I wonder how many mirrors of the first book there are that I didn't notice since I was devouring the story.

the extended internal torment where Jake is reckoning with Rachel's death and his responsibility as a war criminal who sends his friends to their death.

That Jake and Cassie don't end up together.

but all the anamorphs are pretty much unfulfilled, carrying on Rachel's legacy.

Finding arbron again is strange. weird that he is still a nothlit, weird that he has become the leader of his adopted species.

"come on cassie, show me where to go next." is such a great show don't tell apology by Jake.

It's so great that Jake trusts Cassie again and everybody else can see that she was right to let Tom take the morphing cube.

finally! it's been awful seeing her get treated like a traitor for so long.

and Jake basically asks Cassie to marry him, which is great.

I very much like the moment Tom realizes Jake is alive and the visser sarcastically congratulates Tom on his astute observation.

i also really like how the visser is completely aware and resigned to his fate. I wish he was a little more realistic and not so goofy as an evil son of a bitch most of the series.

Everyone can see now that Rachel has a problem with enjoying violence and can't stop herself from indulging anymore.

the opening scene with Ax letting someone go free and Rachel rescinding that action was brutal.

everything ax does makes me crack up, but this struck me as particularly funny.

It's a great spot of comic relief in an otherwise very bleak run.

which is a really great ending.

funny note, Marco talks about how did are ax great long-distance flight morph, and finished them to the reliability of a 747.

Maybe that was correct twenty years ago, when Boeing still did maintenance on their planes with sturdy materials.

everyone dies or you find a few more soldiers willing to sacrifice themselves.

It's pretty difficult watching the game pedantically and repeatedly explain to their parents that the life they thought they had is gone and people are dying and getting hurt. and you can't choose the moral high road unless you're willing to sacrifice others.

and the Animorphs have to hold the line on this reasoning because they're the only ones who really understand where the line is.

This is the controversial (as I remember it) decision to recruit disabled kids to be soldiers, because they're sure that the yeerks don't want any physically disabled bodies.

The ending really shocked me, I figured Cassie was going to kill Tom so that Jake didn't have to, and they could recover the morphing cube, I completely forgot that she bit Jake to slow him down and allow Tom to get away with the morphine cube because of her HUNCH that letting him have the morphing cube with the right thing to do.

that is a brassy hunch.

Oh dang. All the parents have been told and rescued in dramatic and violent ways, Jake's parents try to kill him, Loren can see, this was another dip dop HELL of a story.

also ax saying that Rachel's sisters think he's a "pokey-man" is pretty funny.

Humans start to die, the war is extending beyond the animorphs, it's too big for just them and they can no longer protect everyone by going on there missions they choose.

They have to aid those dedicated to hopeless caused.

It's real dark. Cold blooded.

They boil a yeerk pool.

Tobias forced to explain how torture changes someone, since he's been through it.

There's so much foreshadowing and a lot a bit of of murder, man this was an exciting, desperate tale.

I love this whole last run, they capture the shock of Marco revealing himself so well.

Also, the most exciting opening for Cassie in a long time, that turns into one of the most consistently exciting adventures, with Cassie alone.

Non stop action.