This page lists the many contradictions found in Enderverse media, whether that be between different sources of media or within a single source itself. This page also can be used to see prior versions of canon that was later contradicted by new material. However, for some material this page would be redundant, as they are meant to be adaptations and not additions to Canon. For example, contradictions stemming from the Ender's Game movie or Comics would be too exhaustive to list. Therefore, this list will be focusing solely on the main sources of canon: Novels and Short Stories. Supplemental canon like Recruiting Valentine and The Authorized Ender Companion provide some canon details but due to their sidelined nature and abundance of errors, they also will not be on this list.
The contradictions are sorted in sections by which source contradicted another. For example, if something was established in Ender's Game that Speaker for the Dead contradicted, the explanation is placed under Speaker's category. Categories are ordered by chronological order.
Earth Unaware[]
First Encounter with the Formics[]
In Ender's Game, it is stated that humanity's first encounter with the Formics was on Eros when they slaughtered a crew sent to investigate the asteroid.[1] However, this was contradicted by Earth Unaware in which the first encounter with the Formics is in the Kuiper Belt in empty space.[2]
However, the Ender's Game quote "They carved this place out before we even knew they were here."[1] could be taken to mean that they simply carved out Eros before the humans knew they were specifically at Eros. With the slight retcon in Ender's Shadow stating that "The Buggers made this, probably when they were mounting the Second Invasion."[3] as well as hints in The Swarm and The Hive, it seems as though the Formics took over Eros during the Second Formic War. Thus, while it obviously was not the intended meaning of the lines in Ender's Game, these later changes enable the line to be retconned without needing to change its wording.
Gravity Manipulation[]
In Ender's Game, the quotes "there've been some changes in science since the days of old Mazer Rackham and the Victorious Fleet. Obviously we can now control gravity." and when speaking about the Formics on Eros, "We learned gravity manipulation because they enhanced the gravity here." imply that gravity manipulation, or Gravitics, was not invented until after the Second Formic War.[1] This is backed up further in Speaker for the Dead with the quote "our discovery of the ansible, of starflight, of partial gravity control, even of the weapon we used to destroy the buggers-- all of them came as a direct result of our contact with the buggers.",[4] as well as Ender's Shadow: "This is how we got our secret technologies . . . the Buggers had gravity-generating machines. We learned how they worked and built our own, installing them in the Battle School and wherever else they were needed. But the I.F. never announced the fact, because it would have frightened people to realize how advanced their technology was."[3]
This is contradicted by Earth Unaware and future books by the introduction of the Glaser, a device that can manipulate gravity.[2] This is not just a fluke, however, as in Earth Afire the Heavy Equipment Recovery Copter is introduced, which lenses gravity to stay in the air,[5] as well as in Children of the Fleet, where it is stated that Juke Limited created Gravitics years before the First Formic War by making the Jukes Gravic Downmaster.[6]
Mazer Rackham's History[]
In Ender's Game, it is stated that the First Invasion occurred 30 years before the Second Invasion. Mazer Rackham served in the Second Invasion, and is described as "little known, twice court-martialed" before his victory in the second war. Then, he was stationed on Eros for 20 years. Then, he took a relativistic space flight that aged him 8 years, while 50 years passed on Earth. He appears to be around 60 or 70 years old at the time of Ender's Game.[1] By this timeline, it is not possible for Rackham to have served in the First Invasion, as he would have been 12-2 years old. In Earth Unaware, however, he is 22 years old by the start of the First Formic War.[2] The rest of this timeline is later contradicted by the remaining books in the First Formic War Trilogy and Second Formic War Trilogy, where the Second Invasion begins 3 years after the First and reaches its climax 5 years after the First.[7][8]
Earth Afire[]
Timeline of the Scouring of China[]
In Ender in Exile, Sel Menach states (in the year 41 AX) that the Scouring of China took place "nearly a century ago". This would place the Scouring as taking place sometime after 59 BX.[9] This is contradicted by Earth Afire, as the Scouring of China takes place in 87 BX, 128 years before Sel mentions it as taking place less than a century ago.[5]
Earth Awakens[]
Ecstatic Shield[]
In Ender's Game, a weapon known as the Ecstatic shield was mentioned. The only things stated about it was that the Molecular Disruption Device could penetrate its defenses and that the Formics learned how to set it up after the First Formic War after stealing the technology from Humans.[1] However, in Earth Awakens and the rest of the First Formic War Trilogy, no Ecstatic Shield is ever mentioned.[7]
The Swarm[]
