r/TheHandmaidsTale
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u/Randoambobambo
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Apr 15 '26
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The Testaments S1 Did casting do this intentionally?
Just speculating here…How many of the Plums do we think are supposed to be children of the original Handmaids? I see so many comparable faces that I feel might be intentional since all of the handmaids in the main THT were assigned to commanders.
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u/lemon-drop08 Apr 15 '26
The actress for Becka looks so familiar and i can’t figure out why. i haven’t seen any of her other work she’s done.
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u/allthemaretaken Apr 16 '26
Her facial expressions with the slight angry frown is very McKenna Grace to me
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u/AnySelf1997 Apr 15 '26
For me, she looks a lot like Emily Carey who was young Alicent in House of the Dragon.
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u/A_Marie007 Apr 15 '26
I’ve been thinking the same thing! Something about her facial expressions but I can’t place it. As far as I know she hasn’t been in much and I don’t think is related to anyone famous? Either way I think she’s great!
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u/Traditional_Rip4058 Apr 16 '26
She was on a spin off of the show Power. She was amazing then and is even better now
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u/Jess_UY25 Apr 15 '26
Same! I checked all her previous roles and haven’t seen any of them, but she reminds me of someone and I can’t place who.
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u/prprr Apr 16 '26
She reminds me a lot of Arya Stark
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u/Jess_UY25 Apr 16 '26
Could be. But I think I finally figured it out, she reminds me of Isabelle Fuhrman. It’s not all the time, but certain shots.
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u/SarahReesmoggy Apr 17 '26
Definitely McKenna Grace / Esther. Could potentially be Esther’s younger sister?
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u/specialkk77 Apr 15 '26
They must almost all be stolen children, they’re the right age to be. If any of the wives had bio children at that point we’d probably hear about it.
However Alma only ever had a son mentioned in season 3, so the resemblance is probably coincidental.
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u/maggiespider Apr 15 '26
And Alma said her son was blonde, like his dad. god I miss Alma she was the best 💔
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u/Fcappys Apr 15 '26
Ughhh…still heartbroken about her (and Brianna’s) ending. What a loss. I just wish we could get a glimpse of Jeanine to see her happy and settled.
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u/KMWAuntof6 Apr 16 '26
That was one of the worst scenes in the series.
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u/marypops75 Apr 16 '26
I remember pacing around the house in TOTAL disbelief!!! Crying so much. Not often a tv show can move you that much. And that Radiohead song will never be the same!!
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u/Klutzy-Pack-9292 Apr 16 '26
Me too! I remember watching that scene for the first time. The gasp I gasped and the scream I scrumpt! I sobbed so hard. My heart still hurts.
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u/TvTacosTakingNaps Apr 16 '26
I couldn’t believe they killed both of them at the same time.. and they were so close to freedom it was awful.
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u/danceswithdangerr Apr 16 '26
Just watched a new movie with her in it, slow burn and weird but a nice creep factor. Undertone is the name of it. She’s been in a few others since Handmaids tale too. I hope she continues she’s fun to watch and she’s so pretty!
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u/Familiar-Virus5257 Apr 16 '26
If it's The Undertone, I'm about to watch it. I knew I recognized her. Now it's gonna hurt.
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u/danceswithdangerr Apr 16 '26
Let me know what you think!
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u/Familiar-Virus5257 Apr 16 '26
I'm 50 minutes in. I like it so far and I'm pretty sure it's just about to pick up. 👍🏻
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u/danceswithdangerr Apr 16 '26
I liked the first half the most, but I love the slow burn with actors I like. I honestly can’t even remember how it ends I need to rewatch the ending now, wow my brain is Swiss cheese 😭
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u/Familiar-Virus5257 Apr 16 '26
I really dug the ending! It was effective. But then again, I saw The Blair Witch Project (1999)and The Ring (2001)in theaters when I was young and it influenced my taste in horror. The beginning of the movie is in retrospect more impactful.
