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The Beginning (Animorphs)
Encyclopedia
The Beginning is the fifty-fourth and final book in the Animorphs
series. Unlike other Animorphs books in the main series, but similar to the Megamorphs, all characters conduct narration instead of just one.
, Rachel
attacks the Yeerk
s in control of the Blade ship, and kills Tom and his Yeerk, before dying at the hands of his Yeerk allies shortly after; the Ellimist
briefly stops time to memorialize her death, tells his own story to her
, and she dies. Tom's morph-capable Yeerks escape in the Blade Ship, abandoning the disabled Pool Ship to the Animorphs. Visser One
, realizing that he is defeated, leaves Alloran-Semitur-Corrass
's body after being knocked unconscious by Ax
. The remaining Animorphs, as well as Alloran (freed after more than two decades under Visser One's control over his body), contact the Andalite
fleet, and after hours of negotiations, the Andalite fleet promotes Ax to rank of Prince, and declares the war over. The Animorphs attend Rachel's funeral, where a statue is erected in her honor, and Tobias
flies away with Rachel's ashes. It is also revealed that the Animorphs lived in California, a fact that had not been revealed through the course of the series.
The remainder of the book describes the development of the characters over the course of three years after the war. Jake
, Marco
, and Cassie
become instantly rich and famous, while Ax returns to the Andalite homeworld a hero. Surrendered Yeerks are allowed to choose an animal form in which to become a nothlit
, and similarly Arbron
's Taxxon
s are granted their wish and become nothlit anaconda
s or other big snakes, relocated to the Amazon Rainforest
. Unable to morph out of his Taxxon form, Arbron is soon killed by poachers. This may have been for the better, as Arbron is finally freed from the Taxxon's hunger. The free Hork-Bajir
colony is moved to Yellowstone National Park
, and are protected by Toby Hamee
and Cassie
. Toby becomes a non-voting member of the US Senate
while Cassie serves as an adviser to the President
. Humanity has also developed an alliance with Andalites. Some developments between the two races are companies such as Microsoft
and Nintendo
building new electronics and Andalites morphing into humans to experience the sense of taste. Marco embraces his new fame, and winds up becoming the self-proclaimed "spokesman" for the Animorphs, as well as a TV star. Cassie uses her powers in the government to become an activist for the environment and the Hork-Bajir. Jake however adjusts less easily than they do to the new conditions and becomes depressed.
A year after the conclusion of the war, Esplin 9466 (formerly Visser Three and later Visser One) is put on trial
in The Hague
, Netherlands for war crimes against humanity and is found guilty. Jake has slumped into depression in the year since the war ended, having minimal contact with his friends and not morphing at all. During Jake's testimony at the trial, Esplin's defense lawyers attempt to discredit Jake by claiming that he himself is a war criminal for his actions, such as his emptying of the Pool ship that killed 17,372 Yeerks. Though this objection is overruled, Jake is deeply shaken by it, as he feels that it, along with many of his actions during the war, was immoral or mistaken. In a desperate bid to cheer Jake up, his friends capture him and dump him into the ocean, thinking that by forcing him into a dolphin
morph (dolphins being naturally happy) they can cheer him up. Jake remains aloof however. Esplin is forced to live out his remaining days without a host in a purple box (the Andalites constructed the box and had it painted purple for some unknown reason).
Two years after Esplin 9466's sentencing, Ax is charged with finding the Blade Ship. He notes that the military
is being shrunk back, and that he easily has the most interesting assignment. The ship crew finds a mysterious DNA sample, a polar bear. Ax leads the investigation team. As First Officer Menderash-Postill-Fastill later recalls, the ship came alive and attacked. Menderash broke off from the ship, but they were then attacked by pirates. He is the sole survivor.
Meanwhile, Jake finally concedes to the U.S. government
and agrees to train some special ops
teams to use the morphing power to combat terrorists. After a few months of meetings, two Andalite officials approach him. Menderash relays Ax's story. Jake agrees to help. He informs Cassie and Marco. Cassie is currently involved with another man, Ronnie. Cassie and her boyfriend are spending time assessing potential new places for the Hork-Bajir to inhabit. Cassie offers to come, but Jake declines, saying that her role is over, and that she is doing what she wants to do the most. Jake also believes that Cassie will be happier if she stays on Earth. He asks her to find Tobias, who has since shut himself away from the world, and has remained angry at Jake for Rachel's death. Tobias however, relents and joins Jake on the mission. Marco agrees to come, but only after yelling at Jake, and telling him that he cannot undo his past mistakes, and that, just as during the war, they will only succeed if they follow his instincts, no matter how "crazy, reckless and ruthless." Jake selects two of his students (Santorelli and Jeanne Gerard) to come as well. They are picked because they have no close friends or relatives.
