Did Edgars have a reason for never showing his face in public?

Question

In Season 4 of Babylon 5, we are introduced to William Edgars, who hires Garibaldi to work with him. Edgars chooses to communicate over audio only and Garibaldi notes that there aren't any pictures of the man.

JMS over Usenet alluded to there being some sort of mystery about his appearance:

Why didn't Edgars show his face?

As we'll learn shortly, he doesn't want his face seen around. But we'll see him soon enough.

However, when we finally see him in The Exercise of Vital Powers, there's nothing unusual about his appearance. He doesn't give any particular reason for the concealment of his identity and as far as I can tell, there's no secret about it. (Strangely, when he is killed in The Face of the Enemy, ISN identifies his body on camera, but doesn't comment in any way that this is the first time the public has seen his face, which seems a bit odd.)

Did Edgars ever have a reason for hiding his identity? Or was it just an eccentricity that he had (just as he was eccentric about importing orange juice)?

Answer 1

Well, he is one of the most powerful men in human space making him and those close to him targets for terrorists and kidnappers. By maintaining a level of anonymity in the event of an attempt on his life with some limited subterfuge he can get clear of the situation. Also, as Richard mentions without his face being well known it is less likely that a telepathic agent would get close to him without going through layers of staff first. And he is the sort that would get those close to him, like Wade, counter-telepath training.

The shots ISN used were more to display the scene and use his death as a propaganda tool against the resistance. Also, at the time of his death ISN was less of a journalistic effort and more of a tool of Clark and Edgers had deep ties to the Clark administration. Pointing out an eccentricity of Edgars would not have served their purpose of framing the resistance. Especially since his death wasn't sanctioned by the Clark administration, but an independant op by Psi Corp.