Edward Mordrake

Edward Mordrake is a man with two faces. He is a character in Freak Show portrayed by Wes Bentley. He is determined to get revenge.^[1]

Background

A privileged 19th century English noble, Mordrake was born with a second face on the back of his head. The face would whisper depraved notions that only Mordrake could hear. He excelled at learning many refined talents, but the constant interruptions from the face drove him insane. He was committed to Bedlam Asylum, though he escaped and joined a freak show troupe. One Halloween, he was driven by the face to kill his entire coterie before killing himself.

The carnies have a superstition that any performance on Halloween, even trivial ones, risk summoning Mordrake. Once he appears, it is said he must take with him one of their number. His presence is heralded by an ominous thunderstorm, casting streaks of lightning in the sky, and a thick, bright green fog swirls wherever he treads, flooding over the floors of wherever he appears.

Story

Mordrake is summoned to Fräulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities on Halloween 1952 while the freaks are encamped in Jupiter. Despite superstitious warnings by the carnies of Mordrake's legend, Elsa Mars demanded that they rehearse her musical number, conned by a false prophesy that a dark-haired man will revive her career. Mordrake himself walked into the performance tent to watch Elsa's rehearsal, and Elsa believed him to be the man from the prophecy, but he left before she was finished. He materialized inside the trailer of Ethel Darling, and bid her to tell her tale. Much moved, he was sympathetic to Ethel's plight. Though Ethel was convinced that she was to be the one taken, as the legend demanded, the second face whispered, "Not the one," and she was spared.^[2]

Mordrake interrogated Suzi and Paul. Suzi is spared because her accidental murder is what inspired her to perform and make herself a better living, while Paul's notion that he could have been successful with his handsome face and a normal body is sympathized by Mordrake, and he too is spared. Pepper and Salty are innocent, and he spares them. He goes to Elsa, who believes him to be a talent scout. He is unmoved by Elsa's story and intends to take her when he hears Dandy and Twisty's show nearby and compels Twisty to tell his story, which makes the second face weep. Mordrake kills Twisty and invites his spirit to join his ghostly troupe.^[3]

He was ultimately summoned by Elsa Mars on her last appearing on Halloween's night. He, accompanied by Twisty and a tall man who joined them, confronts her on stage. He stabs her, but she is spared and sent to "heaven" as Elsa's place was not with them. ^[4]

Notes

This character is the in-universe depiction of Edward Mordrake.
The character marks the first appearance of Wes Bentley in the American Horror Story franchise.
- He returned the next season, subtitled Hotel to play John Lowe, and later in the sixth instalment of the series, Roanoke to portray the re-enactment of Ambrose White, and Dylan, the actor portraying him.
Every time someone talks about Edward Mordrake, and when he appears, the song "Road to Utah" by Pere Ubu starts to play in the background.
When the freaks told Bette and Dot Tattler the story of Edward Mordrake, the story was represented on screen in black and white for the viewers. The same expedient was used in Coven when the history of witches was told to the girls of the Miss Robichaux's Academy.