hirac delest - An Animorphs Final Statement

Publication Note: Starting with this book, the Animorphs became a monthly series. Animorphs was released every other month in the start before this, but due to high popularity, the Animorphs contract was bumped up to have a book come out every month instead, with a set number of special editions which would later turn into Megamorphs and Chronicles.

Continuity Note: Unlike the other books, this one does not directly lead into the next numerical book (#8: The Alien). Instead, it chronologically leads into the events of Megamorphs #1: The Andalite's Gift, which was originally sold as two-part summer special editions -- later combined into one version. No other Megamorph edition after the first one is directly tied into the main plot line. They were all written as special side stories instead.

It is important to note though that skipping ahead to #8: The Alien directly after this won't cause confusion or impact the overall story, but will however still briefly refer to Megamorphs #1 in it. Only one book in the series, #35: The Proposal, directly leads into a special edition, Visser Chronicles, to complete a story.

The consequences of destroying the Kandrona Ray in this book are developed further in #8: The Alien several weeks later as the Yeerks scramble to find a replacement and try to keep the invasion a secret.

While the future that the Ellimist shows the Animorphs in this book is a possibility out of many outcomes, a future very similar to this one (of a Yeerk infested doomed Earth) is later explored again in #41: The Familiar from Jake's point of view.

It's interesting to note that in this book Rachel has a conversation with Tobias and wonders how long the war will last and if they'll ever have to worry about college or how they'll operate if they ever have to move away from each other. The actual ages of the characters was kept a mystery through most of the series, and the length of the war in 'Animorphs time' was often wondered by the fans as well. The question wasn't answered until the last two books, #53: The Answer and #54: The Beginning.

The events in this book occur after #6: The Capture when the Big Red Eye (later named Crayak) takes a notice to Jake after his Yeerk dies, which presumably is what leads to the Ellimist contacting the Animorphs in this book. Although at first the Elimist stays vague of himself and makes no mention of the two incidents being connected, he does try to help the Animorphs here by re-strengthening their determination in fighting for the war.

The story of the Ellimist and Crayak plays a vital role in the Animorphs universe, and the true nature of their complicated battle isn't told to the Animorphs until #26: The Attack. However, the true origin story of both the Ellimist and Crayak isn't fully explored until The Ellimist Chronicles, which explains how many important events in the Animorphs lives work out to be part of a much bigger plan in their game.

ANIBASE: The Ellimist character was partially inspired by TV shows like Star Trek (which often had all-powerful other-dimensional beings) and a Victorian-era book called Flatland that was about a world of 2-dimensional beings that could be lifted into 3-dimensional world by the magic of 3D people. Of course, K.A. was always afraid of overusing the Ellimist, which is why he doesn't appear as often in the series as some might have liked. His self-imposed "no interfering" rule was put in place to make this easier, and K.A. only let the Ellimist break that rule when it was important to the plot. Some more Ellimist books include #13: The Change, The Andalite Chronicles, #26: The Attack, and of course The Ellimist Chronicles.