Is Marlena from Days of Our Lives possessed? Explained

Days of Our Lives is a long-running soap opera on NBC that has tackled supernatural themes such as demonic possession. One character who has been on the receiving end of these supernatural turns of misfortune multiple times is Marlena Evans.

Marlena has been possessed by the devil twice throughout her tenure on Days of Our Lives. The first possession happened during the soap's 1994 run. The second, and more recent one was in 2021.

The first possession happened when the devil invaded her apartment and forcibly took over her body. In the second case, the devil first possessed Doug Williams and coerced Marlena into letting him back in by threatening his safety.

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Marlena from Days of Our Lives was first possessed in 1994

Marlena was first possessed by the devil in 1994 after she was subjected to hypnosis and drugging by Stefano DiMera.

Left vulnerable thanks to his attempt at forcing her to love him, she was subsequently attacked by the devil in her own home, with him announcing his presence by levitating her off her own bed and trapping her in her room using her dresser table, which seemingly moves by itself.

Because of these incidents, Marlena was eventually hospitalized, with Mike Horton and John Black watching over her. The devil finally possessed her in the hospital and tried to drive her to murder by having her grab a pair of scissors to murder John Black, only relenting when John discovered her with the scissors before she could attack.

When possessed by the devil, Marlena dropped a chandelier on Bo and Billie's wedding, abducted Kristen, and painted pentagrams all over her body. The devil's long-term plans targeted John Black since he was a preacher and envoy of God.

The devil then disguised Marlena as Kristen and tried to seduce John, resulting in him nearly breaking his vows until Tony's intervention put an end to the nefarious plot.

Marlena went through multiple exorcisms throughout Days of Our Lives when trying to get rid of the devil, and the devil resisted these attempts at being sent back to hell by manipulating Tony and John against each other and trying to sow discord among Salem's people.

Eventually, John was able to defeat the devil after proving his resolve by refusing to let the devil claim Marlena's soul. John called upon the power of God to immobilize the devil and finally send him back to hell, freeing Marlena from her torment.

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Marlena was possessed for a second time in 2021

Marlena's second possession in Days of Our Lives happened in 2021. This time around, the devil wormed his way back into her life by first possessing her patient, Doug Williams.

Doug began to describe increasingly disturbing actions to Marlena, such as sexually harassing Paulina Price and locking Julie Williams in the freezer. This eventually culminated in the devil revealing that he'd been possessing Doug all along and had come to reclaim Marlena.

Marlena tried to resist the devil's attempts to retake her, causing him to retaliate by torturing Doug to get her to cave in.

Eventually, Julie came in and discovered Doug passed out on the floor. Marlena explained everything that had happened, except for the devil's reappearance. Marlena returned home to John, and it was revealed that she eventually did cave in and allow the devil to possess her after all.

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Days of Our Lives is streaming on NBC's Peacock.