As the mission is top-secret and unauthorized, Jake and the others conduct a very elaborate plan. Marco knocks out two Andalites who are guarding a shuttle. They use the shuttle to take off and board a captured Yeerk cruiser. They then crash the shuttle into the ground. The official story would be that terrorists overpowered the Andalite guards but could not pilot the ship and crashed.
The ship is an elegant cruiser. Menderash, following an Andalite tradition, believes it bad luck to board the ship before it is named; after Tobias notes that it is "beautiful and dangerous and exciting," the group gives it the only fitting name, the Rachel. After several months in space, the Animorphs find the Blade Ship, only to discover that Ax has been assimilated into an entity only known as The One, giving Ax a new mouth which split open the lower part of Ax's face. The One threatens to consume the Animorphs, as it had done to Ax. Jake comments on Marco's earlier call to be "crazy, reckless and ruthless," and, with a smile that Marco notes makes him look like Rachel, orders them to ram the Blade ship.
Animorphs
Animorphs is an English language science fiction series of young adult books written by K. A. Applegate and published by Scholastic. Five humans, Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias, and one alien, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill , obtain the ability to morph into any animal they touch. They name...
series. Unlike other Animorphs books in the main series, but similar to the Megamorphs, all characters conduct narration instead of just one.
Plot summary
Continuing on immediately from The AnswerThe Answer (Animorphs)
The Answer is the fifty-third and penultimate book in the Animorphs series. It is narrated by Jake.-Plot summary:After the destruction of the Yeerk pool, Jake, Tobias, and Marco witness the Yeerks destroying the last remnants of their hometown and watch as the Pool ship lands amidst the destruction...
, Rachel
Rachel (Animorphs)
Rachel is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs. Her full name is never explicitly mentioned in the books, but her relation to her cousin Jake Berenson through their fathers makes it most likely to be Rachel Berenson, if it was never changed or hyphenated.-Biography:Before the...
attacks the Yeerk
Yeerk
Yeerks are a fictional extraterrestrial species from the book and television series "Animorphs" written by K. A. Applegate and published by Scholastic.-Biology:...
s in control of the Blade ship, and kills Tom and his Yeerk, before dying at the hands of his Yeerk allies shortly after; the Ellimist
Ellimist
The Ellimist is a fictional character from the science fiction novel series Animorphs.The Ellimist is an almost god-like being, displaying many reality warping powers, though it is stated several times that while he appears to be, he is not omnipotent. By standard values, the Ellimist is a force of...
briefly stops time to memorialize her death, tells his own story to her
The Ellimist Chronicles
The Ellimist Chronicles is a children's science-fiction novel, a companion book to the Animorphs series written by K. A. Applegate. It tells the backstory of the Ellimist, a god-like being from the story...
, and she dies. Tom's morph-capable Yeerks escape in the Blade Ship, abandoning the disabled Pool Ship to the Animorphs. Visser One
Visser Three
Visser Three, born as Esplin 9466 Primary and later known as Visser One, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the sci-fi book series Animorphs, written by K.A. Applegate. He is the leader of the Yeerk forces on Earth, having inherited the planet from Edriss 562, who was Visser One at...
, realizing that he is defeated, leaves Alloran-Semitur-Corrass
Alloran-Semitur-Corrass
Alloran-Semitur-Corrass is a fictional character in the Animorphs series by K. A. Applegate. He is the host body of Visser Three, a high-ranking Yeerk and the primary antagonist of the series.-Character history:...
's body after being knocked unconscious by Ax
Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill
Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs.-Biography:Aximili is a young Andalite who becomes stranded on Earth when the Andalite Dome Ship GalaxyTree is shot down by Yeerk fighters...
. The remaining Animorphs, as well as Alloran (freed after more than two decades under Visser One's control over his body), contact the Andalite
Andalite
The Andalites are a fictional alien race of grazers in the Scholastic book series Animorphs.-Biology:The Andalites are fictional aliens from the book series and TV series Animorphs....
fleet, and after hours of negotiations, the Andalite fleet promotes Ax to rank of Prince, and declares the war over. The Animorphs attend Rachel's funeral, where a statue is erected in her honor, and Tobias
Tobias (Animorphs)
Tobias is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs written by K.A. Applegate. His surname is never mentioned, but had the Ellimist not altered time in order to take his father, Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, back to his old life, his full name would have been Tobias Fangor, the...
flies away with Rachel's ashes. It is also revealed that the Animorphs lived in California, a fact that had not been revealed through the course of the series.
The remainder of the book describes the development of the characters over the course of three years after the war. Jake
Jake Berenson
Jake Berenson is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists from the science-fiction book series Animorphs, written by K. A. Applegate. Until the penultimate book of the series, his last name was never revealed, and he was known only as Jake...
