What happened to Ender's Friends?

[hepo0014]

I had trouble understanding in the book if Ender's friends under his command in the "computer simulation." Were they actually fighting in battles against the buggers, or were they safe at Command School, simply directing their own squadrons of planes? Were their lives at risk?

Additionally, why didn't they tell Ender that he had killed the two boys? Did they not want him to have the burden of the loss of life before going into the bugger war?

[neo-dragon]

I had trouble understanding in the book if Ender's friends under his command in the "computer simulation." Were they actually fighting in battles against the buggers, or were they safe at Command School, simply directing their own squadrons of planes? Were their lives at risk?

They were sitting at simulators commanding battle groups from Command school on Eros. Remember, the Bugger planets were light years away. To actually be with the fleets they would have had to have left like 50 years before the battle, and they couldn't have been back the next day to greet Ender when he woke up.

Additionally, why didn't they tell Ender that he had killed the two boys? Did they not want him to have the burden of the loss of life before going into the bugger war?

Yeah, that's pretty much it. In order to be the commander that they needed Ender had to be something of a paradox. He had to be ruthless enough that he could be a killer, but he had to be empathetic enough to feel guilty about it. That guilt probably would have made him drop out of the program, or at least impaired his judgment if he chose to continue.

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