Although it might sound like a terribly odd and pointless question, since Edwin despises almost everyone, I ask thee only to humour me a little. ;)
Plus, there's several little interesting facts that point rather interestingly to it being a plausible theory, for instance, the essential point:

1. There is no seemingly rational explanation for really wanting Dynaheir dead. I mean, you can believe and accept ol' Ed's 'burn her, she's a witch', type spiel, but really, is this really signs of some kind of deeper neurotic hatred of women? It was a case of no questions asked, just kill her! Perhaps her intelligence as a specialist mage was perceived as a threat to his manly red Thayness!

2. When asked kindly by the charismatic thief Safana to massage her toes, ol' Edwin's reaction of "Watch your words when talking to me, lest they return strung to my boot", leaves alot to be desired in terms of affection to this woman. Did his mother perhaps not love him well enough? Was he kicked as a child? Did the request of massaging a foot in such a sweet soothing voice bring back repressed memories of a forced slavery to women? He is so very well guarded about his past! So really, who knows? :D

I'll post more on my Edwin mysoginst diagnosis if there's anything else that adds credentials to my theory. He hasn't spoken or acknowledged the existence of either Viconia or Shar-Teel! He's a funny ol' irritable cantankerous snotty bastard, but I love him. ;)

Many of the NPCs have these little quirks which make you wonder about them sometimes...I figure a thread about the hangups of some of the NPCs would make an amusing compilation read. So go crazy, pick an NPC you love (I'm sure Minsc will get a few) and come up with a wacky theory about them. It just makes characterisation that much more fun. ;)

Cheers
Cerebrodragon

[ 12-12-2003, 12:44 PM: Message edited by: CerebroDragon ]

That would make what happens to him in BG2 even funnier...

Wouldnt Ed technically be a "witch" or "warlock"*sp* himself....so he basically hates him self....??? Maybe im wrong....i usually am.

Ahh, you could be on to something there, Dar'Tanian. I didn't consider Edwin's possible inner self-loathing being a cause of his mysoginism. :D
So maybe this repressed hatred for himself comes out not only in his antagonism towards women, but from a projection of his inadequecies on to others, thus explaining his superiority complex! [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

I'm knee deep in the catacombs at the moment. Love the Dopplegangers.....
Edwin's last comment was directed at Kagain who perilously called him a dolt, again another veiled attack on Ed's intelligence. Ed needs to get some more witty replies, as his 'tied to my boot' is wearing thin on the party! With his intelligence as it is, I sure hope he has some more. ;)

Hmmm...for some reason I can't recall what happens to him precisely in BG2...Probably means I'll have to take him on again when I finally tackle ToB. ;)

He is mean sarcastic evil Wizard. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

</font>

1. Rasheman and Thay are bitter enemies. The mages of each realm are bitterly opposed to each other. This is not explained in the game, just in Forgotten Realms literature. Though they never explain why Edwin is hunting Dynaheir, more than likely it can be traced back to this conflict.</font>
2. The Thavians have a strong superiority complex as a culture. They look down at everyone, and see themselves as the greatest mages in the Realms. And the females can be mages just as well as men in their culture. Thus, I doubt Edwin's attitude has to do with hating women as much as hating everyone else he sees as "inferior" to him and his culture.</font>

Thanks for ruining the fun of the pseudo analsyis Nerull. [img]tongue.gif[/img] :D
Yes, it is plainly evident that he despises most people regardless of gender.

Nah, seriously, cheers for adding those interesting facts, as they add alot to trying to understand his background. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]
I failed to take into account the broader cultural and early environmental factors... ;)

I guess my next quest for further enlightenment on Thay culture would be to allocate myself some of the relevant Forgotten Realms novels that you mentioned. If anyone can reccomend any which are somehow pertinent to the topic, then feel free.

I vaguely recall encountering Thay wizards a fair bit in the two games late in the AD&D goldbox series, both Gateway and Treasures of the Savage Frontier....my memories are a little hazy on them however, so I might have to go back to them at some point as well.

I know of one Thay book in the FR series: Red Magic (The Harpers series, #3) by Jean Rabe. I tried an Amazon search, but Thay pops up in 100+ titles. [img]tongue.gif[/img]