship in orbit. The Pool ship lifted off, a slight vibration being the only evidence. Off the earth to the safety of the skies, or so Visser One believed.
Five Animorphs, twelve free Hork-Bajir, and one Chee were now aboard the Pool ship, unsuspected. The plan was on track.
<Doing good, huh Jake?> Rachel said, her thought-speak voice already fading with distance.
I couldn't answer."
It's the last thing she ever says to Jake directly. They don't specify what her tone was, and I originally thought it was sardonic. But considering the fact that in the final book she affirmed she didn't hold any grudge against him (indeed, she felt sorry for him), I think her tone was of friendly banter. I still can't explain what it is about that excerpt that makes me re-read it. There was no ferocity towards him, no bitterness. It wasn't even a forced attempt at being casual. It was just a throwaway comment.
Some people have the viewpoint that Rachel had deteriorated into a violence junkie and was irredeemable by the time the last story arc came about. That used to bother me, but I started to realize how their views pretty much reflected the way the other Animorphs (save Tobias) saw her by the end. If you look at the kind of lines she has during the series when the story is narrated by someone other than herself or Tobias, she does come off as a simple knucklehead looking for mayhem.
She can be bloodthirsty, yeah. But she was also sweet. And scared. I find it a little unfair how some people claimed her death was convenient because she would never have been able to live with peace. She
would have had difficulty adjusting, but I doubt she would have nearly as much trouble as Jake had (who, much as I love him, never really did adjust). She would've found a way - maybe extreme sports like Collette told everyone.
She didn't die ferocious. In her final moment you couldn't see a hint of her blood-wrath. Aside from her last words to Tobias, I liked the way she identified her friends one last time. Again, only a subtle moment;
"I could see the viewscreen. I could see my best friend Cassie. Jake. Marco, funny Marco. Ax.
Tobias."
It's a nice nod to the kind of chemistry she had with Marco all along the series. And again, it was a throwaway comment.
This was a little off-topic, and I apologize. They're not necessarily memorable favorite moments in Canon, but lately on my re-reads the little moments are what sticks out to me. It's also a little funny to see 'subtle' and 'Rachel' in the same sentence without being followed by the words 'not' or 'complete opposites.'
