Edward Quartermaine (John Ingle)


 * Edward redirects here, for other uses of the name, see Edward (disambiguation)

Edward Louis Quartermaine was a fictional character on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. The character was created in 1978, originally played by David Lewis for many years. The role was played by John Ingle from 1993 until 2004, and again from 2006 until his death on September 16, 2012. Ingle's last scenes aired September 11, 2012. He is later, in November, memorialized when Edward dies.

Storylines
Edward is considered to be one of the wealthiest individuals in the fictional town of Port Charles, New York. He is the founder and chairman, former CEO, and principal shareholder of E.L.Q. Industries. Many of his storylines involved health concerns, such as multiple heart attacks, a bout of amnesia in 1989, a stroke and faked coma, and a time in 2004 when his daughter Tracy had him committed to Shadybrook Sanitarium, though he later escaped with the assistance of Luke Spencer.

Arrival
Edward showed up in Port Charles in 1978, and moved into the house that his son Alan had bought for his wife, Monica. In 1980, Edward decided to test daughter Tracy's loyalty, by pretending to have a heart attack. He created a will that would disinherit Tracy, but before he could sign it, he collapsed on the floor. He pleaded with Tracy to give him his heart medicine; she refused unless he promised not to sign the will. Tracy had failed the test, and Edward banished her.

Edward teamed up with his niece Alexandria Quartermaine to make money with her friends, Victor and Tony Cassadine. The plan involved finding the Ice Princess. But the plan quickly got out of hand as the Cassadines got a hold of the statue and took off to an island where their other brother Mikkos planned to use the secret formula hidden in the Ice Princess to take over the world. Luke Spencer thwarted the plan in time and Alexandria wound up killed with Tony Cassadine in the end.

Edward's next biggest problem arrived in the form of Susan Moore and Crane Tolliver. Crane, Lila's first husband, had proof that Lila had never officially divorced him. This meant that Lila and Edward weren't legally married and Alan and Tracy were illegitimate. Susan, Alan's former fling and the mother of Jason, blackmailed the Quartermaines with Crane's information. When she was shot, the whole Quartermaine clan was a suspect. However, the real killer was Crane, which was proven by Jimmy Lee Holt, Edward's son by Beatrice LeSeur. Jimmy found the unsigned divorce papers, which were taken care of and Lila and Edward were married legally. Then in 1984, Beatrice appeared in Port Charles and threatened to expose the Quartermaines' cover-up. But she dropped dead at a charity gala, before she got the chance. Edward was suspected of poisoning her, but it turned out Beatrice had accidentally killed herself, by sipping Lila's heart medication. Edward discovered what it was like to be broke when Monica and her new flame Sean Donely found their way into ELQ's boardroom and took the company away from the Quartermaines. Monica then threw the Quartermaines out of the mansion and they were forced to live above Kelly's. But Lila rescued their family by starting a new business she called "Pickle-Lila." Her new relish earned the Quartermaines a new fortune and they were back in the lap of luxury. In 1989, Edward disappeared, and was presumed dead when he went on a fishing trip to the Bermuda Triangle. But first he rewrote his will, leaving everything to Tracy's son, Ned Ashton, much to the family's dismay.

