That's a very good point. I believe it was implied that it was created as a percaution, or a trump card. Though I'm thinking he probably would have released it eventually as a last resort, I don't think he was planning on doing it any time soon.
So yeah, the virus was actually released by accident, by the fault of Aldrea and Dak. But would Alloran have released it himself eventually? Now that's a question to ponder.
Actually, if Alloran wouldn't have, I think the Arn would. They'd destroy the Hork-Bajir to hopefully drive the Yeerks off of their world, and then re-create them so they can sustain the trees to sustain the planet, possibly with a failsafe to keep them form getting infested again. (Like they did to themselves, with the bloodvessel that would burst if they get infested)
Well that's the basis of my theory. The only indication that we get live, in
The Hork-Bajir Chronicles of what Alloran's intentions with the Quantum Virus were is this:
<It's over Alloran,> Aldrea cried. <You are not going to destroy the Hork-Bajir!>
<I'm trying to save this planet, you fool!> Alloran said.
Now, we get a lot of rationalizing and crazed jibber-jabber in the Andalite Chronicles, which I haven't looked at very recently, but...aww hell just let me do it now.
The most important thing in war is to destroy your enemies, Aristh Elfangor. Nothing is more important than destroying your enemies. Do you understand?
They are the enemy. Hypocrites! You're all hypocrites! We lost the Hork-Bajir war because of weak, moralizing fools like you! Because of fools like you, I am disgraced and shunned and sent off on trivial errands with nothing but arisths under my command...What is the difference how you destroy the enemy?...What does it matter if you kill them with a tail blade or shredder or quantum virus?
And that's all he has to say about that.
Now, here's what I think went down: Alloran was losing, on the Hork-Bajir world. I don't believe he had any control over how many troops were assigned to him, in fact, this is what the Andalites say about how they decided to distribute their resources:
<We have eight fighters, two transports, one re-supply ship, one repair ship. A total of less than a thousand warriors. We destroyed two Yeerk fighters on the way in...Days after we heard your message from here we received intelligence reports that the Yeerk fleet was in Sector Two. The main fleet is there. We assumed that since...because of you...It will take a year for the main fleet to get here, unless Z-Space reconfigures.>
<This is going to be a tough little war,> Alloran said grimly. <A very tough little war.>
Now those "intelligence reports" that the Andalites received are a rant for another time, but at the very least, this does prove that Alloran was not in charge of distributing troops, only commanding them.
So to backtrack a little: Alloran was losing. In fact, I think he was shrewd enough to understand that loss would be inevitable unless he got creative. Making
and releasing a quantum virus would have been counter-productive--the Andalites aren't normally the types of people to go around killing sentient life, at least from how they're characterized in the Andalite Chronicles, before they got desperate, and the Hork-Bajir Chronicles takes place before then. Plus, I really don't think the Arn would have produced the virus if it was intended to be used, because they needed the Hork-Bajir to survive. Besides, the Andalites may be too arrogant to realize this, but a bunch of seven-foot-tall bladed demons aren't necessarily a bad ally to have in wartime. So I really, really, REALLY don't think Alloran intended to release the Quantum Virus at all.
I think there's substantial textual evidence up there to prove that he was using it to blackmail or coerce the Yeerks. I think he was going to make enough of it, go up to the Yeerk commander, say "We've got enough Quantum Virus to decimate the entire Hork-Bajir population on this planet, so take what you've got and leave." Then the third-act dumbassery that plagued the last three Chronicles books struck and Aldrea and Dak did something really, really stupid and unanticipated by Alloran.
And who, as the unconventional commanding officer, got blamed?
Our man.
So what is all of that talk in the Andalite Chronicles then? I think most of it is Monday-morning quarter-backing. Thinking about the way things went down, and what he could have done differently, but in this case I don't believe hindsight is 20/20. Five years is enough time to delude yourself into believing that you're responsible for something you're not really responsible for. Like Sawyer says on LOST (lol bear with me), "Kids are like dogs. Keep hitting them long enough and they're going to start to believe they done something to deserve it." Well I'm paraphrasing but you get the idea. I think by this point, Alloran is shamed, subdued, and a little bit deranged.
But if you read it very carefully...there's indications even here that it didn't turn out like he'd planned. "We lost the Hork-Bajir war because of weak, moralizing fools like you!" is most likely referring to Dak and Aldrea. I think all of that "destroying your enemies" crazy-talk is his conscience trying to come to terms with what happened. Rationalizing, like I said.
So, I don't know. Alloran, to me, is one of the most tragic figures in the story, really bested only by his wife, lol. I know a lot of us consider his twenty-year infestation karmic payback, but I really don't think the punishment fits the crime. So when I picked up #54 and read him giving some stupid "and now I learned my lesson" speech...I was disappointed. It was trite, undeserved, and sort of out-of-character. I wish we would have seen him calling his wife for the first time in twenty-years instead. Or maybe him and Ax both destroying the source of all of their heartache and unresolved vows and responsibilities. I was disappointed with #54, not so much because Rachel died or the ridiculously infuriating cliffhanger.
I was really, really disappointed with how she handled Alloran.