, Marco
Marco (Animorphs)
Marco is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series, Animorphs, written by K. A. Applegate. His last name is never mentioned.-Biography:...
, and Cassie
Cassie (Animorphs)
Cassie is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs, written by K. A. Applegate. Her last name is never mentioned, although she referred to it as being "nice" in The Secret.-Biography:...
become instantly rich and famous, while Ax returns to the Andalite homeworld a hero. Surrendered Yeerks are allowed to choose an animal form in which to become a nothlit
Nothlit
In the fictional Animorphs series by K. A. Applegate, a nothlit is a being trapped in a morph. If one stays in a morph for over two Earth hours, that form becomes permanent. They are unable to use the Escafil device to regain their morphing power...
, and similarly Arbron
Arbron
Arbron is a fictional character in the Animorphs series by K. A. Applegate.He was an Andalite aristh, a cadet, who was never serious and was always competitive with Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, who back then was an aristh as well....
's Taxxon
Taxxon
The Taxxons are a fictional sentient race in the Animorphs book series by K.A. Applegate, one of the species conceptually created for the series. They resemble giant, centipedes, with the forward one-third portion of their body held erect. They move on many rows of needle-like legs and the legs...
s are granted their wish and become nothlit anaconda
Anaconda
An anaconda is a large, non-venomous snake found in tropical South America. Although the name actually applies to a group of snakes, it is often used to refer only to one species in particular, the common or green anaconda, Eunectes murinus, which is one of the largest snakes in the world.Anaconda...
s or other big snakes, relocated to the Amazon Rainforest
Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
. Unable to morph out of his Taxxon form, Arbron is soon killed by poachers. This may have been for the better, as Arbron is finally freed from the Taxxon's hunger. The free Hork-Bajir
Hork-Bajir
The Hork-Bajir are a race of aliens in the Animorphs novels.The Hork-Bajir are fictional aliens that are usually about seven feet tall. They are a dark shade of green and have three-toed theropod feet. Their necks are long and they have a mouth that resembles a falcon's beak with teeth. Their legs...
colony is moved to Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
, and are protected by Toby Hamee
Toby Hamee
Toby Hamee is a fictional character in the Animorphs books by K. A. Applegate.Toby Hamee is a Hork-Bajir seer, the daughter of Jara Hamee and Ket Halpak. She is the first free Hork-Bajir born in the free Hork-Bajir colony...
and Cassie
Cassie (Animorphs)
Cassie is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs, written by K. A. Applegate. Her last name is never mentioned, although she referred to it as being "nice" in The Secret.-Biography:...
. Toby becomes a non-voting member of the US Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
while Cassie serves as an adviser to the President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. Humanity has also developed an alliance with Andalites. Some developments between the two races are companies such as Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
and Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
building new electronics and Andalites morphing into humans to experience the sense of taste. Marco embraces his new fame, and winds up becoming the self-proclaimed "spokesman" for the Animorphs, as well as a TV star. Cassie uses her powers in the government to become an activist for the environment and the Hork-Bajir. Jake however adjusts less easily than they do to the new conditions and becomes depressed.
A year after the conclusion of the war, Esplin 9466 (formerly Visser Three and later Visser One) is put on trial
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, Netherlands for war crimes against humanity and is found guilty. Jake has slumped into depression in the year since the war ended, having minimal contact with his friends and not morphing at all. During Jake's testimony at the trial, Esplin's defense lawyers attempt to discredit Jake by claiming that he himself is a war criminal for his actions, such as his emptying of the Pool ship that killed 17,372 Yeerks. Though this objection is overruled, Jake is deeply shaken by it, as he feels that it, along with many of his actions during the war, was immoral or mistaken. In a desperate bid to cheer Jake up, his friends capture him and dump him into the ocean, thinking that by forcing him into a dolphin
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
morph (dolphins being naturally happy) they can cheer him up. Jake remains aloof however. Esplin is forced to live out his remaining days without a host in a purple box (the Andalites constructed the box and had it painted purple for some unknown reason).
Two years after Esplin 9466's sentencing, Ax is charged with finding the Blade Ship. He notes that the military
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
is being shrunk back, and that he easily has the most interesting assignment. The ship crew finds a mysterious DNA sample, a polar bear. Ax leads the investigation team. As First Officer Menderash-Postill-Fastill later recalls, the ship came alive and attacked. Menderash broke off from the ship, but they were then attacked by pirates. He is the sole survivor.
