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| “ | If Ed walked through that door, breathing, and told me to go with him, I'd like to think I'd tell him to go to hell.
―Carol to Beth about Ed.[src]
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Ed Peletier is a survivor in the zombie apocalypse in AMC's The Walking Dead. During the initial outbreak, he evacuated to Atlanta with his abused wife Carol Peletier and his daughter Sophia Peletier. They eventually found a camp of survivors and joined their group.
Personality
Ed is shown to be violent and abusive especially to his wife, but he would often verbally abuse the other females of the group. Carol mentions that Ed would try and show his dominance by not allowing her to wear attractive clothing and this is possibly the reasoning for Carol's short hair to make her less attractive to other males.
Ed was revealed to have paid very little attention to Sophia and when she was an infant he would often stay at a friend's house, leaving Carol to care for Sophia. While never elaborated on, it's hinted that Ed may have had some sort of sexual relationship with his daughter as Carol stated in a prayer in "What Lies Ahead" that she wished Ed to be punished for not only abusing her but also "for looking at his own daughter, whatever sickness was growing in his soul." but this is only ambiguous from Carol's own words and Lori's reaction.
Pre-Apocalypse
Southern United States
Ed never attended college (as revealed through remarks made towards Andrea). In his younger years, he charmed Carol enough to convince her to date and eventually marry him. They had a daughter together, who was named Sophia. He rarely paid attention to Sophia, often relying on Carol to be the parental figure of the family. When Sophia was an infant, he resorted to staying at a friend's house nights on end, leaving Carol to deal with Sophia by herself.
Ed dominated Carol throughout their marriage, from preventing her from buying nice clothes, to physically/verbally assaulting her in order to solidify his authority. Despite this, he did buy Carol a watch for their first anniversary.
He owned a yellow 1979 Jeep Cherokee that he and his family used to get to the camp. This vehicle was later abandoned in a town near the Greene Farm.
Post-Apocalypse
When the undead outbreak occurred, Ed met Shane Walsh and Lori Grimes as evacuations were being made for the survivors to head towards Atlanta. He became angry when Carol offered a MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) to Lori, so Carl could eat, and ordered her to not share with anyone. With the city being destroyed by the military, he, along with his family, decided to remain with Shane and Lori.
Season 1
"Tell It to the Frogs"
When Glenn returned to the group alone, he brought a noisy car with him, and Ed watched as Shane, Dale Horvath, and Jim prevented the noise from emanating any further. One night in the survivors' camp after Rick and the other survivors made it back from Atlanta, Ed started a fire in an attempt to receive some warmth from the cold night. Shane asked Ed to dim it down to embers, and Carol did so in an attempt to keep things calm between the two men.
After Rick wakes up, Ed can briefly be seen going through the back of his car. When Daryl returns to camp, Rick and Shane inform him about Merle, as Ed watches with the others under the RV awning. Ed then takes up guard duty atop the RV as Rick, T-Dog, Glenn, and Daryl head to the city for Merle.
Later, as Carol, Andrea, Amy, and Jacqui were doing laundry in the quarry, they began joking and chatting, which drew the attention of Ed. He came over to the women, harassing them, ordering them to be quiet and to resume their chores. Andrea and Jacqui pressed that he needed to back off, to which Ed responded with hostility. His wife intervened to prevent him from becoming violent, but he smacked her across the face in the process. Shane grabbed Ed and began to savagely beat him, warning him that if he would ever hit another woman (or his daughter), Shane would go as far as killing him. Shane let go of Ed, walking away as a sobbing Carol tended to her injured husband.
"Vatos"
Ed thereafter remains in his tent, recovering from the injuries inflicted by Shane. Sophia is seen inside the tent, as well, during the group's fish fry. Carol comes to collect her, but Ed grabs Sophia's arm and asks her to stay with him. Carol stands her ground, however, and tells him Sophia wants to join the others. He refuses to attend the fish fry and stays in his tent. Later, while he is napping, he is awakened by rustling outside his tent. Annoyed, he opens the tent and is promptly attacked by a congregation of walkers.
"Wildfire"
Ed's body was laid out with the other dead campers. Just as Daryl Dixon was going to impale his head with an axe to prevent reanimation, Carol stopped him, stating that she'd do it, as he was her husband. She swings at Ed's bloody and mangled body several times, releasing years of contained anger and rage, before breaking down. He is then buried on the hillside along with Amy and the others.
