The DiMera mansion has seen its fair share of power plays, betrayals, and sinister schemes—but the current crisis has pushed Salem’s most infamous home into full-blown DEFCON 1. What began as another unsettling disappearance has ignited into a volatile confrontation that threatens to expose long-buried secrets, resurrect old nightmares, and shatter what little stability the DiMera legacy has left.

At the center of the storm stands Susan Banks, operating on pure maternal instinct—and pointing her accusatory finger directly at Gwen Rizczech for the mysterious vanishing of her beloved son, EJ DiMera.

And if history has taught us anything, it’s this: when Susan Banks is convinced something is wrong, she’s usually terrifyingly close to the truth.

EJ DiMera Is Missing—and Susan Knows That’s Never “Normal”

In the real world, people disappear. In Salem, disappearances almost always come with secret tunnels, mad scientists, and elaborate mind-control experiments.

Susan Banks knows this better than anyone.

EJ DiMera does not simply vanish—especially not when he was in the middle of a crucial custody battle for Chad DiMera, a legal war that carried enormous emotional and political weight. EJ is ruthless, meticulous, and fiercely loyal to DiMera dominance. Walking away from that fight would be unthinkable.

Susan understands this on a gut level. Her intuition—often dismissed as eccentric rambling—goes into overdrive the moment she realizes EJ is unreachable. To her, the silence isn’t accidental. It’s orchestrated.

And all signs point to Gwen.

Susan vs. Gwen: A Mother’s Fury Meets a Master Manipulator

The confrontation unfolds in the DiMera living room—sacred ground steeped in Stefano’s shadow. This isn’t just a shouting match. It’s a symbolic battle for the soul of the DiMera legacy.

Susan, unfiltered and incandescent with rage, corners Gwen and unleashes a torrent of accusations. She doesn’t hedge her words. She doesn’t soften the blow.

“You did this,” Susan all but screams. “You took my son.”

Gwen’s reaction is telling. She doesn’t look shocked or confused—she looks defensive. Her jaw tightens. Her eyes harden. This isn’t the posture of an innocent woman blindsided by grief. It’s the posture of someone who believes she’s being challenged by someone beneath her… and who fears that challenger might know too much.

Susan, meanwhile, has nothing left to lose.

The Secret Door That Changes Everything

Here’s where the tension skyrockets.

The argument unfolds suspiciously close to one of the DiMera mansion’s most infamous features: the hidden bookcase door—a gateway to underground tunnels, secret rooms, and Dr. Rolf’s private laboratory.

This is no coincidence.

Susan has already witnessed Dr. Rolf emerging from behind that door in a moment once played for comedy. But now, with EJ missing, that memory becomes a flashing red warning light.

To Susan, the equation is chillingly simple:

Rolf is back. Gwen is funding suspicious ventures. EJ is gone.

And Gwen is standing right in front of the door that leads to Salem’s darkest experiments.

Susan doesn’t need forensic proof. She has instinct—and instinct has saved lives in Salem before.

Gwen’s Motive: Control, Not Murder

Despite Susan’s fury, one thing becomes increasingly clear: Gwen may not want EJ dead.

She wants him controlled.

Gwen’s history is riddled with abandonment, inferiority, and an obsessive need to secure her place in powerful families. EJ—brilliant, arrogant, and unpredictable—would never truly submit to her.

But what if he didn’t have to?

With Dr. Rolf’s expertise in memory manipulation and behavioral “adjustments,” the unthinkable becomes plausible. A compliant EJ. A rewritten EJ. A DiMera prince stripped of his defiance and molded into Gwen’s perfect ally—or puppet.

It’s a horrifying possibility, but one entirely consistent with Salem’s twisted history.

A Cleared Chessboard at the DiMera Mansion

Perhaps the most damning evidence against Gwen isn’t just EJ’s disappearance—it’s who isn’t around to challenge her.

Chad is missing.
EJ is gone.
Kristen is absent.
Tony and Anna are overseas.
Dimitri has vanished.

The mansion is eerily empty of legitimate DiMera power players.

And Gwen remains.

She occupies the space like a conqueror, strolling past Stefano’s portrait as if she owns the legacy outright. That image is what pushes Susan over the edge.

In Susan’s eyes, Gwen is not family. She’s an opportunist who married into proximity, not blood. And now she’s exploiting a vacuum created by coordinated disappearances.

Too many absences. Too much convenience.

Susan Invokes Stefano—and Declares War

Susan’s meltdown escalates into something almost mythic when she turns toward Stefano DiMera’s portrait, invoking the Phoenix himself.

It’s more than theatrics.

To Susan, this is a betrayal of blood, legacy, and maternal sacrifice. EJ is Stefano’s son. Susan carried him. Gwen, in her mind, is a trespasser defiling sacred ground.

Susan demands Gwen leave the mansion immediately, declaring she has no right to DiMera wealth, power, or property. It’s chaos versus calculation—raw maternal fury clashing with Gwen’s icy entitlement.

And Susan isn’t backing down.

Why Gwen May Have Overplayed Her Hand

If Gwen orchestrated this takeover, she made one fatal miscalculation.

She didn’t account for Susan Banks.

Susan’s wild accusations may sound unhinged—but they’re loud. And loud attracts attention. If Susan keeps screaming about secret doors and Dr. Rolf, eventually someone in authority—perhaps Rafe Hernandez—will be forced to investigate.

All it takes is one person pulling the wrong book.

And if that door opens?

Everything changes.

What Happens Next

This confrontation marks the beginning of the end for Gwen’s quiet reign in the DiMera mansion. Whether EJ is hidden, brainwashed, or imprisoned remains to be seen—but Susan’s instincts have set Salem on a collision course with the truth.

One thing is certain: Susan Banks will not stop until she finds her son.

And when the secret room is finally revealed, Gwen may wish she’d never underestimated the most underestimated woman in Salem.