Chapter 5
A Hork-Bajir starts to search for the kids and Elfangor tells them to be silent. The space cows can't see well in the dark but their hearing is wonderful.
The Hork-Bajir is very close to the kids and Jake is more than afraid. He imagines how the creature will kill him. He goes on to describe what fear can do to you and says everyone is the same way. That no matter how brave you think you are, everyone experiences extreme fear the same way.
To help the children, the dying Andalite gives them some of his strength. Jake says the feeling is beyond words.
When the Hork-Bajir goes away Jake sees the Taxxon and Hork-Bajir Controllers turn towards the ship. He says that they're standing at attention and Marco points out that none of them knows anything about aliens.
Visser Three appears and the kids notice him and Elfangor look alike. In other words: Visser Three has an Andalite host. Elfangor says that Visser Three is the only Yeerk to ever take an Andalite host.
Jake remarks that Visser Three and Elfangor feel different though they look similar.
Cassie and Rachel are worried that the Visser can hear their thoughts. Elfangor says that if you don't direct your thoughts to someone then they can't be heard. I would like to point out how thought-speak works changes after the first book. It is common knowledge that Applegate changed her mind after The Invasion was published. So what Elfangor is talking about here was probably meant to mean something more than using thought-speak in morph.
Visser Three shows himself to be a little drama queen. He pretends not to know Elfangor to show how much he hates the Andalite. He goes on and on about how much he rules.
Elfangor asks why the Yeerks would bother with humans as the parasites already have Taxxon allies and Hork-Bajir slaves. The Visser replies that the reason is because there are billions of humans and that they have no idea of what's happening.
Elfangor stands up since he refuses to die lying down. The Visser continues to taunt the Andalite by saying he'll hunt down Elfangor's family and have his most loyal lieutenants infest them. Elfangor strikes Visser Three with his tail-blade! AND Elfangor's fighter shoots a bug fighter!
The Visser angrily orders for the Andalite fighter to be destroyed.
The children see the outlines of humans and they wonder if the humans are prisoners.
The Visser orders some Hork-Bajir controllers to hold Elfangor. They could kill him but that 'pleasure' is for the Visser only.
Jake remarks that they all saw why a powerful Yeerk would inhabit an Andalite. I'd like to point out that Visser Three wasn't that rank when he got Alloran's body.
The first morph of the book and it'll probably give children nightmares!
Cassie is the only one to say anything and she just keeps repeating 'no' while Jake is busy whimpering. Cassie takes comfort by taking Tobias' hand.
Even when Elfangor is picked up by the monster Visser Three has turned into, he keeps striking with his tail-blade.
The chapter ends with the Visser opening his mouth.
Chapter 6
Jake finally snaps and starts to make a move to try and stop Visser Three from killing Elfangor. It takes Elfangor and Jake's friends to not get himself killed before he can become a fearless leader.
Visser Three eats Elfangor and at the last moment Elfangor cries out. His scream haunts Jake and the boy doesn't think that nightmare will ever go away.
The Hork-Bajir Controllers laugh and the Taxxon Controllers go to eat any piece of Andalite that falls down.
I think it's telling that Tobias is the only one who has to cover his eyes. Since Elfangor is Tobias' father and they seem to have a strong connection to each other.
The Human Controllers are also laughing and Jake seems to recognize one of the voices. At least he thinks he does...
Visser Three demorphs and reveals that the creature he had morphed into is called an Antarean Bogg. The Human and Hork-Bajir Controllers laugh again. Jake hears the familiar laughter and Marco vomits.
The teenagers start running and Jake says to split up. Rachel and him are the fastest runners so he decides they should be the distraction.
I love how in this book and the Harry Potter series curse words are always described in a funny manner. Jake hadn't realized Rachel could cuss.
Jake, our fearless leader, falls down. Rachel doesn't realize he's down. When she does he tells her to keep going.
Jake runs into an unfinished building he remembers and hopes that the others escaped alive.
Navigating the buildings is harder than usual when scared, Jake finds out.
Jake hears a human voice that sounds familiar telling the Hork-Bajir Controller to just kill whoever it finds.
Jake bumps into a homeless man whose fate is uncertain, but most likely dead, and then runs away once the Hork-Bajir Controller is distracted with the man.
Chapter 7
Jake makes it home and checks up on the others. Good man, check up on your friends even when all you want to do is curl up in a corner and forget everything.
That morning Tobias comes over to visit. Jake is confused as to why bird boy has come over. When Tobias enters Jake's room, Jake notices that his friend is very excited.
Tobias said he had become his cat (Dude) earlier. Jake, not having had his morning coffee, is very confused.
Tobias says that he didn't know exactly how to morph so he made sure his door was locked. This leads Jake to talk about Tobias' messed up family life. Tobias never knew his father (remember, he doesn't know Elfangor is his real father), Loren left bird boy all of a sudden, and he's now moved between his aunt and uncle.
Why do I always have to love the hurt ones?
Tobias says that he just had to concentrate on Dude to become him. He mentions Dude getting freaked out and clawing him. This is confusing as Tobias still has an injury from that little attack.
Jake is still confused and tells Tobias that he probably imagined it happening.
Tobias then goes on to describe what being a cat felt like and how much he enjoyed that morph.
Jake still insists that Tobias dreamt that he turned into a cat. Bird boy says that Jake just doesn't want to believe they can morph now. Jake replies that of course he doesn't want to believe the truth.
Tobias then brings up Elfangor. Jake realizes that he can't just dismiss the Andalite.
Tobias then decides to morph into Dude to help Jake decide what is real. It takes a few seconds for the morphing to have any big effects. Jake says that he feels like laughing but if he started he couldn't stop.
Chapter 8
Jake and Tobias learn the general rules of thought speak. Such as you have to direct your thoughts to someone so that they can hear you.
This is a problematic scene if you put it up against the rest of the series. In this scene Jake is able to talk telepathically to Tobias (while bird boy is in a morph), but that's not the case in #2 The Visitor. This was very confusing to me upon first reading the second book.
While Tobias is in cat morph he starts experiencing some of the instincts of one. He wants to play with string. Such a cat stereotype!
Jake points out to Tobias that he's playing with strong and that makes bird boy stop for a second. They then discuss the fact that Tobias hasn't just assumed the form of a cat but has BECOME a cat. With all the instincts of a feline.
Jake tells Tobias that he should demorph and bird boy agrees.
Tobias then tells Jake that maybe they can figure how to make it so when they demorph they aren't naked. Jake is taken aback by the assertion that he's suddenly included into this saving the world from the Yeerks business.
Tobias explains that Jake has to be the leader. He is the only one who can be.
I like the line about Jake only being able to see Tobias' human eyes in memory. I know Tobias will eventually regain his ability to morph as well as his human form, but I doubt Applegate knew about this when writing the line. However, it still foreshadows that Tobias will become a nothlit by the end of this book.
And with Jake accepting his role of leader he decides to try out the morphing ability for himself. He decides to morph into his dog Homer.
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Animorphs Re-Read Table of Contents
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