How The Handmaid's Tale season 4 might be affected by the new sequel

Note: contains spoilers for The Testaments and The Handmaid's Tale season 3 – and possibly beyond.

The Testaments, Margaret Atwood's long-awaited follow-up novel to The Handmaid's Tale, was published this week.

It's set roughly 15 years after the original book (which formed the basis of the first season of the TV series, with elements also included in the subsequent seasons) and features the testimonies of three characters – Aunt Lydia, whom we already know well, and two teenage girls, Agatha and Daisy.

It won't take readers long to figure out that Agatha and Daisy are probably Hannah and Nicole – the children of handmaid June (it seems definite throughout the novel, but beware an epilogue that calls their identities into question).

The Testaments is a sequel to Atwood's 1985 dystopian novel (there had been rumours it would be a prequel) – but how it will impact on the plot of the fourth season of the TV series, coming next year?

Related: Handmaid's Tale season 4 - everything you need to know

While season two and three of The Handmaid's Tale took place after the events of the original book, author Margaret Atwood was involved in the writing of some of the episodes and was also a consulting producer. This meant she could keep an eye on what happened to her characters, especially those she would be mentioning in The Testaments, which she was writing at the same time.

"I told Bruce [Miller, the series creator], 'You can’t kill that person or that one,'" she told Lorraine Candy in an interview with The Times. "I left him the continuing story of the grown-ups, apart from Aunt Lydia. He was not allowed to kill her."

Miller clearly couldn't kill off Hannah or baby Nicole, either, since they are the other two main figures in The Testaments. And if you read the novel – or carry on reading this feature despite a second warning that MAJOR SPOILERS for the book and the TV series lay ahead – the fates of other Gilead characters are revealed, too, giving us a clear idea where season four is headed.

Of course, since the final scene of season three of The Handmaid's Tale saw June (Elisabeth Moss) being shot in the woods, the first big question that can be answered by The Testaments is:

Did June survive being shot?

It's no great shocker that the answer is yes.

While June isn't a character in the new book, she is briefly mentioned. She has apparently survived two assassination attempts by Gilead and is believed to be hiding out in Canada, helping the resistance.

So season 4 could finally show June escaping the oppressive regime and crossing the border to freedom. Hurrah!

Does June manage to save her daughter Hannah?

Sadly, no.

There will be no great rescue in the next season, because when The Testaments picks up years later we see Hannah is still known as Agatha and has been raised by a Commander and his wife.

She has no memory of June or a life before Gilead, and she is almost at the age where she will be married off and expected to produce children of her own.

Will Serena get her hands on baby Nicole?

Serena Waterford isn't mentioned in the new book (her husband Fred, who we last saw, like her, imprisoned in Canada, is described as having 'disappeared from view').

But the good news is that it doesn’t look like she will be reunited with Nicole in future episodes – Nicole has been raised with a new identity (she is known as Daisy) by a Canadian family so that no one in Gilead can find her. Even she doesn’t know she is the infamous Baby Nicole.

Where's Nick?

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Max Minghella’s Nick was missing for most of season 3, having been promoted to Commander and deployed to Chicago.

However, there is one teeny, tiny hint that we may see him again in the novel – a reference to the girls (Hannah and Nicole) being reunited with their TWO fathers – which would be Luke for Hannah, and Nick for Nicole.

Awwww.

Will Gilead fall in season 4?

Unfortunately, Gilead still exists in The Testaments, more than a decade on from the events we've seen so far on TV.

June's successful plan to fly more than 50 children out of Gilead may be the start of more rebellious events in season four, however, as the new book does mention underground railroads and a large network of helpers in Canada and Gilead who help handmaids and others escape.

Is Aunt Lydia secretly a good guy?

We're not going to spoil Aunt Lydia's contribution to The Testaments here as they are the best parts, but we will say that the new book does reveal even more about her character, including how she became an aunt as Gilead was formed.

Perhaps more of her history will be revealed in the next season, or it could be saved for the spin-off series Hulu are reportedly making based on The Testaments.

Either way, her central role in the book means we'll be seeing a lot more of the phenomenal Ann Dowd – and that can never be a bad thing.

The Handmaid's Tale airs on Hulu in the US and Channel 4 in the UK.

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Jo Berry

Freelance film & TV writer, Digital Spy
Critic and writer Jo Berry has been writing about TV and movies since she began her career at Time Out aged 18. A regular on BBC Radio, Jo has written for titles including Empire, Maxim, Radio Times, OK!, The Guardian and Grazia, is the author of books including Chick Flicks and The Parents’ Guide to Kids’ Movies. 

She is also the editor of website Movies4Kids. In her career, Jo has interviewed well-known names including Beyonce, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Kiefer Sutherland, Tom Cruise and all the Avengers, spent many an hour crushed in the press areas of award show red carpets. Jo is also a self-proclaimed expert on Outlander and Brassic, and completely agrees that Die Hard is a Christmas movie.

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