#he might be a willing collaborator who is solely responsible for Alloran's capture and for the yeerks going to Earth

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Hi, here's an easy question for you that I can't find online for some reason. How exactly was Alloran enslaved? Every wiki article seems to gloss over this and it's been far too long since I've read the books to remember.

Also, what's your take on it? I remember always feeling vaguely disappointed because I couldn't figure how a yeerk would overpower an andalite, but do you think it works within the narrative, or is it just kind of a plot device to create The Abomination?

Compared to how things go down with Alloran, I think Aldrea's dramatic capture in Hork-Bajir Chronicles is way cooler. Esplin 9466 being ecstatic about finally being inside an andalite mind, only to have his abandoned host body attack him and rescue Aldrea, is one of my favorite scenes in the series.

But yeah, how it happens with Alloran (Andalite Chronicles p. 174 - 180) is deliberately obscured. Elfangor brings Esplin 9466 onboard the Jahar as a hostage, inside a hork-bajir. He gets distracted driving the ship, but returns to that hork-bajir to toss him out the door. Alloran tells Elfangor to flush the Pool ship, killing 1000s of defenseless yeerks. Elfangor refuses. They argue. They're interrupted "Chapman" punching Alloran and knocking him over/out. Elfangor thanks Chapman and starts to fly the Jahar back to get the Time Matrix, only to be shot at by "Loren."

At that point Elfangor realizes Chapman, Loren, and Alloran are all controllers — Chapman put yeerks in his own and Loren's heads as part of his bargain, and Esplin 9644 escaped his hork-bajir host, into the body that "Chapman" conveniently placed ear-down on the ground for him. Elfangor realizes he can't win against three controllers. He dumps Alloran/Esplin on the planet and flies off with the two humans locked in a back room to starve out their yeerks.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

tags: #there's this whole other question about how much agency chapman has in all of this  #he might be a willing collaborator who is solely responsible for Alloran's capture and for the yeerks going to Earth  #he might be a dumb kid in over his head who ends up being a tool against Alloran and can't help yeerks learning of Earth from his mind  #as always with controllers: the question of agency is super ambiguous  #Vice Principal Chronicles WHEN?  

@sage-nebula:

re: your tags – yeah, it always felt super jarring to me how drastically different Chapman is portrayed in Andalite Chronicles vs. how he is in book #2, where we learn that he only agreed to be a Controller to save Melissa, & that he was only in the position where he had to agree bc it was his wife who got swept into The Sharing (iirc – not super sure if my memory is right on that one). In AC he’s portrayed kind of like how Eustace Scrubb was for the majority of

Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the Narnia books; wholly selfish, a complete brat, in it only for his own self-interest, etc. True, people can change & he was only like 13 at the time, & one could argue that the trauma of the event changed him. But then we’re led to believe that he had his memory wiped perhaps, so HOW could the trauma change him? It’s just so messy without knowing his POV & what was really going on in his head. I wish that another character had been

used / created for AC to serve as Loren’s foil instead of Chapman. Yes we know Chapman’s name, so there’s a “gasp, Kid Chapman!” moment, but also it feels as though it’s a brand new character anyway, so why NOT have it be a brand new character? Or hell, have it be like DAVID’S dad or something. That way we can still have an “oh shit” moment without contradicting established characterization.

THISSSSSS. There's a FASCINATING redemption arc that we miss somewhere between Andalite Chronicles and #2, one that I would pay all the money to read. Like, Eustace Scrubb is possibly my favorite character of all time because we get to see how he turns his massive personality flaws into strengths (or weaknesses he can temper) over the course of Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

And we can take educated guesses as to what went on with Chapman. Presumably he becomes a voluntary controller, realizes he's in over his head, gets all his allies captured, and at minimum stops supporting yeerks. If we take canon at face value then he forgets everything as soon as he's back on Earth, but still knows enough to (try to) run for the door when his wife brings him to a Sharing meeting. Or maybe parenthood changes him, enough that he sacrifices himself to save Melissa. Maybe he just grew out of being a selfish spoiled kid. It's impossible to tell.

Hi, here's an easy question for you that I can't find online for some reason. How exactly was Alloran enslaved? Every wiki article seems to gloss over this and it's been far too long since I've read the books to remember.

Also, what's your take on it? I remember always feeling vaguely disappointed because I couldn't figure how a yeerk would overpower an andalite, but do you think it works within the narrative, or is it just kind of a plot device to create The Abomination?

Compared to how things go down with Alloran, I think Aldrea's dramatic capture in Hork-Bajir Chronicles is way cooler. Esplin 9466 being ecstatic about finally being inside an andalite mind, only to have his abandoned host body attack him and rescue Aldrea, is one of my favorite scenes in the series.