Knowledge of the Hive Queen/Instantaneous Communication[]
In Ender's Game, Mazer mentions that only a few people really believed the theory on the Hive Queen before Mazer killed one in the Second Formic War, and that it was still top-secret information that the Hive Queen communicated with her workers mind-to-mind. People who had learned the secret were forced to stay on Eros for the rest of their life. Mazer states that "I wasn't the first person to suggest it, but I was the first person to believe it . . . Something so childish and stupid that the xenobiologists laughed me to silence when I said it after the battle".[1] However, in The Swarm, the Hive Queen theory and the idea that the Formics communicated mind-to-mind is widely acknowledged and accepted as predominate and supported by empirical evidence (although the Fleet dissuaded people from taking it as fact). Bingwen sees the birth of a Hive Queen himself and relays the information to the rest of the Fleet.[8]
Benyawe and the Scout Ship[]
In Earth Awakens, Noloa Benyawe is part of the strike force to disable the Formic Scout Ship.[7] However, in The Swarm, when Lem Jukes and Benyawe are approaching the scout ship to test the NanoCloud when Benyawe sees the scout ship and is in awe of how massive it is, Lem responds with "I had forgotten you haven't been here before."[8]
"Mazer in Prison"[]
Timeline[]
In Ender's Game, it is stated that Mazer aged 8 years during his relativistic voyage.[1] However, in "Mazer in Prison", he has only aged 2 years by the time he reaches the halfway point in his journey, implying that when he returned he had only aged 4 years.[10]
Ender's Game[]
Location of Battle School[]
In the first few chapters, Hyrum Graff introduces himself to Ender Wiggin as the director of the Battle School in The Belt. However, when Ender arrives at Battle School, it is revealed to be in orbit around Earth, and not in The Belt.[1]
Ender's Shadow[]
Corridors[]
In Ender's Game, Ender states that he "had lived deep in the corridors all his life" on Earth; He leans against a "corridor" while waiting for the bus, he mentions that groups of children played Buggers and Astronauts in the "corridors", and Dink Meeker reminisces about playing basketball with his brothers in the "corridors" in the Netherlands.[1] This implies that cities on Earth were enclosed and had corridors instead of streets. However, in Ender's Shadow, despite growing up in Rotterdam, the third largest city in the Netherlands, Bean makes no mention of corridors,[3] and the concept is never mentioned again in the Enderverse.
Gravity on Eros[]
In Ender's Game, Ender states that he "was plagued by vertigo as he walked through the tunnels, especially the ones that girdled Eros’s narrow circumference. It did not help that gravity was only half of Earth-normal".[1] However, in Ender's Shadow, Graff states that he "got up from the table— laboriously, because he’d put on a lot of weight and they kept Eros at full gravity". [3]
Cooking[]
In Ender's Game Chapter 7, it says "Nobody knew how to cook anymore."[1] However, in Ender's Shadow Bean notes that "Here, there were cooks and doctors, clothing and beds. Power wasn't about access to food-it was about getting the approval of adults."[3]
A War of Gifts[]
Socks[]
In Ender's Game, Chapter 6, it is stated that "We don't wear socks anymore."[1] However, in A War of Gifts, socks are major plot items.[11]
Shadow of the Hegemon[]
Ender's House[]
In Ender's Game, the Wiggin family moves from the city after Ender leaves for Battle School out to the country in Greensboro, in order to try and reduce Peter Wiggin's sociopathic tendencies.[1] However, in Shadow of the Hegemon, Bean visits the Wiggin house and sees Ender's room, despite him never living there.[12]
Ender in Exile[]
Ender knowing Demosthenes' identity[]
In Ender's Game, Chapter 13, Valentine says "'It means that you are going to make a difference in the world.' And she told him what she and Peter were doing." which implies she told Ender about her Demosthenes identity and Peter's Locke identity.[1] However, in Ender in Exile, Ender does not know who Demosthenes and Locke are until Valentine comes to Eros.[9]
Rov[]
In Speaker for the Dead, Rov was mentioned as the first planet that Andrew visited after writing The Hive Queen and The Hegemon, and the first place that Jane found Andrew.[4] However, in Ender in Exile, the first planet that Ender goes to after writing The Hive Queen and The Hegemon is Ganges.[9]
In Xenocide, Rov was stated to be the first human colony, established on a former Formic planet. Valentine Wiggin recalled seeing the abandoned Formic colony on Rov as she entered the new Formic city on Lusitania.[13] However, in Ender in Exile, Shakespeare is stated to be the first human colony, which was also on a former Formic world.[9]
Peter Outliving Graff[]
In Shadow of the Giant, Chapter 26, Peter writes in an email to Valentine stating that "I knew Hyrum Graff and Mazer Rackham very well before they died."[14] However, in Ender in Exile, Chapter 21, Graff writes in an email to Ender stating that "The passing of your brother must have come as more of a surprise. He was young, but his heart gave out," and furthermore discusses the autopsy.[9] Thus, while Mazer's death is not contradicted, in newer canon Graff does not die at all, especially not before Peter.
