Mazer...What's with this guy?

[greenbrowngreen]

I am new to this site, so forgive if this has been discussed....
Why doesn't Mazer Rackham command the invasion fleet?
Was it the timidity of an aged warrior to sacrifice his men or something else?

[locke]

the best explanation is in the Ender's Game short story.

[Syphon the Sun]

He wasn't exactly a brilliant commander; he simply saw that the Buggers' formation was directed from a single ship (the queen). So, sure, he saved humanity, but it wasn't because he was some demigod of military talent. That strategy simply wouldn't work with the Buggers in the Third Invasion, which they full well knew. They needed an Ender Wiggin for that invasion, not a Mazer Rackham.

[greenbrowngreen]

So then, was he just to be a morale boost for the potential commander(s) or was there some actual purpose to spend the untold fortunes to keep him alive by hyperspace travel?

[Col. Graff]

Though Mazer isn't brilliant, he still is the best one to train the next commander as he has the most understanding of the Buggers. But it's explained that they want a child because he would be able to react much quicker than an adult, and have no second thoughts about strategy in terms of losing soldiers or destroying planets, because he thought it was a game. None of this would have been so if Mazer commanded the fleet.

Col. Graff

[^Peter]

Though Mazer isn't brilliant, he still is the best one to train the next commander as he has the most understanding of the Buggers. But it's explained that they want a child because he would be able to react much quicker than an adult, and have no second thoughts about strategy in terms of losing soldiers or destroying planets, because he thought it was a game. None of this would have been so if Mazer commanded the fleet.

Yes, as stated in First Meetings, the IF wanted children because research, and a certain Polish boy, showed that people were at their prime at a young age. Children are also not as aware of consequence and responsibility, especially if they're trained to believe their whole life is a game. So children were the best 'weapon' to use against the buggers, especially if these children were the result of genius parents set up by the IF. Mazer's main purpose was to teach the new soldiers about the buggers, as Mazer was the one who truly understood the buggers.