But yeah, how it happens with Alloran (Andalite Chronicles p. 174 - 180) is deliberately obscured. Elfangor brings Esplin 9466 onboard the Jahar as a hostage, inside a hork-bajir. He gets distracted driving the ship, but returns to that hork-bajir to toss him out the door. Alloran tells Elfangor to flush the Pool ship, killing 1000s of defenseless yeerks. Elfangor refuses. They argue. They're interrupted "Chapman" punching Alloran and knocking him over/out. Elfangor thanks Chapman and starts to fly the Jahar back to get the Time Matrix, only to be shot at by "Loren."

At that point Elfangor realizes Chapman, Loren, and Alloran are all controllers — Chapman put yeerks in his own and Loren's heads as part of his bargain, and Esplin 9644 escaped his hork-bajir host, into the body that "Chapman" conveniently placed ear-down on the ground for him. Elfangor realizes he can't win against three controllers. He dumps Alloran/Esplin on the planet and flies off with the two humans locked in a back room to starve out their yeerks.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

tags: #there's this whole other question about how much agency chapman has in all of this  #he might be a willing collaborator who is solely responsible for Alloran's capture and for the yeerks going to Earth  #he might be a dumb kid in over his head who ends up being a tool against Alloran and can't help yeerks learning of Earth from his mind  #as always with controllers: the question of agency is super ambiguous  #Vice Principal Chronicles WHEN?  

@sage-nebula:

re: your tags – yeah, it always felt super jarring to me how drastically different Chapman is portrayed in Andalite Chronicles vs. how he is in book #2, where we learn that he only agreed to be a Controller to save Melissa, & that he was only in the position where he had to agree bc it was his wife who got swept into The Sharing (iirc – not super sure if my memory is right on that one). In AC he’s portrayed kind of like how Eustace Scrubb was for the majority of

Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the Narnia books; wholly selfish, a complete brat, in it only for his own self-interest, etc. True, people can change & he was only like 13 at the time, & one could argue that the trauma of the event changed him. But then we’re led to believe that he had his memory wiped perhaps, so HOW could the trauma change him? It’s just so messy without knowing his POV & what was really going on in his head. I wish that another character had been

used / created for AC to serve as Loren’s foil instead of Chapman. Yes we know Chapman’s name, so there’s a “gasp, Kid Chapman!” moment, but also it feels as though it’s a brand new character anyway, so why NOT have it be a brand new character? Or hell, have it be like DAVID’S dad or something. That way we can still have an “oh shit” moment without contradicting established characterization.

THISSSSSS. There's a FASCINATING redemption arc that we miss somewhere between Andalite Chronicles and #2, one that I would pay all the money to read. Like, Eustace Scrubb is possibly my favorite character of all time because we get to see how he turns his massive personality flaws into strengths (or weaknesses he can temper) over the course of Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

And we can take educated guesses as to what went on with Chapman. Presumably he becomes a voluntary controller, realizes he's in over his head, gets all his allies captured, and at minimum stops supporting yeerks. If we take canon at face value then he forgets everything as soon as he's back on Earth, but still knows enough to (try to) run for the door when his wife brings him to a Sharing meeting. Or maybe parenthood changes him, enough that he sacrifices himself to save Melissa. Maybe he just grew out of being a selfish spoiled kid. It's impossible to tell.

Hi, here's an easy question for you that I can't find online for some reason. How exactly was Alloran enslaved? Every wiki article seems to gloss over this and it's been far too long since I've read the books to remember.

Also, what's your take on it? I remember always feeling vaguely disappointed because I couldn't figure how a yeerk would overpower an andalite, but do you think it works within the narrative, or is it just kind of a plot device to create The Abomination?

Compared to how things go down with Alloran, I think Aldrea's dramatic capture in Hork-Bajir Chronicles is way cooler. Esplin 9466 being ecstatic about finally being inside an andalite mind, only to have his abandoned host body attack him and rescue Aldrea, is one of my favorite scenes in the series.

But yeah, how it happens with Alloran (Andalite Chronicles p. 174 - 180) is deliberately obscured. Elfangor brings Esplin 9466 onboard the Jahar as a hostage, inside a hork-bajir. He gets distracted driving the ship, but returns to that hork-bajir to toss him out the door. Alloran tells Elfangor to flush the Pool ship, killing 1000s of defenseless yeerks. Elfangor refuses. They argue. They're interrupted "Chapman" punching Alloran and knocking him over/out. Elfangor thanks Chapman and starts to fly the Jahar back to get the Time Matrix, only to be shot at by "Loren."

At that point Elfangor realizes Chapman, Loren, and Alloran are all controllers — Chapman put yeerks in his own and Loren's heads as part of his bargain, and Esplin 9644 escaped his hork-bajir host, into the body that "Chapman" conveniently placed ear-down on the ground for him. Elfangor realizes he can't win against three controllers. He dumps Alloran/Esplin on the planet and flies off with the two humans locked in a back room to starve out their yeerks.