Free or Dead

[morfowt]

Doesn't have to be a nice yeerk. Just not a yeerk that's crazy and/or way too power-hungry.

Friends, family, and other people will still be killed/infested whether you die or not.

And actually, you still have some free will as a controller. You still have the will to think inside your own head, and sort of talk to the yeerk.

[Duff]

talk about how hes infesting your friends and family and entire planet? lol

there are more good yeerks than in the peace movement though, those are just the only ones brave enough to do something about it, just cause you arent willing to risk kandrona starvation doesnt mean you dont feel sad about the situation and will go easy on your host when possible

[Phoenix004]

So you wouldn't mind losing your body and all your secrets to an alien slug as long as he wasn't a complete psychopath? As long as he's only a little bit evil you wouldn't mind? What difference does it make?

Yes your friends and family probably will still be killed/infested, but at least you won't be the one that betrays them and has to watch as your own hands help drag them kicking and screaming into the Yeerk Pool.

As for the free will to think, you have a point, but it's hardly a reason enough to live. Imagine being trapped in a nightmare that won't end; being able to think about things other than the nightmare isn't going to be much of a consolation. And what would you say to your Yeerk exactly? "So, what's on the agenda today? Going to kill my family or shove my best friend's head into the Yeerk Pool? Anyway, what's your favourite movie?" We know what a typical Yeerk is like, constantly babbling on about how powerful they are, what species they've conquered, their evil plans for the future and how all humans are the scum of the Earth. Fascinating set of conversation topics.

Go easy on the host? Tell you what, I'll shoot your best friend with a Dracon Beam instead of shoving a slug in his brain? Well, you haven't screamed at me as much today, how about to make up for the fact that I've stolen your body and killed everyone you care about, I'll buy you a pizza?

I'm sorry if any of this seems kinda harsh, but I just find it hard to believe that anyone would so willingly accept a Yeerk in their brain instead of death.

[morfowt]

How is that what a typical yeerk is like? Most yeerks we've seen were high-ranking ones, like Visser three, visser one, tom's yeerk, Chapman, Taylor...

Well it's not exactly my hands since I'm not controlling them. I'm not the one betraying them, the yeerk is, which technically isn't betrayal.

[Duff]

but because you werent able to end your own life you gave the yeerk your hands to do all those awful things

(i agree with dying, i was just throwing that out for arguments sake)

[AniDragon]

But what would choosing death acclomplish? I mean, if my death were to inspire people to fight back against the Yeerks, then maybe I'd choose death. 'Cause then you'd at least be a martyr (sp?) or whatever. But just choosing death so that the Yeerks go "Okay." *shoots you in the head* "Next?"... That might as well be suicide, which definitely isn't for me.

[Phoenix004]

Nobody stated the circumstances surrounding my death, so yeah it would be nice to go out with a bang (hopefully a literal nuclear bang in the middle of the Yeerk Pool) in order to help stop the Yeerks. However, even if my death didn't really affect anything, at least I wouldn't have to watch the terrible things that my Yeerk would do. Or maybe my Yeerk would get killed by Visser Three for no real reason. Sure I'd be dying either way, but my way I at least die free. 

We got to know one "normal" Yeerk pretty well actually. Are you forgetting the Yeerk that infested Jake? It wasn't even a sub-visser so it didn't have a high rank to worry about. It was just a normal Yeerk... plotting world domination, thinking about killing or infesting Jake's friends, etc.

So yeah, the "normal" Yeerks sound way nicer!

[morfowt]

the yeerk that infested jake was tom's yeerk, and he was just below Chapman, who is a high-ranking yeerk.

[AniDragon]

And he WAS slated to take over the maire or something, wasn't it? So it wasn't a lowly, low-ranking Yeerk. He was heading for the big stuff.

[RYTX]

governor that was planning to run for president.
Yeah, he may not have visser rank, but that's a big fish right there

[Phoenix004]

So he was lower ranked than a guy with no actual rank? Yeah, he sounds important.  (I seem to be in a very sarcastic mood today).

My point is, if Chapman were as highly ranked as the Animorphs thought, then why wasn't he at least a sub-visser? There were hundreds of sub-vissers later on and he still didn't manage to become one? That's because he was a toady. He wasn't important, he was just the guy that Visser Three yelled at and who had to agree to everything the Visser said (pretty much).

Tom's new Yeerk ends up becoming very powerful, but the one that infested Jake wasn't exactly essential. He was bigger than some of the other Yeerks, doesn't mean he was important. Okay, so he was supposed to infest the governor who might have gone on to become the President, which would have made him very powerful. Doesn't change the fact that he ended up in Jake's head and soon died a typical unimportant Yeerk with delusions of glory.

[RYTX]

the yeerks must have had a more complex system then council, visser, subvisser, rest. You have advisors, strategist, project leaders. Even without a title, there still most be people that got answered to simply cause of experience in the field or seniority or whatever
Toms final yeerk was head of security, important job, but to our knowledge he was not a visser/sub visser, just important.

[Phoenix004]

As I said, that Yeerk had nothing to do with the one that infested Jake.

Head of security is a hell of a title, especially as you're "securing" the ship of Visser One. Therefore, it is easily possible he was a sub-visser.

[AniDragon]

As I said, that Yeerk had nothing to do with the one that infested Jake.

Head of security is a hell of a title, especially as you're "securing" the ship of Visser One. Therefore, it is easily possible he was a sub-visser.

He specifically said that he wasn't, though, remember? He was saying at one point that he "should be a sub-visser", but wasn't.

[RYTX]

As I said, that Yeerk had nothing to do with the one that infested Jake.

Head of security is a hell of a title, especially as you're "securing" the ship of Visser One. Therefore, it is easily possible he was a sub-visser.

but as i was saying, even if we don't know of him having a title he was still obviously important.
In fact, he was written as a character that's name reflected rank, and he was in the low 100s yes? So in an empire of millions, yes, still, pretty important