10 Handmaid's Tale Questions That Got Answered in The Testaments

追加: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]You want to know what it was like for me, growing up in Gilead? Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're looking at loose ends from The Handmaid's Tale that were revisited in The Testaments. The real brutality is when it asks you to endure knowing what you have done and what has [music] been done while you stood by. Spoilers for both shows will follow. Does the resistance continue?

[00:00:23]What are you doing? Come on.

[00:00:25]Okay, I'm going back for my stuff.

[00:00:27]>> No. No, why?

[00:00:29]>> Because you're in danger. I need to get you out of here. The Handmaid's Tale concluded with a victory for Mayday, the resistance group working to bring an end to Gilead. While Gilead lost the war of Massachusetts, the Republic maintained control over territory that the resistance is still fighting to reclaim four years later. Radio Free Boston provides a means of communication for Mayday members working on the inside. If you listen closely, you'll notice that one of the voices on Radio Free Boston is Mark Tuello, the US government operative who aided June. Also, Stephen Colbert's voice can be heard.

[00:01:05]>> This is Radio Free Boston. If you're hoping for some towns, you're in the right place. For our Mayday heroes behind the lines, tonight's messages are on channel >> [music] >> 99.2. Among the new Mayday recruits is Daisy, who learns that she was rescued from Gilead as a baby. After her parents are killed, Mayday arranges for Daisy to infiltrate Gilead as a Pearl Girl.

[00:01:26]Daisy, be a good girl and stay with Agnes. Lambs don't stray. Yes, Aunt Lydia.

[00:01:34]Thank you, Aunt Lydia. What are wife schools like? We're all too familiar with the horrors that handmaids endure.

[00:01:41]We also know that being a wife in Gilead isn't as glamorous as the commanders claim. Yet, The Handmaid's Tale only briefly touched upon what goes on within the walls of a wife school. We learned why wives in training, plums, wear purple, marking a transition as they prepare for marriage.

[00:01:59]>> What's the training?

[00:02:02]To run their households.

[00:02:05]To act like wives. They're not there for very long. They move them through trying to get them matched up quickly. It sounds horrifying because it is, but the girls are naive. They've been brought up their whole lives to believe this is their purpose. You have your dress fitting? Move along, girls. Let's go.

[00:02:20]After lunch, Becca was already green.

[00:02:23]She was getting [music] ready to be matched.

[00:02:25]She was moving on without me, but we didn't talk about that.

[00:02:29]>> While many buy into this fairy tale, others begin to see the schools for what they truly are. The Testaments provides a first-hand perspective of the wives in training, exploring their dynamics with Pearl Girls, Aunts, Commanders, and each other. We'll pray together.

[00:02:45]We'll show contrition.

[00:02:49]God is merciful.

[00:02:53]The Aunts, not [music] so much sometimes. What happened to Rita Blue? I want to join you.

[00:02:58]Mayday.

[00:02:59]You are hurt and confused and angry. And anger gives you adrenaline, makes you feel brave. What's wrong with being brave?

[00:03:08]I said, feel brave. There's a difference. Once a Martha who worked for the Waterfords, Rita soon becomes one of June's most resilient allies. Not only did Rita help June get out of Gilead, but she played a key role in rescuing her and several others from the gallows.

[00:03:24]The Testaments catches up with Rita, revealing that she's still fighting the good fight 4 years later. Where's Linda?

[00:03:31]Oh, she dropped you off.

[00:03:33]This is my place. I'm Rita.

[00:03:36]Uh, first things first.

[00:03:38]I have a friend in immigration who is making a new passport for you so we can get you out of Canada. Her life has become more peaceful, living in a cozy Canadian cottage, and even finding time to enroll in culinary school. She hasn't left the resistance though, making the arrangements for Daisy to infiltrate the Aunt Lydia school as a Pearl Girl. Rita is no stranger to hiding in plain sight, training the next generation until Gilead is no more.

[00:04:04]>> Before Gilead, this guy worked in crypto, and now he's a commander.

[00:04:10]Oh.

[00:04:11]He needs to rack up a couple of straining orders for domestic violence.

[00:04:15]Just memorize their faces.

[00:04:17]Makes it easier when you don't know much about them. Does Agnes/Hannah remember June?