Meanwhile, Jake finally concedes to the U.S. government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
and agrees to train some special ops
Special operations
Special operations are military operations that are considered "special" .Special operations are typically performed independently or in conjunction with conventional military operations. The primary goal is to achieve a political or military objective where a conventional force requirement does...
teams to use the morphing power to combat terrorists. After a few months of meetings, two Andalite officials approach him. Menderash relays Ax's story. Jake agrees to help. He informs Cassie and Marco. Cassie is currently involved with another man, Ronnie. Cassie and her boyfriend are spending time assessing potential new places for the Hork-Bajir to inhabit. Cassie offers to come, but Jake declines, saying that her role is over, and that she is doing what she wants to do the most. Jake also believes that Cassie will be happier if she stays on Earth. He asks her to find Tobias, who has since shut himself away from the world, and has remained angry at Jake for Rachel's death. Tobias however, relents and joins Jake on the mission. Marco agrees to come, but only after yelling at Jake, and telling him that he cannot undo his past mistakes, and that, just as during the war, they will only succeed if they follow his instincts, no matter how "crazy, reckless and ruthless." Jake selects two of his students (Santorelli and Jeanne Gerard) to come as well. They are picked because they have no close friends or relatives.
As the mission is top-secret and unauthorized, Jake and the others conduct a very elaborate plan. Marco knocks out two Andalites who are guarding a shuttle. They use the shuttle to take off and board a captured Yeerk cruiser. They then crash the shuttle into the ground. The official story would be that terrorists overpowered the Andalite guards but could not pilot the ship and crashed.
The ship is an elegant cruiser. Menderash, following an Andalite tradition, believes it bad luck to board the ship before it is named; after Tobias notes that it is "beautiful and dangerous and exciting," the group gives it the only fitting name, the Rachel. After several months in space, the Animorphs find the Blade Ship, only to discover that Ax has been assimilated into an entity only known as The One, giving Ax a new mouth which split open the lower part of Ax's face. The One threatens to consume the Animorphs, as it had done to Ax. Jake comments on Marco's earlier call to be "crazy, reckless and ruthless," and, with a smile that Marco notes makes him look like Rachel, orders them to ram the Blade ship.
Contributions to the series' story arc
- Rachel, Tom (and his Yeerk), Jara Hamee, and Arbron are killed.
- The Yeerks are defeated and the Andalites declare the war over.
- Arbron's Taxxons and the surrendering Yeerk forces are allowed to become nothlits and settle on Earth.
- Visser One is tried and convicted of war crimes and is sentenced to several consecutive life sentences.
- The Andalites make a single Morphing cube available to Earth to combat terrorism, on the condition that it only be used for anti-terror operations and that it remain in Andalite custody.
- The series ends with the introduction of "The One".
Morphs
| Morpher | Morphs acquired | Morphs used |
|---|---|---|
| Jake Jake Berenson Jake Berenson is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists from the science-fiction book series Animorphs, written by K. A. Applegate. Until the penultimate book of the series, his last name was never revealed, and he was known only as Jake... |
Siberian Tiger, Dolphin Dolphin Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating... , Peregrine Falcon Peregrine Falcon The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"... , Wolf |
|
| Rachel Rachel (Animorphs) Rachel is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs. Her full name is never explicitly mentioned in the books, but her relation to her cousin Jake Berenson through their fathers makes it most likely to be Rachel Berenson, if it was never changed or hyphenated.-Biography:Before the... |
Flea Flea Flea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood... , Grizzly Bear Grizzly Bear The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America... |
|
| Tobias Tobias (Animorphs) Tobias is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs written by K.A. Applegate. His surname is never mentioned, but had the Ellimist not altered time in order to take his father, Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, back to his old life, his full name would have been Tobias Fangor, the... |
Human Human Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus... (Himself), Andalite Andalite The Andalites are a fictional alien race of grazers in the Scholastic book series Animorphs.-Biology:The Andalites are fictional aliens from the book series and TV series Animorphs.... (Ax) |
|
| Cassie Cassie (Animorphs) Cassie is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs, written by K. A. Applegate. Her last name is never mentioned, although she referred to it as being "nice" in The Secret.-Biography:... |
Wolf, Dolphin Dolphin Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating... |
|
| Marco Marco (Animorphs) Marco is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series, Animorphs, written by K. A. Applegate. His last name is never mentioned.-Biography:... |
Gorilla Gorilla Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies... , Dolphin Dolphin Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating... , Lobster Lobster Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most... |
|
| Ax Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill is a fictional character from the sci-fi book series Animorphs.-Biography:Aximili is a young Andalite who becomes stranded on Earth when the Andalite Dome Ship GalaxyTree is shot down by Yeerk fighters... |
Dolphin Dolphin Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating... |
|
| Tom | Cobra Cobra Cobra is a venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. However, not all snakes commonly referred to as cobras are of the same genus, or even of the same family. The name is short for cobra capo or capa Snake, which is Portuguese for "snake with hood", or "hood-snake"... |
|
| Menderash | Human Human Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus... |
Human Human Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus... |