- Narrator: Tobias
While flying with Rachel, Tobias sees a pair of Hork-Bajir escaping the Yeerks.
Tropes:
- Adam and Eve Plot: As the only two free Hork-Bajir in existence, Jara and Ket's plan to have a child is directly compared to this. Marco jokingly names their hidden valley the Garden of Eden.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Played with. Tobias assumes he's going to wish to be human again. The Ellimist instead grants him his ability to morph in his hawk form, revealing that Tobias' actual wish was to help his friends while not giving up his hawk freedom. He could trap himself in his regained human form, but he'd no longer be able to help his friends.
- Bring My Brown Pants: After Jara Hamee cuts his skull open to show he doesn't have a Yeerk, Tobias asks Ax if that scared the pee out of him too. Ax responds that he is "as peeless as you".
- Contrived Coincidence: It doesn't take Tobias long to figure out how convenient it was for him to see the Hork-Bajir escape and know of a valley where they could live. The Ellimist appears to him to confirm that yes, this was his doing.
- Faking the Dead: The Animorphs set up a scenario where "Jara" and "Ket" (Rachel and Tobias in Hork-Bajir morph) jump off a cliff to their "deaths," only to get snagged by Marco in gorilla morph on the way down and pulled into a cave. Meanwhile, the actual Jara and Ket play dead at the bottom and get chewed on by wolves (Cassie and Jake in wolf morph) in full view of the Yeerks. Visser Three buys it, and labels Jara and Ket as examples of what happens to those who try and escape the Yeerks.
- Healing Factor: Hork-Bajir turn out to be pretty hardy. Jara survives cutting his skull open, and he and Ket shrug off being gnawed on by wolves.
- I Die Free: Jara and Ket say it's better to be dead than a slave to the Yeerks, and are willing to die if there's no other way out.
- Rascally Raccoon: An ordinary raccoon nearly kills Tobias when he breaks his wing. Luckily, he's given the power to morph again then and there, allowing him to acquire and morph the raccoon to escape.
- Swallowed Whole: Happens to an unfortunate bobcat that runs afoul of a Taxxon.
- Wham Episode: The free Hork-Bajir are established, and the Ellimist gives Tobias the ability to morph from his hawk form.
