Edgar Stiles


 * "If I say I can do it, I can do it."
 * &mdash; Edgar Stiles, "Day 4: 1:00pm-2:00pm"

Edgar Stiles was an intelligence analyst with CTU Los Angeles. He frequently expressed reluctance to defy authority, but was convinced on several occasions to do so by friend and fellow analyst Chloe O'Brian. Edgar was killed during a nerve gas attack on CTU during Day 5.

Before Day 4
Edgar Stiles graduated with honors from New York University with a degree in Computer Applications; he specialized in operating systems, distributed systems, information retrieval, and wireless networks.

Trojan Horse
Several years before Day 1, Edgar was hired by CTU Los Angeles as a low-level analyst, working under Milo Pressman. Six weeks into his new job, Edgar was on duty at CTU's mobile command center outside the Chamberlain Auditorium, where Hasan's cult had taken hostages during the Silver Screen Awards. While looking over blueprints, he remembered that his mother Lucy, who used to work there, had once told him about the bomb shelters Civil Defense had installed in the building during the Cold War. Unable to locate the basements on any schematics, Jack Bauer deduced that they would be unknown to the terrorists as well, and planned to lead an assault team into the building through the shelter and rescue the hostages.

Two months before Day 4, Edgar was hired as a high-level intelligence agent at the newly renovated CTU Los Angeles. During the first two weeks on the job, he was reportedly so nervous that Chloe O'Brian effectively had to do his job for him.

Day 4
During the first hours of Day 4, Jack was provisionally reinstated to CTU to help with a situation, but ended up breaking protocol in order to follow a lead after Agent Ronnie Lobell was shot and killed in the line of duty. He received help from Chloe, who decided to recruit Edgar for additional assistance. Chloe convinced Edgar that if she ended up getting caught she would keep quiet about his involvement or if Edgar was caught she would tell Director Of CTU Los Angeles Erin Driscoll that she ordered him to do so. When Chloe realized that she was being monitored, she asked Edgar to break protocol to steal satellite footage.

Eventually Chloe was caught and Miss Driscoll forced her to resign, despite being susceptible to imprisonment (Driscoll decided not to have her arrested because Jack had been correct about the lead). As promised, Chloe didn't imply Edgar's role in helping Jack. As she left she told Edgar that he was a geek, "but a good guy."

When Marianne Taylor realized Edgar and Chloe were covertly helping Jack, she decided to use this as leverage against Edgar after Chloe's departure. Marianne threatened to tell Driscoll about Edgar's involvement in helping Jack and Chloe if Edgar didn't do what she asked. He was continually forced to get Marianne access to files she didn't have clearance for.

After Jack rescued Secretary Heller and Audrey from the terrorist compound it was discovered that the kidnapping and trial were used to cover up a larger terrorist plot. Habib Marwan and his cell had access to the Dobson Override device and they planned on using it to melt down nuclear reactors across the country, hence killing thousands of Americans. Secretary Heller helped take control of CTU and informed President John Keeler of the situation. Edgar and the rest of the analysts worked on finding a way to stop the meltdowns.

Heller congratulated Edgar and Driscoll's staff, when Edgar successfully built and executed a program that stopped the nuclear meltdowns. However, six of the reactors weren't affected by the program.

When Sarah Gavin was taken into custody for allegedly leaking classified information out of CTU, Edgar did some investigating and discovered that Marianne was the real mole and had framed Sarah to divert suspicion. When Marianne realized that he was onto her, she tried to stop him, but Edgar didn't back down and went straight to Agent Curtis Manning. Marianne was taken into custody and Sarah was released and continued to help out on the floor.



Unfortunately one of the six remaining reactors was near San Gabriel Island, where Edgar's mother Lucy lived. Edgar called his mother to see if she had left her home. When he learned that she wouldn't be able to be evacuated from San Gabriel, Edgar went to Audrey for help. Audrey called the coast guard, but wasn't able to guarantee Edgar that his mother would be saved. Edgar called his mother again and told her he would do everything in his power to save her. Lucy decided that it would be best if she stayed at her home, as there was no hope. She planned on dying on her own terms, choosing peaceful suicide (this is presumed, but never actually explained) over agonizing radiation exposure. Lucy explained to Edgar how proud she was of him and how much she loved him. This was their last conversation. At first Edgar tried to leave to help Lucy, but Driscoll managed to convince him that he'd be of more help at CTU and that it was what his mother would have wanted. Despite his grief and anger over the loss of his mother, Edgar agreed to stay and did his best to handle his feelings and continued to help CTU stop Marwan's attacks.