1990s return
Two years later, Anna Devane found Edward playing beach bum in the Bahamas and dragged him back to civilization. He teamed up with Ned and got ELQ away from Paul Hornsby. In 1993 Edward banished his daughter a second time, after Tracy ran down her daughter-in-law, Jenny Eckert. Up to his old tricks again, Edward set his grandsons against each other by loaning his grandson AJ money to buy into the Port Charles Hotel, which was Ned's domain. In 1994, Edward was arrested and tried for the murder of Bradley Ward, whose body had been discovered on the Spencers' front lawn. Just as it seemed certain that Edward was going to be put in prison for a crime he didn't commit, Bradley's mother Mary Mae Ward took the stand. She revealed that Bradley was Edward's son from the affair that they had during the war. Edward was then acquitted. Though Edward never knew his son, Bradley, his grandson, Justus Ward, was in Port Charles. Justus and Edward formed a bond when Edward set up a foundation to help businesses on Charles Street. Justus and Edward got along pretty well for awhile. In 1996, Edward became so anxious to shut down the singing career of grandson Ned that he bought Ned's record company, L&B, right out from under the noses of Ned's wife, Lois, and her business partner, Brenda Barrett. But Lois got her company back with the help of Jasper Jacks, and Jax got a spot on the ELQ board, which did not make Edward happy, especially when Jax teamed up with Tracy to take over ELQ. When this plan came to light Edward banished his daughter a third time. When Edward's estranged grandson Jason Morgan, fathered another Quartermaine great-grandchild, Michael Morgan, Edward became obsessed with bringing Michael home. He even tried to kidnap the child. This plan drove Justus from the family and into the mob with Jason. Growing frustrated, Edward promised AJ the CEO position at ELQ if he could bring Michael home to the Quartermaines. If AJ succeeded, Ned would be out of a job. AJ couldn't believe his luck when Robin revealed to him that Jason wasn't Michael's father because AJ was. Edward was thrilled as well, but he was forced to eat his words when AJ was able to bring Michael into the Quartermaine fold by marrying Michael's mother, Carly. AJ threatened to leave with his new family if Edward didn't fork over the CEO position. So AJ was appointed as CEO, and Ned left, telling Edward that he would not come in and save the family again, especially when the whole thing blew up in his face. In the summer of 1999, Edward tried to keep a long lost family secret from being found out by Luke Spencer and Felicia Scorpio-Jones (who was writing Lila's memoirs). He also decided to ruin the plan between Chloe, Lila's cousin who had recently come to town, and her newfound friends Jax, Ned, and Alexis to fulfill the requirement in her uncle's will to be married in order to keep her design company. Despite Edward and Reginald's efforts, Luke and Felicia discovered what they thought was the truth: Edward had killed Lila's fiancé, Elliot, and married her in his place. Edward initially denied it, and then told them they were right. But Lila refused to let her husband take the blame and revealed the truth: she had killed Elliot. When Elliot found out Edward had been romancing her while writing letters under Elliot's name, he tried to force himself on Lila, and she hit him in the head with a fireplace poker. He died and the crime was covered up by the family. Luke and Felicia agreed to keep the murder a secret. So Edward went back to trying to ruin Ned and Chloe's sham of a marriage. He needed Ned back as CEO of ELQ, so he paired with Chloe's aunt who also wanted to ruin Chloe's marriage. Edward planned to destroy Ned's record company again and then Chloe's aunt would get her design company, which had recently partnered with Ned's company. But Edward couldn't seem to make his plan work and the foursome continually evaded his efforts. When Chloe was the victim of a hit and run, Edward dropped his vendetta against her marriage, but not his plans to get Ned back at ELQ. However, Ned had no intention of returning to ELQ and managed to thwart Edward's plans yet again.

