Days of Our Lives: What Really Happened to Marlena on Stefano’s Island?

In 1987, on Days of our Lives, Marlena Evans disappeared from Salem for years after surviving a plane crash that left her in a coma. During that time, Stefano DiMera took control of her and secretly kept her on an island, where she remained largely unconscious and cut off from her family.

The storyline eventually tied into one of the biggest twists in Days of Our Lives history, including the truth about Roman Brady, John Black, and the children Marlena had while she was missing. Now, with Dominic Marino emerging in Salem, the events surrounding Marlena’s time on Stefano’s island have one more connection to the present: the children she knew about were not the full story. 

Marlena Was Kept in a Drug-Induced Coma

After the plane crash, Marlena (Deidre Hall) survived but remained in a coma. Stefano (Joseph Mascolo) eventually obtained custody of her and transported her to an island, where she was kept in a drug-induced state, waking only for brief periods of time.

Marlena had little understanding of what was happening to her. When she eventually regained consciousness in 1991, she remembered fragments of being held captive and believed she had been on the island with Roman.

The experience was later revealed to have involved Stefano’s experiments with genetically engineered children. While Marlena was unconscious, she was impregnated and carried twins to term. She gave birth to Rex and Cassie, who were taken away from her shortly after their births.

The twins were not immediately identified as Marlena’s children when they eventually entered the Salem story. Their connection to Stefano and their unusual origins became part of another major storyline years later.

Marlena Escaped the Island

In the summer of 1991, Marlena finally woke up and escaped the island on a cargo plane, eventually making her way back to Salem. Her return created a problem. She believed that the man she knew as Roman had somehow been connected to her captivity. 

Marlena also remembered Roman being with her on the island, even though “Roman” was in Salem during her absence. Her memories ultimately helped expose the truth behind one of Stefano’s longest-running schemes.

The Truth About Roman and John Black

For years, Salem believed that John Black (Drake Hogestyn) was actually Roman Brady. John had been introduced as an amnesiac and had undergone extensive brainwashing and training under Stefano. He had been programmed to believe he was Roman and eventually returned to Salem to live Roman’s life with Marlena.

In 1991, the real Roman was discovered alive and had been held prisoner by Stefano. This meant that the man Marlena had been living with was not actually her husband.

Marlena’s return therefore coincided with the revelation that Roman was alive, John was not Roman, and Stefano had been responsible for both men’s complicated histories. Marlena and the real Roman eventually reunited, although the situation became complicated by her lingering feelings for John.

Marlena Eventually Remembered What Happened

For years, Marlena has not fully remembered her time on Stefano’s island. The details surrounding her captivity and the birth of the genetically engineered twins were eventually revisited and revealed more fully in 2003.

The island storyline therefore became an important part of the larger Stefano mythology. It explained Marlena’s disappearance, connected her to the creation of Rex and Cassie, and helped establish the truth behind the Roman Brady/John Black identity switch. It also solidified a bond between Roman, Kate, and Marlena through what they went through on the island and the birth of Rex and Cassie.