Who had the worst fate?

[wotw2112]

So, who had the worst fate in the entire series?

Rachel (dying)?

Tobias (Losing his love, blah, blah, blah)?

Jake (depression, etc.)?

Crayak (getting beat on by the Ellimist over and over and over)?

Visser 3 (being pretty much stuck in a box)?

Arbron (being trapped as a taxxon)?

Others?

I personally think Arbron got the worst deal.  Even though he was still able to fight the Yeerks.

[Cloak]

Arbron.  Definitely.

I'd hate to be suck forever as a Taxxon.  That's like being stuck as a shrew -- having to eat every twenty minutes or so, or you'd starve to death.  Unless I'm mistaken.  Except Taxxons can be killed with a can opener (as said in Visser), and shrews are bit more sturdy than that . . . and far quicker then a Taxxon. . . .

Rachel (dying)?

It's like Dumbledore said, "Death is nothing but the next great adventure."

Tobias (Losing his love, blah, blah, blah)?
Jake (depression, etc.)?

Been there.

[tobiasthehawk]

I would say Jake. Not being able to shake all those losses and feeling of guilt of losing so many people must really hit home for him. I could not deal with that much weight on my shoulders.

[Yorick Brown]

Easily Tobias

[Starsword]

Crayak. Poor guy, he tried so hard. Tobias? People lose their loved ones all the time. Jake had to deal with guilt sure, but so do a lot of people. I'd say the Venber, genetically created to patrol the arctic kandrona source, and there is no kandrona source, so they were created and then abandoned with no purpose or understanding.

[XenomorphLV426]

Tobias (Losing his love, blah, blah, blah)?
Jake (depression, etc.)?

Been there.

I LOL'ed.

Please.  No you haven't.  Think about the crap Jake went through in that series, I mean really.  I don't think you could say Jake merely suffers "depression".  This is a 16 year old kid who has saved billions of people the entire world.  And dealt with the consequences.

That's something that goes a little up and beyond clinical depression, chief.

[Cloak]

I meant depression.

[AniDragon]

Eh, depression doesn't always have to have anything to do with what you've been through. I've had random bouts of depression during really happy times of my life. Just woke up one day and felt... nothing. I was uninspired, miserable, and didn't feel like doing anything. It luckily never lasts for very long, just a couple of weeks, but nothing in particular triggered it.

I had another bout of depression when I realized that I was failing some of my courses during my graduating year in college, and it felt exactly the same as the other ones. Even though this one was "triggered" by something negative (actually, multiple negative things, but I'm not going to get into all of them), it didn't feel any different then the "untriggered" depressions I'd had before.

My point: Depression sucks, no matter what it is that triggers it, if anything.

Though I will concede the point that what Jake had was beyond just depression. There's a term for it, isn't there? When you go through depression because of war? I can't think of it off the top of my head, though...


Back on topic, I think Arbron had it worst. Though he did learn to live as a Taxxon, I don't think he was ever truly happy.

[wotw2112]

Though I will concede the point that what Jake had was beyond just depression. There's a term for it, isn't there? When you go through depression because of war? I can't think of it off the top of my head, though...

Are you thinking of post-traumatic stress disorder?

Back on topic, I think Arbron had it worst. Though he did learn to live as a Taxxon, I don't think he was ever truly happy.

And who could blame him!

[XenomorphLV426]

I don't even think Jake suffered trauma.  That's kind of pidgeonholing it.  It was more just guilt, sadness.  Not feeling sorry for himself, or any of that other hippie depression stuff.  Knowing there was no way he could really do anything differently, he made the right decisions, but feels like crap about it.  Therefore feeling guilty, a vicious circle.

That's not really shellshock or depression, just undiagnosable sadness.

[Terenia]

Who had the worst fate? Arbron. Not only did he also fight in the war against the Yeerks and suffer loss and defeat, but he had to do so while learning to live with a Taxxon body. Not only that but he was involved in the year for about twenty years, rather than the three that the Ani's were involved in it.

Now, who dealt with their fate the worst? I would say Jake by far. He really has a rough time justifying his decisions (ie flushing the Yeerks, which was not really necessary to win the war) and his losses (Rachel/Tom and, to an extent, Cassie). He really never "wakes up" - at least not until faced with another war. You can see the parallel to Rachel's character in that regard.

Tobias also dealt badly with his fate, but I think that that was built into his character, unlike Jake. He was always the dweeb, the weak one. He toughened up a LOT during the war, but that was because he had a personal stake (Fulfilling Elfangor's hopes) and he had someone to help him in his weaker moments and provide love and companionship (Rachel). When he lost that purpose he reverted back to his old isolationist ways.

[Duff]

yea thats a good point terenia, arbron really had the worst of it, but he definately handled it the best and in the end he accomplished his goal of liberating the taxxons and defeating the yeerks

id actually say visser three had a pretty rough deal, yea he was evil and deserved what he got, but his lifes ambition came crashing down around him and he went from the highest military rank and the best host to spending the rest of his life blind and deaf at the mercy of the lowly humans he was supposed to be ruling over

[wotw2112]

He really never "wakes up" - at least not until faced with another war. You can see the parallel to Rachel's character in that regard.

Wow.  I never thought of it quite that way.  Ironic.  He ends up being the one unable to deal with peacetime...

Well put.

[yunyun]

Rachel (dying)?

it's probably better than some other alternatives

Tobias (Losing his love, blah, blah, blah)?

uh...it's not the best but not the worst

Jake (depression, etc.)?

not the worst, aren't there lots of people who are depressed?

Crayak (getting beat on by the Ellimist over and over and over)?

oh well, too bad for him

Visser 3 (being pretty much stuck in a box)?

it's like being stuck in the yeerk pool, no big deal

Arbron (being trapped as a taxxon)?

uh...now that sounds terrible


so in other words, i think Arbron has the worst fate

(fixed quotes)

[Noelle]

I'm actually kind of surprised Ax or Elfangor didn't pop up in this list.  I would think Ax's fate is kind of terrible, he fought long and hard to remain free and help another race remain free, only to end up enslaved by something that seems a lot more powerful than the Yeerks.  (Though, I guess its really hard to figure out exactly what happened to him, so in reality he could actually be dead, who knows.)

As for Elfangor, all of those years of guilt for leaving his son, only to be able to meet him for all of 5 minuets right before he dies.


But I think I agree with the consensus that Arbron probably got it the roughest of all.  Not only did he get trapped in morph in one of the worst creatures to do so, he got gunned down in the amazon by poachers.    I was really sad at that, it was such an undignified death for probably one of the most heroic/tragic characters of the entire series.  I mean, the Elimist couldn't cut him a deal like he did for Tobias?  /sad