2000s
Edward was floored to learn that the next addition to the Quartermaine clan was not actually a Quartermaine, but a Corinthos. Carly had gotten pregnant again and was pretending that the baby was AJ's. However, the baby was really the result of a one-night stand with Sonny. All of Edward's efforts to retain Carly and Michael at the Quartermaines failed and all hope was lost when Jason produced evidence that AJ was responsible for burning down Jason and Sonny's warehouse earlier that year. Sonny used the evidence to blackmail AJ out of his parental rights and into giving Carly a divorce. The Quartermaine family, especially Edward, was furious with AJ for taking part in the fire and for losing Michael. Edward kicked AJ out of ELQ and vowed to make AJ pay for what he'd done. With ELQ without a CEO (Ned would not come back), Edward made an odd move in courting corporate raider Jax. Edward hoped that Ned would swoop in to save the company like he had done previously when Jax tried to buy out ELQ. But Ned remained true to his promise of not returning. Edward had a stroke of luck when Jax forgot about ELQ to go after a drug company to obtain medication for Chloe from Helena Cassadine. Jax sold his shares of ELQ, which had come from AJ and Tracy, to Edward. Edward then took over as CEO of ELQ. Over the next several months, Emily was kidnapped, AJ returned to the bottle, and Ned announced his engagement to Alexis. Emily's kidnapping proved to be the most intense problem. She returned safely, but she had fallen for her kidnapper, Zander Smith. Edward tried to keep them apart and even implored Alan and Monica to do their part. They finally relented when Emily was nearly killed in a shootout in front of the PCPD after Zander's release from jail. Emily was sent away to boarding school amid load protests from her. Lila sided with Emily and against Edward, as did the household staff. Zander found Emily and they returned to Port Charles, but Emily refused to live at the mansion. She went to live at Kelly's despite Edward's attempts at preventing her. Desperate to keep Emily and Zander apart, Edward faked his own mugging and blamed Zander. Zander was arrested and Edward made a deal with Emily: stop seeing Zander and Edward would get him released. But the truth about the mugging came out and Emily continued to see Zander.

In 2001, Skye Chandler breezed into the mansion, announcing that she was the daughter of Alan and Rae Cummings. Alan was dumbfounded that the baby he thought had died was alive. Unbeknownst to Alan, Edward sold the baby and had the doctor tell Rae that the child had died. Edward welcomed Skye to the family, hoping to use her in his conflicts with Ned and AJ, not realizing Skye had payback on her mind. After various plots (including paying a lounge singer named Janine to lie that she and Edward were lovers), she managed to gain enough voting power to wrest control of ELQ from him. Edward, always suffering from a weak heart, suffered another heart attack. During his stay in the hospital, he grew close to his nurse, Melissa Bedford, who always listened to his problems when his family wouldn't. He cut his family out of his will and put her in. Alan began digging into her background and after repeated requests, Edward took Melissa out of the will. He had also been blackmailing Skye with the information that she had been faking her attacks from Sonny so that Jax would rescue her. He wanted ELQ back and demanded she give him the CEO spot or he'd spill her secret to Jax. But Skye turned the tables and came clean to Jax first, ruining Edward's efforts although he didn't know it. After making dramatic statements about being prepared to die, Melissa comforted him. Later, Melissa was discovered to be the Dr. Kevorkian of Port Charles, thus continuing Edward's pattern of befriending unbalanced women (Katherine Bellbeing the first). When Jax sold controlling interest of ELQ to Lila, Edward hoped she'd make him CEO again. But Lila told him that he would be co-CEO with Skye. Edward had no choice but to accept Lila's decision. Edward and a stunned Quartermaine clan welcomed AJ's new bride Courtney into the family and Edward invited them to live at the mansion. He told AJ that he had to keep Courtney happy in order for their plan to get Michael back to work. But Edward was less than pleased to hear Courtney state she was not ready for kids and that she hoped Carly, who had been in an accident and was presumed dead, was alive for Michael's sake. Carly did turn up alive, and Edward and AJ went back to utilizing Courtney in their fight for custody of Michael and insuring that she remained devoted to AJ. But AJ actually fell in love with Courtney, and he refused to continue his plans to get custody of Michael.

