Why Nelle needs to return to General Hospital

Can you believe it's been close to five years since General Hospital's Nelle fell to her alleged death while Carly chased her through the woods? Although a body was eventually found, the audience never saw who was truly identified, meaning Nelle could still be out there somewhere, and someone else could be in her grave.

Nelle's untimely General Hospital death

After giving birth to the baby now known as Wiley, Nelle (Chloe Lanier) was carted off to jail after claiming her baby died and switching him with Willow's (Katelyn MacMullen) dead infant. During her time behind bars, all Nelle wanted was to be with her son again, and even created a vision board to manifest their reunion into existence.

In early 2020, Nelle married Julian (William deVry) in the hopes of winning custody of Wiley, but Michael (Chad Duell) married Willow for the same purpose. The judge thought being married to a school teacher was more appropriate than being married to a mobster pub owner, so Michael and Willow won custody. Nina's (Cynthia Watros) testimony against Nelle didn't help. She went to bat for Michael and Willow before ever learning Nelle and Willow were her daughters.

Nelle still refused to give up and kidnapped Wiley, bringing him to a cabin in the woods where Carly (Laura Wright) found her. While Carly chased Nelle through the woods, Nelle ran straight off a cliff. Carly hesitated for a split second before reaching out her hand to help Nelle, who was barely hanging on. But it was too late. Nelle slipped right through Carly's hand and plunged to the bottom of a ravine in the fall of 2020.

Nelle leaves quite a legacy behind

It was only after Nelle's apparent death that Nina finally learned that Nelle was the daughter she had been searching for. Carly already knew before Nelle's fall but kept that secret from Nina. After the truth was revealed, Nina spent the next two years fighting for her right to see Nelle's son, who was not Willow's adoptive son.

However, Nina learned another shocking truth two years ago. She had given birth to twins when she was in her 20-year coma, and Willow was Nelle's fraternal twin sister. Before Willow even knew the truth, we got to see Nelle again when Chloe Lanier returned to haunt Willow in her dreams. Willow feared that Nelle and Nina would take Wiley from her and had an explicitly gruesome nightmare about it.

With all that Nelle left behind, there is a multitude of stories still to tell if the character ever returned.

Mothers, daughters...and sisters

Nina's twin daughters couldn't be any more different — or are they? Nelle has been accused of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, and more. Willow is a school teacher turned nurse who seemed pure and perfect to just about everyone in Port Charles until very recently.

Willow has now been revealed as a cheater who would use her severely burned husband as leverage to see her kids. Yes, she got that idea from her own personal cult leader, Drew (Cameron Mathison), but she was still willing to do it. While Willow might not be as vindictive as Nelle, she is not the precious, delicate flower she's been made out to be since arriving on the Port Charles scene in 2018.

Wouldn't it be delightful to see Nelle and Willow spar as sisters rather than two strangers who barely knew one another? Nelle has no problem calling out anyone for their hypocrisy so she could have a field day with Willow.

Nelle's return could also finally give us scenes between Nina and the daughter she testified against after befriending her a few years prior. It never made sense to have Nina's long-lost daughter turn out to be a dead character. Nina spent years searching for her child, and fans felt cheated after never seeing true reunion scenes.

Finally, can you imagine yet another custody fight for Wiley — between his two mothers, who are sisters? What would Grandma Nina do then? We'd need Nelle back to find out.

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.