T. R. Edwards
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Thomas Riley (T.R.) Edwards is a fictional character appearing in the Robotech Universe. He would have been a main character in the storyline covered in the aborted series Robotech II: The Sentinels, which was later realized as a comic book series, and he features prominently in the Sentinels novels by Jack McKinney. In his very brief animated appearance, he was voiced by Greg Snegoff.
Lt. Colonel T.R. Edwards was a mercenary during the Global Civil War that ravaged Earth prior to the crash landing of the SDF-1. Some accounts report that he was employed as a fighter pilot by the Greater North East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere but Edwards' past is subject to reinterpretation. He was instrumental in the early days of the newly formed United Earth Government and acted as a facilitator to various parties. He had a steady but tense association with Roy Fokker as his supervisor during the early days of Veritech development. After the Veritech Valkyrie project was put on hold due to increased accidents, Edwards was recruited by colonel Anatole Leonard who harbored a distrust of the United Earth Government that was arising out of the ashes of the Global Civil War.
Edwards' whereabouts and activities in the UEG during most of the First Robotech War is for the most part uncertain. But it is known, at least, that he was at the Alaska Base Grand Cannon Facility during the attack of Dolza's armada. Edwards survived but was left scarred for life. As a result of injuries, Edwards would wear a half cowl mask that conceals the ruined right side of his face. He seems to blame Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes for not bothering to check for other survivors when Rick rescued Lisa from that same facility.
Edwards was later appointed General and would accompany Rick Hunter, Lisa Hayes, Dr. Emil Lang and others on the SDF-3 in the Robotech Expeditionary Force's mission.
In a bold coup d'État, General Edwards seized control of captured Invid technology using his Ghost Squadron, REF members loyal to the Edwards' faction. The most important technological device in his possession was the Invid Brain which was captured during successful liberation of one of the Invid occupied Sentinel Worlds. With the Invid Brain, Edwards could plan his strategy and develop technological breakthroughs that would take the REF years to accomplish. Edwards allied himself with the Invid Regent only to betray him in the end. Edwards met his own fate soon after after being transformed by an Invid genesis pit into a grotesque mutation.
In the original Robotech timeline, Edwards and Roy Fokker frequently clashed as enemy pilots during the Global Civil War that preceded the SDF-1 arrival. In the re-booted timeline as depicted in the Wildstorm comics, Fokker meets Edwards sometime after the war and although they are not quite buddies, there is none of the intense dislike between the two from the original timeline. Also, in Wildstorm's Prelude to Shadow Chronicles miniseries, (which theoretically follows up on the Sentinels comics previously published by Academy and Eternity), Edwards is portrayed as much less insanely evil and meglomaniacal. Instead, he seems to honestly justify his actions in the interest of putting human civilization first. Edwards believes that Rick Hunter and the other REF members who joined the alien Sentinels' cause have forgotten the original mission of the Pioneer expedition. Like Anatole Leonard in the Robotech Masters segment of the 1985 TV series, Edwards also reflects human xenophobia and anthropocentrism which were recurring issues during Robotech. As evident by some of his thoughts expressed in the miniseries, Edwards seems to question the morality of his actions but feels, nonetheless committed to his course of action. Vince Grant (who in the original Sentinels always regarded Edwards with suspicion) attempts to reason with Edwards to bring his plans to Admiral Hunter, reinforcing the notion that Edwards has been retconned as a loyal, trusted member of the REF, at least before his coup. It is possible that the Invid Brain may have mentally influenced Edwards' actions. Rick, regretful over having to fight Edwards, also suspects that Edwards may have been trying to warn them of something in the only way he could. The nature of his suspicions may verge on the emergence of an as yet unseen enemy that possibly dwells within the ranks of their trusted Sentinel allies.
[edit] Additional notes on character
In Carl Macek's book Robotech Art III: The Sentinels, Edwards' name is given as B.D. Edwards. To many Robotech fans at the time, this was a noticeable connection to the OAV Megazone 23 and possibly a connection to Robotech: The Movie which uses footage from Megazone 23 part 1. B.D. is the name of the chief antagonist in Megazone 23. In the original script for Robotech: The Movie, B.D. was re-named B.D. Edwards. As the events of the movie originally took place during the original voyage of the SDF-1 back from Pluto, it was the intention that the Edwards from the movie would be the same Edwards who would later appear in Sentinels. However, in the final cut of the movie, the story's timeframe was switched to the Robotech Masters era, long after the SDF-3 had departed Earth. This necessitated the change of the character's name to B.D. Andrews. The initials T.R. (Thomas Riley) were established in Comico's Robotech: The Graphic Novel.
This does explain why, in character design sketches, there is a similarity of T.R. Edwards to Megazone's B.D., particularly when seen without the mask.
The Wildstorm Comics, essentially completely redesign the character and his character designs noticeably borrow heavily from Capcom's Street Fighter characters. The thirty year old Edwards visibly borrows elements from Col. Guile and Charlie. The older Edwards appearing in Prelude to Shadow Chronicles visibly borrows from M. Bison.