The newlyweds moved out and Edward froze AJ's accounts, virtually bankrupting AJ and forcing him to find a real job. Edward also bribed Courtney's mother into not giving any money to the couple. Edward then went to battle against Jax and used Skye as his pawn. He played on her vulnerabilities regarding Jax and got her to sign a contract with him stating that she would get him info on Jax's holdings in exchange for being named the sole Quartermaine heir. Although she felt somewhat guilty, Skye continued to get close to Jax and soon got engaged to him. But by that time Skye wanted out of her deal with Edward, who threatened to reveal her deal to Jax if she backed out. At her engagement party, Edward argued with Skye over the contract and had a stroke. He managed to taunt Skye one more time by saying he'd made copies of the contract before lapsing into a coma. Uncertain of Edward's chances of a recovery, Lila appointed Ned CEO of ELQ. Ned found a copy of the contract between Edward and Skye and confronted her. He demanded that she tell Jax the truth and she relented. Hurt, Jax broke up with Skye. In a drunken stupor, Skye was afraid that she'd pulled the plug on Edward's life support and went to Jax for help. Jax and Ned staged an argument in Edward's hospital room and tricked him into coming out of his "coma," which they knew was a fake. Edward then admitted that he had pulled his own plug to set Skye up.

Edward wanted control of ELQ back from Ned and he also wanted the newest Quartermaine heir, Ned and Alexis' unborn child, under the Quartermaine roof. But Ned was not going to give up either of them without a fight. Ned intended to use ELQ to go after Sonny Corinthos much to Edward's dismay. Ned also didn't want Edward meddling in his child's life. As Ned argued with Edward about the baby, Edward became suspicious of the child's actual paternity. After hearing about Sonny and Alexis' one night stand, Edward went to Sonny with the idea that he was the actual father of Alexis' child. He tried to strike a bargain with Sonny to get Michael back and arranged for a DNA test. But Ned had anticipated this move and managed to make the test results reveal Ned as the father. His latest attempt at getting Michael back thwarted, Edward returned to his efforts to get ELQ back from Ned. After seeing Ned conspiring with Faith Rosco in his pursuit of Sonny, Edward tried to warn Ned off of using ELQ and of partnering with Faith. But Ned wouldn't listen so Edward set out to teach Ned a lesson in going against Edward's demands. He secretly partnered with Faith and they made a deal for her to use Ned to get rid of Sonny. But Faith soon proved to be a loose cannon concerning her desire to take out Sonny. After Ned turned her down, Faith convinced Edward to finance her next move against Sonny, which was to hire an assassin to take him out. When Edward realized what she'd done, he wanted little to do with her. When Alexis was put on trial for Alcazar's murder, baby Kristina went to live with Ned at the gatehouse. But this wasn't good enough for Edward, who wanted the baby under his roof and his custody. Edward partnered with Scott to trick Alexis into revealing in open court that she was faking her illness. Then Ned got full custody of Kristina, and Edward plotted with Alan and AJ to lure Kristina's nanny away and then set fire to the gatehouse so AJ could rescue her, but all the while Kristina would actually be perfectly safe in the mansion. The plan nearly backfired, first when Ned arrived unexpectedly and was nearly killed trying to rescue the baby, and then when Monica threatened to turn them all in to the authorities. But in the end Edward's plan worked and the Quartermaines were awarded custody of Kristina. But soon after, Kristina was kidnapped. Edward immediately fingered Alexis as the culprit, especially since she was the person to discover her missing. However, Edward didn't realize that Skye and AJ had taken the baby because Edward hadn't delivered on his promise to give AJ more power at ELQ. Alexis then took the baby from them and nearly fled the country with her. But Kristina was later returned home by Emily and Zander who had found Alexis and Kristina at Cameron's cabin after Cameron was arrested for helping Alexis. Alexis confessed to kidnapping Kristina to keep Emily and Zander out of jail. Then Cameron got Scott and Edward to back off Alexis by blackmailing them with the original arson report on the gatehouse fire and proof that Edward had been paying off Scott to help him. Cameron was also able to get Edward to allow Alexis to see Kristina and to let Ned have custodial power over Kristina.