Children of the Fleet[]
Ellis Island or Fleet School[]
In Shadow Puppets, the former Battle School was shown and stated to have been converted into a stop for colonists heading to their colony destinations, nicknamed Ellis Island[15]; this is backed up in Ender in Exile, where Graff mentions going back to Battle School to prep it for becoming a stop for colonists.[9] However, in Children of the Fleet, the former Battle School has been converted into Fleet School, a school to train children to being commanders of ships in the Dispersal Project, with zero mention of there being a stop for colonists there.[6]
Graff's Children[]
In Ender in Exile, Hyrum Graff says "For that is my greatest personal regret. I never married and had children of my own." and "I was no one's father, by birth or adoption."[9] However, in Children of the Fleet, it is revealed that Graff is Dabeet Ochoa's biological father, though he did not raise him.[6] While it can be thought that Graff was lying to Ender that he had fathered a son, it is more likely that the lines in Exile were written with the intent that Graff had indeed had no children.
"Governor Wiggin"[]
Formic Terraforming[]
In Ender in Exile, it is stated that all of the former Formic colonies (except Shakespeare, and older colony) discovered by 41 AX had had almost all of their native biota wiped out by Formic terraforming techniques.[9] This is partially contradicted by "Governor Wiggin", as it states that Earth was the only planet to see complete destruction of the native biosphere to be replaced with Formicoid life.[16] This can be retconned to say that while other Formic colonies were heavily terraformed, only Earth saw it to this degree, however that was likely not the author's intent while writing "Governor Wiggin".
Shadows in Flight[]
Age of Bean and Petra's Children[]
In Shadow of the Giant, Petra Arkanian stays in Moscow for a year and then comes home and her/Bean's babies are just over a year old.[14] However, in Shadows in Flight, it is stated that the Herodotus left Earth when Bean's children were a year old, despite the fact that this departure takes place months before Petra's return from Moscow.[17]
"The Investment Counselor"[]
Rov[]
In Speaker for the Dead, Rov was mentioned as the first place that Jane found Andrew Wiggin.[4] However, in "The Investment Counselor", the first place that Jane finds Andrew is on Sorelledolce.[18]
Xenocide[]
M.D. Device Name[]
In Ender's Game, the weapon used to destroy the Formic Homeworld is called the Molecular Detatchment Device. However, in Xenocide (and all future books, regardless of timeline placement) it is called the Molecular Disruption Device.[13][1]
Valentine's Children[]
In Speaker for the Dead, Ren is introduced as one of Valentine Wiggin's children alongside her daughter Syfte.[4] However, in Xenocide, Valentine's children consist of Syfte, Ro, and Varsam, with no further mention of Ren. Furthermore, Ro is stated to have been born at roughly the same time that Ren was stated to be in Speaker, reinforcing the idea that Ren was forgotten and replaced by Ro in further writings.[13]
Additionally, in Speaker, Valentine is stated to have 5 children in the quote "It was Plikt, the good Lutheran who taught Valentine to conceive of Ender's life in religious terms; the powerful stability of her family life and the miracle of each of her five children".[4] However, in Xenocide, she only has 3, as well as her son-in-law Lars, Syfte's husband, who Valentine considered one of her own children in the quote "Only people like Miro, and Jakt's and Valentine's children-- Syfte, Lars, Ro, Varsam".[13]
The Last Shadow[]
Descoladores or Descolares[]
In The Last Shadow, the hypothetical creators of the Descolada virus are called the Descolares.[19] However, in Children of the Mind, which takes place only months before TLS, they were named the Descoladores by Miro Ribeira.[20]
Other Descolada Planets[]
In The Last Shadow, it is revealed that the Descolada virus was only deadly to the Lusitanian ecosystem because it was partially broken by cosmic radiation as a very rare mishap, and was originally built to be harmless.[19] However, in Children of the Mind as Miro and Valentine Wiggin II are backtracking the spread of the Descolada across planets, they find that every planet has been destroyed by the virus just like Lusitania.[20] There is no mention of these other Descolada-affected planets in The Last Shadow, and characters act like Lusitania was a fluke, rather than the norm, which by all measurements Nest is in fact the exception to the trend.[19]
Knowledge of Detouring and Formics[]
In the book it is frequently mentioned that the Hundred Worlds do not know about the rebirth of the Formics nor about Detouring.[19] However, in Children of the Mind, Peter Wiggin II and Si Wang-mu tell Admiral Bobby Lands and the Lusitania Fleet about both.[20]
Ease of Detouring[]
In Children of the Mind when the concept of Detouring (not yet named at this time) was introduced, it required incomprehensible amounts of "bandwidth" to use. Thus, only Jane, connected to the billions of Ansibles in the Hundred Worlds was capable of such a feat.[20] However, in The Last Shadow, the requirements to use this ability have changed; now, one only need an exceptionally powerful Aiúa.[19]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Ender's Game
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Earth Unaware
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Ender's Shadow
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Speaker for the Dead
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Earth Afire
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Children of the Fleet
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Earth Awakens
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 The Swarm
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Ender in Exile
- ↑ "Mazer in Prison"
- ↑ A War of Gifts: An Ender Story
- ↑ Shadow of the Hegemon
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Xenocide
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Shadow of the Giant
- ↑ Shadow Puppets
- ↑ “Governor Wiggin”
- ↑ Shadows in Flight
- ↑ "The Investment Counselor"
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 The Last Shadow
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 Children of the Mind