- “'Respect'. That's an awfully queer word. Something is not right with all this. So listen. Learn about vampires. It's knowledge I may need.”
- ―Edna[src]
Edna Giles, born Edna Fairweather, was a Watcher. She grew up to become a prominent member of the Watchers Council and the matriarch of a three-generation family of Watchers, which included her son as well as her grandson Rupert Giles.
Biography
When she was ten, Edna underwent training with the Watchers Council. She demonstrated herself to be extremely insightful, eventually outwitting Roche and Sophie Downs, two old and powerful vampires that had managed to deceive Edna's own teachers,[1] the first vampires she'd ever saw.[2] She had three colleges: James, Roger, and the infiltrated vampire Sophie, who she threatened with a knife in her throat to protect Roger.[3]
Despite loathing vampires, she was capable of admitting she had learned from Roche's stories, and sympathized his sire's death. On the other hand, she insulted and yelled at her older watchers for putting such young children at risk as training.[4]
One of Edna's teachers observed that he would "be long gone from the Council by the time she [would be] running it,"[4] which seems to imply that Edna eventually became a leading member of the Council.
As a child, Edna was in love with "the slightly older son" of the family that ran the local Giles' Bakery,[1] with whom she would marry and have a son.
Rupert and Edna in the 70s.
Both Edna's son and grandson Rupert Giles would go on to act as Watchers. When Rupert abandoned his studies at Oxford, Edna head bad things about his ongoing life and sought him in one of his band presentations.[5] Together, they battled vampires at a disco club and talked while drinking whiskey. Edna advised about Rupert's guilty on summoning Eyghon, and appropriate ability to relate to Slayers,[2] successfully convincing him to return to his Watcher training.
Edna had two sisters, Lavinia and Sophronia. Unlike her, they were flighty and irresponsible and did not become Watchers, instead using their skill with magic to preserve their youth and beauty.[6] Still, Rupert has pointed that the three sisters had identical brand of sarcasm, for which she called him "wicked,"[2] indicating her dislike for her sisters' personalities.
Appearances
- "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date" (Only mentioned)
- Tales of the Vampires, Part One
- Tales of the Vampires, Part Two
- Tales of the Vampires, Part Three
- Tales of the Vampires, Part Four
- Tales of the Vampires, Part Five
- Women of a Certain Age (Only in flashbacks)
- Death and Consequences, Part Three (Only in flashbacks)
- Death and Consequences, Part Four (Only in flashbacks)