When the override was recovered, Edgar assisted Curtis through the phone with the handling of the device to successfully stop the meltdown of the remaining nuclear plants. The CTU staff, including Driscoll and Secretary Heller, congratulated him on his success in stopping the remaining meltdowns.

Unfortunately Driscoll's daughter, Maya, committed suicide, ultimately forcing her to step down upon Secretary Heller's personal advice. Tony Almeida was temporarily reinstated as Special Agent in Charge.



When Michelle fired Sarah, she brought Chloe back into CTU to pick up the slack. However, shortly after her arrival, Chloe realized that Edgar at that point was her boss. Immediately, she complained to Edgar about this development, feeling that she was the one who deserved to be in control. Shortly after, she brought her complaint to Curtis Manning, who explained that Edgar had to remain the boss on paper and that she would, therefore, have to follow his orders. Meanwhile, Edgar began to feel increasingly under pressure from both the stress of the situation and Chloe's insubordination. As a result, he lashed out at Chloe in response to her defiance and allowed himself to get caught up in her bickering. Chloe eventually went to Michelle and asked for her to tell Edgar that she outranked him. However, just as Curtis did, Michelle told her that she would have to let Edgar outrank her on paper.

Edgar and Chloe continued to work throughout the day in assisting the search for Habib Marwan. Eventually Bill Buchanan, the Regional Division Director of CTU, was sent to oversee the investigation. When Chloe had to go on the field for the first time in order to follow up on a lead, Edgar offered that he go instead, but Bill insisted that Chloe go. Edgar assured Chloe that he would keep everything at comm up to task, but Chloe later ended up getting attacked by one of Marwan's men and the field agents were killed in the process. Edgar showed immediate concern for Chloe and she eventually got access to a rifle, which she used to kill the hostile.

Chloe and Edgar later discovered that one of Marwan's recent contacts was Richard Heller, the son of Secretary Heller. Richard was brought to CTU and he eventually confessed that he was sleeping with a man one night, and the man's girlfriend must have planted a device to record his calls. This way Marwan was able to get the necessary information for the kidnapping of the Secretary.

CTU was able to corner Marwan, but he fell to his death during the attempt to detain him. Edgar and Chloe both worked to stop a stolen nuclear missile from hitting LA, and their attempts were successful.

Day 5


During the opening moments of Day 5, Edgar was working leads regarding the assassination of President David Palmer. At one point, he told Bill Buchanan that President Charles Logan was ready to be briefed. When Spenser arrived, Edgar asked him if Jepson had briefed him about the attempt on Michelle Dessler and Tony Almeida. He then told Spenser that he would send the parameters to his screen to work out any connections between them. After that, Edgar called Chloe O'Brian to see if she was coming to CTU. As he informed her what had happened to Michelle and Tony, Chloe abruptly hung up telling him she'll call later.

Some time later, Edgar and other CTU staffers met at the Situation Room to receive orders from Buchanan. When Bill informed that Tony Almeida was being brought to CTU medical clinic, Edgar asked why and Bill told him they could protect him there. As time went by and Chloe didn't arrive, Edgar started to worry and asked Spenser if he had seen her. Spenser told him that she was probably caught on traffic. Edgar insisted and told Spenser he'll ask Adamson to put a trace on Chloe's cell, but Spenser told him he knew she was ok, and confessed he was with her less than an hour ago.

Edgar later pulled up security footage from the building in front of Palmer's penthouse. As he ran some filters to better render the image, he brought the footage to Buchanan, revealing Palmer's assassin to be Jack Bauer. Bauer, who had faked his death at the end of Day 4 (18 months earlier), became CTU's only lead and Buchanan contacted President Charles Logan with the news. As Buchanan briefed all CTU personnel, new information arised that indicated Chloe might've been involved in Jack's "death", with Tony and Michelle. When Buchanan commented that they hadn't been able to contact Chloe, Edgar told him that he wanted to have Adamson put a trace on Chloe's cell, but Spenser convinced him not to, assuring him she was ok. He then held the blame on Spenser if anything happened to Chloe.

As they continued to coordinate the search for Bauer, Spenser told Edgar he was having problems with his security code. Edgar gave him Chloe's code, but Spenser told him the system wouldn't let him in. When Edgar checked it out, he realized that Chloe was accessing the system remotely. Edgar then informed this to Buchanan, who alerted the authorities at Palmer's penthouse. Later, Edgar intercepted some NSA chatter that suggested the summit could be attacked within the next 15 minutes. He informed Buchanan about it, and he alerted Mike Novick. However, President Suvarov arrived without any incident. When Chloe was brought to CTU by security, Edgar and Spenser looked at her in disbelief.

