Group Re-Read: #38 The Arrival

[Terenia]

Summary
Ax's people have arrived on Earth, and they want Ax back on board with them. Ax is torn. Should he join his fellow Andalites? Can he desert the Animorphs?

Questions
1) So, what did you think when new Andalites appeared on the scene? Was it a 'yay!' moment, or a 'oh crap, what now?' moment?

2) What do you think about Estrid? What about Estrid and Ax?

3) When the new Andalites confront the Animorphs for the first time Jake refuses to back down. What does this say about Jake? Do you think he's grown to accept his leadership role at this point?

4) Interestingly enough Alloran's brother, Arbat, is going down the same path of destruction Alloran himself went down. Alloran released the Quantum virus on the Hork-Bajir world. Now Arbat wants to release a deadly virus on the Yeerk population, which could prove deadly to humans. Why do you think that Arbat is taking the same risk his brother did, when it resulted in Alloran's disgrace (and didn't even stop the Yeerks)?

5) When reading the book did you actually believe the "show" the Ani's put on for the Andalites, to make it look like they had self-destructed? Were you surprised at all?

6) Thoughts on the Andalite crew? Gonrod, Aloth, Arbat and Estrid?

7) What do you think would have happened if Estrid stayed on Earth at the end?


Next week: #39 The Hidden aka BUFFA-HUMAN!

[Chad32]

I don't think it would be terrible to try out the quantum virus, though with the existence of the peace movement I'm glad they didn't. See, unlike the first virus this one actually targets the yeerks themselves. Plus there's only a small 3% chance of it harming Humans. Those are good odds.

I think killing that one Andalite, just for being injured, was a cold move. Especially most Andalites in the militray have morphing power, and at least one morph.

Estrid was nice, but I do believe if she stayed, it would diminish Ax's specialness. Though I think I posted somewhere that a love triangle between Marco, Estrid, and Ax would be cool. Estrid could fall in love with Marco for one reason or another, and Ax would be in love with Estrid. Marco liking or disliking her is optional.

It's nice to see that jake doesn't back down. This is his planet, and his people. And he lets everyone know that.

[morfowt]

To be honest, I really believed that show, and didn't understand it was all fake for like the first 3 times I read this book. I just got it in like one of the most recent re-reads...

[Gafrash]

I remember this book being an awesome read. Plenty of action, plenty of refreshing Andalite-related facts, and a nice twist at the end.

Questions
1) So, what did you think when new Andalites appeared on the scene? Was it a 'yay!' moment, or a 'oh crap, what now?' moment?

It was a 'holy-beep!-o-moly!' moment when I first read. Kind of had this Terminator2-like quality when I first pictured it in my head, with them reaching a dead end and DING! the elevator door opens and they join forces. Gold scene! Even with the book summary, it was kind of unexpected from the rescue mission they were going in for. Nicely done.

3) When the new Andalites confront the Animorphs for the first time Jake refuses to back down. What does this say about Jake? Do you think he's grown to accept his leadership role at this point?

"I don't take orders. I give them. And I declare this meeting over!" or something like that, Jake said.
This scene really worked! Jake not backing down was a star! Think this was the first time he openly showed that 'I'm in charge!' role, and I think it's safe to say he's truly accepted his leadership at this point. It would not surprise me if it was him who came up with the strategy of having Marco and Cassie morph snakes to match those quick Andalite tails either.

4) Interestingly enough Alloran's brother, Arbat, is going down the same path of destruction Alloran himself went down. Alloran released the Quantum virus on the Hork-Bajir world. Now Arbat wants to release a deadly virus on the Yeerk population, which could prove deadly to humans. Why do you think that Arbat is taking the same risk his brother did, when it resulted in Alloran's disgrace (and didn't even stop the Yeerks)?

I thought this Alloran's brother factor was a little bit tiresome. At this stage I was like, WHY does there have to be so many character links in the series?! And, then, have him be the real brains behind the Andalite fleet, and plus, making him sick and twisted. Why are Andalites like Alloran and Arbat the ones that make it to that position of power in the military to then do this sort of stunt?!?!?!?
Why would the Andalite forces send someone with some sort of biased agenda in the works. It just doesn't paint a good picture about the choices of the Andalite military. Having said that, there's no way Arbat survived, so I guess, that is problem solved.

5) When reading the book did you actually believe the "show" the Ani's put on for the Andalites, to make it look like they had self-destructed? Were you surprised at all?

I am recalling that scene where the Animorphs ditch Ax being kinda really forced to me. As a reader you just knew it wasn't really happening because it didn't really gel.
But I can't remember if it was all clear if Ax was in the know or not.

