“Drowned in Infamy, Crowned in Glory: Esme’s Chilling Exit Stuns the Daytime World—But Is the Queen of Chaos Coming Back from the Dead?”

They thought she was gone. They hoped she was gone. But Esme Prince, the most polarizing vixen to ever haunt the halls of General Hospital, has done the unthinkable yet again—she’s made her greatest comeback without even setting foot in Port Charles.

Avery Kristen Pohl, the wickedly talented actress behind the character viewers love to loathe, has just been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Performer. And it’s not just any nod—it’s for her blood-chilling, gasp-worthy farewell as Esme, the woman who could weaponize a syringe with the same ease others wield a smirk.

“Someone pinch me!” Pohl gushed on Instagram, her disbelief and gratitude spilling out like one of Esme’s twisted confessions. “To be nominated next to my TV mom [Alley Mills, ex-Heather] and one of my close friends Jacqueline Grace Lopez (ex-Blaze) is more than a dream!” Indeed, it’s a moment of poetic justice: the real-life talent behind one of soap’s darkest figures finally getting her roses—and she’s not even in the building.

Pohl continued with heartfelt thanks to the General Hospital team and executive producer Frank Valentini, promising fans she’ll be “seeing you all October 17th”—the day of the Emmys. But is that all we’ll see of her?

Because in true Esme fashion, nothing is ever what it seems.

If you’ve been following GH religiously—and if you haven’t, what rock have you been living under?—you’ll remember that Esme’s 2024 storyline was the stuff of soap legend. Obsessed with reclaiming her ex-lover Spencer and sabotaging his love with Trina, Esme followed them to Paris in a scheme so outrageous, it might’ve actually worked. She got close. Too close. Injecting Spencer with a mystery drug mid-seduction attempt, only to plunge into the River Seine with him in a watery tumble of secrets and regret.

And then… nothing.

The woman who once cheated death by falling off Wyndemere’s parapet vanished again—no body, no trace, no Esme. But longtime fans know the truth: Esme Prince doesn’t die. She disappears. She waits. She plots.

Esme has survived impossible falls before. In fact, water might as well be her element. From her first entrance, she’s been a force of chaos that flowed into every crack in Port Charles’ foundations. She’s a current of manipulation, deception, and raw, unrelenting ambition. You can’t kill a wave. You can only get swept away.

So as the world celebrates Pohl’s nomination, fans can’t help but ask—is this really goodbye? Or is it just the beginning of another masterstroke?

Her co-stars certainly don’t think her reign is over. Jon Lindstrom (Esme’s sinister onscreen father Ryan) was practically beaming with pride, declaring her performance “a gross understatement” of brilliance. He added that being proud of both Pohl and Alley Mills in the same year “made his whole year.” And Jacqueline Grace Lopez was positively glowing, calling their joint nomination victory “so pumped” and cheering, “We did it, cutie!”

But the fans? They want more than awards. They want blood. They want revenge. They want Esme back.

Because even in death—or presumed death—Esme’s presence lingers. There’s the matter of baby Ace, the child she shares with Nikolas Cassadine (Spencer’s imprisoned father). No real soap mother would leave her son forever. And if Esme’s taught us anything, it’s that motherhood is just another tool in her arsenal of manipulation.

Is she watching from afar? Is she healing, hiding, plotting? Every moment Esme remains missing is a moment she could be planning her return—stronger, smarter, and more venomous than ever before. The question isn’t if she’ll return. It’s how.

And this time, she’s got an Emmy nomination behind her. That means something. That means the world is watching. It means the writers are tempted. It means the doors to Port Charles may be creaking open once more.

There’s precedent, after all. Esme’s last “death” was merely a pause in her path of destruction. She returned from that watery grave before—why not now? Why not emerge in the shadows of October, clutching her Emmy with one hand and a new plan of terror in the other?

Imagine it: Trina and Spencer, finally feeling safe in their love, blindsided by Esme’s resurrection. Nikolas, still in prison, forced to reckon with the one woman who manipulated everyone. Ace, a pawn in a war between the living and the resurrected. Esme, re-entering not just as a villain, but as a crowned queen of daytime television.

So mark your calendars: October 17th may be Emmy night… but don’t be surprised if Esme returns to reclaim what’s hers.

Because in Port Charles, villains never die.
They just wait for the perfect moment to strike again.