How General Hospital's Willow Ended Up In A Cult
There is a never-ending supply of crazy storylines on soap operas, keeping fans coming back for more — like the bizarre plot of a cult leader infiltrating a small town. One such cult leader was Hank "Shiloh" Archer (Coby Ryan McLaughlin), who led the Dawn of Day cult on "General Hospital" and attempted to recruit Port Charles residents into his organization. Shiloh's reign of terror also involved one of the soap's most controversial characters of the last few years.
Former DOD member Willow Tait (Katelyn MacMullen) debuted on "GH" as an elementary school teacher and was one of the first characters to introduce the cult to viewers. When Shiloh showed up in Port Charles, she eventually revealed that she had been involved with him before she fled Dawn of Day to start fresh. Unfortunately, it wasn't so easy for Willow to leave her past behind. Her mother, Harmony Miller (Inga Cadranel), followed her to Port Charles to try and convince her to return to the cult — the one she forced her into in the first place. However, Shiloh's crimes weren't the only things Harmony hid from Willow. On "GH," there are always more secrets just around the corner.
Willow was forced into Dawn of Day by her mother
Willow Tait was forced into the Dawn of Day cult when she was a teenager by her mother, Harmony Miller. Harmony was constantly seeking spiritual stimulation and new paths of enlightenment, moving Willow from commune to commune as a child. She had been married to Douglas Miller, and he followed her on her journey for enlightenment until he died under suspicious circumstances after denouncing DOD.
When Harmony eventually made a home with the Dawn of Day cult, she became one of Shiloh's biggest supporters and helped him build the organization. She even helped him initiate members into his inner circle, called "The Trust," which involved female members providing damaging information about themselves as collateral and getting tattooed with a special emblem before being drugged so Shiloh could have sex with them.
Unfortunately, Willow was one of these members. She went through the initiation at her mother's insistence and later discovered she was pregnant. She then fled DOD, furious that Harmony hadn't kept her safe. Determined to protect her child from Shiloh, Willow gave her son up for adoption after arriving in Port Charles.
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Harmony was hiding a huge secret from Willow
When Harmony Miller found Willow Tait in Port Charles, her daughter had no interest in a relationship with her. In time, however, Harmony realized that Shiloh was only using her and she left Dawn of Day. But things were not as hopeful as they seemed; Harmony was still keeping secrets — namely that Willow wasn't her daughter at all.
When Willow went looking for her birth certificate to obtain her passport, she realized there was no official record of her birth. Harmony tried to play it off but revealed to a friend that Willow had been given to her to raise by a woman named Joan, who had lived in the same commune. Following Harmony's unexpected death in May 2022, Willow was devastated to learn she wasn't her biological mother. Though that seemed like the end of the story, Willow's true parentage was yet to be revealed.
Before her death, Harmony had confided in Carly Spencer (Laura Wright) that neither she nor Joan was the girl's mother. In fact, it was notable Port Charles resident Nina Reeves (Cynthia Watros) who had given birth to Willow and her twin Nelle Benson (Chloe Lanier). Nina was in a coma when the girls were born, and her mother, Madeline Reeves (Donna Mills), gave the babies away. Willow was sold to Harmony and Douglas Miller, who raised her as their own. Unfortunately, this illegal adoption resulted in years of trauma for Willow, ultimately leading her to Dawn of Day and the loss of her own child.