6) Thoughts on the Andalite crew? Gonrod, Aloth, Arbat and Estrid?

It was a little occult if Gonrod and Aloth had the morphing power. But assuming that he did, there's no reason other than deliberate betrayal, that Arbat would have finished him off for those battle wounds. It was shocking.
I halfway felt bad for Gonrod. In the heat of the battle he was labeled a coward amongst his people, but undeniable was his skills when piloting an Andalite fighter. I sincerely hope Estrid and him made it back home safe.

2) What do you think about Estrid? What about Estrid and Ax?

There was definitely something in the mix that could have further developed with the two Andalites. I think Ax mentions being in love with her towards the series end.
It was refreshing to see another female Andalite since Aldrea.

7) What do you think would have happened if Estrid stayed on Earth at the end?

I think Estrid would have been invaluable to the Resistance, had she stayed. They would have had a brilliant Andalite scientist in their team, who would have taught them to morph proper clothes and maybe even beat some Yeerk technology.

[AniDragon]

1) So, what did you think when new Andalites appeared on the scene? Was it a 'yay!' moment, or a 'oh crap, what now?' moment?

It was definitely a 'yay!' moment. I mean, the Andalites coming to Earth has been something we've been waiting for since, like, book 1.

2) What do you think about Estrid? What about Estrid and Ax?

For a second I thought you were talking about the Estrid on this board. lol. Anyway, I thought her and Ax were adorable together. That scene where they're eating chocolate in human morph, and then kiss, and then they're like "Eh, that was nice, but food is better". XD SO FREAKIN' CUTE.

3) When the new Andalites confront the Animorphs for the first time Jake refuses to back down. What does this say about Jake? Do you think he's grown to accept his leadership role at this point?

I think Jake earns some badass points for this. I think at the start of the series, he would have been more likely to pass the command off to the Andalites, but at this point, he knows enough to say "No, I give the orders."

4) Interestingly enough Alloran's brother, Arbat, is going down the same path of destruction Alloran himself went down. Alloran released the Quantum virus on the Hork-Bajir world. Now Arbat wants to release a deadly virus on the Yeerk population, which could prove deadly to humans. Why do you think that Arbat is taking the same risk his brother did, when it resulted in Alloran's disgrace (and didn't even stop the Yeerks)?

Like Gafrash, I thought the whole "Alloran's brother" thing was a bit meh. I was all "Really? Did we really need Alloran's brother being on this mission?". I think it could have worked just as well without it, though it did give him that extra bit of motivation to keep him going. *shrugs*

5) When reading the book did you actually believe the "show" the Ani's put on for the Andalites, to make it look like they had self-destructed? Were you surprised at all?

I believed it at first, but I thought it was incredibly out of character. I was thinking that a really bad ghostwriter got ahold of that scene, or something. I was happy to be proven wrong.

6) Thoughts on the Andalite crew? Gonrod, Aloth, Arbat and Estrid?

I was kind of neutral on most of them, tbh. Even after re-reading, Estrid and Arbat are the only ones that really stick in my mind as memorable.

7) What do you think would have happened if Estrid stayed on Earth at the end?

I think it could have been interesting, though a bit awkward. Her and Ax clearly like each other, but because the events of the book, things would have been really strained between them for a while.

[anijen21]

1) So, what did you think when new Andalites appeared on the scene? Was it a 'yay!' moment, or a 'oh crap, what now?' moment?
I loved the Andalites so I had been waiting like books and books for them. This was very satisfying in my first read-through, and it was one of my favorites after.

2) What do you think about Estrid? What about Estrid and Ax?
You know, I gotta admit, at first I liked her. When I read this book again though, she's really no one. She's a total blank slate through about 3/4 of this book. She basically says "hi!" before Ax decides she's pretty, and then she gets some mild Mary-Sue development before turning out to be a coward. She was kind of a turn off.

3) When the new Andalites confront the Animorphs for the first time Jake refuses to back down. What does this say about Jake? Do you think he's grown to accept his leadership role at this point?
lol I really liked that scene. I think it says a lot about the development of these characters that by this point, not only does Jake not have no problem conversing with aliens but he can totally pwn them and assert some good old-fashioned masculine dominance over them.