2003
Edward was later overjoyed when Justus returned to Port Charles. Tracy later returned to town and stayed just long enough to reveal that Skye was not a Quartermaine and to leave her son Dillon to live with his grandparents. Edward booted Skye off the board at ELQ and was not happy to have Dillon left behind for him to take care of. Edward's world was further disrupted when Reginald, the butler, was injured. Edward hired an English butler named Dobson and told him to keep Kristina away from her deranged mother. But Edward didn't realize that Dobson was really Alexis in disguise. He was a bit flabbergasted when the truth finally came out. But his attentions had been turned to Dillon, who had been seeing Georgie Jones. Edward tried to forbid Dillon from seeing Georgie, but it didn't work. When Dillon got into trouble with the cops, Edward lectured him on soiling the family name with his antics. But when Dillon refused to apologize, Edward left him in jail overnight. The family rallied around Emily as she fought for her life and underwent treatment for breast cancer and related complications. Certain she was going to die, she shared an impromptu bedside wedding with Zander. But she recovered and Edward welcomed Zander to the family. Edward then turned his attention back to Dillon, who had been continuing to see Georgie. Edward tried again to break them apart, but it didn't work. So Edward nearly put Dillon in military school in the hope of scaring him into obedience. It wasn't long before Emily and Zander split up because she had fallen for Nikolas. When she announced her engagement to Nikolas to the family, Edward and the rest of the family were less than thrilled to also hear that the Cassadines were flat broke. But right around that time, AJsecretly emptied the family's bank accounts and took off into the sunset, leaving the family broke. It seemed that Emily and Nikolas would be on equal footing financially. Edward was suspicious when Nikolas showed up one day asking all sorts of questions about a Quartermaine ancestor and a ship owned by their relatives of long ago supposedly containing a lot of treasure. The ship had sunk in the Port Charles harbor. Edward was thrilled when Emily and Nikolas later revealed that they had found the treasure that had been on that boat. However, Edward was unwilling to share the fortune with the Cassadines, and made his opinion known to the happy couple. When he learned that Sam had skipped town with the treasure, Edward wasted no time in trying to get Jax to tell the family where Sam had gone. But Jax didn't know and didn't care. So now Edward must wait for the treasure or find another way to get his fortune back.

On the night of the auction for the treasure, the Port Charles Hotel burned down, trapping Edward, Alan, Monica, Tracy, Skye, Emily, Dillon, Justus, Jason, and many others inside. Lucky Spencer, who found out that Edward had not updated the old wiring system, was in the process of arresting Edward for criminal negligence when he suffered a near fatal heart attack.

Life without Lila
Another all time low came for Edward in July 2004 when Lila died in her sleep. After a heart wrenching goodbye, Edward faced life alone. Heather Webber, who had recently returned to town, married Edward in the hopes that he would be the heir to Lila's fortune. In the end, Justus was the heir, and Heather tried to kill Edward. Luke & Skye caught on to her plan and with Edward's help set Heather up. She went crazy and Edward had the marriage annulled and her shipped off to Ferncliff. Christmas 2004 was particularly tough for Edward as it was his first without Lila. Alan, Monica, Tracy, Justus, & Audrey Hardy comforted him during this difficult time.

Edward again grieved when AJ was presumably killed by Courtney Matthews in 2005. AJ ended up alive and well, but was killed for real by Dr. Asher Thomas.

Edward attended the Annual Hospital Christmas Party in 2005, and reminisced with Audrey about Lila and Steve Hardy.

In June 2006, Edward was deeply hurt and saddened when Jason informed him that Justus had been killed. Edward went as far as accusing Sonny Corinthos for the crime. Sonny, who had recently been diagnosed as bipolar, attacked Edward, sending him rushing out of the house gasping for air. In the end, it was Luke who was able to get Edward through the difficult time. Edward was later overjoyed when Lulu Spencer was pregnant by his grandson Dillon Quartermaine giving him the ELQ heir he'd always dreamed of. Edward was heartbroken when Lulu chose to abort the child.

In February 2007, Edward was crushed when Alan died after suffering a fatal heart attack during the Metro Court Hostage Crisis. While he believed that it was wrong for him to outlive his son, he found comfort knowing that Lila would be there to welcome Alan into Heaven.

