David

[Terenia]

See, I think that one of the biggest things with David was that he just didn't have a concept of his new reality.

Yes, it was evil for him to betray the human race. But I don't think he saw it that way. I think, in his mind, he saw it of him wiping his hands of the situation and using his powers to advance himself. I don't think he really made the connection that he was potentially dooming the planet. That's a big idea to wrap your brain around.

Similarly, by morphing Saddler, I don't think he saw it as 'evil'. In his mind it was his chance at regaining a life for himself, especially since there was so little chance that the real Saddler would make it.

That's not to say that what he did wasn't evil. But I think it's important to note that David didn't believe he was being evil. He was just the kind of person who only looked out for himself. It doesn't excuse his actions, but perhaps it explains them a bit.

[Chad32]

Who voted Rachel!? I hope that was a joke, otherwise someone needs to be smoten.

[visser101]

  Actually, I find replacing Sadler perhaps the most evil of all the things he tried to do.

yes that was evil no question. i was trying show how twisted i thought his thinking had become.

[gecko52]

Well, All I'm saying is, Daivd was crazy from the start, he manipulated and toyed with the Animorphs emotions and feelings like they were just dolls! I mean really, they shouldv've never accpeted a seventh memeber, it should've been just the six of them

[Terenia]

Well, All I'm saying is, Daivd was crazy from the start, he manipulated and toyed with the Animorphs emotions and feelings like they were just dolls! I mean really, they shouldv've never accpeted a seventh memeber, it should've been just the six of them

True, but their other option was to give him up to the Yeerks, and they couldn't bring themselves to do it. In hindsight it would have been better for everyone if they had done that, but that's why hindsight's a biatch

[SkyMorpher]

Why would it have been better to turn him over? Do you mean right in the beginning, instead of rescuing him? Just get the cube and run? Because by the end there was no way to do it without all their secrets being told.

[Terenia]

Why would it have been better to turn him over? Do you mean right in the beginning, instead of rescuing him? Just get the cube and run? Because by the end there was no way to do it without all their secrets being told.

Yes, in hindsight it would have been better for the Ani's to turn David over before he even saw them. But that's a line of morality that they weren't willing to cross. At least, not until AFTER David betrayed them. I'm sure if a similar situation had come up they would have given the person up, rather than risk another David.

[EmberGryphon]

See, I think that one of the biggest things with David was that he just didn't have a concept of his new reality.

Yes, it was evil for him to betray the human race. But I don't think he saw it that way. I think, in his mind, he saw it of him wiping his hands of the situation and using his powers to advance himself. I don't think he really made the connection that he was potentially dooming the planet. That's a big idea to wrap your brain around.

Similarly, by morphing Saddler, I don't think he saw it as 'evil'. In his mind it was his chance at regaining a life for himself, especially since there was so little chance that the real Saddler would make it.

That's not to say that what he did wasn't evil. But I think it's important to note that David didn't believe he was being evil. He was just the kind of person who only looked out for himself. It doesn't excuse his actions, but perhaps it explains them a bit.

Exactly! I agree with this. He wanted to bargain with the Yeerks, trade the Escafil for his parents. He wanted to rebuild the life that had been taken away from him. He thought if he fought beside the Animorphs, he would die. (Not a bad assumption. A few books later, they hire on some more new Animorphs, and look at what happens to them!) He thought if he tried to resign, they'd turn on him. (Could they trust him to just walk away? Somehow, I doubt it.) So he struck preemptively. What he did was terrible, but in his mind, it was fully justified.

Although I disagree that leaving David to the Yeerks would have been the best option... he had memories, after all, of Marco being very eager to buy the Escafil, and that same night Andalites attempting to steal it. David tells Marco that the e-mail with his address goes out right as he gets home, and a few hours later the Andalites are waiting in David's house when Esplin gets there. Coincidentally, this kid is the son of the host body of a Yeerk who saved the Andalite bandits in #5, was saved by an Andalite bandit in #15, and would later be spared by an Andalite bandit in... I think #25.

I'd think it'd be a security risk to let David over to the Side of Evil. They should have killed him then...

[Chad32]

There's no way they would kill David before his outright betrayal. And "a few books later" was more like 30+ books later. The group was different then.

[Terenia]

There's no way they would kill David before his outright betrayal. And "a few books later" was more like 30+ books later. The group was different then.

Yeah, killing David was not an option then. They didn't even discuss it. They just hadn't reached that point yet.

[gecko52]

Well, to me the Animorphs played that trilogy stupid. They already knew they couldn't trust anyone becuase they didn't know whose who, but still tehy just went on and poof! They did exaclty wat they tried to stop in the first place, so all in all it was all their fault, because they should've seen it coming, that's my opinion ok? I thought David needed to be mroe evil, so I wrote a fan fic called the hands of armageddon, check it out it's when David makes a reutrn and it's really good

[Terenia]

I thought David needed to be mroe evil

I think part of the point of David's character was that he wasn't pure evil. He was an annoying, bratty kid who got shoved in a horrible situation and dealt with it badly. David is not evil. David does evil things, but David is not evil.

[gecko52]

Well, all I'm saying is, evil or not, if your exlisted in a war to fight, you don't go all evil halfway through, no matter what you've gone through

[Chad32]

David is a good example of why we don't draft people in the USA anymore. Volunteers only.

[Terenia]

Well, all I'm saying is, evil or not, if your exlisted in a war to fight, you don't go all evil halfway through, no matter what you've gone through

Maybe so, but it's a slightly different situation than being 'enlisted'. No training, no preparation, many of David's morphs were first-timers in the middle of a mission (like when he had to morph ****roach on the Blade Ship). Plus, David is 13-14 years old. It's enough to make someone who, a few nights prior had a bed and a family and a couple of pets with bad names go a little crazy.


(sorry, if you haven't been able to tell, I'm a bit of a David sympathizer)