4) Interestingly enough Alloran's brother, Arbat, is going down the same path of destruction Alloran himself went down. Alloran released the Quantum virus on the Hork-Bajir world. Now Arbat wants to release a deadly virus on the Yeerk population, which could prove deadly to humans. Why do you think that Arbat is taking the same risk his brother did, when it resulted in Alloran's disgrace (and didn't even stop the Yeerks)?
The virus is totally inconsistent. At first it's just going to kill human controllers when the Yeerks die in their heads, and then that gets arbitrarily changed when Arbat gets the idea to PUT IT IN THE YEERK POOL thus avoiding all interaction with human Controllers. Then all of a sudden it could "mutate" to harm humans or something. I don't know. I hate it when we're just supposed to take sci-fi magic on faith. That's why it's sci-fi. It needs a plausible explanation.

Arbat could have been cool but he turned into just a one-off B villain. He even got a monologue. Though it did inspire one of my favorite fics of all time.

5) When reading the book did you actually believe the "show" the Ani's put on for the Andalites, to make it look like they had self-destructed? Were you surprised at all?
LOL I DID FOR LIKE A SECOND. When Tobias was like "THAT'S IT I'M OUT" I was like "aww Tobias :'(" and then the rest of them all freaked out and I was like "oh this is just a show." Especially since the only *extraneous* details the author kept using were like "There were two grackles and a rabbit on the floor." HMM I WONDER WHO THOSE COULD BE.

To be totally honest, though, I'd forgotten about the "show" before I reread this. So as Ax is flying around with Estrid and wondering if he should become a nothlit (why that is the only escape for Andalites I won't really ever understand. There's plenty of untamed wilderness on Earth to run around in), she notices a red-tailed hawk has been following them and Ax goes "eh there's lots of birds." I mean at this point I was pretty sure he was pulling the wool over her eyes, but another option occurred to me.

What if Ax was so desperately homesick that he was totally delusional about the everything that was happening?

Until the end, I think this is a fair read of this book. He's ignoring the hints he's getting about Estrid, he's totally accepting of the fact that Animorphs disintegrated even though they'd been through much worse, he's got a totally head-over-heels schoolyard crush on this girl. I don't know, I thought it was really poignant and sad, Ax has been upholding this exterior of honor, dignity, and loyalty, and inside he's just crumbling. And then by the end it was "Oh they've been on my ass as fleas this whole time."

I guess I was disappointed. I think it's almost impossible to pull off a narrative twist like that WHEN YOU'RE WRITING IN THE FIRST PERSON. I mean before when they came up with a plan that we couldn't know about, we at least got something like "I came up with a plan. I told everybody else." But then again, if that had happened, you wouldn't get those 80 pages of "omg Ax is so pathetically heartbroken ilhim "

The other thing...Estrid is supposedly some child prodigy, and Arbat is an intelligence officer of such high rank that he basically commands the War Council. We're really supposed to believe that neither of them EVEN SUSPECTED that the Animorphs were pulling a fast one on them? I mean you could argue "THE ANDALITES ARE SO ARROGANT THEY WOULD NEVER EVEN SUSPECT THE HUMANS COULD DO THAT" and I know arrogance is an Andalite trait, but so is kind of a cold pragmatism. And I really, really think Arbat was pragmatic enough to consider the humans a threat, even if they put on a big song and dance about having no cohesiveness or organization.

6) Thoughts on the Andalite crew? Gonrod, Aloth, Arbat and Estrid?
I kept reading "Gonrod" as "Gondor" the whole time, like oh, big surprise, another Lord of the Rings shout-out. And I don't know why half of all Andalite names have to start with "A." I was getting confused. I really liked Aloth. Andalites are at their best when they combine that arrogance with kind of a sardonic self-deprecation, and it definitely worked since he'd been humbled in military prison for...stealing organs off the battlefield...which seems like kind of a stretch since they've got the morphing technology. Growing organs should be like three steps backwards from that. I was kind of mad Gonrod was the one who survived, I really liked Aloth. But overall, they were really kind of flat and...I don't know, interchangeable?

7) What do you think would have happened if Estrid stayed on Earth at the end?
She couldn't. She would have gotten some more development, but she really showed her true colors when she busted out crying all "DON'T LEAVE ME :'(" in the Yeerk Pool. She would have been a really annoying liability, and Cassie is enough of a moralistic liability for the team. I did actually like Cassie in this one, though, when she recognized the real effect the Andalites had on Ax when no one else did and let him keep his dignity. That was sweet.

[Gafrash]

I think Jake earns some badass points for this. I think at the start of the series, he would have been more likely to pass the command off to the Andalites, but at this point, he knows enough to say "No, I give the orders."