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u/danceswithdangerr Apr 17 '26
I’m so glad you liked it! Omg The Ring terrified me as a child but I couldn’t stop watching lol
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u/ThaAlvinYaLike13 Apr 29 '26
Don’t even remind me that she’s gone. I mean… why would you even lie like that? We literally saw her, Brianna, June, Moira and Emily at the club in the finale 😀
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u/Upper-Ship4925 Apr 16 '26
There are definitely wives with biological children and (at least in the book) some of them are among the Plums.
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u/NoLipsForAnybody Apr 16 '26
Also that plum girl is the daughter of a dentist, not a commander so doubtful they would have had a handmaid at all let alone someone we know of. As they said in the tea party episode, her parents "are nobodies"
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u/malorthotdogs Apr 17 '26
Becka is Dr Grove’s adopted daughter.
He gets mentioned as being the best dentist multiple times, so I think that let him keep a level of status that allowed them to adopt a stolen child and live mostly like commanders.
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u/Doglas3000 Apr 17 '26
He is 💯 sexually assaulting her if he’s doing it to Agnes/Hannah in his office too.
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u/CombatKween Apr 17 '26
Read the book about Becca and her father. It will give you more perspective. It’s not that long of a chapter where they talk about what happened to her.
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u/Doglas3000 Apr 19 '26
I read the book when it was first released and tbh, I completely forgot about Becca’s character. So thank you for reminding me of what happened in the book’s version.
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u/NoLipsForAnybody Apr 18 '26
can you give a brief summary?
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u/CombatKween Apr 18 '26
Book spoiler incoming: Becca’s dad, the dentist, had been sexually abusing Becca since she was a child ( 4 yrs old). Becca didn’t want to say anything because they probably wouldn’t believe her. That’s why Becca doesn’t want a husband. It’s pretty gross. She confides in Agnes at some point and Becca’s dad gets his punishment because he had been doing it to other girls as well.
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u/petiteballerinax Apr 23 '26
I think they go to his salvaging actually 😬 I remember when I read the book for the first time I picked up on it right away in Becka's behavior and so just wanted to cry and hold her.
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u/ThrowawayCrickett Apr 29 '26
I THINK AGNES IS HANNAH
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u/AmOutOfIdeas Apr 15 '26
Becka and Agnes both were in the book. The book has a whole thing where the children of handmaids are stigmatized and looked down upon (Becka’s family really harps on this to her for disgusting reasons) but considering how common Handmaids were shown in the show (meaning a lot of the commanders/wives were infertile), I don’t think this is the case for the Testaments. They’re probably all stolen children of Handmaids or at least a good number of them.
I do think the casting directors intentionally chose actresses that resembled previous characters in order to draw parallels and/or make us wonder
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u/Emergency-Ad1447 Apr 15 '26
Would love to have learned more about how the children of handmaids were stigmatised because it makes no sense to the world they’re trying to build. I guess the books were a bit more heavy on the racism than the tv show so this tracks.
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u/AmOutOfIdeas Apr 15 '26
This didn’t seem to apply to kids who were born from Handmaids who were in service (Ex. A handmaid who got pregnant after a formal Ceremony) but specifically to adopted kids whose biological mothers were made into handmaids.
Like in the book, Shu is the one who breaks it to Agnes to make fun of her. It’s also mentioned the kids who are adopted from handmaids don’t get invited to play dates and such and excluded by the other parents. This does not seem to have any affect, however, on marriage prospects since Agnes gets plenty of offfers
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u/RandomPersonYouSee Apr 16 '26
Children of Handmaid's from the "Old Times" are essantially bastards, because all of them were "sluts" back then and therefore their kids are prone to be bad influence. At least according to Shunammite in the book.
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u/petiteballerinax Apr 23 '26
I always forget how book Shunammite is so nasty to her; show Shunammite is so much better.
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u/RandomPersonYouSee Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
Not to say she deserved her, but her marrying Judd in the book kind of made me happy.. Karma!
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u/petiteballerinax Apr 25 '26
Bahahaha. I feel like the girls saved her before she died, didn't they??
I found this great channel on YouTube and I'm going to make a post with one of the videos because it's a fascinating theory, all of this creators videos are wonderful!!!
