A lengthy rant on #23 - The Pretender
Mar. 18th, 2011 04:46 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
aareavis.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
animorphsljI want to start off by saying that Tobias is my favorite character. We have a lot in common (except for the hawk thing, of course). I have a little crush on him and R/T has ruined me for normal ships in other fandoms.
As a kid, #23 was my favorite book (as well as #33). I don't know what happened in my brain but something clicked the other day. I got to thinking about the main plot a little and how... it makes no sense... I really tried to put myself in Tobias'talons shoes. He doesn't have the benefit of TAC or the hirac delest. He thinks he's either an orphan or abandoned. Plus, he's getting his information from Visser Three. Why should we believe him? If it were me, I wouldn't believe anything V3 said to me at all. I can't remember the chapter but, towards the end, Tobias gives a rundown of the events that must have happened. Lawyer finds letter, yeerk freaks, calls V3, searches for boy, reads letter, look for reaction, infest him (well, except they didn't). There is nothing wrong with interpretation of events. I am not disputing it. I am disputing that Tobias should just accept this and not question it.
Here's an alternate rundown of events (I also have a lot in common with Marco):
Chapman, suspecting human collaborators in the resistance and remembering that kids were heard running around the construction site the day Elfangor died, looks through school records, notices that Tobias moved away shortly after the crash. He calls up his uncle, gets a number for his aunt, and realizes that Tobias is completely off the grid. He's not in any homeless shelters, he's not in another school, he's not in the DCFS (or CPS) system, he's not in juvenile detention, he's completely gone. Either he's just really good at not getting caught or he's with andalite bandits.
Chapman calls up V3 (safe from his basement holographic projector) and tells him all this. They concoct a plan to draw him out. Tell him some crazy story, directly inspired by Star Wars, and see if they get a reaction. V3, chapman, and the lawyer (recruited later) track him down, tell him their crazy story, wait for a reaction. When they don't get onethey infest him they decide that he's just street trash and leave him be.
So here's two different scenarios that are somewhat equally valid. That's when Tobias should have had a sit down with the others. Marco would bring up this alternate scenario because that's his job. They would go through everything that was said. Even then, I'm not sure the characters would come to a solid conclusion. The only thing going against this alternate interpretation is that V3 might not have been as interested in Tobias. But, then again, in the words of Poparena, "Visser Three was there. Visser Three is always there." V3 would definitely be excited to find out Elfangor had a human son but he would also be interested at possibly outing the andalite bandits.
I believe Ax would also think it's a cruel joke of V3's. Ax would eventually remember that Elfangor was missing for some years before and after he was born. He would also conclude that this was around the time that Tobias would have been conceived but Elfangor probably never mentioned a planet named Earth other than in an academic sense. If the idea did manage to take root in Ax's mind, I would imagine that it would hurt him more than excite him. His brother already broke Seerow's Kindness. Now, he's faced with the possibility that his brother went AWOL for a number of years and went native. I can't imagine Andalites condoning that sort of thing, being arrogant as they are. In two out of four 'chronicles' books we see two Andalites becoming nothlit and pairing off with someone of a different species but that is only after becoming disgusted with their own. I believe they are the exception and not the rule. The only species to have a mass nothliting are Yeerks and Taxxons.
It would have been nice to see Ax resent Tobias for this reason and then come around and accept Tobias as his nephew. Like, by the time #33 came around, and Tobias morphs into Ax and he learns a little about his heritage. That could have been the catalyst for Ax accepting that Tobias is his nephew.
They would have to accept the revelation in #26 when the Ellimist appears and they see the same timelines that Elfangor saw (I believe that Jake mentions these lines). They would see that Tobias' line indeed sprung off of Elfangor's. It also would have also been nice to see Jake resent Tobias a little because, in #41, Jake expresses his resentment for Elfangor.
In conclusion, I think the revelation was poorly handled (and it's not even ghostwritten which just astounds me) which created many missed opportunities. This book could be summed up as "Elfangor is my dad. Who says? Visser Three says and he would never do something as heinous as lie to a street urchin on his birthday."
I am now ready for flames. lol
As a kid, #23 was my favorite book (as well as #33). I don't know what happened in my brain but something clicked the other day. I got to thinking about the main plot a little and how... it makes no sense... I really tried to put myself in Tobias'
Here's an alternate rundown of events (I also have a lot in common with Marco):
Chapman, suspecting human collaborators in the resistance and remembering that kids were heard running around the construction site the day Elfangor died, looks through school records, notices that Tobias moved away shortly after the crash. He calls up his uncle, gets a number for his aunt, and realizes that Tobias is completely off the grid. He's not in any homeless shelters, he's not in another school, he's not in the DCFS (or CPS) system, he's not in juvenile detention, he's completely gone. Either he's just really good at not getting caught or he's with andalite bandits.
Chapman calls up V3 (safe from his basement holographic projector) and tells him all this. They concoct a plan to draw him out. Tell him some crazy story, directly inspired by Star Wars, and see if they get a reaction. V3, chapman, and the lawyer (recruited later) track him down, tell him their crazy story, wait for a reaction. When they don't get one
So here's two different scenarios that are somewhat equally valid. That's when Tobias should have had a sit down with the others. Marco would bring up this alternate scenario because that's his job. They would go through everything that was said. Even then, I'm not sure the characters would come to a solid conclusion. The only thing going against this alternate interpretation is that V3 might not have been as interested in Tobias. But, then again, in the words of Poparena, "Visser Three was there. Visser Three is always there." V3 would definitely be excited to find out Elfangor had a human son but he would also be interested at possibly outing the andalite bandits.
I believe Ax would also think it's a cruel joke of V3's. Ax would eventually remember that Elfangor was missing for some years before and after he was born. He would also conclude that this was around the time that Tobias would have been conceived but Elfangor probably never mentioned a planet named Earth other than in an academic sense. If the idea did manage to take root in Ax's mind, I would imagine that it would hurt him more than excite him. His brother already broke Seerow's Kindness. Now, he's faced with the possibility that his brother went AWOL for a number of years and went native. I can't imagine Andalites condoning that sort of thing, being arrogant as they are. In two out of four 'chronicles' books we see two Andalites becoming nothlit and pairing off with someone of a different species but that is only after becoming disgusted with their own. I believe they are the exception and not the rule. The only species to have a mass nothliting are Yeerks and Taxxons.
It would have been nice to see Ax resent Tobias for this reason and then come around and accept Tobias as his nephew. Like, by the time #33 came around, and Tobias morphs into Ax and he learns a little about his heritage. That could have been the catalyst for Ax accepting that Tobias is his nephew.
They would have to accept the revelation in #26 when the Ellimist appears and they see the same timelines that Elfangor saw (I believe that Jake mentions these lines). They would see that Tobias' line indeed sprung off of Elfangor's. It also would have also been nice to see Jake resent Tobias a little because, in #41, Jake expresses his resentment for Elfangor.
In conclusion, I think the revelation was poorly handled (and it's not even ghostwritten which just astounds me) which created many missed opportunities. This book could be summed up as "Elfangor is my dad. Who says? Visser Three says and he would never do something as heinous as lie to a street urchin on his birthday."
I am now ready for flames. lol
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