You know Laufey, it always annoyed me that the best mage in Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 was evil. His nature was the price players had to pay for his "peerless skills".
I think the movie Spaceballs put it best when Dark Helmet said "You know, evil will always triumph because good is dumb"
So, does he even have the slightest chance of redeeming himself, or is there something attractive about calculated, evil men?
I've always found intellectual, witty ( and, yes, smug) men to be enticing. Because, as someone stated earlier, egomaniacs don't NEED someone to constantly hold their hands and reassure them. That's what I found so annoying with Kelsey and Anomen. Not only were they complete saps spouting the same tired lovey-dovey drivel, but they constantly whined about their oh-so-tragic lives and would insist upon the PC to coddle them and make their life decisions for them. I love Edwin because he has a spine, he's interesting and goddamn funny at the same time.
Yup, he's the simulated man for me!
As for being "redeemed", he never struck me as a complete and utter bastard . It's not like he drowns puppies or anything. Because puppy drowning happens to be quite a turn-off.