[00:04:22]Please.

[00:04:24]God.

[00:04:28]Let her remember me. At the beginning of The Handmaid's Tale, June's daughter Hannah has already been given to a Gilead couple and renamed Agnes. June was briefly reunited with her young daughter, who felt abandoned despite her mother's best efforts. Nevertheless, there was still a strong mother-daughter bond between the two. They crossed paths again years later, but this time, Agnes seemingly no longer recognized June.

[00:04:53]While June will never stop fighting for Hannah, has Agnes forgotten her biological mother entirely?

[00:04:59]>> We don't try to talk about that in here. In The Testaments, Daisy asks a now teenager Agnes about her birth mother. Although Agnes doesn't give a direct answer, Daisy clearly pushes a button, suggesting that Agnes does have some buried memories of June, but she doesn't truly know who her real mom is yet. But, more on that later. That will come soon.

[00:05:24]>> [singing] >> I had no [music] idea how much that would change things. What happens to Aunt Lydia? She had been worshipped, then vilified. [music] Thank you, Aunt Lydia. Then worshipped again.

[00:05:35]Blessed day, Aunt Lydia. [music] In the four years since the war of Massachusetts, the purges had happened.

[00:05:41]As always, those remaining were able to shape history [music] as they liked. Few Handmaid's Tale characters were easier to hate than Aunt Lydia, who acts as if she has her girls' best interests at heart, despite the cruelty she subjects them to. By the show's conclusion, Lydia begins to recognize the errors in Gilead. She even does right by some of the handmaids she wronged, reuniting Janine with her daughter. Although she once publicly renounced Gilead's commanders, Lydia has since been welcomed back and even runs her own school.

[00:06:12]>> Do you know why this statue was erected?

[00:06:16]So you can always be watching over us.

[00:06:19]Yes.

[00:06:20]We inspire the world with our good works, Agnes. Do you agree?

[00:06:25]Yes, Aunt Lydia. While she's reclaimed a position of power, this is a more affectionate Lydia than we first met years ago. We wouldn't say Lydia has been redeemed, but you get the sense that she's now committed to shielding her girls and keeping notes about the men who abuse them.

[00:06:39]>> May God protect [music] these girls because I'm not sure I can. What's Agnes/Hannah's relationship with her adoptive parents?

[00:06:49]>> The Commander Doll was always [music] doing very important work.

[00:06:53]Just like my father.

[00:06:54]Keeping us safe from heretics [music] and Mayday terrorists. When Agnes was briefly reunited with June in season 2 of The Handmaid's Tale, she mentioned that her adoptive parents only hit her when she misbehaved. Agnes's adoptive father, Commander Mackenzie, would make an on-screen appearance in season 5.

[00:07:12]Then in the series finale, June learned that Agnes and her adoptive parents were being relocated to Washington D.C.

[00:07:18]Hannah will be 2,000 miles closer.

[00:07:22]I know that isn't enough, but it's a kind of progress. While Agnes's adoptive mother, Tabitha, also appeared in The Handmaid's Tale, we learn in The Testaments that she has since passed away. It didn't take long for Mackenzie to take a new wife named Paula, who has a more contentious relationship with Agnes. Although Mackenzie genuinely cares about Agnes and seems more considerate than the other commanders, he still follows Gilead's heinous practices. Is she happy?

[00:07:54]Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord.

[00:08:02]How did Lydia become an aunt?

[00:08:05]>> Teaching these girls was like a [music] recipe for a tough steak.

[00:08:10]Hammer it with a mallet, then marinate [music] and tenderize.

[00:08:19]I had seen it work before on myself and other women. We really only got one episode of The Handmaid's Tale that delved into Lydia's backstory. Once a teacher, Lydia wasn't the most compassionate person even before Gilead, seemingly befriending a struggling mother, Lydia ultimately reported her to child protective services because of her active sex life and lack of Christian values. How could you do this to us?

[00:08:45]I had to.

[00:08:46]To protect Ryan. From what? He's He's fine. He needs me. He needs his mother.

[00:08:52]>> Ma'am, you're entitled to appeal our determination at your hearing in 6 weeks. Six weeks? And why?

