Edna would have known everything in the final timeline...
I think I've brought up this point in other threads long ago, but I thought its best to list all the evidence and put it all comprehensively together-
1. By the end of Ep 5, Edna knows that the Delorean was a time machine, and that 'Sonny Crockett' (or whoever), as well as 'Carl Sagan' are time travelers from the future.
2. If Edna was out of prison in 1955 (very likely), she would probably have heard about sightings of a strange car which appeared out of nowhere (most notably on the Peabody farm)...it wouldn't have taken much for her to figure out it was the Delorean. Also, by now, her ex-boyfriend Emmett would really have started to resemble 'Carl Sagan'...so she just MIGHT have started to suspect a connection...
3. Edna marries Kid Tannen at some point, and becomes Biff's stepmother. Now I don't how relations may have been between them, but if Biff confided in her at any point, his interactions with 'Calvin Klien', and his encounter with an old man who gave him an Almanac from the future...she would have been able to piece together a lot more and possibly deduce that both Calvin Klien and the old man were time travelers (and that Calvin, who lived with Emmett for a while, may well have been 'Sonny Crockett'-this would heighten her suspicions that Emmett was/will be the mysterious Carl Sagan).
4. By the 1980's, I'm pretty sure she would have figured everything. She would have met Marty McFly (after all, her step-son worked for the McFly's) and definitely noticed the resemblance to Sonny Crockett. Emmett would be identical to Carl Sagan. She might recognize Einstien as the same dog who stole her shoe in 1931. And if she saw the Delorean around...that would clinch matters...
1. By the end of Ep 5, Edna knows that the Delorean was a time machine, and that 'Sonny Crockett' (or whoever), as well as 'Carl Sagan' are time travelers from the future.
2. If Edna was out of prison in 1955 (very likely), she would probably have heard about sightings of a strange car which appeared out of nowhere (most notably on the Peabody farm)...it wouldn't have taken much for her to figure out it was the Delorean. Also, by now, her ex-boyfriend Emmett would really have started to resemble 'Carl Sagan'...so she just MIGHT have started to suspect a connection...
3. Edna marries Kid Tannen at some point, and becomes Biff's stepmother. Now I don't how relations may have been between them, but if Biff confided in her at any point, his interactions with 'Calvin Klien', and his encounter with an old man who gave him an Almanac from the future...she would have been able to piece together a lot more and possibly deduce that both Calvin Klien and the old man were time travelers (and that Calvin, who lived with Emmett for a while, may well have been 'Sonny Crockett'-this would heighten her suspicions that Emmett was/will be the mysterious Carl Sagan).
4. By the 1980's, I'm pretty sure she would have figured everything. She would have met Marty McFly (after all, her step-son worked for the McFly's) and definitely noticed the resemblance to Sonny Crockett. Emmett would be identical to Carl Sagan. She might recognize Einstien as the same dog who stole her shoe in 1931. And if she saw the Delorean around...that would clinch matters...
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Yeah i think thats the logical explanation. She probably did spout drivel about time travel and was sent to a mental institution. Not that anyone who claimed to have time traveled today would be believed but in 1931 that concept wasn't even well known in fiction. So she was likely brainwashed to believe she hallucinated it. I doubt her photographic memory would remember Doc and Marty's looks by 20-50 years later.
Mind you if Biff did start talking to her in 1955 then they could put 2 and 2 together especially since both saw the flying DeLorean.
But memory is a tricky thing to debate. Biff recalls the flying DeLorean after seeing another one in 2015. But Edna doesn't recall the DeLorean even though the logical conclusion is that she thinks she made it up. It's very inconsistent.
There was nothing like the DeLorean in 1931, so she doesn't have a reference point. And like the others have stated, she was probably put in a mental institution, which were quite hostile in 1931.
I can speak from personal experience that traumatic events can cause you to be completely block out your memories. You don't remember they happened at all until your mind subconsciously feels its no longer in danger (usually years later, and sometimes never at all).
I'm not sure what Edna's trigger would be, but for me even walking past the place where I was hurt didn't cause any memories to come back. So, it's very plausible that Edna wouldn't put two and two together, especially since the events happened 55 years ago.
Great point. Plus biff wasn't in jail or a mental institution for those 30 years while Edna was likely in both and essentially brainwashed to suppress those memories. Though I do wonder if Danny Parker is still alive in the 1980's would he remember seeing a DeLorean 50 years earlier?
