Days of our Lives: MYSTERY HEIR Slips On Stefano’s Ring – EJ Stunned!

Days of Our Lives reveals that somebody new is wearing the late Stefano DiMera (Joseph Mascolo)’s infamous Phoenix ring. EJ DiMera (Dan Feuerriegel) hasn’t even had the ring that long, but he’s very attached to it. Now somebody else has it thanks to Rita Lesley (Maggie Carney).

And soon EJ is going to be blindsided by this twist. The big question is since Rita’s always been ride or die with the DiMeras, why would she give Stefano’s ring to somebody else? And I suspect this might be another son of Stefano on the scene set to make big moves against other DiMeras.

Days of our Lives: Stefano Dead & Gone

So, you remember when Stefano’s remains were found in the crypt during the kidnapping? That finally gave us closure about whether the Phoenix was really dead and gone. And that was when Dr. Wilhelm Rolf (Richard Wharton) gave EJ the infamous black and gold Phoenix ring. And Rolf said Stefano wanted to pass it on to his heir.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean that EJ is Stefano’s actual heir. When EJ’s mother, Susan Banks (Stacy Haiduk), saw the ring, she freaked out. If you remember, she snatched it off EJ’s hands and Susan ran off and did some of her voodoo and she claimed to have cleansed Stefano’s ring of evil and she warned Elvis Junior keep away from the ring. And of course, he didn’t listen to Susan and he keeps wearing his late father Stefano’s ring, hiding it from his other siblings now and then. And of course, he’s upset because EJ seems to have misplaced the ring.

DOOL: EJ’s Ring Missing

He realized it was missing when he was with Chad DiMera (Connor Floyd) and Belle Black (Martha Madison) at the family’s private jet hanger. And now EJ’s hitching a ride to Italy with his brother Chad and his ex-girlfriend Belle. And EJ claimed he wanted to visit his daughter Sydney DiMera (Sidney Malakeh). But EJ also suggested he might be able to lend a hand trying to figure out the chess set clues.

After all, this quest is not only about Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) and John Black (Drake Hogestyn). It ties back to the DiMera family as well. And when EJ called Rita, viewers saw the ring sitting right there on the coffee table, but she lied to EJ and said she looked around and hasn’t seen it. But then Rita pocketed the ring. And this week, we’re going to see that ring on some mystery man’s hand. And there’s a shipping envelope in the background.

So clearly, Rita sent the ring off to this person that I think is her new boss. And that means there’s a good chance this guy is a DiMera. I mean, who else would want the late Stefano’s Phoenix ring unless they were a DiMera and thought it belonged to them and more specifically that it didn’t belong to EJ. Plus, the same guy is the one who is spying on them and giving out the clues to the chess set mystery, which is a clear sign he’s Stefano adjacent.

Days of our Lives: Drew. Rolf Dissappears

Plus, Dr. Rolf has been abruptly absent. He only briefly showed his face after ghosting out of town. If you remember, Rolf came back right before Lexie Carver (Nikki Crawford)’s death when he shut down his and EJ’s secret lab that contained three other pods presumably of resurrected individuals. Rolf swears he’s out of the resurrection game and then he took off again.

But I also wonder if he might somehow be involved with this new mystery guy. So Rolf may have thrown his loyalty to this man the same way that Rita apparently has. The shifting loyalties of longtime loyal DiMera family hench persons is another huge red flag. So let’s dig in and talk about who exactly this mystery man is that has the ring on his finger.

Peter Blake Alive on Days

So, the very first person that springs to my mind is Peter Blake (Dan Gauthier). As we saw, Rolf was the one who killed Peter when he was in the hospital. He snuck in and put a shot in his IV and then he died. That was right after Peter did the crypt kidnappings of EJ, Kristen, Chad DiMera, (Conner Floyd) Tony DiMera (Thaao Penghlis), and Theo Carver (Tyler Joseph Andrews). And it was because Peter wanted control of the family, business, and fortune. And Peter thought that the kidnapping and killing them was the best way.

