Yeerk Mothership

[Fwahm]

Is the Yeerk Mothership mentioned and interacted with in book 6 the same as the Pool Ships mentioned and interacted with later in the series?

[adeon222]

Yeah, I always thought it was...  *shrug*

[VisserZer0]

I think it's mentioned either online or in the books that the Pool ship and Mothership are the same thing. Although I don't know why Ax didn't just call it the Pool ship from the beginning. I think in 7 it mentions that it would be a hassle for Visser Three to shuttle Controllers from the Mothership and back to feed so I think It'd be safe to assume they're the same thing.

[MoppingBear]

well there are multiple poolships arent there? the mothership might just be one in particular or something.

[VisserZer0]

I think they call it the Mothership because that's where the current invasion is at. Say, if there's a Pool ship in orbit around the Anati homewold, the Yeerks there probably call that a mothership as well.

[goom]

i thought it was interchangeably called pool or mother.

[Stephquiem]

I don't really remember it being called the mother ship past maybe book 7 or 8? Maybe it's just been awhile since I read some of the earliest books. But yeah, I always figured that it was the same thing as the Pool Ship. It might be, too, that KAA changed her mind at some point about what to call it.

Also, if you think about it, the Pool ship being the "mother" ship kind of makes sense... just that that would how most Yeerks (who didn't already have other species hosts) would arrive on Earth--in the pool on the Pool ship. If that makes any sense the way I said it. XD

[Phoenix004]

Is the Yeerk Mothership mentioned and interacted with in book 6 the same as the Pool Ships mentioned and interacted with later in the series?

I assume you meant book 5 when they first meet Visser One? Book 6 is the one where Jake is infested.

[adeon222]

I wonder if any Andalite ever refered to a Dome ship as "the mothership"??

I never saw that in the series, but I suppose it might have happened... *shrugs*

I always thougt that "mothership" was more of an unofficial term, kind of like... Hmmm... "headquarters"... the Official name might be "Main Base" or Headquarters of the Blah Blah Blah", or some other thing, but people still refer to it as "headquarters" because that's what it is... Maybe the same with mothership?

[Phoenix004]

Yeah Pool Ships are the official name but they're also sometimes referred to as Mother Ships. As far as I recall, they are the same. It's possible the name varies because of the Animorphs calling it a Mother Ship (due to it being a popular term for the main ship in popular science fiction) or perhaps KA change her mind about what to call it.

I realise that it's not always 100% accurate, but I double checked Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeerk#Yeerk_technology

"Pool Ships – Huge, round, bloated, black ships with three spider-like legs are the engines and a series of thick tentacles hanging from the bottom (sensors and weapons); they are often known as Mother Ships."

[DinosaurNothlit]

What I'm betting is that the Yeerks called them Pool Ships, and the Animorphs probably interchangeably called them Pool Ships (because that's what the Yeerks called them) and Mother Ships (because of the sci-fi aspect).

After all, Yeerks have no reason to even have a word for "Mother."  Yeerks are obviously lacking in the parental aspect, given that they die when they reproduce.  And since they have no gender, they would never even need to refer to a 'female parent.'

Even if they did have the word 'mother' it would have an extremely different connotation to them than our word does.  To a human, a mother is a being who takes care of you and looks after you and protects you (and it is from this connotation that "Mother Ship" would have to derive).  To a Yeerk, a 'mother' is simply a dead Yeerk from which a new generation descended.  Nothing more than that.

So I cannot imagine that the Yeerks would consciously name their own ships after something that is such an alien concept to them.  Therefore, the term "Mother Ship" would have to have come from humans, at some point.  If any Yeerks do call their ships "Mother Ships" it is almost certainly a habit they would have picked up from their hosts, not the official name.

[Hewlett Aldershot III]

While I agree with the alien nature of the term mother, I assume that given the gedds, the yeerks would understand the concept of mother and father. From a purely english definition of the term, mother connotates not a figure within our society in a female parent, but a mechanism from which comes forth a certain object, be it a vessel of war or an idea. To birth something is simply a matter of creating or harbouring it, thusly a mother ship harbours or creates something. Like the bug fighters, or a representation of the evils the yeerks imbue. It isn't a matter of our concept of mother as a female figure; it's a matter of mother being used as a concept of something from which other things come.

Sorry, journalism student doing what he does best (e.g. analyzing the root of a word to snag the concept. Probably too much application of said skills lol)

[Adrian Malacoda]

The funny thing about Yeerk ship names is that it wasn't the Yeerks who named them. HBC explains that it was Aldrea and Dak who came up with the names "Blade Ship" and "Bug Fighter", back when these ships were first being built (HBC, page 91). In this context, saying that the Yeerks could not have "motherships" because Yeerks don't have mothers is absurd - maybe it's the Andalite/other sentient being name for the Pool ship.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Both of you made good points.

Don't apologize, HA3.  Analyzing words isn't a bad thing.  Words are fascinating.  I love seeing all the inconsistencies of the English language, for example, and all the words that you think mean one thing and actually mean something else (like "mother," lol).  And that's a good point about the gedds.  I'd totally forgotten about them.

And I'd also forgotten that Dak and Aldrea came up with the names for "Blade Ship" and "Bug Fighter."  Heh, it makes you wonder if the Yeerks actually named any of their own stuff.

[Adrian Malacoda]

While I agree with the alien nature of the term mother, I assume that given the gedds, the yeerks would understand the concept of mother and father. From a purely english definition of the term, mother connotates not a figure within our society in a female parent, but a mechanism from which comes forth a certain object, be it a vessel of war or an idea. To birth something is simply a matter of creating or harbouring it, thusly a mother ship harbours or creates something. Like the bug fighters, or a representation of the evils the yeerks imbue. It isn't a matter of our concept of mother as a female figure; it's a matter of mother being used as a concept of something from which other things come.

Interestingly enough, this description also applies to Yeerk pools. The pool is where every Yeerk emerges before starting its life in service of the empire, and where said Yeerk must return for nourishment. The Pool actually fulfills both definitions of "mother" in this regard. Seen in this manner, it's natural that the Yeerk mothership would carry that name.

"Pool" is a Yeerkish concept, unlike "bug" or "blade.", so Pool Ship is probably a Yeerk name. I think it's safe to say that Pool ships were built later in the war (unless there was a pool ship in HBC, which I don't recall). Makes you wonder where "Dracon beam" (also a Yeerk name) comes from.