The Handmaid's Tale is coming to an end with season 6, but it still has a lot it needs to set up for The Testaments. The Testaments is an spin-off of the popular Hulu series The Handmaid's Tale, with several key storylines, characters, and themes continuing. However, with only a few episodes of the original series left, there's still a lot that The Handmaid's Tale season 6 has to do to prepare Gilead and its characters for the story of The Handmaid's Tale.
The Handmaid's Tale follows June Osborne and a group of rebels living in the oppressive dystopian country of Gilead. The Handmaid's Tale adapts the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name, with the basic story and characters being similar in the adaptation. However, the novel's story is mostly covered in The Handmaid's Tale season 1, with the rest of the series using the book as a jumping-off point to tell an original story. However, Margaret Atwood did continue her version of the story with 2019's The Testaments, which takes place 15 years after June's story. So, there's still a lot for The Handmaid's Tale season 6 to cover.
Aunt Lydia Has To Fully Turn Against Gilead
Aunt Lydia is one of the three main characters in The Testaments, with this interpretation of the character being wildly different from how she was presented in the original novel. Although Aunt Lydia is a cruel woman who oversees the Handmaids in The Handmaid's Tale, The Testaments reveals that Aunt Lydia is actually an agent for Mayday, a secret organization that wants to take down Gilead. Throughout the story, Lydia is a smuggler, a mole, and a dissident, all while still pretending to be an Aunt. Most of the story momentum in The Testaments comes from Aunt Lydia, with her opposition to Gilead's beliefs being her motivation.
Because of the importance of Lydia's opposition to Gilead, The Handmaid's Tale season 6 still has a long way to go in setting up her beliefs. Although Lydia starts to question Gilead throughout seasons 4 and 5, there is no indication that she's so opposed to her country that she would undermine it. Lydia's faithfulness to Gilead is even apparent in scenes where it's just her, meaning that a big reveal in the way that The Testaments handled Lydia isn't likely. However, it seems like Aunt Lydia's relationship with The Handmaid's Tale season 5 could be the catalyst that turns her against Gilead in season 6.
Another major element of Aunt Lydia that is missing in Hulu's universe is her connection to Mayday. In The Testaments novel, Lydia has been helping Mayday out for a long time, something that hasn't yet happened in The Handmaid's Tale. Although Aunt Lydia could simply get involved with Mayday during the 15-year time gap between The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments, this seems kind of lazy. Instead, The Handmaid's Tale season 6 needs to introduce Aunt Lydia to Mayday, teasing her further involvement that will be built upon in The Testaments.
Canada Has To Become Safe For Gileadean Refugees
Another big plot element that needs to be fixed in The Handmaid's Tale season 6 is Canada, as it is still not safe for Gileadean Refugees. In The Testaments, an older version of Baby Nichole lives in Canada, something that is essential to the story. Characters in The Testaments frequently travel across the border between Canada and Gilead, with the crux of the story hinging on Nichole smuggling information into each country. The Testaments simply won't work without Canada unless some major changes are made, meaning that season 6 will have to fix Canada's refugee problem.
Throughout The Handmaid's Tale season 5, Canada becomes increasingly unsafe for June and the other Gileadean refugees, with a growing base of for the Waterfords discriminating against and violently attacking the former Handmaids. At the end of the season, the Gileadean refugees are forced to relocate to Hawaii by the Canadian government, with the series even hinting that they may have to relocate to another continent later. Canada is turning into a second Gilead, but it somehow has to become safe again before The Testaments. This refugee resolution will be tricky, as Gilead is still strong in the spin-off, meaning that Gilead's Canadian influence will have to completely disappear.
Hannah Has To Move Homes (Again)
Hannah Bankole is the daughter of June and Luke in The Handmaid's Tale, and although she's just a kid in the original series, she is one of the main characters in The Testaments. In The Testaments, an older version of Hannah that goes by the name Agnes lives with Commander Kyle and Paula Saunders, with her first adoptive family having previously died. Although Hannah is already going by Agnes, The Handmaid's Tale will have to explain why she moves again, as she is currently living with the MacKenzie family.
On top of the families being different, The Testaments will also require her to move to a different part of Gilead. Currently, Hannah is living with the MacKenzies in the area that used to be Colorado Springs. However, in The Testaments, Hannah is located back in Boston. While this may seem like a small detail, Hannah's geographic distance from Canada is important, as her involvement with Nichole and Aunt Lydia is integral to The Testaments' story. Once again, the spin-off could change the specifics or could have these changes occur during the time gap, but if it wants to be faithful, it needs to be fixed soon.
June Has To Disappear
The final and biggest thing that The Handmaid's Tale season 6 has to do to set up The Testaments is to make June disappear. Whether June runs away from Gilead or goes under witness protection, The Handmaid's Tale season 6 will have to explain why she's not involved in The Testaments. The ending of The Testaments reveals that June is under Canada's protection, with her ending up reunited with her daughters. However, the series has to explain why June disappeared for over 15 years, as giving up is not something that the character would normally do.
In The Testaments June disappears for so long that Hannah and Nichole don't even her. Although Hannah is in Gilead, Nichole is still safe with June, meaning that The Handmaid's Tale season 6 will also have to explain why she gives Nichole up. June's time in Canada between the two stories is mostly a mystery, meaning that The Testaments can take some creative liberties to better stitch the two shows together. However, The Handmaid's Tale season 6 still has to wrap up June's story in order to explain her prolonged absence in The Testaments.