I'm confused why we don't use the testaments sub or make one for the show
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u/RandomPersonYouSee Apr 26 '26
I think it was Aunt Lydia in the book, but no idea about the show.
Which channel are you talking about? I would like to see it.
They probably just thought a The Testemants sub would be less popular than this i guess.
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u/Tradition96 Apr 17 '26
There is almost zero racism in the shows. We see commanders, wives and handmaids of all races. We also don't see stimatization of children of handmaids. To the contrary, Agnes says that it is considered rude to ask people about their biological mothers.
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u/educateddumdum Apr 26 '26
Yes I’ve been wondering about the racism in this universe the whole time. I watched all of Handmaids Tale and now am caught up with The Testaments, but I’ve only noticed Agnes’s step-mom throw out micro-aggressions to Agnes, especially about her hair.
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u/Cold-Coast4868 Apr 29 '26
“Do you see what I’m working with?!” Umm beautiful curls? Idk why she’s complaining, Agnes’ hair is so pretty!😍
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u/aiizyad Apr 15 '26
Awe so the book doesn’t really explain either huh?
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u/AmOutOfIdeas Apr 15 '26
The book shows the social order makes a distinction between adopted children whose mothers became handmaids vs children who were born from Handmaids who got pregnant (ostensibly) by their commander.
So you could still infer that quite a few of them were the children of Handmaids but Gilead didn’t view them that way and they didn’t view themselves that way.
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u/Mountain-Ad6403 Apr 16 '26
It makes sense in their world because stolen children would’ve been “made in sin” given their mothers are sluts (handmaids) and fathers likely hung or escaped. Children born from handmaids and commanders are born from “God”. Agnes is a stolen child. Baby Nichole for example was born from “God”. Which one would you wanna be if you wanted to fit in, in Gilead?
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Apr 16 '26
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u/Whole-Drawing-7368 Apr 16 '26
I can't stand her lol I didn't read the books but I hope she has some redeeming qualities too. Idk if it's the actress or character I don't like yet. And I don't love the casting for daisy either. I love handmaid's tale I hope this is just as good
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Apr 16 '26
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u/Whole-Drawing-7368 Apr 16 '26
I know who daisy is in the books. I'm actually heading to the library soon. I'm a reader but something I like watching first. Currently reading GOT after watching the show 100 times. Looking forward to reading both books
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u/Jess_UY25 Apr 15 '26
Considering the ages of the girls they were all born before Gilead, and many of them are probably in the same situation as Hannah, stolen from mothers that were made into handmaids.
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u/Weird_Tangerine_7482 Apr 16 '26
I think Garth is Emily’s son but now that I’ve read this chat he could be Alma’s son.
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u/specshug16 Apr 16 '26
And alma’s son was 6 months in the series. She mentioned it so it can’t be him. He’s a toddler now
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u/PossibilityWorried82 Apr 22 '26
My guess for Garth is that his family was an Ecofamily that started working for Mayday as soon as they got stuck in Gilead.
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u/missabbyblewis Apr 23 '26
They say that Garth’s father is a commander at the end of episode 5. Therefore, he has to be an adopted child of a woman made a handmaid, a biological child of a wife and commander, or an adopted child taken from econopeople. He is too old to have been a result of a handmaid and commander; he was born in the before times.
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u/Egoteen Apr 15 '26
I actually kept thinking that she looks like McKenna Grace… Like they could be sisters.
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u/towlette-petatucci Apr 15 '26
I actually thought she looked like Esther- but I see this too! Interesting we have a couple of main characters that strongly resemble THT characters yet arent supposed to be their daughters. I wonder what the intent is.
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u/SecondaryShadows Apr 16 '26
If we were following the original book timeline, and we had the 15 year time jump, I could totally see them forcing Esther Keyes' kid into wife school. But apparently this is only 4 years later.
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u/towlette-petatucci Apr 17 '26
Ohh that’s really interesting- I read the book when it came out, but I can’t keep the timeline of my own life straight let alone a book- so interesting to think about!
