As Temrash is dying, Jake gets flashes of the Yeerk's life. He gets a good glimpse of the emotions of a Yeerk. Jake says that it seems Yeerks don't do love. Again, this is the only Yeerk any of the group has gotten familiar with besides Visser Three so there's the possibility that other Yeerks do love.
Jake realizes that not only are Temrash's memories being transferred to him, but also all the hosts he's ever had. This may sound extremely creepy, but it gets even more so when Tom's memories start to get transferred to him.
It turns out Tom joined The Sharing to get close to a girl. But the girl was already a Controller and he wandered into a secret meeting where he saw Visser Three in his Andalite form. Oh, god! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
Jake is able to open his eyes on his own and Cassie knows he was the one to do the action without him telling her anything! That is both awesome and adorable!
Temrash admits defeat to Jake before dying.
When Temrash does finally die, Jake sees Crayak for the first time. He doesn't know what he's seeing but...damn is it creepy. I wasn't aware Applegate was isnpired by Tolkein before, but now it's noticeable to me that Crayak is modeled after the Eye of Sauron.
After the image of Crayak goes away, Jake stands up and watches Temrash wither away into nothing.
Sort of interesting that Yeerks just disappear when they die. Of course that can also make it easier for them to hide the invasion after they die. Some former Controllers will just watch as their evidence fades away into nothing.
Chapter 22
His parents are concerned, though. And it's not just 'cause he's not eating, it's because they're used to Ax in Jake morph. Ax is overwhelmed by the human mouth and so likes to put anything he can in his mouth.
Jake has to hide a smile as he thinks about 'Ax being dangerous around food'. The new Yeerk in Tom's head goes on to recount how insane he thought his brother was acting. It's very good that no one suspected Ax not really being Jake.
Things get really sad once Jake reflects on the fact that he knows what his older brother feels like. Not only because he had had Tom's former Yeerk in his head, but because Jake basically had Tom's memories downloaded into his own mind.
On the news, Jake finds out that the hospital has closed without reason. But he knows it's because the Yeerks knew that their cover was blown. Jake knows not to celebrate, though, as Visser Three won't stop invading Earth just because the Animorphs screwed up one of his plans.
The next day Jake and the others go to Cassie's barn to do something. Marco calls the idea stupid, but still understands why Jake would want to do it.
Our fearless leader goes part-way into wolf morph, just enough to change his voice, and calls Tom. He tells his older brother to never give up and hangs up shortly after giving that message. Yeah, Tom, don't give up. It's not like you'll die in the last book before you can be freed.
However, he wonders for a little bit if his older brother will have the strength to hold on. Jake starts to remember what memories had been downloaded into his head and says he knows the answer. But he doesn't outright state the answer for the reader.
Marco asks Jake if they will win the fight against the Yeerks. Jake replies that the whole planet is complicated and that anything could happen. They could win. They could lose. Neither outcome is more likely than the other.
I am not tearing up.
I knew that the Jake and Tom stuff would be painful but holy shit did that hurt!
This was also the introduction to Crayak which I didn't know about while originally reading the book. Hell, none of us did. There was the nickname BRE (Big Red Eye), I believe, to talk about the creature. It's not until #26 that we find out exactly what Crayak is.
I remember Temrash being inside Jake's head for longer, at least in the book's "running time", but Temrash still made a powerful impact on me this time around.
The next book in the Animorphs series I will be Re-Reading will be
Animorphs Re-Read
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