I have been suggesting since Season 1 that the idealized vision of Edward Alderson in Elliot’s memory was not the real Edward Alderson. Like every single other character on Mr. Robot, Edward was a complicated person, capable of being patient and loving at one moment and also capable of pushing Elliot out a window in another.

I probably should also mention that I am virtually certain that in Elliot’s previous recollections of being pushed out of the window by Edward, there was no snow on the ground (which makes the snowman story particularly interesting). Not sure I have a good theory here yet, but something is going on with this story as well.

Anyway, Edward was willing to look the other way as his wife abused Darlene.

There were also strong hints that Edward had some real issues with women.

If you go back to the ‘Word Up Wednesday” episode listen carefully to what he says about his wife to Elliot in the convenience store (or was it a gas station?).

And there were also the Lolita references (in both Angela and Darlene’s backstories).

And while Darlene explicitly states that the death of Edward (and yes, she called him her Father tonight conspiracy lovers) messed her up too, you can hear in her voice that if it did mess her up, it probably wasn’t in the same way that it messed Elliot up.

You will notice that Darlene did not say she came back to hang out with Mr. Robot, she said she came back to spend more time with Elliot (also hold onto this idea for a few minutes, one of Darlene’s favorite movies as a kid was Robin Hood Prince of Thieves).

And now we have seen how Mr. Robot treated and talked to Krista (I believe he actually used the word “cooze” at one point) and physically threatened and intimidated both her and Darlene.

Edward was much more than the idealized father Elliot shares with us at times.

E Prime (all the parts of Elliot Alderson - the whole) represents both sides of Edward’s personality and also Elliot’s anger at both losing his father and at his father’s dark side.

Elliot (the one we all like) represents the idealized Edward, the person Elliot remembers in Edwards best moments, caring and trying to make the world a better place.

Mr. Robot exists for three reasons:

1. He represents the other part of Edward, the mean and abusive Edward who Elliot deeply resents. Sam Esmail called Season 2 “The Empire Strikes Back” for a reason, Mr. Robot is the dark side and Elliot’s anger at both Edward and E-Corp powers the dark side.

2. Mr. Robot is the part of Elliot that he needed to channel his rage and create 5/9. Elliot is Robin Hood (see what he was doing to all of his superiors at E-Crop) while Mr. Robot is Darth Vader. Robin Hood doesn’t kill or dispossess innocent people for the greater good. Robin Hood is not an agent of lifeboat ethics. Darth Vader can exterminate whole planets without losing much sleep.

3. Elliot needs Mr. Robot in order to prevent the annihilation of his own best self. Elliot represents the person he most wants to be and the person he can least afford to lose, his ideal father. Elliot is full of rage at his father and rage at E-Corp for taking his father from him. Without Mr. Robot, all Elliot would have would be rage (see the ‘whiterose’’ discussion with his Assistant at the beginning of Eps3.0)

In other words, Mr. Robot isn’t working against Elliot, at least not in the way many seem to think. Mr. Robot is what allows Elliot to exist. In a perfect world, where Elliot had no rage left, Mr. Robot would not need to exist at all (in dissociatives, alters exist because they are the parts of the fractured whole best able to serve necessary functions).

In other words, as long as Elliot retains his rage, Mr. Robot exists to preserve Elliot’s ability to imagine a better self.

This is also part of why Elliot is still crying despite his execution of undo.gz at E Corp.

Part One: Elliot is still full of rage, alone and angry. Deep down, he knows he isn’t happy (hence not ‘cured’ of his ‘problem’). When he says he misses being “part of something important” what he is really saying is that he still deeply wants to act his anger out.

Part Two: I suspect, Elliot’s understanding of the Stage 2 plan is woefully and purposefully incomplete.