What's the point of MM4?

[Duff]

whos the ellimist? what are you guys talking about?

[ThermalRider]

I think the point of the story was just meant as a cool "what could have been" and that they were going to win, it would just have been in a different matter.

Also, doesn't it say that Cassie would have some memories of it, but she wouldn't say anything because it would destryo some members of the group (i.e. Jake giving in like that, Tobias volunteering to be a Controller)? Maybe that helped set up some of her actions at the end of the series like when she let Tom have the Blue Box.

[morfowt]

whos the ellimist? what are you guys talking about?

are you kidding or do you really not know?

[CounterInstinct]

hmm.... i think that, the Ellimist didn't choose to make those 5 kids go to that construction site. I mean, it was Jake who chose that right? The Ellimist isn't allowed to interfere their decisions. Anyway, the reason why the Animorphs didn't go there at M4 because Crayak and Drode changed the timeline, to make these 5 kids decide to go the safe way. Of course, it was in the rules because the Ellimist was allowed to change somethin in the Falla kadrat (?) situation thingy.

[Qwerty the Charliecorn]

that elfangor screwed everything up by landing in the construction site that night lol

Yeah, what he said. :p

I liked MM4, though. It was well-written and very exciting, though it didn't have much of a point, like a most of the books in the thirties and a few from the early forties.

[zaprowsdower]

It is what they call in erudite circles a "counterfacual history", a study into what might have happened if x didn't happen and y did, thus resulting in alpha and not z . It's great for character study.

[filmstu2005]

You guys baffle me. Ironically, I just read this book yesterday. Finished it in a bit over 2 hrs. Great read. Especially the opening. If there's one thing KA does really well, its writing the opening sequences. Anyone remember MM3 book opening? Very disturbing but interesting.

MM4 was an important story. It showed Jake's reaching his breaking point, even though there was plenty more to come. It represented Cassie as an anomaly, an explanation as to why she was so well grounded, so stable, so moralistically cool, and a bit mystic, and in a sense, what made her give the Yeerks to morphing cube.

It showed that Rachel would have indeed dated Marco. If it happened, it would have happened. Truth don't lie.

Tobias def would have ended up with the Sharing, making a huge mistake on his part, only to realize that hey, he could have endured his rough teenage years. That's loads better than losing your freedom to an alien slug.

If it weren't for Cassie though, and for the already happened timeline, the Animorphs would have fallen to the influences of the undercover Yeerks. Eventually. But then again, Ax would've screwed things up big time.

And in the end, all was not lost. The Ellimist stated that although the Animorphs did all die in that alternate timeline, they still were able to take out a lot of the Yeerks by blasting the Pool Ship. And millions of humans would have died, but the VICtory would eventually come. The Yeerks would not have won.

The importance of the story is that the Animorphs HAD to become the heroes they were to save millions from dying. To stall. To save humanity from total destruction, and most importantly, to save themselves. As much as I hated the final book ending #54, it was still way happier than the ending we saw in MM4

[filmstu2005]

The Ellimist stacked the deck. Its undeniable, as it was stated in the book itself.

He chose Jake to lead. Jake was the only one with ties to all the Animorphs. Visser one's son, Elfangor's son and brother. And the anomaly.  Please tell me u didn't actually think it was just a random coincidence that these four ended up as part of team of 6 random humans?  There's no way.

The ellimist didn't entirely control the situation. He just sets things up by creation or manipulation and sits back to watch it all play out. He obviously managed somehow to manipulate the situation so that all 5 of the Animorphs, including Ax, excluding Rachel, ended up living in that exact town.  Jake and Marco becoming best friends. Jake ended up liking Cassie (I'd like to think that part was natural. The Ellimist wouldnt tamper with love) and Tobias was a guy he helped out. Rachel was just a tag-along. A serendipity. Earth's sacrifice who just happened to be Jake's cousin and totally badass.

He stacked the deck hoping and sorta knowing they'd eventually fight the Yeerks, no matter how resistant. And I think that was pretty cool of him. Giving them that opportunity.

[filmstu2005]

Another thing...the only problem i had with MM4 was Rachel. She was cool in the beginning but towards the end she got crazy. Kinda like the badly interpreted Rachel by the ghostwriters in the books' final arc. Only worse. In MM4 Rachel went from cool to just wild and smiling and liking the idea of killing and the adrenaline rush and....She wasnt the Rachel we knew early on in the books. The smart badass Rachel. Cold in battle and still loving it just the same. Instead she was wild like some silly war child, loving the idea of killing way too much.

And Im sorry to say this, but Rachel was a dumb blond. It was a stereotype KA tried to avoid, but succeeded halfway. The whole make stupid decisions and act on impulse without consequences? Yea, that's pretty dumb. It was needed for someone to throw the chess board across the room when they knew they were losing, but it was still dumb on her part to act that way. KA brought a whole new meaning to the term "Dumb blond." But Rachel's still a fav Animorph of mine.

Amazing how different she and Cassie were. No wonder they weren't on good terms near the end. One was a pacifist. The other was bellicose. And still best friends? Work of the Ellimist maybe? Although the idea of it occurring without the Ellimist's help is quite possible, since it can happen in real life.

[CounterInstinct]

Uhmm... actually, it wasn't clearly stated if the Ellimist stacked the deck or it was plain coincidence. Hahaha, i think he was just teasing the Drode on how the 6 of them ended up together. But still, the possibility that they were chosen is pretty large.

And although Rachel was just the only accident, i think she turned out pretty well for one. Tobias would have given up back at book 23 if it weren't for Rachel. C'mon, admit it, Tobias cares more about Rachel than the fate of the world itself. 

But sadly, I halfway agree with filmstu on the Rachel part. Rachel from book 2, book 7, book etc... books before 24.... was different from the other Rachels. I mean, the ghostwriters made Rachel look like some dumb blond. In book 54, she seemed so different from the previous Rachels. She even waited for the Yeers to be fully morphed before she attacked, to be fair and not be "Yeerk". In book 52, she recommends attacking the Yeerks in midmorph, which was a bit harsh.

[Mongoose]

The Ellimist must have stacked the deck, I just don't believe in coincidence on that scale (or at least would have to put it down to bad writing). Think back to the Ellimist Chronicles, this is what he does, one small, subtle change and watch it play out. Of course he's much better at it now than he was back then.

[CounterInstinct]

Hmm... yeah, I am pretty convinced right now that the Animorphs were chosen, but, its not that the Ellimist was bad at the game back then, its just that he always wants to play the underdog. You know, join the weaker and more likely to loose team and play his best.

Figures, he played chess with Crayak. Crayak had billions of Yeerks as his pieces, and Ellimist had none but 6.

[Terenia]

I can buy that the Ani's were chosen. It seems almost inevitable. But if Ellimist was going by his "one small change" rule, what was the small change? Because most of what I can think of is actually a big change, at least in the lives of the Ani's and related family members. He didn't create the Ani's. He didn't bring them into existence. So what did he do to ensure that they all ended up in that town, walking across an abandoned construction site together?

[Myitt]

I loved MM4, AUs are great, and the whole thing sucked me in right from the crazy opening scene. I think the point of it though was to explain why there were so many damn coincidences cropping up :3  The obligatory sci-fi/fantasy "we're all connected by fate, or a glowing dude who doesn't interfere" thing. 

[morfowt]

He didn't create the Ani's. He didn't bring them into existence. So what did he do to ensure that they all ended up in that town, walking across an abandoned construction site together?

hmmm...make the town the animorphs live in the best town in the world so that everyone would want to live there, inculding the animorphs' parents?