Edward was shocked after he found out that Jason had a one night stand with Elizabeth Webber during Jason's trial for the murder of Lorenzo Alcazar and wondered if his favorite grandchild was the father of Jake Spencer. Edward, Monica, and Alice cornered Lulu and asked her who Jake's father was. Edward said that if it was Jason the boy would get an excellent education and have a good life and bring his father back into the family. Lulu told them that Lucky was Jake's father and Edward and Monica were crushed. Edward told Skye the story of how he had always wanted to be like Joseph F. Kennedy Sr. But as Kennedy's life progressed his life fell apart. Edward feels his life has become like this and he has turned into a kind of poison. With the deaths of Lila, A.J., Justus, Alan, and Emily, Edward has broken down telling Skye to leave town before she dies too. About two months later Skye leaves town giving Edward a hug saying she's not very good with goodbyes. With that, the house that once used to be filled with life, love, and a huge family has now been reduced to Edward, Monica, Tracy, and Alice, as well as Luke Spencer and his daughter Lulu Spencer, per his marriage to Tracy. Great-grandson Michael Corinthos would later join the fold, as would Emily lookalike Rebecca Shaw.

Edward tried to make Monica realize that Jason was not to blame for Emily's death and get her to accept him for who he was and apologize to him since he is the only child she had left but she refused.

In 2008, Edward was crushed to hear about Michael's shooting and Tracy decided to invent some problems at ELQ to get him to take his mind off of his grief. Edward was later put on jury duty for Johnny Zacchara's trial for the murder of Logan Hayes where he openly expresses his disdain for being there.

Return of the Quartermaine grandchildren
When Carly decided that her son Michael should live at the Quartermaine Mansion, Edward was happy, but he also tried to get his estranged grandson Jason Morgan to move back home too, because Michael's transition will be easier with him there. Jason declined, of course.

In September 2009, Edward starting hanging out at the upstairs bar at Metro Court. There, he socialized with the mayor's wife, Andrea Floyd. She poisoned Edward's drink, resulting in him having a heart attack while driving to the carnival and endangering many lives there. In an ironic twist, one of Edward's victims was Andrea herself.

In January 2010, Edward invites his great granddaughter Maya Ward to Port Charles to live at the mansion. In the same conversation Monica mentions that she thinks it's Edward's way to make up for failing Justus. Edward tried using his pull at the hospital to get Maya special treatment as an intern, but she assured him that she didn't need his help.

Lulu tried getting Edward & Tracy to pull strings to have Michael's murder charges dropped in May 2010, but after trying numerous times, they admitted that with Corinthos as his last name, Michael would be given the full extent of the law.

Edward was beyond thrilled when his great-granddaughter Brook Lynn Ashton returned to Port Charles penniless. While Edward offered her a full education at PCU, a room at the Quartermaine Mansion, and unlimited funding, she declined, only to turn up at the mansion in September looking for a place to stay. Before she even moved into her room, Edward, Tracy, & Monica caught her transferring money from Edward's bank account to hers. While it infuriated Monica & Tracy, it made Edward proud.

Brenda Barrett returned to Port Charles, thrilling Edward. At the same time, Edward & Monica were sick of experiencing Tracy's wrath after Luke left her, and pushed the couple back together so Tracy would be nicer to them. Edward also offered Maya & Ethana million dollars each if they could stay married for a year. They reluctantly took him up on his offer. In late 2010, Edward hosted Thanksgiving at the Quartermaine mansion with Tracy, Luke, Maya, Ethan, Lucky, Siobhan, Lulu, Dante, Michael, & Alice. Edward was later thrilled at Luke & Tracy's Christmas wedding when Michael & Jason came to visit him.

