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The Rinse: Could Stefano’s Final Puzzle Put Days of our Lives’ Marlena Back Where She Belongs?

The Rinse: Our daily look at the biggest takeaway from the last episode of DAYS. Could Stefano’s final mind game be exactly what Marlena needs to reclaim the DAYS spotlight?

Marlena is featured in The Rinse for Days of our Lives on Wednesday, August 26, 2026.Image Credit: Peacock

On the August 26 episode of Days of our Lives, Marlena told Belle about the last time Stefano tried to play chess-based games with the Black family. She then pricked her finger… and remembered the last time she pricked her finger. Surely, the two things are connected! Will figuring out how finally give Deidre Hall the front-burner storyline she’s been lacking?

Key Takeaways

  • Marlena was Days of our Lives‘ leading lady for decades
  • Marlena has been Missing In Action for months
  • Marlena might be ready to step back into the action

Before John and Roman, Marlena Was Already an Icon

Back in 1982, furious fans picketed the NBC Studios when they thought their beloved Marlena had been killed off. (The Salem Strangler actually got her twin sister, Samantha, as played by Hall’s real-life twin sister, Andrea.) That’s how important Marlena was to Salem.

And that was before Marlena’s red-hot romance with Roman (then-Wayne Northrop, real-life dad of Hank Northrup who plays Liam), and her even redder and hotter romance with John (Drake Hogestyn), even while she was still married to Roman (by then Josh Taylor).

Marlena Is Ready to Get Back in the Game

Since John’s on-screen death, Marlena has been taking it easy. We get that. But she’s also had very little to do, short of worrying about Rachel (Lorelei Olivia Mote) and Johnny (Carson Boatman), hanging out with fellow widow Julie (Susan Seaforth Hayes), counseling Cat (AnnaLynne McCord) and others, and warning Belle (Martha Madison) about Stefano (the late Joseph Mascolo).

But, as of today, it looks like Marlena is open to taking a more active role in Belle and Chad’s (Conner Floyd) sleuthing regarding Stefano’s final puzzle.

Belle and Chad Need Marlena in This Fight

And if Marlena is back in the action, that means she’s that much closer to taking back her spot in the limelight. Belle and Chad are babies when it comes to figuring out Stefano’s mind games. They need Marlena. And Marlena needs to get back in the game!

MORE: Here’s what’s coming next on DAYS.

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