How did Elfangor know that Jake and the gang were not Controllers?

[CounterInstinct]

Elfangor probably thought:

Earth is going to be doomed anyway without a protector, so I don't care if one of these deformed and ugly alien youth is Yeerk infested. But if i guessed right, i hope.... bla bla.... you get the point

[Bassline]

Almost all the Yeerks had a hard time controlling their anger whenever they saw an Andalite, especially an Andalite like Elfangor, who had quite a reputation in battle.  Andalites seem to be pretty perceptive of Yeerk Controllers (Ax knew Jake was a controller before everyone else did in book 6), so Elfangor probably would have been able to tell if one of the kids was a controller when he first met them.

[Myitt]

See, I don't think Andalites can just "tell" when someone's infested with a Yeerk.  Ax had a hunch because Jake sneered at him involuntarily, and he tested it further by pressing his hand to Jake's forehead and making Temrash scream like a banshee at Ax.

It was just dumb luck, really, because any of the kids could've been a smart Yeerk acting scared...or maybe Elfangor just sensed they were sincere in their obliviousness, but not in their Yeerklessness. 

I always thought it was pretty stupid how so many Yeerks in the series just yelled "Andalite!" >.<  Come on, of course it's an Andalite.  Do ya need to give yourself away right on the spot?

[Unknown User]

I don't think elfangor knew, but he had at least three good reasons for going for it/trusting the gang;

1. No one yelled Andalite and attempted to blast him with a dracon

2. He knew that earth needed some help

3. (and I think this is most important) he knew he had a son on earth somewhere and was willing to take his chances giving a controller or two the morphing power in order to save his kid. He was pretty much gambling, shooting from the hip in order to save a loved one.

[A ghost you know]

I think he basically figured "Earth is screwed anyway, so it's not like this will hurt anything." In addition, Elfangor seems to have been one to trust to luck on occasion:

<But my brother Elfangor once told me, "It's a leader's job to be lucky." Sometimes, success is just luck.> - Ax, from #11, The Forgotten

He may also have felt, on some inner level, his connection with Tobias. Tobias mentions several times that he couldn't bring himself to leave Elfangor until directly ordered to do so, and it's possible Elfangor sensed the relationship in a similar way.

[Josh (J)]

Probably because they didn't yell Andalite or jump in joy when he gave them the cube.

[warren_bearclaw]

Also, didn't the Elimist have something to do with the five of them coming together? I think that Crayak yelled at him for 'rigging' the game.

[MoppingBear]

hmmm... yeah, but still, he only saw that Tobias and the gang would intersect timelines, he didn't see what would happen. If he did, then he would have known that he would die at the construction site and give them morphing power in the first place.

he didnt just see the intersection, i forget the visuals used, but it was clear that the intersection was a good thing.

[Unknown User]

Also, didn't the Elimist have something to do with the five of them coming together? I think that Crayak yelled at him for 'rigging' the game.

Yeah, the Elimist did have something to do with it, but I don't think that Elfangor really knew that, it didn't prove to him conclusively that these five humans were all yeerk free.

[A ghost you know]

Also, didn't the Elimist have something to do with the five of them coming together? I think that Crayak yelled at him for 'rigging' the game.

Yeah, the Elimist did have something to do with it, but I don't think that Elfangor really knew that, it didn't prove to him conclusively that these five humans were all yeerk free.

I think you're right, I don't recall Elfangor ever learning that the five humans were the ones whose timelines he saw. He knew there was something important about the people whose timelines he saw (I believe the words used to describe the place where the timelines joined were "bright" and "shining") but I don't believe he knew where the timelines joined or that his timeline joined theirs at one critical point, in a construction site one "normal" evening.

[Shenmue654]

Frankly, I think Elfangor pulled it out of his furry blue butt.  He was dying, and he knew Visser Three was going to be there any second now anyway. Seeing five humans, he had to take the chance. At that point it didn't matter if they were Controllers or not.

If there was a 50/50 chance that they were real kids, he couldn't miss it. Somebody on Earth had to know, although I doubt he expected them to fight a guerilla war for three or four years. Probably expected them to morph so they could get into the office of someone powerful. Hence "Warn your people!"

[warren_bearclaw]

I always wondered why they didn't go to the governor in the first few books...

[A ghost you know]

I always wondered why they didn't go to the governor in the first few books...

Probably because they couldn't trust anyone. Between learning about Tom being a Controller and learning about police being Controllers, the message of "Don't trust anyone" was made painfully clear. They only went to the governor as a last, desperate measure.

[Darth Zakryn]

That doesn't explain why they didn't go to the President for help. They even knew he wasn't infested, so that would have made tons more sense.

[t0bias]

i think it would be because if he didn't risk them being a controller there wouldn't even be an animorph sereis. at least not as we know it, it wouldn't even have the same name.

any way.... why would the ellemist get 5 kids who were contollers to save earth? the ellimis would have known. although on that note racheal could have been a controller... but a yeerk in a xena: warrior princess probably wouldn't have been able to contain her reage and then zap him with a dracon beam.