[00:08:57]This is your fault, Noelle. You must know that. The Testaments returns to Lydia's past following the Sons of Jacob coup. It appears there'd be no place for a woman like Lydia in this new world.

[00:09:09]>> Never married.

[00:09:10]No.

[00:09:12]Does that matter?

[00:09:18]You had an abortion. To spare herself from execution, Lydia suggested that Gilead would need instructors to teach girls. In doing so, Lydia essentially created the aunt position. The episode reconceptualizes Lydia as someone doing what she must to survive, even if others must suffer at her hands. How quickly people forget [music] that nothing good comes without a little grinding down of the tooth.

[00:09:44]For [music] a seedling must fight its way through the dirt to meet the sun.

[00:09:48]How does Agnes/Hannah view Gilead? The Testaments is largely told from Agnes's point of view. Like the other wives in training, Agnes has been brainwashed into believing Gilead's teaching. At the beginning of the series, Agnes has bought into the fantasy, yet isn't without some hesitance. I was a precious flower.

[00:10:09]Then why did I sometimes feel like a prized pig? Even so, Agnes has accepted that this is the status quo, and she has a more comfortable life than some of the other women in Gilead. Upon getting her first period, Agnes finds that she actually doesn't have it much better. In addition to being assaulted while unconscious, Agnes dreads the idea of marrying Commander Weston. It becomes increasingly clear to Agnes that Gilead isn't a fairy tale, but a nightmare she can't wake up from.

[00:10:38]>> Men like that enjoy a stubborn spirit.

[00:10:41]It's no fun breaking in a horse that's already docile. What happened to June Osborne? What are you doing? Come on.

[00:10:49]Okay, I'm going back for my stuff.

[00:10:51]>> No. No, why?

[00:10:53]>> Because you're in danger. I need to get you out of here. A handmaid who becomes the face of a rebellion, June Osborne's initial story ended with a moment of self-reflection. At the same time, June's fight was far from over. With rescuing her daughter still top of mind, being such a recognized figure, June is long past the point of blending in with other handmaids. Thus, June must rely on someone else to infiltrate Gilead. Still working for Mayday, June is the one who recruits Daisy after she loses her parents. Your parents were working with Mayday.

[00:11:25]They're working with me.

[00:11:27]My parents are arms smugglers or something?

[00:11:31]They run a vintage store. My dad doesn't even know how to use Find My Friends.

[00:11:35]They are the least spy people in the universe.

[00:11:41]There are things you don't know about them, Daisy. While June is limited to a recurring character in The Testaments, she remains an integral player. She drives the plot forward, sending Daisy to Agnes and perhaps finally finding a way to get her daughter out of Gilead for good.

[00:11:56]>> You are never alone.

[00:12:01]Mayday's got you.

[00:12:04]We've always had [music] you.

[00:12:09]From the beginning.

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[00:12:36]How has June's status impacted Agnes/Hannah?

[00:12:40]Although Agnes has been shielded from her mother, June goes from just another handmaid to public enemy number one in Gilead. If Gilead wanted to hit June where it hurts, they could have used Agnes as leverage.

[00:12:54]>> He never hurt a child.

[00:13:00]It's all they care about.

[00:13:02]Gilead doesn't care about children.

[00:13:06]Gilead cares about power. In The Testaments, Paula tells Agnes that Gilead did want to send pieces of Agnes to June, especially after the handmaid attack. Her father stood in their way, but with this revelation, Agnes begins to comprehend that her biological mother was a bigger deal than she thought.

[00:13:25]Daisy confirms this when she tells Agnes that her mother is June Osborne. The terrorist?

[00:13:32]Why would you say that?

[00:13:34]Why would you say something like that?

[00:13:36]>> She isn't a terrorist.

[00:13:39]She fights for what she [music] believes in.

[00:13:42]Just like you do. Although Agnes initially denies this, it doesn't take long for her to accept what she knows deep down. June is her mother and Agnes, or Hannah, is her mother's daughter.

[00:13:54]>> But I'm going to do what Mayday couldn't.

[00:13:56]I'm going to destroy Gilead with what it values most.

[00:14:00]I'm staying in the fight and I'm going to create my own army.

[00:14:04]Because nothing [music] can be more powerful than a teenage girl. Are you looking forward to The Testaments season 2? Let us know in the comments.