Season 2
"What Lies Ahead"
The remaining survivors are stopped on a highway jammed with cars after narrowly escaping from the CDC. Eventually, they decide to loot the empty cars in an attempt to find supplies and new clothes. Carol finds a shirt that catches her eye in the back of an SUV, and informs Lori that Ed never allowed her to own nice clothing (presumably to make him feel superior in their marriage). Later Carol and the rest of the group discover a church after their travels through the woods to find Sophia, who had recently gone missing. While there, Carol prays to the figure of Jesus on the cross, confessing that although she prayed for Ed's death due to his abuse of her and implied sexual feelings for Sophia ("whatever sickness was growing in his soul.") was a sin, her punishment shouldn't be the cause for Sophia's death.
"Chupacabra"
The episode begins in a flashback sequence, in which the Peletiers, along with Lori, Carl Grimes, and Shane Walsh, are stopped on a highway (the same one which left the survivors trapped in "What Lies Ahead"). Carl states that he is hungry, and Carol says that she can get him something to eat (as Ed has an abundance of food in the back of his Jeep). As she opens the door to retrieve some, Ed forcibly shuts it and berates Carol for giving away even a small amount of their food. Carol meekly sinks back and says that she wasn't thinking. Later in the episode, Daryl risks his life to search for Sophia. He is accidentally shot by Andrea (who mistook him for a walker). During dinner, Carol brought the laid-up Daryl a plate of food and said that he did more for Sophia than Ed had even done in his whole life, and kissed him on the forehead.
Season 3
"The Suicide King"
Daryl decides to leave the group after reuniting with his long-lost brother, Merle. Carol is upstairs in the prison preparing a bed for Rick and Lori's baby, Judith. Beth Greene comes up to talk with Carol, and says that she is upset with Daryl for leaving them. Carol says that men like Merle have a way of getting inside your head and making you feel like you deserve abuse. She relates by comparing how she would react around Ed a year ago and how she would react to him now, saying that she'd like to think she'd tell Ed to "go to hell" if he were alive and demanded her to come with him (referencing the incident which occurred in "Tell It to the Frogs").
"This Sorrowful Life"
Ed is mentioned during the conversation between Carol and Merle Dixon. Merle comments on Carol's toughened nature and recalls how scared she used to be at the Atlanta camp; he implies that Carol is a "late bloomer." She handily replies that perhaps he is too.
Season 4
"Indifference"
When Carol and Rick are in a neighborhood scavenging for food and medical supplies, Carol mentions Ed and how she would hope things would get better, despite his abusive ways. She would tell herself that she still loved him. After Rick decided to banish Carol from the group, she gave her watch from Ed to Rick, stating that it should have been done a while ago.
"The Grove"
Ed is mentioned by Carol in a conversation with Tyreese, telling him one of Ed's favorite hunting jokes as they scout the woods looking for deer.
Season 5
"Consumed"
Carol mentions that she and Sophia spent the night at a temporary housing unit in Atlanta before returning to Ed, who beat her for running off.
Death
Killed By
- Shane Walsh (Indirectly Caused)
- Zombies (Alive)
After Shane's brutal beating, Ed sat inside his tent, not wanting to see anyone. When the Walkers approached the survivors' camp at night, Ed heard one of them outside his tent, he assumes it's someone bothering him and opens the tent, only to discover a walker, it managed to force itself inside Ed's tent, devouring him before he could cry for help. He died instantly, before being completely devoured by Walkers.
- Carol Peletier (Before Reanimation)
Ensuring that Ed doesn't reanimate as a Walker, the survivors laid him on the ground, but when Daryl was about to destroy his brain with a pickaxe, Carol came over and did it instead.
Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Ed has killed:
- Possibly numerous counts of zombies.
Relationships
Carol Peletier
| “ | Ed never let me wear nice things.
