Thoughts on the ending

[Kitulean]

i was only upset because they couldn't kill off someone else.
like cassie.

i love you patty!

Me too!

[Chad32]

I really wish they had named 54 The End. That seems like the perfect title for a book series where the titles for the main books are always the word The, and then one other word. Now I know they didn't title the first book The Beginning, but I just thought the title for the last book would be The End. Did anyone else think that before the book actually came out?

[INH]

I kind of expected that too.  But I guess Scholastic thought that it would be too obvious.

[Vanish]

Why didn't the others have PTSD? The amount of bloody hand to hand (or paw to hand haha) combat and death they saw in those three years was enough to mess anyone up. They literally clawed and bit probably 100's of sentient creatures to death.

[Visser19]

Some of them probably did have PTSD, but maybe some had strong psychological resistance, because not all war veterans are haunted by war for the rest of their life.

I liked "The Beginning" as the title, it seemed more poetic and meaningful- the beginning of a new Earth where now there is an alliance with Andalites and the universe is opened up to us, like a new era of peace.

What I didn't like is that Cassie and Jake didn't get married or anything, they just kinda forgot about each other, and that Tobias stayed in hawk form just because he couldn't get over Rachel. I mean, come on, it was sad that she was gone, but move on and be human again! It was fine that Rachel died, not that I ever had anything against her, but why this with Cassie and Tobias!? Come on!

[Vanish]

Also I wonder what happened to Tobias's mom? Did he stop talking to her?

[aristh asela]

couldnt agree with Patty more. why not cassie?her constant whining should have seen her off

[rebelxluck]

I really liked The Beginning as a title, though I was completely unsurprised by it. It's cliche, but it does fit and they made it work.

I agree with Visser19 about PTSD and everyone having varying reactions. This also goes back to what I said about wanting to be happy vs. making yourself unhappy. Jake dwells so much on his mistakes and "failures," he can't get past that unless he's trying to redeem himself, so yeah he's more messed up than the others in the end. Cassie, though, wants to move on. She wants to help usher in this new era, and maybe that's her own way of coping. So she heals. It probably takes a while, and that's why I think she doesn't really help Jake until later, when she's dealt with her own issues first. She knows she can't magically fix him, and as I've explained elsewhere it makes sense to me that they don't end up together. I don't think they just forget about each other at all, though. They simply walk different paths.

You have to remember Tobias spent the whole series struggling with his hawk vs. human dilemma and leaning towards the hawk side. He was always so uncomfortable in human morph. After the war, he might have finally become fully human again for Rachel, but without her? How exactly do you expect him to move on? He'd need a major push, from someone with a whole lot of dedication, and no one else is capable of giving him that until Ax goes missing.

I always thought Tobias' sudden fixation and then apparent disinterest in Loren was weird. The way I make sense of it, he was more focused on the concept of family than on Loren herself. The idea of a mother who cared about him got to him, kind of like the idea of a cousin who cared did. But he didn't exactly have a lot of time to bond with Loren before Rachel died, and I can see him turning away from Loren after that because she wasn't really important enough to be able to help him. I don't think she would know how. And Tobias already had issues with forming personal bonds with people, after losing Rachel I can see him resisting close ties with others.

[roguebluejay]

Your idea of Tobias becoming a nothlit with Rachel is a beautiful one. I am not sure if he would have done it, but it would have been the ultimate act of love.

[arzwlf]

i actually lost track of the series as a kid and left off somewhere in the 30's. just finished in now that i'm 24. wow, crazy ending....i really didnt like rachel being the one to go. i kind of liked her "do anything for the mission" attitude. she knew she wasnt coming back from the last mission but she went and did it anyway. wound up saving everyone. personally i would have much rather seen cassie or jake go, but it's a good ending.

the "the one" part i didnt like just because i hate cliffhanger endings.....i much prefer something that wraps up. it'd be nice if they could pull off a #55 one day

[Visser19]

How exactly do you expect him to move on? He'd need a major push, from someone with a whole lot of dedication, and no one else is capable of giving him that until Ax goes missing.

Wait, what happened to Ax? He went missing? What? I thought he went with Jake, Marco and Tobias out to meet The One...

[Chad32]

No. He got captured by the One, and the others had gone to rescue him. His capture was the reason they left earth.

[Visser19]

Oh yeah, that's right. It's been a long time...

[A ghost you know]

I really, really didn't like the ending. So many things felt wrong with it...

First, Rachel's death. That was nothing short of stunning, even though it was logical. Sure, the other Animorphs had wondered what she would do once the war ended and there was no more of the fighting she was addicted to. Sure, she might have gone back to a "normal" life, but I seriously doubt that.
Killing her, though, was so not the right thing to do... especially the circumstances. Jake sending his cousin to kill his brother, and probably be killed by Tom's forces in exchange. Bizarre. The timing - having her die to end the war - was terrible too. Surely, after all the battles she went through, she deserved to live to see the end...

Her death sent Tobias into complete seclusion, which doesn't feel right either. He should have been celebrating the victory with her, not mourning her death.

The last straw was this "The One" alien; it apparently destroyed Ax, and 3 of the final 4 Animorphs (Jake, Marco, and Tobias) almost certainly died in the collision between the Yeerk fighter and the Blade ship.

[estrid]

my thoughts exactly! why kill her now, at the end? when they had escaped so many for sure should have died situations?