While Edward seemed quite content over Brook Lynn's relationship with Nikolas Cassadine, he despised Brenda's engagement to Sonny. He even went as far as refusing to walk her down the aisle. While the wedding went through much to his dismay, Edward seemingly enjoyed the reception as he spent time with his family and danced with most of the women in attendance. Edward was devastated later in the evening when Brenda's limo exploded. He arrived at the scene in his pajamas and had to be calmed down by Michael and his girlfriend Abby Haver. While the woman in the limo turned out to be an alive Sam McCall, the event still took quite a toll on Edward. Luke brought him home to Tracy where he remained quite shaken and even a bit forgetful.

June-December 2011
After over a three month absence, Edward returned in June 2011 when Ethan Lovett paid him a visit. Even though Ethan & Maya had divorced earlier in the month, Ethan was curious to see if he could still get some money out of Edward. Edward politely refused. Edward later paid a visit to Jason inquiring to know why he & Monica were not invited to Michael's graduation the previous week. Jason apologized, but didn't have an answer to give, so Edward pitched the idea of having Michael intern at ELQ. Jason told him that Michael already had a job working for Sonny, but it was up to Michael to make that decision. Not giving up, Edward offers Abby a well paying job at ELQ, under the provision that she gets Michael to work there alongside her. Edward is delighted when Michael accepts his offer, much to Sonny & Carly's dismay.

Skye Quartermaine returns to Port Charles, and ELQ, in July 2011. Edward welcomes her with open arms, but is sure she has ulterior motives. The night that Skye returns, she & Edward attend a charity event hosted by Carly at the Metro Court. Sometime during the evening, Edward has chest pains. After nearly collapsing in the lobby, Skye brings him up to her room. After saying that he's had too much excitement that night, Sonny bursts in with a gun pointed at Skye & Edward demanding to know where Jaxis. When Olivia tells Edward that Jason's been in a car accident, he & Skye head to the hospital. While Edward is sitting with Jason, Sam comes in and tells him that they're engaged, delighting Edward. Skye's return is short-lived and Edward must help her leave town before Anthony can get her. He says goodbye to her and sends her to the ELQ jet.

A few days before Jason & Sam's wedding, Edward visits Jason and gives him Lila's wedding ring to give to Sam. He and Monica later attend the wedding, only to learn that they eloped the night before. At the reception, Edward's fortune cookie reads, "Love is an "L" word," implying Lila.

Edward is delighted when Jason, Sam, and Michael attend Thanksgiving dinner in 2011. Things do not go as planned when Tracy insults Jason to the point where he flips a table over and storms out. On Christmas Eve, Edward tells Monica and Tracy that the year Lila died, she was planning on getting him monogrammed cufflinks. Tracy sends Alice to the jewelry store to pick up a pair, but the store closes before Alice can get there. When Edward opens a present left for him under the tree, he finds a pair of monogrammed cufflinks.

February-August 2012
In February 2012, Sonny is shot in the parking lot of the Metro Court. Anthony and Tracy tell Edward, who is delighted at the attempted killing of his enemy. Later in the month, Robin Scorpio-Drake was killed in a lab explosion at the hospital. Tracy is tasked with telling Edward, who does not take the news well. The day of Robin's funeral comes and an argument breaks out between Monica and Tracy. All the stress of the day, plus not taking his pill, causes Edward to collapse. He and Tracy honor Robin by staying home and lighting candles by her picture, along with the pictures of Lila, AJ, Justus, Alan, & Emily.

When Edward's ex-wife, Heather, was released from the sanitarium and returned to Port Charles, he quickly contacted his lawyer, Alexis, and had a restraining order filed against Heather.