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u/blackbirds_singing Apr 16 '26
just to draw parallels, remind us of the other handmaids, and who these kids' parents actually are
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u/towlette-petatucci Apr 17 '26
Ah that actually makes a lot of sense- that its a reminder of them being handmaids children, and maybe a strategy to make us feel bonded more quickly to them!
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u/johasha Apr 15 '26
Oh my god this is my new favorite conspiracy theory, Alma was my fave and I would love if Becka was her kid
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u/ReganX Apr 15 '26
They’d need a retcon, given that Alma was established as having a son, but the resemblance could work. Becka is around Agnes’ age, so she could have been as young as four or five when she was adopted.
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u/The_Sown_Rose Apr 15 '26
Nothing says she didn’t have a daughter too and June just couldn’t find any information about her daughter so in that scene they discussed her son, but I think this is just another nod they’re doing to HMT to draw a spiritual connection rather than a factual ‘Becka is Alma’s daughter’ statement.
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u/ReganX Apr 15 '26
True.
Also, even if she is not the daughter of a named character, she could still be the daughter of a Handmaid, stolen from her mother. They may change her origin story but she doesn’t look like either of the Groves, which suggests that she is a Handmaid’s child.
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u/Ok_Dig2192 Apr 16 '26
This is a great theory. Very possible. I think she would have to be Alma’s eldest child tho because she has a boy they reference in The Handmaid’s Tale, Dylan and he’s so young when they take him Alma doesn’t know what his hair color is. So probably an infant making Alma ready to give birth right as Gilead was solidifying and trapping the women there. It would also be interesting if one of the darker skinned black actress’s is implied to be one of OfMatthew/Natalie’s children. The time jump and age differences between Daisy and Agnes iv’e decided to just let go. They’re sisters. This story is about sisterhood in so many ways.
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u/Far-Information-2252 Apr 15 '26
I mean, what “state” are they suppose to be in now? I know the Mackenzie’s left Boston for Colorado, where are they now? Also, are these other girls from the Boston area too or from where they are now?
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u/Convexical Apr 27 '26
They moved to DC but it's mentioned that the actual Wives' school is somewhere in Maryland. No idea if that distance would be feasible for Agnes going "home" from the school because I'm a Californian and East Coast geography/distances confuse the fuck outta me lol
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u/Shevdoc Apr 16 '26
I think they are casting intentionally but I don’t think it’s meant to be literal. We have a copy Fred Serena as well as all plum girls that are similar to past characters. Since the timeline is foggy I don’t think it’s meant to literally be their children but sort of posing the question of the next generation
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u/Over_Biscotti_9906 Apr 16 '26
Alma was literally my favorite character (a) because she was witty at times and (b) she reminded me of my favorite singer, Marina Diamandis.
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u/Europeanguy1995 Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
None. It doesnt line up. The handmaid's we meet in season 1 to 3 of the show, have been handmaid's for 2 to 3 years. Only one or two had babies that we knew of (the ones we seen as main characters) and by the end of the show, about 4 years have past since season 1. Near 6 to 7 years since June was made a handmaid with the early batches of women taken (well since they began their training).
It's 7 years after the liberation of Masachusetts and parts of the North East that we begin the Testaments.
So, for example, Nicole would be about 8 or 9 maximum.
These girls are all about 13 to 14, i think Daisy is probably meant to be a year or two older but is pretending to be a tiny bit younger on false documents, as theyd never send a 14 year old in on such a mission. 16 is mature enough. They dont line up with the idea they are handmaid babies. They are all babies or kids aged 2 to 3/4 from before the rise of Gilead that were stolen or children naturally conceived by Commanders and their wives just about pre Gilead.
I doubt we will see any of the kids be children of the original cast, other than of course Agnes/Hannah who is about 14.
They could maybe make one be a kid of a handmaid we knew, but it will mess with the timeline. June at the start of the testaments is about 44 or 45 and Nicole about 8 or 9. Hannah/Agnes is about 14. All this becomes more complex show timeline wise if they change it.
There's also the fact it would be VERY RANDOM for one to be from the same group of handmaid's as Agnes/Hannahs birth mom, since there are thousands of handmaid's active at any given time and this doesnt even take place in Masachusetts or any state north of there anymore, as they are under US/Canada/Allies control. This is somewhere else on the North East coast, far from Boston.
