Welcome to Aearon's Pokézone!
Welcome to Aearon's Pokézone!
Rachel had an expression I've almost never seen on her face: She was hurt.
"Rachel, we can still be-"
"No, we can't," she said, cutting me off. "See, you've just said the whole world can drop dead, so long as you, Cassie, don't have to end up turning into me."
After a difficult battle where Cassie kills a Hork-Bajir Controller, she announces to the team that she is quitting the Animorphs. They aren't particularly supportive, and Jake tells her that if she's not on the team she shouldn't morph any more. She then learns that the Animal Clinic is losing its funding. She goes for a ride on a horse, and discovers a young girl climbing a tree to escape a bear. Cassie drives the horse forward and successfully saves her, but the two fall into the river and are swept away.
The girl - Karen - turns out to be a Controller, and for a while, Cassie pretends to just be a normal human kid who's trying to get both of them back home. The Yeerk controlling the girl - Aftran 942 - wants revenge for the Hork-Bajir Controller that Cassie killed. Eventually, an escaped leopard attacks Karen, and Cassie morphs to save her, giving up the pretense. The two begin to talk about the morality of each side in the war, what it's like to be a blind, helpless Yeerk in the pool, and Karen.
Eventually Marco finds the two of them (the Animorphs have launched a search party, as have local law enforcement (aka Controllers)) and protects them from another leopard attack. In a desperate attempt to convince Aftran not to turn them in and to avoid killing Karen, Cassie allows Aftran to use her as a host. Marco flees to fetch the other Animorphs. Aftran then looks through Cassie's memories, and vice-versa. Knowing now that the "Andalite bandits" are mostly human, Aftran returns to Karen's body. Aftran makes a deal with Cassie: Aftran will return to the Yeerk pool, and Cassie will morph to a caterpillar and be just like them. Cassie does so.
The Animorphs find Karen holding the little caterpillar, saying that she begged Cassie to turn back when the 2 hours were nearly up. We cut to a few days later, where Cassie emerges from her cocoon as a butterfly, which prompts Ax to explain that this natural morph may have reset the morphing timer. We then learn that, after Cassie becomes human again, Aftran kept her word, and left Karen alone. Before she did, she convinced her father (a wealthy banker) - to fund the Animal Clinic.
This one's more of a character study than a dramatic story - it is a plot that exists in order to set up an ethical discussion and quandry. In that sense, it is perfectly serviceable: a threat is created, in the form of Aftran, we learn more about the Yeerks - that there are resistors, that they are just as capable of emotion and ethical reasoning as the main characters - and we reach the end of the story with the status quo largely where it started.
This does mean that parts of the plot are a little contrived, in particular the ending. While it's unsurprising that Cassie was not made permanently a butterfly, it does cheapen the sacrifice when it's so easily undone. Contrasting this with Tobias' experiences, it felt almost glossed over.
I absolutely adore that Applegate respects children enough to present and offer multiple sides to complex moral dilemmas. Rachel is right in the quote at the top of the page: Cassie has a power that is capable of saving humanity, and is choosing not to use it to follow her moral code despite what the consequences will be. Aftran is right: it is frustrating to be made into an enemy for wanting what others take for granted. Cassie's internal monologue is right: deliberately killing a defenceless person doesn't fit with a belief that all life is sacred, AND giving the secret of your success over to your enemy is likely to lead to everyone's deaths.
Cassie has genuine moral questions to answer, and she considers them so well. Regardless of whether the reader thinks she is bravely keeping to her values or dangerously naïve, it is clear that she is making a decision backed by her values, logic, and consideration. The same is clear of the other members of the Animorphs - they are conflicted, and you can see why.
That said, there are multiple situations where characters showed uncharacteristic mercy, Rachel in particular. The reasons given (for example, not wanting to disrespect Cassie's sacrifice) felt like the reasons players at a ttrpg table might give for their character not doing something in-character that they as a player really don't want them to do - not incorrect reasons, there is a justification, but they felt weak. Arguably, Aftran's mercy is just as inexplicable. There is a considerable amount they would have to gain from turning in the Andalite Bandits. However, I felt it was quite well foreshadowed that they were able to be convinced, that there were doubts that Cassie could use to encourage them to her side. It felt lucky rather than unjustified.
This feels like an examination of what has come so far, a moment to pause and consider the morality of the war being fought. It feels necessary, a reminder that it isn't simply about winning the war, but what they have to do to win it. You can feel the toll these kids are beginning to feel weigh on themselves, and you can feel they are in a situation far bigger than themselves and rising above it.
A very well written book with multiple sections that genuinely made me, a grown adult, stop and think. It is let down by its ending, but the characterisation is excellent. I appreciate the respect it shows for its reader and for the nuanced viewpoints of its characters.