I truly do believe that it is indeed the case of unreliable narration, absolutely wonderfully done, may I add. (This being said, I also do believe that all the adverse experiences in Edward's life have indeed happened, and they break my heart.)
To me, Edward's suffering is shown as having consumed him so much so that he is no longer able to see beyond it (also, thinking here about rats, about disease, something starting small and spreading through something - a body, or (!) a city, and it is almost as if he has taken the idea and then applied it to himself, especially when it comes to The Riddler, the idea (which is something you cannot exterminate) - about Edward's all-consuming obsession with the day of judgement, with cleansing, the idea of becoming cleansed of sins, how he was shown dry-heaving after remembering what he believes has made him into the person he has become, how he is ashamed of who he is, the computer panel showing the reset button, and so on, and so forth).
For example, some of the very first pages of TRYO #1 -
show the unreliable narration and Edward's point of view, distorted by his pain, so well. The focus is at first on the Renewal poster, because that is what he is focusing on, and what he has focused on for such a long time. On Renewal itself, and everything else that his mind connotes with it (the shame, the hatred, towards both himself and everything around him, hence the monstrous portrayal of the passengers). He's of course likely very skilled at pattern recognition, and it becomes something that he cannot escape, like a rat trapped in a cage, or in a maze. (Not me making a reference to Riddle of the Minotaur, of course not.)
Derailing a little here, I will never get over the beautiful use of colour in TRYO. "That I never got a chance" could be very much read as rueful, but the red immediately connotes an anguished sort of rage to me, completely changing Edward's tone of voice in my mind at that moment.
Going back to unreliable narration, we then see Edward's eyes depicted obscured, think white, hot, blinding rage, which he isn't showing outwardly, it is all within him. He is blinded by it, and his perception, therefore, becomes warped (again, hence the portrayal of the passengers, as well as other individuals throughout the comic), and this includes both how he sees himself as well as the entire world around him.
And, I don't think that he is completely oblivious to the fact that he is letting this consume him. He wants to see, to see beyond, to break through, so much so that it becomes not a force to propel him to take positive action, but a force of sheer destruction.
(i could go on forever turtles and glasses i love love having him under that microscope)
