Character Discussion

[buffyangellvr23.livejournal.com]

After the cut



I didn't do Seerow, did I? I'm going to now. I'd love to hear thoughts about his giving the Yeerks Andalite technology and the aftermath on the Hork Bajir world.

Comments

[splitcomplex.livejournal.com]

Ack, looks like you broke your LJ cut! :D;

[blue_rampion]

Hey - your LJ-cut hasn't worked there, so you'll need to fix that up. Also, can you please put in a spoiler warning before the cut as well? Thanks!

[rena-librarian.livejournal.com]

It's < /lj- cut>, FWIW. =) Without the spaces of course.

[jedifreac.livejournal.com]

Gosh he was stupid. He should have given them morphing powers instead!

[mattiris.livejournal.com]

Boy, that's an interesting point. The morphing technology came around, what, five years after Seerow's Kindness? That's an amazingly unfortunately small margin.

[jedifreac.livejournal.com]

Oh, I forgot that the technology did not exist when he gave them the tech to conquer countless galaxies. But I mean, why didn't he have the foresight to realize it would be a bad idea to give a species that is basically dependent on infesting others for survival? Such a shame.

[rattyjol.livejournal.com]

I think he definitely made a mistake in giving the Yeerks so much technology, but he didn't deserve to be essentially exiled to the Hork-Bajir world and he definitely didn't deserve to be killed. The worst thing about giving a species a technology leap like that is that without the time it would have taken them to develop their own version they haven't had time to evolve into someone who knows how to use the technology right. I'm not saying that everyone who has technology knows how to use it right anyway but for an entire species to suddenly have new abilities that would have been impossible for hundreds/thousands of years it can go really wrong.

[rena-librarian.livejournal.com]

I do think it was kind of weird that the Andalite consensus was "OMG we must never share technology again EVAR" and not "hmm we misjudged this species and we should be more careful in the future."

But I guess we have to chalk it up to Andalite arrogance? Or do I have my cause and effect reversed?

[acts_of_tekla]

I think it's a combination of xenophobia (am I crazy, or was the Andalite culture partially inspired by Japanese culture?) and the fact that the consequences were SO HUGE, and I get the idea that the Andalites weren't much for cultural and technological exchange before then. IIRC, we've only seen them work with other aliens when they were defending the aliens' home planet from the Yeerks -- i.e. it was a case of the stakes being high enough that they would overcome their disinclination to interact with other species.

[rena-librarian.livejournal.com]

You know, I hadn't made that connection, but I can kinda see some parallels between Japanese and Andalite culture. I know Ax mentions somewhere that the ideal Andalite warrior loves peace and is cultured when he isn't required to be fighting, and wasn't that supposed to be the ideal samurai as well?

[tobiahawk.livejournal.com]

I think it's largely because it was SUCH A MAJOR screw-up. I mean, Seerow's kindness launched an inter(or was it intra?)galactic war... I think you're bound to have a really, really, really strong reaction to that as a society, especially when your people are continuously getting killed fighting said war.

[ferahgo.livejournal.com]

From a literary perspective, one of my absolute favorite things about the Animorphs series is the parallel between Seerow and Elfangor, both doing what they did and the respective consequences each action had. (And, to take it further, the similarity to the Yeerks acquiring the morphing power at the end of the war, too.) Good stuff.

[1111-am.livejournal.com]

I just love the parallels throughout the series in general, although the Elfangor/Seerow one is a really interesting one. I also really like the obvious Jake/Elfangor parallel.

[tobiahawk.livejournal.com]

The thing I find so interesting about Seerow is that it was *kindness* that unleashed the Yeerk plague on the galaxy. Not chance, not war, but *kindness*--while I won't say that justifies what absolute assholes the Andalite military are, it does kind of give you perspective--they befriended one species and the whole universe was basically shot to hell. Allying with the humans or the Hork Bajir or the Leerans or whatever suddenly doesn't look so great, because while the Yeerks may have been one screw-up, they were one *major, major* screw-up. Of course, this is rectified a good deal in 54, but not without great cost to everyone involved in any Yeerk, Andalite, or human affairs. So, you can see why the Andalites would be wary and untrusting or even arrogant or close-minded--because look what Seerow's kindness did. How many Andalites died because of his decision to be diplomatic, to be generous? Now, I'm not saying I agree with this logic, but I think it adds a whole other layer of complexity to how we view Andalites and their actions.

[sleepall-day.livejournal.com]

Such a smart aspect of the books, story-telling-wise. I will never get over how cool it was when they revealed what the "kindness" part of the law really meant.