Here's How The Handmaid's Tale Ended

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for the series finale of The Handmaid's Tale. Read at your own risk!]

Gilead is a few commanders lighter, but this war is not done. That was the message The Handmaid's Tale left viewers with as it wrapped up six seasons of drama with its series finale, "The Handmaid's Tale," on May 27. 

The episode began where the penultimate left off, with a plane full of commanders — including Nick (Max Minghella) and Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) — blowing up in the sky. It was the first of many big blows in Boston, where American soldiers came in to liberate the city and free the people from Gilead's long, oppressive reign.

Fittingly, they all took up residence at the Boston Globe building, where June (Elisabeth Moss) hid back in Season 2.

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But just because Boston was free didn't mean other cities were, as Mayday discussed ongoing operations in New York, Ohio, Kansas, and, someday, Colorado, where June was hoping to save her daughter, Hannah. 

Ready to dig into the finale and all of its blessed be moments? Keep scrolling down, under his eye.

Some sad farewells

Like June, Luke (O-T Fagbenle) was ready to keep fighting. However, he had his sights set on the New York border, even if it meant parting from June. She was interested in getting to their daughter, whom they learned had been relocated to Washington with the remaining essential commanders of Gilead. So, after greeting Holly (Cherry Jones) and June's daughter, Nichole, at the bus station, the pair shared a tearful goodbye and promised to reunite someday.

Then, June also bid farewell to Nichole, asking her mother to stay with Nichole once again while she searched for Hannah. Holly didn't want June to go, but as June told her, she could never give up. 

Setting up the big series-ending moment, Luke and Holly both suggested that June write down her experiences while they were still fresh, paying homage to those who fell and fought for the occupation to be over. After all, if she didn't write a record of what really went down on the inside, who would?

"They're all worth remembering," Luke told her.

Joyful reunions

It wasn't all farewells in the finale. After a short search for Janine (Madeline Brewer), the Americans negotiated her release on the border with the help of Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd), who was now working with them. It turned out that Aunt Lydia really had seen the error of her ways, and was ready to make amends where possible, starting with Janine.

June and Janine were both shocked when Naomi (Ever Carradine) appeared from behind with Angela/Charlotte, and returned the girl to her true mother, Janine. Although June clearly ached for her own reunion with Hannah, she held a moment of forgiveness for Aunt Lydia that forged a new understanding between the two women.

"Blessed is the woman who does not walk in line with the wicked," June said to Lydia as they parted ways once and for all. 

A familiar face returns 

That wasn't the only reunion in the episode. As June walked the now-liberated streets of Boston, Emily (Alexis Bledel) made a surprise return. It turned out Emily had been in a rebellion hot spot, working with the resistance all along, and had been watching the Mayday crew from afar. She was moonlighting as a Martha with a commander friend and even got to FaceTime her son, Oliver, on his birthday.

As the former walking partners took one final stroll along the wall, where guardians now hung in place of Handmaids, Marthas, and Econopeople, June and Emily joked about being "pious sh--s" and shared an actual moment of healing. 

June vs. Serena

Because Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) gave up the location of the commanders in the penultimate episode, she became an official refugee in the finale. The former Wife could not obtain clearance to go to Canada or Europe, so she and her baby, Noah, boarded a bus to a refugee camp and an uncertain future — but not before one final conversation with her former Handmaid, June. 

As Serena wondered about her future, June gave her some sound advice: "You're his mother. Just be that." Even more importantly, June finally forgave Serena, giving both women some much-needed peace.

It was the message of forgiveness that Serena needed to remember why she started this whole thing in the first place: motherhood. Although she tried her best to make Gilead a safe place for women and a valid country where children could be born, she finally realized that men would never let it be so. And so she moved on to a shabby bed for the night (the camp she landed at wasn't really for children), with no clue where she'd go next.

"You're all I ever wanted. I'm so blessed, my beautiful baby boy," she said to her son.

Remembering Nick

Although there were no bodies, Nick was confirmed dead in the series finale, and June remained somewhat haunted that she didn't save her former lover and Nichole's father when she had the chance. But she knew he had made his choice, and once he boarded the plane, she had no other options. As Serena reminded June, if Nick had ever felt like he had a real choice, he would have chosen June — but they weren't meant to be, and he couldn't have survived any other fate. 

Dream a little dream

In one of the episode's most poignant moments of female friendships and sisterhood, June fell into a dream sequence in which she thought about what life might have been like had Gilead never existed. In it, she and several other Handmaids sang Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" at karaoke. Janine had both eyes, Moira was there, and everyone was happy and shiny, with full hearts. Of course, most of these women would have never met each other without Gilead. 

Nonetheless, it was a touching moment that reminded viewers of the women who gave up everything for the freedom that others were finally able to enjoy.

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Where it all began

The final scene in The Handmaid's Tale took place where it all began: at the now-burned Waterford residence, where June sat in her old room. As she looked around at the walls — the famed nolite te bastardes carborundorum saying etched on one of them — and remembered what the space used to look like, she pulled out a recorder. 

Then, in a tribute to Margaret Atwood's book that inspired it all, June began to recite narration from the actual book's first chapter, bringing the show and novel full circle. 

"My name is Offred," she said, before the screen went black. 

So, what happens next?

The ending may have been ambiguous, but it was a true full-circle ending that called back to Atwood's book, which also left Offred's fate up in the air. We know that June will never stop fighting, but where she goes next and what she accomplishes is unknown. 

Well, perhaps June's future isn't entirely unknown. If you read Atwood's sequel, The Testaments, you know what happens next in June's life. And now that The Handmaid's Tale is over, show creator Bruce Miller is hard at work adapting The Testaments for a television sequel, which fans are hoping will debut by next year.

All episodes of The Handmaid's Tale are now streaming on Hulu.