Ender’s Game: Chapter 12 Summary & Analysis

The chapter begins with a conversation between General Pace, an important American officer, and Colonel Graff. Pace has learned from Dap that Graff is intentionally putting Ender’s life in danger. Pace warns Graff that if Bonzo Madrid and his friends attack Ender, then Ender could be severely injured. He adds that Graff could easily be court-martialed for endangering a child’s life by manipulating Bonzo against Ender. Graff seems to accept this possibility—but he adds that if his methods pay off, he’s going to “get a few dozen medals.”

As the chapter begins, Ender and Bean are practicing with their troops. Bean has found a “new toy”—a deadline (long, thin wire), used for construction in space. Bean realizes that he can use the wire to change directions in zero gravity. Ender and the troops are excited with this discovery—they imagine using the deadline in future battles to confuse and outmaneuver their opponents.

After practice, Ender and his troops walk through the halls, and notice that there are too many Salamander soldiers nearby. Suddenly, Ender hears someone calling his name. It’s Petra, asking if she could talk to Ender. Ender is reluctant to stop, so he keeps walking, forcing Petra to follow him. Petra rushes toward Ender, and tells him the truth: there are some older boys who want to kill Ender. Ender nods, and coolly asks Petra if she noticed the Salamander soldiers walking behind him—if he’d stopped to talk to her, they could have attacked him easily. Petra flushes and denies that she was trying to hurt him. She walks away from him quickly.

In the barracks, Crazy Tom informs Ender that toons will now walk with Ender at all times. Ender accepts this protection—he realizes he’d be a fool not to. He also finds a message on his desk from Dink, telling him not to be alone. Ender finds this strangely reassuring, as it proves Dink is still his friend.

Ender’s next battle is against the Badger Army. In the battle, Badger troops don’t stay frozen permanently—instead, they unfreeze after five minutes. Ender manages to win the battle, but it’s very close. Afterwards, he so exhausted that he orders his army to get some sleep instead of going to practice as usual.

Ender uses his free time to work out at the Battle School gym, and to take a shower. While he’s showering, he notices that he’s all alone. Suddenly, he hears the sound of boys entering the showers. Even before he turns around, he knows that Bonzo is there. Bonzo is accompanied by a gang of other boys, including Ender’s old rival, Bernard. Bonzo insists that he’s going to “graduate” Ender today. Ender teases Bonzo for needing a gang to beat up one weaker boy, whispering, “Your father would be proud of you.” Ender’s tactic works, and Bonzo takes off his jumpsuit and pushes his friends aside: he’ll fight Ender one-on-one.

Ender prepares to fight Bonzo in the showers. He can see right away that Bonzo is an experienced fighter, and he imagines that Bonzo will aim to damage Ender’s most important asset: his brain. Ender turns on all the showers, making his body slipperier and more difficult for Bonzo to hold. Suddenly, Dink Meeker runs into the bathroom, and Bonzo’s gang grabs him. Dink yells for Bonzo to stop—Ender is the human race’s only chance of defeating the Buggers. Ender realizes that this is exactly what Bonzo doesn’t want to hear: he can’t stand thinking that Ender is better than he is.

Bonzo turns to Ender and lunges at him. He tries to grab Ender, but Ender’s body is too slippery for him to get a good hold. Ender is able to break free of the hold and jump up, smashing Bonzo’s nose with his head. Ender realizes that he could run out of the bathroom in this instant—but if he did this, then Bonzo would come back later, angrier than ever. Ender’s best option, then, is to stay and fight. Ender turns to Bonzo and kicks him in the chest and crotch. Bonzo falls backward and doesn’t get up.

Ender staggers away from Bonzo’s unmoving body, followed by Dink. Bonzo’s friends make no attempt to stop them—they’re too shocked by the sight of Bonzo. Ender realizes what’s happened: the IF has manipulated him into fighting Bonzo, and has refused to intervene. Dink mutters that the IF will expel Bonzo from Battle School immediately. Ender begins to cry—he says, “I didn’t want to hurt him! Why didn’t he just leave me alone!”

Ender is lying alone in his room, hours after his fight with Bonzo. Suddenly, he hears a noise—a note has been slipped under his door. The note says that Ender’s army will be fighting two other armies that day.

Ender brings his army to the battleroom. He’s dismayed to find that the two enemy armies have already taken their positions within the battleroom: they’re ready to shoot the Dragon soldiers at a moment’s notice. Ender consults Bean on how best to proceed. Bean is reluctant to continue at all—it’s an unfair fight, and any sane general would bring his army to retreat in such a dire situation.

The chapter cuts to the perspective of William Bee, the commander of Griffin Army. Bee witnesses the Dragon soldiers shooting through the battleroom. He orders his troops to fire. His soldiers shoot many of the Dragon soldiers, and it seems that the Dragon Army is about to lose. Then, suddenly, the lights turn on and the game ends. Bee realizes what’s just happened: Ender has sent five soldiers to the enemy’s gate, performing the standard “victory ritual” that ends the game. Even though Ender’s army had sustained heavy casualties and was badly outnumbered, it was able to “win” by technicality.

We return to Ender’s perspective. He just won, ingeniously, by bending the rules of the battleroom. Overjoyed, Crazy Tom congratulates Ender and asks him when the next practice will be. Ender mutters that there will be no more practices, and screams, “The game is over!”

Ender is sitting in his room when he hears a knock. It’s Bean. Bean has just been transferred to command the Rabbit Army, he tells Ender. Bean seems proud of Dragon’s victory in the battle, but Ender can’t share his enthusiasm. He tells Bean about how he hit Bonzo, seriously injuring him. Bean nods but insists that Bonzo “had it coming.”

Suddenly, Colonel Graff enters Ender’s room. Ignoring Bean, he informs Ender that he’s been transferred to Command School. Bean protests that no one is sent to Command School before the age of 16—Ender is barely 10. Ender realizes that the Bugger war must be dire: the IF is accelerating student training, in preparation for a massive battle. Graff sends Bean back to his room, and there, Bean cries—he’s never going to see Ender again.

The next day, Ender prepares to leave Battle School, accompanied by Anderson and Graff. Anderson has been promoted from Major to Colonel in the IF. Graff says that Ender has been granted a short military leave on Earth. Ender travels to Earth with Graff. They fly to Florida, and Ender realizes that he no longer feels at home on Earth—Battle School has become his home, the “only place in the universe where he belonged.”

There is then a conversation between Major Imbu and Colonel Anderson. They discuss the recent death that’s occurred in Battle School: Bonzo Madrid’s death in the showers. Anderson tells Imbu that Graff has been summoned by the Polemarch, possibly to be court-martialed for endangering Ender’s life. Anderson also reveals that Bonzo is the second person Ender has murdered: Ender killed Stilson, years ago. Nevertheless, Ender has no idea he’s a murderer. Imbu speculates that one day, video footage of Ender’s murders will be used against him.