- Narrator: Elfangor
Elfangor tells the story of how Andalites learned about humans for the first time— and how the Yeerks did as well.
Tropes:
- Alien Blood: From their point of view, Elfangor and Arbron think red human blood looks gross. Keep in mind that Andalite and Taxxon blood is blue, and Hork-Bajir blood is blue-green.
- Asteroids Monster: Not to be confused with the literal version encountered earlier, the Mortrons have the ability to regenerate into two separate monsters if they're cut in half, making them a terrible opponent for an Andalite. Loren, meanwhile, kills hers by strangling it.
- Bavarian Fire Drill:
- Elfangor and Arbron steal a ship by tricking some Gedd-Controllers that they're Taxxon-Controllers here to fix computers.
- In another instance, Elfangor pretends to be Sub-Visser Seven to fool the latter's subordinates into trying to kill him.
- Bizarre Alien Limbs: Visser Thirty-Two turns up at one point with his pets, a pair of semi-sapient aliens with biological wheels instead of legs. Elfangor is dumbfounded.
- Bound and Gagged: Chapman knocks out Loren and trusses her up to deliver her to the Yeerks to make it clear that he wants to trade her as a host body in exchange for getting back to Earth.
- Cosmic Chess Game: Elfangor asks the Ellimist if his species' war against the Yeerks is a game for him. The Ellimist confirms this, and says that another player that Elfangor hasn't seen is playing against them...
- Damsel out of Distress: When Elfangor and Arbron first board the Skrit Na ship to rescue the abducted humans, Loren has already defeated her captors.
- Deus ex Machina:
- Chapman is last seen on the airless Jahar as it falls into a black hole. He then appears back on Earth with no memory of the adventure. Elfangor suspects the Ellimist had something to do with that.
- The Ellimist himself appears to Elfangor to send him back into the Andalite-Yeerk war, explaining that the Yeerks have finally found Earth and he is no longer safe there.
- Diabolus ex Machina: When Elfangor and Loren reach the StarSword, it's under attack by living asteroids that consume ships. Elfangor has no idea what they are and where they came from, and their existence forces a temporary truce between them and Visser Thirty-Two.
- Enemy Mine: The Andalite and Yeerk fleets are decimated by the living asteroids, and escaping them sent the protagonists and villains spiraling towards a black hole. They're forced to work together to activate the Time Matrix, the only thing that would let them escape.
- Hive Queen: The Living Hive, the mother and father of Taxxons, is stuck watching as its children willingly go to the Yeerks. It doesn't understand the Yeerks and their superior technology until Arbron comes along to explain.
- Horse of a Different Color: When Visser Thirty-Two and his pets prove to be too much for them, Loren and Elfangor retreat, but Loren can't run anywhere near as fast as Elfangor can. She compensates by riding his centaur half, which is something neither of them is sure will work out, but luckily it does.
- Humanity Ensues: Elfangor acquires a human morph to be with Loren.
- Humans Through Alien Eyes: Elfangor, the Andalite most interested in humans and their planet, is constantly bewildered by human biology (two legs and no tail, being omnivorous, being able to turn their neck), culture (he assumes lawns are for food and can't comprehend cigarettes), and behavior. Despite being an advanced alien, he tends to assume that human and Andalite culture are one to one in every aspect. Loren silently judges him for having no imagination.
- Interspecies Romance: Elfangor, an Andalite, and Loren, a human, start crushing on each other throughout their adventures. Thanks to the morphing technology, the interspecies part is a non-issue.
- Living Memory: The living things in the pocket dimension created by the Time Matrix are just memories made by the users. They're far from perfect, as Loren's mother is unfazed by seeing an Andalite and the McDonalds worker is missing his eyes because Loren remembers his acne more than the rest of his face.
- My Greatest Failure: Elfangor's was knocking Alloran unconscious and not realizing that Sub-Visser Seven had snuck onboard the ship by infesting Chapman, allowing the Yeerk to infest Alloran and creating the first Andalite-Controller.
- Negative Space Wedgie: Three beings trying to use the Time Matrix at the same time causes a pocket dimension that mixes up the human, Andalite, and Yeerk home worlds. The edge of this world leads to zero-space, and trying to reach beyond it warps space until whoever's trying to leave gets sent right back in.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Sub-Visser Seven corners Elfangor in Taxxon morph, after Elfangor managed to resist joining in on a Taxxon feeding frenzy, giving away to the Sub-Visser that this Taxxon is an Andalite in morph.
- Rank Up: By successfully infesting an Andalite, Sub-Visser Seven is promoted to Visser Thirty-Two. By the time Elfangor rejoins the war after his exile, he's been promoted to Visser Three.
- Rapid Aging: Thanks to the Time Matrix speeding up time in the center of the pocket dimension, Elfangor and Loren go from young teenagers to young adults in the span of an hour.
- The Reveal: Elfangor reveals he is Tobias's father, but only in his narration.
- Shapeshifter Mode Lock:
- By the time Elfangor reunites with Arbron, the latter has been trapped as a Taxxon.
- Elfangor does this on purpose, running away from the war, trapping himself in human morph, and marrying Loren.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Discussed. Loren recounts how her father was never the same after returning from Vietnam, which Chapman makes fun of her for. Alloran, who also fits this trope, harshly shuts him down, saying Chapman knows nothing of war. Over the course of the book, Elfangor falls into this as well.
- Spotting the Thread: Elfangor realizes that rescuing the humans was too easy after he's gotten away with them and knocked out Alloran. Loren and Chapman are actually Controllers, here to steal the Time Matrix and hopefully get some Andalite hosts while they're at it.
- Teens Are Monsters: The teenage Chapman is a huge cynic, and clearly thinks he's better than everyone else for it. While wanting to go back to Earth is understandable, selling out the entire human race to the Yeerks in exchange for a ride back causes most of the problems in this series.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Alloran is described as having been mischievous and fun-loving as a child, a far cry from the General Ripper he is known as today.