Yeah, I reckon at this point, Jake and the others already know more about the Andalites than they liked to believe. After what they back learn in The Alien and the incident they lived in The Decision, they were wiser about trusting the first impressions of Andalites. Including Ax himself. It's valid to say that had Jake, Ax and the others not experienced what they did back then, things would have played out a little differently here.

...To be totally honest, though, I'd forgotten about the "show" before I reread this. So as Ax is flying around with Estrid and wondering if he should become a nothlit (why that is the only escape for Andalites I won't really ever understand. There's plenty of untamed wilderness on Earth to run around in), she notices a red-tailed hawk has been following them and Ax goes "eh there's lots of birds." I mean at this point I was pretty sure he was pulling the wool over her eyes, but another option occurred to me.

What if Ax was so desperately homesick that he was totally delusional about the everything that was happening?

Until the end, I think this is a fair read of this book. He's ignoring the hints he's getting about Estrid, he's totally accepting of the fact that Animorphs disintegrated even though they'd been through much worse, he's got a totally head-over-heels schoolyard crush on this girl. I don't know, I thought it was really poignant and sad, Ax has been upholding this exterior of honor, dignity, and loyalty, and inside he's just crumbling. And then by the end it was "Oh they've been on my ass as fleas this whole time."
... The other thing...Estrid is supposedly some child prodigy, and Arbat is an intelligence officer of such high rank that he basically commands the War Council. We're really supposed to believe that neither of them EVEN SUSPECTED that the Animorphs were pulling a fast one on them? I mean you could argue "THE ANDALITES ARE SO ARROGANT THEY WOULD NEVER EVEN SUSPECT THE HUMANS COULD DO THAT" and I know arrogance is an Andalite trait, but so is kind of a cold pragmatism. And I really, really think Arbat was pragmatic enough to consider the humans a threat, even if they put on a big song and dance about having no cohesiveness or organization.

As you say, anijen21this is why I am a little uncertain if Ax was in the 'show' or if he was just blindly hooked on Estrid to notice the 'show' signs. As a reader of the series, we've kind of seen a similar tactic the Anis pulled on David, except they centered it on Rachel. So it was smart, but but I can't help wondering if Ax knew or not.

...Andalites are at their best when they combine that arrogance with kind of a sardonic self-deprecation, and it definitely worked since he'd been humbled in military prison for...stealing organs off the battlefield...which seems like kind of a stretch since they've got the morphing technology. Growing organs should be like three steps backwards from that....

Interesting point and I agree.
I kind of felt more of a connection with Gonrod, don't know why, and wished there was more on both Gonrod and Aloth, because, as you say, they did come off as a bit flat.

Do you guys think Gonrod and Estrid made it back safely?!

[Chad32]

I like to think so. I don't see why not. But then, I like when things turn out positive.

[Terenia]

Gonrod WAS a miraculously good pilot. I like to think they survived. Although I'd be interested to see what happened upon their return. Did Gonrod get forced back to prison? How did Estrid do without Arbat protecting her?

[yunyun]

Questions
1) So, what did you think when new Andalites appeared on the scene? Was it a 'yay!' moment, or a 'oh crap, what now?' moment?

my thought to that: wow, so much for coincidences...-_-...

2) What do you think about Estrid? What about Estrid and Ax?

I loved Estrid. Sh'e my favourite andalite. Estrid and Ax would have been nice

3) When the new Andalites confront the Animorphs for the first time Jake refuses to back down. What does this say about Jake? Do you think he's grown to accept his leadership role at this point?

Jake is determined i guess, and he doesn't like being treated as a pawn in the interstellar war. I think Jake as sorta accepted his role

4) Interestingly enough Alloran's brother, Arbat, is going down the same path of destruction Alloran himself went down. Alloran released the Quantum virus on the Hork-Bajir world. Now Arbat wants to release a deadly virus on the Yeerk population, which could prove deadly to humans. Why do you think that Arbat is taking the same risk his brother did, when it resulted in Alloran's disgrace (and didn't even stop the Yeerks)?

Um...i guess he thinks it might work...? And he and his brother is alike...?

5) When reading the book did you actually believe the "show" the Ani's put on for the Andalites, to make it look like they had self-destructed? Were you surprised at all?

i so believed it. I thought that they actually spiting up. I was sorta surprised about that. I really didn't think that Rachel would be like that that soon

6) Thoughts on the Andalite crew? Gonrod, Aloth, Arbat and Estrid?

Gonrod: terrible name...Same with Aloth, Estri is cool and i really dislike Arbat

7) What do you think would have happened if Estrid stayed on Earth at the end?

they'd have one more andalite on the team, maybe helping their chances