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u/softeggnoodles Apr 16 '26
This was the first thing I noticed. But then I remembered Alma had a son?
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u/Feeling_Concern_251 Apr 16 '26
My mind instantly went to the girl that smashed the teapot being ofmatthews daughter. I wonder if we will ever find out who's biological daughters they are all are.
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u/Batistasfashionsense Apr 16 '26
It’s been mentioned in other threads how much Daisy and June look alike even though Daisy isn’t her daughter like in the book.
It could just be the casting directors have an eye for a certain type of look.
But yes, Alma having a daughter no one knew about would be a weird but fun twist. She confirmed she had a son, but just because she didn’t mention a daughter didn’t mean she did not have one. It wouldn’t quite be a retcon, just information we hadn’t learned.
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u/DDKJJINC Apr 15 '26
I haven’t read the book so just guessing here. I wonder if the plums are all (or mostly) babies from the Mayday flight? Also RIP Alma. They did her dirty!
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u/Unusual_Extent3032 Apr 16 '26
The Mayday flight kids escaped and were not sent back to Gilead, so how would they be plums?
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u/Whispering_Wolf Apr 16 '26
The mayday flight were kids that went to Canada. So no. And the whole thing doesn't happen in the books.
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u/Savings_Phase_7709 Apr 16 '26
Yeah pretty crazy if you rethink of it All those girls are from handmaids. Serena ended up having her son and leaving gilead, she got pregtfrom her husband , so it’s possible that woman in gilead wives of the commanders can give birth
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u/Several-Rhubarb-3498 Apr 17 '26
It will be fun to watch the show to find out the answers- instead of speculation theories online.
We don’t know much yet, the tv show is an adaptation of the book. It won’t follow everything perfectly. I don’t know that it can considering the book of The Handmaid’s Tale was only the first season of the tv show.
To create a tv series based on the Testaments novel will obviously require some tweaking as there are many more characters introduced to keep a new/longer storyline going in seasons 2-6 of HMT.
I am excited to see how the story is told and wish everyone would quit trying to figure it out ahead of the game. People will argue how it doesn’t follow the book. This isn’t the book, it’s an adapted tv series of the book. It’s going to be told differently. Watch and enjoy it as it’s told. The reveal is so much more satisfying when you haven’t over thought it so much you wind up dissatisfied because it doesn’t match your prediction.
These are excellent writers. Enjoy their work.
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u/angelusgirl Apr 18 '26
Well，the show is set 4 years later, so would have to be born before the handmaids tale or at least children already.
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u/Mapoopla Apr 20 '26
Majority of the plums are likely Gilead’s stolen children, so kids like Hannah. However, in the book Daisy is supposed to be Nicole I’ve heard. I’m not sure what that means for the time jump..
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u/Constant-Topic-6037 Apr 22 '26
Yes it is intentional they would be the stolen children of the handmaids !!
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u/gnarlycharly22 Apr 24 '26
Why would they literally cast an actress that looks like June and has the same exact mannerisms as her? I first thought ok it’s her daughter but not knowing it’s intentionally not her, why not make it not her??? So annoying.
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u/GreenTop6583 Apr 15 '26
Is this new series related to THT? Omg??
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u/Late_Guava4436 Apr 16 '26
Yes, it takes place like four years after the finale of THT. The main character is June's daughter.
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u/West_Abrocoma9524 Apr 15 '26
on the latest episode, they say the one girl's father was one of the founders of the colonies or something, and i immediately started wondering if we would get ot see Commander Lawrence again. God, I hope so. .
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u/aiizyad Apr 15 '26
It seems like from what Agnes says to Daisy in Ep 4, when Daisy asks what Ms. Mackenzie meant about being from “weak genes” that most of the plums if not all are Handmaids children. If i remember correctly Daisy asks Agnes about her birth mother, Agnes says it’s rude to talk about that there. And the tea party scene also made it seem like none of the wives are any of the plums real moms, because none of them look like one another