When a hostage crisis ensued at the Ontario Airport, Jack Bauer contacted CTU from inside. He started sending pictures from the terrorists and Edgar tried to match them to any terrorist database. Chloe, who was being taken by security, interrupted him and told her to use a different search protocol to widen the search. This resulted in a hit from the Bureau of Continental Affairs, who kept a profile on Anton Beresch, a former Soviet soldier and leader of the terrorists. Edgar then informed Buchanan about it. Edgar continued to coordinate CTU's raid at the airport, with Chloe and Spenser. He was present when Lynn McGill arrived and when he discovered that Jack was giving CTU information under duress. This information helped CTU plan a revised assault and successfully secure the airport.

Edgar later confronted Chloe and asked her why she concealed the truth about Jack's death from him. Chloe claimed that it was "something called national security". Edgar forced it out of his head as a terrorist threat emerged involving a hostage situation at the Ontario Airport, which was foiled after Jack was able to work from the inside.



It was later revealed that the hostage situation also served as a cover for a much larger threat dealing with nerve gas. CTU discovered that a man named Ivan Erwich had access to 20 canisters of Sentox VX nerve gas. While authorities were dealing with the hostage situation, Erwich managed to smuggle the gas out of the hangar with help from James Nathanson. However, Edgar discovered through lab tests that the nerve gas was "milspec".

When a man named Hank attempted to kill Jack, it was revealed that there was a mole inside CTU. Chloe and Edgar later discovered Spenser Wolff had access to restricted files. Spenser was placed under arrest and Chloe felt betrayed, while Edgar seemed to be relieved. Chloe and Edgar then handled tactical for Jack and Curtis as they raided Jacob Rossler's apartment. CTU soon became aware that Erwich's men planned on releasing a canister of nerve gas in the Sunrise Hills Shopping Mall, which led to the deaths of only around 20 people.

Later in the day, Lynn McGill arrived from Division and replaced Bill Buchanan. He began firing people due to the pressure of the day. After he began to suspect Chloe and Audrey were working with Jack, he began to monitor their work. When Chloe needed someone to cover for her, Audrey went to Edgar and asked for his help. Seeing that McGill had been making foolish decisions, Edgar decided to help. Edgar discovered some chatter that revealed there would be an attempt on President Suvarov's motorcade. Edgar, Chloe, and Audrey brought this to Lynn, but he refused to notify Secret Service of the threat. When Curtis invoked Section 112, relieving Lynn of his duties, Bill Buchanan was released from holding and put back in charge.



As CTU continued to work on finding the gas, Bauer arrived with Christopher Henderson, who was involved in the manufacturing of the Sentox. When Carrie Bendis warned Edgar that something was wrong in the CTU basement, she suggested someone should check it out. Edgar clearly ignored her and told her to handle the situation herself. As Carrie checked up on this, it was discovered that someone used Lynn's stolen keycard to gain access to CTU.

Jack soon discovered that Ostroff had an automatic timer on him, realizing that Sentox would be released in CTU. Buchanan ordered an immediate evacuation and Edgar called Chloe to ask her what was going on. Edgar went to check on Carrie and discovered her laying dead on the floor. He attempted to exit the building, but unknowingly walked through contaminated rooms. Chloe managed to seal a few rooms, including the Situation Room where many of the CTU staff waited out the attack. Edgar was unable to make it out in time, and died in front of Chloe.

When the day was over, Bill gave Chloe a picture found in Edgar's belongings. The picture was of Edgar and Chloe sitting next to each other, smiling. Chloe choked back tears in memory of Edgar.

Background information and notes

 * Edgar became only the third character in 24 history to die while a main cast member.
 * Edgar states in season 4 that he has a photographic memory.
 * Edgar's death was honored by the use of a silent clock. He is the fifth character to be honored in this fashion.
 * Edgar is tied with Renee Walker and Nina Meyers holding the sixth place for most appearences (37 in total) for a deceased character. However, Edgar achieved this distinction in less time than all the others. He appeared in two seasons only (Season 4 and Season 5) and he appeared in every episode from his first appearence to his death. David Palmer is in first place at 80 episodes, Bill Buchanan is in second with 64 episodes, Michelle Dessler is in third with 62 episodes, Sherry Palmer is in fourth at 45 episodes and Curtis Manning is in fifth at 44 episodes.