Days Thursday Full: EJ Remembers It All! Rachel IS THE Avenger With The Gun

The world of Days of Our Lives has never been short on shocking twists, but this Thursday’s episode is set to shatter Salem in a way few storylines ever have. What begins as a slow unraveling of buried memories quickly explodes into a truth so devastating that it will redefine relationships, shift alliances, and leave fans reeling long after the credits roll. EJ DiMera’s long-suppressed recollections finally resurface, and with them comes the revelation of a shooter no one expected—Rachel Black, the child caught between family chaos, betrayal, and grief.

For months, fans have speculated about the mystery surrounding EJ’s shooting. Theories swirled about enemies seeking revenge, secret plots to bring him down, and even rival families trying to end his reign of manipulation once and for all. Yet nothing could prepare anyone for what EJ recalls: his life-threatening wounds were not the result of a seasoned assassin but the trembling hands of a little girl pushed to the edge by the sins of the adults around her.

When EJ’s memories return, they crash back like a tidal wave—every sight, every sound, every emotion of that fateful night flooding into his mind. He doesn’t just remember the moment he fell; he remembers Rachel’s face, pale and frozen in horror as she realized what she had done. Her eyes, wide with both terror and regret, are forever burned into his conscience. In that instant, EJ recognizes the cruel irony of his victory: his ruthless games and manipulation forced a child into believing violence was the only way to avenge her grandmother’s suffering.

The gun itself—Johnny’s carelessly discarded weapon—becomes an unbearable symbol of innocence lost. In Rachel’s hands, it wasn’t an instrument of malice but a misguided attempt at justice for the grandmother EJ tried so hard to silence. The psychological weight of this truth is more damaging to EJ than any bullet. He must live with the knowledge that his actions didn’t just threaten rivals; they scarred a child to the point of no return.

Into this storm steps Marlena Evans, Salem’s voice of wisdom and compassion. Though she’s faced possessions, betrayals, and nearly every form of human darkness, this case may be her most difficult yet. Guiding Rachel through the trauma of pulling that trigger demands every ounce of Marlena’s strength as both a psychiatrist and a maternal figure. Her recent departure from the hospital now seems like fate itself—allowing her to focus entirely on saving Rachel’s fragile mind. But even Marlena knows that her skills may not be enough. Rachel’s guilt, grief, and the crushing weight of secrecy could define the rest of her life if the adults around her fail to act with both wisdom and compassion.

The revelation doesn’t remain confined to whispered conversations between EJ and Marlena. Instead, the truth explodes under the harshest spotlight possible—the courtroom. With Johnny facing charges for the shooting, the disclosure of Rachel’s role rocks the proceedings with the force of a bomb. One moment, the jury leans toward convicting Johnny; the next, chaos erupts as the real shooter is revealed to be the very child no one suspected.

Courtroom order collapses as the revelation sinks in. Officers and bailiffs, trained to handle tense situations, find themselves overwhelmed by the emotional detonation. Gasps, tears, and raw outrage ripple across the gallery. The crowd gathered expecting a standard trial now witnesses a family and a community unraveling in real time.

At the center of this emotional storm is Kristen DiMera. The image of her being restrained by court officers, screaming for her daughter, captures one of the most unforgettable moments in Days of Our Lives history. Her desperation is more than maternal instinct—it is the anguish of a woman who has spent years manipulating fate, only to watch helplessly as her child becomes trapped in the fallout of that manipulation. Kristen’s outstretched arms, clawing toward Rachel as if she could somehow undo the damage, symbolize every parent’s deepest fear: losing the ability to protect their child from the consequences of their environment.

Kristen now faces the most painful truth of all—that Rachel’s actions were not born in isolation. They were the product of a family legacy steeped in manipulation, betrayal, and violence. In trying to shield her daughter, Kristen inadvertently taught her that revenge and retaliation were acceptable tools for survival. That twisted lesson has now manifested in the most tragic way possible.

The ripple effects of Rachel’s actions promise to reshape Salem permanently. Families who once stood united will fracture under the weight of guilt and blame. Friends will question their loyalties. Enemies will find unexpected leverage in the fallout. Above all, the adults of Salem must grapple with their collective responsibility. How could they allow a child to be so deeply consumed by bitterness and revenge that she believed pulling a trigger was her only path to justice?

Belle Black, ever the sharp attorney, begins piecing together the hidden layers of the story before anyone else dares to speak them aloud. Her suspicions about EJ and Marlena’s secretive behavior become fuel for a courtroom revelation that no one saw coming. Yet even Belle is unprepared for the magnitude of the fallout. The law provides little guidance when the perpetrator is a child, leaving Salem’s justice system—and its community—scrambling to decide Rachel’s fate.

Will Rachel face legal consequences for her actions, or will compassion for her trauma outweigh the need for justice? Can Marlena guide her toward healing, or will the guilt of what she’s done haunt her forever? Can Kristen accept that love is not enough to erase the damage of years spent in a toxic cycle of vengeance?

These questions linger as the dust settles, but one thing is clear: nothing in Salem will ever be the same. EJ, once so certain of his power, must now carry the unbearable burden of knowing that his schemes destroyed a child’s innocence. Kristen must face the collapse of the very family she tried to preserve. And Rachel, though young, will forever bear the scar of the night she raised a gun against an adult who should have protected her from such a fate.

The fallout from EJ’s recovered memory isn’t just another shocking twist in Salem’s never-ending drama. It’s a reckoning—a reminder that the actions of the powerful always ripple down to the most vulnerable. For Rachel, EJ, Kristen, and every family caught in the crossfire, the path forward is uncertain. But for fans, one truth is undeniable: this storyline will go down as one of the most haunting and unforgettable chapters in Days of Our Lives history.