I also considered Enders Game and didn’t arrive at the same conclusion. After all we follow him though all of the hard work. Yes he does win most of the challenges but then a) he has been bred for that and b) all the situations are set up and monitored—presumably to keep him in his zone of proximal development. And most of this is made transparent. And as you say he meets his equal and even fails. So I think this rather falls into the category of making the best of ones talent by hard work.
I also considered Enders Game and didn’t arrive at the same conclusion. After all we follow him though all of the hard work. Yes he does win most of the challenges but then a) he has been bred for that and b) all the situations are set up and monitored—presumably to keep him in his zone of proximal development. And most of this is made transparent. And as you say he meets his equal and even fails. So I think this rather falls into the category of making the best of ones talent by hard work.