As Days of Our Lives’ Stefano Is Laid to Rest, His Most Unforgivable Sin May Soon Be Made Right

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We’re finally laying Days of Our Lives’ Stefano to rest. Yes, he’s been gone for seven years, but with his body missing, as EJ has noted, there’s always been the feeling that he could, truly, rise from the dead once again. But there’s no coming back when all that’s left are bones. (And so long as that “essence” stuff was destroyed.)

While Salem at large is thrilled by the news of Stefano’s permanent demise, virtually all of The Phoenix’s family are wrestling with a confusion of emotions, including his former son-in-law, Abe. As he just told Paulina on Monday’s episode, he knows Theo loved his grandfather, but Stefano was still responsible for his mother’s death.

That’s something Theo doesn’t know — and as Paulina said, maybe it’s best it stays that way. While we’re sure Theo knows that his mom died of cancer, he may not know how that cancer developed.

For those who weren’t watching back in 2012 when Lexie passed away, she had developed rapidly growing, untreatable brain tumors. There wasn’t much anyone could do but rally around and help Lexie check items off her bucket list. In the end she passed away peacefully in Abe’s arms in their backyard.

But the cancer wasn’t just a quirk of genetics or bad luck. You see, years before, Andre had kidnapped Lexie for a time when everyone thought her dead and held her down in the tunnels beneath the DiMera mansion. What no one realized until it was too late was that those tunnels were filled with a cancer-causing gas.

Abe, of course, laid the blame squarely at Stefano’s feet, and EJ, who was close to his sister, also blamed their dad. And Stefano took the blame. Lexie’s cancer and death devastated him. Ultimately, Lexie forgave her father and told him she loved him, but it was still a burden Stefano carried.

All of that is, in part, another reason why we’re so sure EJ’s about to bring Lexie back. His father caused her death, so if he can bring her back, it feels like a way for him to reconcile the family legacy. And return a beloved sibling. (And probably mess with Paulina.)

Of course, bringing her back without curing the cancer would be, well, pointless, if she suffered from the same terminal illness. But luckily, EJ’s other sister, Megan took care of that problem when she came up with a cure for Bo’s brain tumor when she brought him back from the dead.