―Carol to Lori.[src]
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” |
Carol and Ed were married before the apocalypse. Ed constantly abused Carol and their daughter, Sophia, even after the apocalypse had hit. At the Atlanta camp, Ed acted very controlling of Carol, forcing her to pull a log out of a fire, ordering her to go in the tent, slapping her when she disobeyed him, as well as other acts. While Carol, Andrea, Amy, and Jacqui were washing clothes, Ed shouted at them snapping things like, "This ain't no comedy club" when they were laughing and, "I'll still knock you on your ass" to Andrea. He tried to drag Carol away in anger, but she was pulled away by Andrea, Jacqui and Amy. This caused Ed to become even angrier and he, in turn, slapped Carol across her face. Shane, who had been observing for a time a few yards away, quickly grabbed Ed, threw him to the ground, sat on top of his chest and arms, and then started beating his face in repeatedly, telling him that if he ever laid his hands on another women in camp then he would beat Ed to death, and kicked him swiftly in the ribcage as he got off him. Carol started to cry and tried to pull Shane away from Ed. When he died during the attack on the camp, Daryl prepared to prevent reanimation, but Carol instead took out her vengeance on her husband's corpse, crying as she mutilated his head.
Sophia Peletier
| “ | Why don't you stay here? Keep your daddy company.
―Ed to Sophia[src]
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Ed and Sophia had a fairly distant relationship, at best. Ed had a history of abuse, beating his wife, both physically and possibly sexually. The same possibly occurred with Sophia, as she seemed to be in fear of him, maintaining her distance from his side. Carol states in a prayer made while searching for Sophia in "What Lies Ahead", that she had wished for Ed to be punished, not only for abusing herself but "for looking at his own daughter, whatever sickness was growing in his soul." Though the meaning of this is ambiguous, it might be assumed, both by Carol's words and by Lori's reaction to this, namely being broken from her own reverie at hearing this and looking at Carol with pity, that Carol means to say that Ed had some sort of sexual relationship with his daughter. However the meaning of this statement is ambiguous and therefore open to interpretation. Shortly before the walker attack on the camp, he was required to remain in his tent due to his shame of the injuries on his face due to an assault from Shane Walsh. He attempted persuading Sophia to remain at his side, but Carol berated him. They departed, and Ed dismissed them angrily. Their relationship wasn't explored more before his death.
Shane Walsh
| “ | You put your hands on your wife, your little girl, or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time, do you hear me? DO YOU HEAR ME?! I'll beat you to death, Ed. I'll BEAT you to death.
―Shane to Ed after beating him.[src]
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Ed and Shane had a fairly violent relationship, due to Shane's protectiveness over the women in the Atlanta Camp. When Ed erected a separate bonfire for his family, Shane attempted to peacefully remove it, but Ed objected, before Carol finally did it herself. Following Ed's angry yelling and beating of the women doing laundry in the creek, Shane berated Ed, knocking him to the ground, and beating his face in, although being told to stop after continuous beating. He then utters a very strong line before delivering one final blow to Ed's face. Ed remained distant before his death, deciding to remain in his tent most of the time, shameful of his face's condition and fearful and angry at Shane's superiority.
Andrea
| “ | Hey, don't think I won't knock you on your ass, just cause you're some college educated cooze, alright?
―Ed insulting Andrea.[src]
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Ed and Andrea had a poor relationship, which finally failed on the day of the women doing the laundry in the quarry. Upon hearing the woman laughing jovially, he approached, berating them for their lack of work. Upon attempting to tear Carol away from the group, Andrea retaliated, yelling at him and throwing the dirty rag at him. He whipped it back, slapping Carol, before being beaten to the ground by Shane. They were shown to have a very poor relationship.
Jacqui
| “ | So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed?
―Jacqui to Ed over Carol's bruising.[src]
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Jacqui and Ed had little to no interaction at all, but they had one instance of conversation shortly before the attack on their camp by Walkers. Upon attempting to tear Carol away from the laundry group of woman, Jacqui attempted to prevent it from happening, noting the bruises that Carol already had, and the new ones she was sure to receive.
Appearances
TV Series
Season 1
- "Tell It to the Frogs"
- "Vatos"
- "Wildfire" (Corpse)
Season 2
- "Chupacabra" (Flashback)
Trivia
- In the episode, "Vatos", it is implied that Ed may have a history of sexual abuse towards Sophia. This is never explored however, as the his death follows almost immediately. This is further supported by Carol's words in "What Lies Ahead", after Sophia's disappearance. In the church, Carol says praying for Ed's death was a sin, even though he looked at his own daughter - "whatever sickness was growing in his soul."