How It All Goes Down
Bonzo
- Yeah, it’s two people talking about Ender, but at least this time we get their names. General Pace is here to say that he’s worried about Bonzo’s plan to attack Ender. But Graff says Ender’s got to take care of stuff himself. In case you were wondering: no, there are no adult role models in this book.
- Dragon Army keeps winning and Bean starts practicing crazy stunts with his team.
- Petra asks Ender to stop and talk to her after his practice, but Ender notices that there are students loitering in the halls (gosh, loitering), so he asks Petra to walk with him.
- She warns him that Bonzo is planning to hurt him, but he points out that if he stopped to talk with her, he would’ve been jumped. Petra says she had no idea.
- And Dink leaves a note saying to take care. See, Ender has friends.
- The teachers keep changing the rules of the game. For instance, they fight Badger Army, but the enemy doesn’t stay frozen. But guess what? Ender wins.
- Then, when Ender is about to take a shower, Bonzo and some other bullies (including Bernard) corner him. “All it would take for the picture to be complete was for Stilson and Peter to be there, too” (12.77).
- Ender tricks Bonzo into fighting one-on-one (and also naked, so it’s totally even, if a little weird).
- Before they get into the fight, Dink comes into the room. The other bullies catch him, but he tries to convince Bonzo not to hurt Ender because Ender is totally the most important person in the world. (Which, now that we think of it, is a little weird since Dink previously said he didn’t even believe in the alien threat.)
- Bonzo decides that killing Ender is more important than the survival of humanity. And Bonzo is bigger and has studied martial arts.
- Ender still beats him mercilessly. Which is a surprise to no one. Except maybe Bonzo.
- Then Ender feels bad about beating him up. Which also comes as no surprise.
- Later that afternoon, Dragon Army is scheduled to fight both Tiger and Griffin Armies at the same time. Ender is sick of the game and the way the teachers are cheating. He thinks he can’t do this and then says it out loud – just so we know how he really feels.
- Then, using some very clever trick, Ender wins. And refuses to play again.
- The administrators apparently think Ender is ready to graduate. Bean visits Ender and tells him that Dragon Army is breaking up. They’ve all been transferred. He also tells Ender that Bonzo has been sent home to Spain.
- Graff and Anderson come to tell Ender that he’s going to Command School, even though he’s way too young and no one goes directly to Command School.
- Bean is sad to see Ender go.
- Ender and Graff go to Earth to catch a ship out to the asteroid belt, which is where Command School is.
- And the Earth that Ender has been preparing to defend? Well, it feels totally weird to Ender now. In literature, we might call that irony; but since it’s Ender, we might just say it’s his usual bad luck.
- Back at Battle School, Anderson and Imbu talk about Ender and reveal something totally huge that we won’t spoil for you.
- Oh, OK: Ender killed Bonzo. And he killed Stilson back in Chapter 1.
- Anderson notes that Ender isn’t a killer, just a very thorough winner. Though that seems like a distinction that Bonzo and Stilson couldn’t quite grasp since they’re dead.
- Imbu says he almost feels sorry for the buggers since they have to face Ender.
- We’re still reeling.