Doubtful. the same theory of Edna being convinced she is crazy could be applied to kid.
Right but that's kind of irrelevant. The point of this thread is that if Edna knew about the DeLorean and time travel she would get suspicious in 1955 and 1986. I don't think Danny knows enough to figure things out. Not to mention that he doesn't seem that bright.
Also from danny's memory, the first time he probably thinks it's an illusion; he sees one take off, the other one come in the other direction right before the first one disappears. He goes into heavy drinking after the first one so he also likely supresses the event and clearly redeems himself after arresting Kid and eventually Edna.
I guess Edna depends on how intense her inevitable therapy would have been. You're right she actually does time travel and if you go by the history of hill valley booklet that came with the collectors edition, she is shown in a pic in 1875 as Mary Pickford (the events of the 5th episode take place in July 1876) so she's been there for at least six months. Beauregard and her seem to have a history as they know each other.
However...when she sees the Delorean, 'Sonny Crockett' and 'Carl Sagan' again in 1986, she might begin to reconsider...
As far as Danny goes...no I don't think he would have put it all together. However, there is the fact that he was the one who arrested Edna and heard her ramblings about being a time traveler; and no doubt he interrogated her further after that. So he may have started to be suspicious about Edna describing the very car he's seen disappear twice...hell, he may even start to wonder if the time travel stuff was right. But chances are he'd keep it to himself and not think too much about it for fear HE may be declared insane!
Again, It's been 55 years. I am pretty sure it's not coming back to her.
Not a chance. Danny will not be able to recognize Marty and Doc after 55 years assuming he lives that long which I doubt. Plus it's not like the DeLorean is a one of a kind vehicle. He could see a completely different DeLorean at a car shop and get suspicious by your logic.
Even if he was in 1955 the whole time machine thing was kept pretty secret. There is no way for Danny to link it together and cause a problem.
the only 2 people who saw it in 1955 were doc and biff.
I agree with you that memories gradually grow dimmer over time, but certain memories tend to remain clear forever.
For instance, I'm pretty sure the time she broke up with her boyfriend, stole a time machine and ended up being transported to the past, spent a few months in the 19th century, nearly set Hill Valley to fire before being confronted by 'Sonny Crockett' and 'Carl Sagan', forced back into the future with a flying duplicate of HER time machine and was arrested at the end of it all...is one which Edna will remember for a LONG time.
Even if she's been brainwashed to believe that it was all a dream/hallucination, seeing the time machine, Sonny Crockett and Carl Sagan again WILL remind her of what happen and make her suspect it was all true...
Well I highly doubt it. I also doubt she would be able to recognize Doc and Marty. And as I said the DeLorean isn't exclusive to the time machine. Now maybe if she saw Doc and Marty fly off or disappear in 1986 then maybe. But I still doubt she can remember that much. Even if it was a big moment in her life. You could argue that she remembered everything in the Hill Valley Destroyed timeline but we had to work REALLY hard to get her memory going. She didn't notice Doc right off the bat for example.
So maybe it is possible for her to remember. But there will have to be A LOT of clues surrounding her to make her remember and quite frankly if that were to happen Marty and Doc would have to try to do it. It's one of those things that just doesn't come naturally or by accident.
In the Burnt Hill Valley timeline, Edna was suffering from amnesia, owing to the shock and disorientation of being stranded in the past. THAT was why she didn't recognize Doc and Marty, or even remember the fact that she was a time traveler.
In the final timeline, Edna would not have suffered memory loss. She may have been convinced that it was all a hallucination if she was sent to a sanatorium, but seeing the Delorean, and Marty and Doc, should make her suspect it was all real.
Remember, unlike Biff, Edna didn't just see the Delorean from afar. Not only did she actually drive it, but she had it in her possession for a few months while she was stranded in 1876. In the period before she attempted to burn Tannen's bar, Edna was perfectly in her senses and probably spent some time studying the car and trying to figure out how it worked and what was wrong with it. So there is a FAR greater chance she'd remember the car...
Mr. Peabody went to a mental institutuion spouting about the 'space ship' he saw in 1955. He's getting out again in 1967 and now sees the space ship flying and Marty again, immediately erases all his 'therapy'
I still highly doubtful. I really find it unlikely that she would remember everything after 55 years, and while she was convinced she was crazy.