When you say "Bean was Ender's trusted right hand," I suspect you're thinking mostly of "Ender's Shadow". Reading the original book on its own, Bean comes across as very creative with his small team but not really as a "right hand". (I'd think mostly of Petra and Alai in that role, in somewhat different ways.)

As you point out, there really were some conflicting perspectives (and to some degree even conflicting "facts") in the two stories, and at least for me those "retcons" made the newer book less enjoyable. The few bits of Bean's dialog or internal thoughts that were carried over directly from the original book feel really out of place in the retelling.