Better commander in real military, Ender, Bean?

[Pixel]

Bean. Like DEK said, Ender's "individual battles" are unrealistic to what real wars are like. Also, thanks to Anton's Key, Bean is indeed the smartest person in the world. Even Ender admit that Bean was the better military strategist, and that Ender's job as a commander was getting to know his soldiers and what their capabilities were, and then trusting them with getting the job done with the orders he gave them.

Ender is all types of smart (like the philosophy and social stuff too,) while Bean is the smartest, and that's almost all focused on military.

[se7enknives]

Ender is the better commander in my opinion. As EG starts we have the battle with Stillson which he wins completely. The use of preventive brutal force is the best strategy i can see in a war, this way you can end a conflict fast and without the loss of many resources, this way you can be ready for the next fight. All of Bean's major battles were taken against Achilles, which he let live when he had the power to kill him, Ender would never have done that mistake. He knew that in war the only true victories are the absolute ones.

[Astrum]

Bean may have been very good, but he can't compete with Ender in strategy.

[Person122]

I personally would say Bean was better, though there was one trait that Bean was missing, and that was leadership, the ability to know your soldiers and subordinates. Bean was shown in Ender's Shadow to be a bit Naïve and looking into his own stuff rather than trying to befriend his launch group. I also remember that Dap (?) said to Bean something like "what good is it when you know what to do in battle but you don't know how to lead", don't quote me on this.

Overall, Bean was a better commander because he was Genetically Modified, so he should have been better. They even say in Ender's Shadow that Bean was the one who thought of the idea of deploying the Little Doctor in the ships, which likely won the war. Graff and the IF gave Bean the ability to take control of all the human ships in the last battle, lest Ender broke down or was otherwise unable to command as good as Bean. The IF knew Bean was at least as good a commander as Ender and so do I.

[Tcashon]

I think you are missing the point. Bean was the better strategist because of those genetic enhancements. Ender is and will always be the better commander in my opinion becuase you don't command well without leading well.

It doesn't matter how great your strategies are if you can't get your soldiers to carry them out.

Unless of course, your army consists of robots.....*plot *plot *plot.

[Person122]

I meant to say "Strategist" instead of "Commander", actually, and I probably misunderstood the exact meaning of "Commander". Ender was a commander who's subordinates and people he knew loved him much and they continued to for long after he went away; he was a natral leader and commander. So I think Ender and Bean were likely equal, after Bean developed his "People Skills" as described in Ender's Shadow.

[Tcashon]

Not to be argumentative, but I don't think Bean's "people skills" would ever quite match Ender's. I think Bean's commander experience is described either in SoTH or Shadow Puppets, can't remember which. But in my opinion it described Bean's soldiers as ones who wanted his respect and praise and knew that he would not waste them. I think this falls a little short of the "love" that Ender was able to obtain from his subordinates.

Of course these are all opinions which could be argued endlessly, but I do enjoy seeing other's perspectives on different parts of the series. Especially on events and characterizations.

[locke]

one of the few things that works quite well is that dynamic between Ender and Bean, two brilliant commanders, one who had the lover of his men and the other who only got their respect. I think you can find that dynamic playing out in a lot of historical generals if you look for it.