- This article is about the Hive Queen that was found on Shakespeare. You may be looking for other uses of the term Hive Queen.
- "The humans did not forgive us," she thought. "We will surely die."
- — Ender's Game, page 320
The Hive Queen of Shakespeare was a certain Formic Hive Queen that was left to be found by Ender Wiggin on the planet of Shakespeare, who later restored her species on the world of Lusitania. She was first introduced in Ender's Game.
During the Hive Queen's time as a larva, she was picked by the other Hive Queens to be the one to travel to another world in order to save the Formic species from their extinction in the impending Xenocide. The cocooned Queen was transported from the Formic Homeworld to a colony to be discovered by the same Ender Wiggin who had destroyed their species.
Discovery by Ender
When Ender met the Hive Queen as the governor of Shakespeare, he took the responsibility of finding a suitable environment for the Hive Queen to have her species reborn. During the period of searching, the Hive Queen was almost a friend to Ender, though was concealed and sometimes regarded as intrusive. Twenty years later for Ender, around 3000 AX, the Hive Queen rebuilt her species on the planet Lusitania.
A Restored Species
Over the next few decades, the Hive Queen built a hive of activity, technologically capable of building starships. During this time, she befriended the Pequenino Fathertree Human, and the two communicated via their philotic connection.
In a conversation with Ender Wiggin some time before the attempted Second Xenocide, she helped Ender discover, however unintentionally, the essence of Jane and clues to find a means of faster-than-light travel. Once FTL travel was achieved, she sent out several of her new queen daughters to discovered habitable worlds, along with the Pequeninos and humans.
The Hive Queen did not attend Ender's funeral.
The Hive Queen acted for the benefit of her species, however she changed slightly after meeting Andrew and got to know humans better. When the Pequeninos were in danger, she sent some of her workers to help the other species.
- "Your people are fools. We know the truth. We know who killed us, and it wasn't you."
- — Speaker for the Dead, page 52