In August 2012, Jerry Jacks, who had recently returned to Port Charles, contaminates the town's water supply with the intent of extracting an $88 million ransom in order to provide himself with a cure to his own radiation sickness. However, he innoculates Alexis Davis and Josslyn Jacks against the pathogen, and provides mobster Joe Scully, Jr. with a dose of the antiserum, in exchange for Scully's assistance with his nefarious plans. Scully, however, opts to use the antiserum on Tracy Quartermaine, who he has a burgeoning attraction to. Tracy, clueless as to why she is seemingly immune to the effects of the pathogen, decides to undergo tests in order to see if her blood could be used to create a second antiserum. Dr. Patrick Drake is able to synthesize a single dose of the antiserum, which Tracy wants to give to Edward, stealing it from Monica's office. A frail Edward, wise to Tracy's plans, refuses to take the antiserum, and instead requests that she give it to Emma Scorpio-Drake. A tearful Patrick gets Emma to drink it, as Edward looks on and smiles.

Declining health and death
In November 2012, Monica informs Tracy that Edward's health is in decline, and that he will likely not be with them much longer. A devastated Tracy refuses to allow a recently returned A.J. to see Edward, but permits Michael and Sam to say their goodbyes. Sam is able to introduce Edward to her son, Danny Morgan, and reveals to him that Jason is his father, much to Monica's surprise. Tracy eventually comes around, and allows A.J. to say his goodbyes to Edward, but he passes away before he has the opportunity to do so. A devastated A.J., who had wanted desperately to apologize for his past failings, sobs uncontrollably on Edward's chest. Monica was with Edward in his final moments as he uttered his final word, "Lila." Edward was later reunited with Lila and the two walked together up the stairs of the Quartermaine mansion.

Funeral and reading of the will
On November 26, the funeral is held. Notable people that attended were Sam Morgan and her baby Danny, Damian Spinelli, Michael Corinthos and Starr Manning, Kristina and Molly Davis, and many others. A.J. is not permitted to go to the funeral due to the judge's demands.

Diane Miller comes after the funeral and burial to read the last will and testament. Throughout the reading, there are numerous interruptions from Tracy and others about who applies. Edward leaves 60% of his shares to his living grandchildren (Ned Ashton and Dillon Quartermaine [through Tracy], Skye Quartermaine, A.J. Quartermaine and Jason Morgan [through Alan]). He wills 30% of his shares to his living grandchildren (Brook Lynn Ashton [through Ned], Michael Corinthos [through A.J.], Lila Rae Alcazar [through Skye], Danny Morgan [through Jason], and Maya Ward [through Justus/Faith Ward]), and 5% each to Monica and Alice (the maid). Edward also wills his monetary and other earthly possessions [most likely living the mansion to Monica] to a charity and PBS. After Tracy realizes that she didn't get anything from Edward, she fears that she might lose her job as the CEO of ELQ. The new majority might be headed by Monica with support of the other pre-existing shareholders (i.e. Carly and others) might make a new change of CEOs.

The only thing that Tracy receives is a wooden box. Inside the wooden box is a can of relish. There is also no note in the will (or at least mention) of Edward's son Jimmy Lee Holt who is alive but is living in another city of New York. This might be due to Jimmy haven't been seen since 1986 though.

The fate of ELQ
Skye tells A.J. that she has information about Tracy that might help them to take down Tracy as CEO. A.J. wants to implement various changes and make ELQ more prosperous, but Tracy will not have that.

On November 27, the two sides discuss what shares they are confident that they have and who they need to target. The two alliances that seems to be coming to alive is Tracy's and A.J.'s. Tracy and Ned discuss that they would have Dillon, Ned, Brook Lynn, Maya, and Alice voting their combined 41%. A.J. and Skye discuss that they would have A.J., Michael, Skye, Skye with Lila Rae's, and Monica voting their combined 41%. There is a deadlock at 41% with 18% that two alliances believe to be a swing vote of Sam Morgan. Sam Morgan has controlling interest of her missing husband and her baby's shares. Sam doesn't like A.J. due to his mistreatment of Jason and she doesn't like Tracy.

A.J. visits with Michael and discuss that he wants Michael's help with ousting Tracy as the CEO. AJ tells Michael about that his shares are crucial, but also they need Sam's shares as well. AJ tells him that they could be a good team. In December, AJ has the charges dropped due to him giving the police department information about Cesar Faison.