#auximorphs

The whole discussion takes place on p. 41-44 of #50, and they discuss a few different options for how to get more help, but starving yeerks to death isn't one.

Jake first suggests the Yeerk Peace Movement, but Cassie points out that Mr. Tidwell has disappeared and they don't have another contact. Then they talk about having hork-bajir morph, but all decide that the mental abilities of a hork-bajir aren't suited to dealing with the instincts of a morph and that the risk of nothliting would be way too high. Jake starts to suggest Eva, but Marco immediately declares his own parents off-limits and the other kids respect that. Marco adds that most adults won't listen easily to kids about the need for secrecy, so it's gotta be kids. To which Tobias points out the one population of kids they know won't be controllers: those with serious physical disabilities.

You're right — this seems like the clearest solution that Jake doesn't hit on. Jake notes in #53 that he needs all four of the other original Animorphs in other roles: Tobias for his ability to semi-control a taxxon morph, Cassie for her fast morphing and understanding of what Tom's yeerk will do next, Ax for his ability to communicate with the Andalite Electorate, and Marco to adapt their plans on the fly.

However, by that point Jake has ~25 other Animorphs he could send! He only really needs James and 4-5 others on the ground with General Doubleday. Rachel mentions liking both Elena and Collette at different points, so either of them seems like a good choice for backup, but it could be any Auximorphs. It'd probably be a suicide mission, but so is joining James on the ground.

Kelly: showing up at the houses of senators who argue for defanging the ADA, turning into a crocodile, and eating them

James: providing diversions and false alibis for Kelly by having a series of fake fundraisers that a copy of her attends

Collette: Paralympic fundraising, smashing curb-cuts into sidewalks that don't have them, and providing false alibis for Kelly

Tuan: organizing a boycott of all Manhattan tourism until such time as it actually installs elevators in the LITERALLY THREE-QUARTERS of Subway stops that can only be accessed by stairs, and providing false alibis for Kelly

Elena: fundraising for libraries to have Braille and audiobook editions of all publications included in the purchase of a single license, and providing false alibis for Kelly

Pedro: organizing protests for better standards of community managed care for people with intellectual disabilities, and providing false alibis for Kelly

It's complicated, because comparing Jake to James is always going to be comparing apples to oranges. Jake has a wealth of experience, the trust of his team, willingness to please authorities, military expertise, and a personal stake in the final battle. James has idealism, no need for his friends' approval, willingness to piss off authorities, fresh energy, and an original perspective on the final battle. They work best when they work together.

However, if Jake's plan in #53 - #54 hadn't worked, then I think command might have shifted to James. By #53, Jake is openly fed up with leadership and has burned the goodwill of most of his allies (Erek, the YPM, the Auximorphs). Jake still has people in his corner, most notably Eva and Toby, but he can't keep his own Animorphs from in-fighting and nearly comes to blows with his aunt. Everyone knows that Jake's goals for the war — save Tom, protect his team, save the world, in that order — are slipping out of his grasp.

By contrast, James is a lot more idealistic and still has his eye on the ball. Unlike Jake, James isn't naïve before the war and doesn't expect to escape with everyone's lives. In spite of a lifetime's abandonment and abuse and ableism, James loves humanity and thinks that there is hope for this imperfect little species. Jake thinks everything's going to turn out okay because everything always has so far. James knows that kids die all the time — he's watched friends die, knows he'll be watching Kelly and Pedro within a few years — but James will face God and roll backwards into hell because he can still control what he does with this crapsack life he was born into.

I think I've mentioned before, but the biggest change I would make to the series would be to change the fate of the Auxiliary Animorphs.

If I could controller-ify K.A. Applegate for a day, I just want something different for their eventual fate. I really like James as a character, and appreciate the amount of development he gets in #50 - #53, so that's part of why it bums me that he gets killed off-screen. But I'm also super frustrated that we get a rare instance of several well-rounded disabled characters who have agency and drive the plot... and then they get mass killed off-screen so their nondisabled teammate (Jake) has emotions.

James is cool. Collette is funny and snarky and interesting. Timmy helps remind us why morphing is fun. Kelly... is an asshole, but still an interesting character. IMHO they deserve a better ending.

After #50 spends an entire book introducing them, it feels like a huge letdown to have them killed off en masse during the final battle. Not only that, but they're killed in a situation that Jake forced them into — James tries to opt out on behalf of a lot of his fighters, and Jake basically announces that they can fall in line or they can become yet another problem he has to eliminate. Not only that, but we don't get any details about what they do in the final battle, or their deaths — they're just wiped out all in one go as Visser Formerly-Three and Tom's yeerk idly converse about it.