He was literally trying to get rid of all his competition. Peter wanted to be Stefano‘s sole heir. And it would have been very easy for Rolf to give Peter a serum to make him look dead and then shove him in a pod for safekeeping, especially if his loyalty was to him. So maybe, Rolf resurrected Peter and planted the essence of Stefano into his brain the same way he did with Steve years ago.

Days of our Lives: Stefano 3.0 or Stefan DiMera Returns

This might be Stefano 3.0 because Stefano was Stefano 2.0. That would explain Rita following the new guy’s orders if he’s supposed to be Stefano. Another option is another Phoenix son, Stefan DiMera (Brandon Barash). He supposedly died from heart issues last October in Almania, but everything about his death was sketchy. Vivian Alamain (Louise Sorel) didn’t file for his death certificate till months after his alleged death, and they exhumed Stefano’s grave to test the DNA, but that doesn’t mean much because he has a twin brother. Jake Lambert (Brandon Barash)’s dead, so the remains in the Almanean grave could have been Stefan’s twin, and it still would have been a DNA match.

Plus, with Philip Kiriakis (John-Paul Lavoisier) and Gabby getting closer and ready to renew their relationship, it’d be a good time for Stefan to come back for a love triangle. We’ve also known since we met Stefan years ago that he wanted to take control of DiMera. His mom Vivian helped him and it could be that she has also faked her death because she’s done it before several times. She may be helping Stefan take over as head of the DiMeras and faking both their deaths might have been part of the plan.

Vivian Still Alive on DOOL

Honestly, I don’t think any fans think Vivian is dead, and most of them don’t think Stefan’s dead either. Now, let’s talk about somebody I think is a longer shot, but we have to think about it. Andre DiMera (Thaao Penghlis). He’s been dead for years, ever since Abigail Deveraux (AnnaLynne McCord) killed him. But death has never stopped Days of Our Lives writers from bringing characters back from the beyond.

Nobody in the DiMera family stays dead for too long. So, we just have to mention Andre as a possibility. However, the hand that’s wearing the Phoenix ring in the promo looks like a much younger person than a hand on Thaao Penghlis‘s hand. Right. So, another really out there possibility is that Rolf created a Stefano clone. He could have grown one from scratch like he planned to do when he was trying to implant Kayla Brady (Mary Beth Evans) with a Stefano embryo a few years ago.

Or Rolf could have used some rando and infused them with Stefano’s DNA. Obviously, this is a way out there whackadoodle idea, but this is also the kind of thing that Days of Our Lives is completely capable of doing. The DiMeras and Dr. Rolf have delved into the weird and supernatural for decades.

But based on the timing and some other red flags, I suspect the guy in the ring might be Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney)’s rich Italian fiancé, Dante Vitali (Franco LoPresti). We’re going to see Franco LoPresti debuting as Dante on September 14th. And it could be that Dante was raised by the Vitalis, but he isn’t really one of them. Or maybe his mom is a Vitali and his father is Stefano.

Days of our Lives: Marlena’s Secret Child with Stefano

There’s also been some hints that maybe Stefano and Marlena had a secret child that she doesn’t remember. Stefano would have loved to have had a kid with his queen of the night and might have held Marlena captive for the whole nine months because she talked about when she was on the DiMera Island and he could have taken the baby and had the Vitalis raise it in secret. There’s not a ton of Vitali history prior to Ava Vitali (Tamara Braun) showing up in Salem.

So there’s lots of room to invent retroactive history between Stefano and the Vitali family. The timing of Franco LoPresti’s debut and this guy wearing the ring is all sus to me. So, Dante may be the one who is buying the Kiriakis mansion by the way and Rita might have lied to EJ about it if she’s loyal to Dante and he may have actually targeted Sami specifically because of EJ. We’ll know lots more soon.