For those who don't remember him, Samilin is the captain of the Andalite assault ship Ascalin, the vessel that rescued the Animorphs while en route to reinforce the Andalite forces on Leera.
And Samilin is also a traitor : he sabotages the battle in order to ensure the victory of the Yeerks—or at least that of Visser Four, "a close friend of Visser Three."
The problem? No reason is ever given for his betrayal. Absolutely none.
Among the plausible theories, it's possible that he was infested by a Yeerk. In #8: The Alien, Alloran tries to warn Ax: "They have infiltrated... they are on the home world...", a statement that could suggest he isn't the only Andalite-Controller.
But you might say it would be pretty difficult to hide a Kandrona generator aboard a ship full of extremely vigilant Andalite warriors. And that's true.
However, during the Bookclub, Emeraldmew pointed out something interesting: the two books immediately preceding #18: The Decision (#16: The Warning and #17: The Underground) both introduce alternative methods of feeding Yeerks without Kandrona rays.
Personally, while I think that argument deserves consideration, I prefer to file the idea of a Samilin-Controller under the category of KASU (Katherine Applegate Screwed Up), considering that the whole Yeerks-infiltrating-the-Andalite-homeworld storyline was later completely abandoned—or even outright contradicted (still in The Decision, Ax panics when he sees Visser Three morph a kafit, whereas in The Andalite Chronicles, Elfangor tells us that acquiring kafit DNA is part of basic military training.)
So let's assume that Samilin is not a Controller and that he acted of his own free will. That makes understanding his actions a bit more complicated, doesn't it?
If we summarize everything we know about him... well, there really isn't much.
Samilin sacrifices his entire ship without showing the slightest emotion. That's pretty horrifying when you think about it. We're talking about an Andalite who climbed the military ranks and spent weeks traveling—perhaps months, maybe even years, depending on how long he had commanded the Ascalin—alongside Andalites he had gotten to know and with whom he must have formed bonds.
Granted, he's a high-ranking military officer, which implies a certain degree of detachment and a willingness to do what must be done. Even so, he condemns his own soldiers to death without batting an eye.
And while doing so, he delivers a line that suggests the battle was already lost anyway, even if he hadn't sided with the Yeerks:
But there's another passage that especially caught my attention:
It's essentially from that passage that I tried to build my own version of Captain Samilin.
In my AU, he first appears in Chapter 28, when Erkis and Lena infiltrate the CrimsonStar, an Andalite dome ship (still unaware at that point that the vessel is commanded by Elfangor.)
Unlike his canonical counterpart, my version of Samilin is arrogant, prone to mood swings, and, like the rest of the crew, deeply shocked by Captain Elfangor's decision to declare a Yeerk an "honored guest" aboard the ship.
When I wrote the three CrimsonStar chapters, I was operating under the assumption that perhaps the canon Samilin hadn't actually had a choice when he betrayed his people. Maybe Visser Four—the Visser he appears to be serving—had some kind of leverage over him that we simply never learned about.
That's why, in my fic, I tried to give him a backstory in which he didn't really have a choice about joining the military either. He enlisted in order to restore the honor of his murdered brothers.
My idea (not exactly subtle, I'll admit, since you can see it coming a mile away) was that, when Erkis eventually hands him the person responsible for those murders so that he can finally have his revenge, Samilin would begin to develop some sympathy toward her.
Not in terms of plot, in terms of credibility and character consistency.
Samilin reappears in Chapter 34. He's assigned to supervise Erkis during the trial, and naturally the two of them end up spending a lot of time together, giving me the opportunity to develop his character further.
The problem is that the more I write him, the more trouble his psychology gives me. To be completely honest, when Lena says that Samilin's reactions are completely incoherent, that's basically me, the author, speaking through her.
That's how badly stuck I've been. I spend my life rewriting every scene he's in, and I keep getting completely lost.
But—*miracle*—I've finally figured out what was bothering me. Up until now, I was stubbornly trying to make Samilin into a "good guy." In other words, my goal was to pull him away from the Andalites and turn him into an ally of Erkis and her cause. The problem is that this simply doesn't fit with his deepest aspirations, his convictions, or the events that shaped his life.
In Chapter 35 (currently being written), I'm finally starting to develop Samilin's personality in earnest. The chapter was originally supposed to be a brief pause in the trial focused on Elfangor and Erkis.
As it turns out, about 40% of the chapter will be dedicated to Samilin, and 60% to the non-relationship between Elfangor and Erkis. That wasn't the plan. But it's necessary.
So, in the end, my version of Samilin is currently neither an ally nor an enemy. At this point in the story—Chapter 35, then—he remains a disillusioned, emotional, and somewhat lost soldier. And now that I've finally figured out how he works (how am I not the one deciding that?), I fully intend to let him evolve. For better or for worse, however, remains to be seen...
What I do know is that, while I may include a few small nods to the canonical Samilin, "my" Samilin will ultimately have very little in common with KAA's version!
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