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In The Handmaid’s Tale, June has two daughters, Hannah and Nichole. Their futures are a big part of the story, and even though the show wraps up, what happens to them isn’t exactly a happy ending or a full conclusion.
Throughout the entire series, June’s main mission has been to rescue her daughter Hannah from the clutches of Gilead, the harsh and oppressive regime that took over part of the former United States. Her deep love for Hannah drives almost everything she does. But despite all her efforts, the show ends without the two of them being reunited. It’s a painful moment because that’s been June’s dream for so long.
As for her younger daughter, Nichole, June makes a heartbreaking choice. Instead of keeping her close, she decides to let her mother, Nichole’s grandmother, take care of her. June believes this is what’s best for Nichole’s safety. She puts aside her personal desire to be with her child and chooses to stay focused on the bigger fight—bringing down Gilead and helping others.
When the series finale arrives, some major events shake things up. The United States manages to strike a powerful blow against Gilead by taking out the Boston Commanders and reclaiming some territory. It’s a small but important victory, giving hope that maybe Gilead won’t last forever. Even so, June realizes the war is far from over.
The final scenes show June and her husband Luke going their separate ways, both continuing the resistance in their own ways. Their goal? To someday bring their family back together, especially to reunite with Hannah.
So, while The Handmaid’s Tale might be over, the story of Hannah, Nichole, and June isn’t done yet. There’s still more to come, and their journeys continue beyond the final episode.
The Handmaid’s Tale: Hannah’s Story in the Testaments, explained
Hannah, June’s older daughter, continues to play an important role in The Testaments, Margaret Atwood’s sequel novel to The Handmaid’s Tale. Hulu is actually working on turning The Testaments into its own TV series, so fans can expect to see more of Hannah’s story unfold on screen.
By the end of The Handmaid’s Tale series, Hannah is still trapped in Gilead and living with a high-ranking Commander’s family. She’s even been given a new name: Agnes. In The Testaments, we see that Agnes is still living under that family’s control and is being raised to become a Wife, one of the limited roles women are allowed to have in Gilead’s strict society. When an arranged marriage is forced on her, she refuses to accept that fate and runs away. She ends up joining a group of women who serve as Aunts, but she starts out at the lowest level, called a Supplicant.
As Agnes learns more about her past, she discovers a huge secret, she’s actually the daughter of a Handmaid and the half-sister of Baby Nichole, who became a symbol of hope and resistance. That means Agnes is really June’s daughter, even though she never knew the truth growing up.
Eventually, Agnes is handed secret documents that reveal the crimes and corruption of Gilead’s leaders. She and Nichole are reunited, and they team up with Aunt Lydia, a complex character from the original story. Aunt Lydia gives them a critical mission: smuggle this explosive information out of Gilead and into Canada to help expose the regime’s dark truths to the rest of the world.
So, while Hannah’s story in The Handmaid’s Tale ends in uncertainty, The Testaments picks it up and shows her transformation, from a controlled girl in Gilead to a young woman taking a stand and fighting back.
The Handmaid’s Tale: Nichole’s Story in the Testaments, explained
At the end of The Handmaid’s Tale TV series, June makes a tough decision. She asks her own mother if she can keep taking care of Nichole, and it looks like the two of them are heading off to live together in Canada. It’s a quiet but emotional moment that leaves Nichole’s future wide open.
Fast-forward to The Testaments, which picks up the story about 15 years later. By this time, Nichole is a teenager and goes by the name Daisy. She’s living in Toronto with adoptive parents and has grown up far away from the horrors of Gilead, though she’s very curious about the brutal regime she was smuggled out of as a baby. Unfortunately, things take a dark turn. Her adoptive parents are murdered by Gileadean agents, and the underground resistance group known as Mayday quickly steps in to protect her.
It’s at this point that Daisy learns the truth: she’s actually Nichole, the daughter of June Osborne, the woman who became a symbol of resistance. The stakes get even higher when Mayday sends her into Gilead on a secret mission to retrieve sensitive information from none other than Aunt Lydia.
There are still a lot of questions about how exactly Nichole ends up living under a different name with a different family by the time The Testaments begins. In The Handmaid’s Tale, June doesn’t go into hiding, and at that point, she and Nichole still have a connection. So, what happens in the years between? Why doesn’t Nichole remember or know about her real mother? The TV adaptation of The Testaments will likely dive into all of that and fill in the missing pieces when it finally hits the screen.
So while The Handmaid’s Tale closes one chapter, it leaves the door wide open for The Testaments to explore how both of June’s daughters, Hannah (as Agnes) and Nichole (as Daisy), find their own paths in the fight against Gilead.
Does Hannah reunite with June?
After years of separation, The Testaments finally gives fans what they’ve been waiting for, Hannah and Nichole are reunited with their mother, June. It’s been a long, emotional journey, filled with pain, sacrifice, and resistance, but the story eventually brings them back together.
The turning point comes when a massive coup takes place in Gilead. This uprising is sparked by the explosive secrets that Hannah (going by Agnes), Nichole (known as Daisy), and Aunt Lydia expose to the outside world. The information they help leak causes outrage and leads to real change, shaking the very foundation of Gilead’s corrupt leadership.
Because of this, the sisters are finally able to escape the regime and reconnect with June. After everything they’ve been through, especially June’s relentless fight to protect her daughters, the reunion is powerful and long overdue. While it’s heartbreaking that they lost so many years apart, the ending brings a sense of hope and healing.
After six intense seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale and the full arc of The Testaments, it’s deeply satisfying to see June finally embrace both her daughters again, proving that even in the darkest times, love and resistance can lead to something better.