What happened to Marlena on Days of Our Lives? Explained

As of this writing, Marlena Evans has been on Days of Our Lives for the second-longest period, with only Maggie Horton surpassing her in this regard. However, she's had among the most turbulent character arcs in the soap.

Marlena debuted on Days of Our Lives as a guest character in 1976. She was Mickey Horton's psychiatrist. At this time, the Hortons had already become one of the soap's primary families.

Due to her popularity, Marlena eventually got a more significant role in Days of Our Lives, which is signified by her romance with Roman Brady. Some of her story arcs involved demonic possession, dealing with a malevolent doppelganger, her psychiatry career, and being a mother figure to the children from her various relationships.

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Marlena Evans first appeared on Days of Our Lives in 1976

Marlena Evans is the second-longest-serving character on Days of Our Lives. She was created by Pat Falken Smith and introduced during the tenure of executive producer Betty Corday.

Marlena was a psychiatrist treating Mickey Horton at Salem's University Hospital. There, she'd go on to meet her first love interest, Don Craig. Marlena's twin sister, Samantha, grew jealous and ended up having her institutionalized so that she could take Don for herself.

However, Don realized something was off and enlisted the help of Laura Horton to turn the tables on Samantha and have Marlena released.

In 1981, Marlena became friends with Kellam Chandler but rebuffed his romantic advances. Unable to take rejection, he molested her and was subsequently shot dead by his son Todd. Marlena would subsequently testify about her experience in Todd's trial in the hopes of helping his case.

Marlena started her radio show but became a target of the Salem strangler. Then, she met Detective Roman Brady, who became her de facto bodyguard, and romance bloomed between the two. Eventually, Marlena was cornered by the Salem strangler, only for Roman to kill him.

After Marlena and Roman got engaged, Roman's estranged wife, Anna, came to Salem with her daughter Carrie. Despite the friction this caused in Marlena and Roman's relationship, Anna eventually agreed to a divorce and parted ways, and Roman got custody of Carrie. He married Marlena in 1983.

Shortly after Marlena gave birth to Sami and Eric Brady, Roman was shot dead by Stefano DiMera, and he'd continue to be a thorn in Marlena's life for many years to come. Roman would later resurface alive and well, and Marlene and him would renew their vows on August 22, 1986.

Marlene ended her run in the 1980s by perishing in an apparent plane crash after Roman got into a conflict with Orpheus.

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Marlena would struggle with demonic possession and another doppelganger

Marlena would resurface in the 1990s, having been revealed to be alive but taken captive by Stefano. She'd eventually escape his clutches and find her way back to Salem. However, Stefano wasn't done pursuing her and plied her with drugs and hypnosis to make her succumb to his advances.

This would culminate in Marlena's demonic possession, where she was used by the devil to sow discord in Salem and target John Black. He'd eventually overpower the devil and send him back to hell, but Marlena would reencounter him in 2021 when he possessed Doug Williams.

Marlena also had conflicts with another doppelganger named Hattie Adams, who schemed alongside Angelica Devereaux to have her institutionalized so she could take over her identity in a twisted repetition of what Samantha did many years ago.

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Days of Our Lives is streaming on Peacock.