The Handmaid's Tale: What happened in series 6?

It's been a whirlwind eight years since The Handmaid's Tale first appeared on TV screens — and now the final EVER episode has aired! The sixth and final season of the dystopian drama, based on the book by Margaret Atwood, wrapped up in July — and it absolutely delivered the retribution we came for.

In this season, we saw the handmaids stage a revolt against their oppressors, while two big characters were killed off! Here's a recap on what happened in each episode, but be warned, there's some HUGE spoilers ahead...

What happened in series six?

Episode one: Train

The first episode of the latest season starts exactly where it left off, with June (Elisabeth Moss) and Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) onboard a train with their babies in tow. Despite a frosty reception from June, Serena attempts to befriend her former handmaid, saying: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Believing in the good in Serena, June steps in front of the former Mrs Waterford when their fellow passengers realise she's behind the Gilead regime — and prepare to launch an attack.

Telling Serena she must get off the train, for her and Noah's safety, June helps her break free from the angry crowd, leaving Serena stranded in the middle of nowhere. Serena then seeks shelter in a nearby religious commune.

In this episode, we also see Commander Wharton (Josh Charles) for the first time. A very powerful man — and Nick's father-in-law — he's instrumental in the future of Gilead and New Bethlehem. In a behind-the-scenes clip, Max Minghella (who plays Nick) says he believes Commander Wharton's mentorship tempts Nick over to the dark side for the first time.

In incredibly emotional scenes at the end of the first episode, June arrives in Alaska and is reunited with her mum after many years apart. Her mum is working as a doctor at a shelter, and can't believe her eyes when June's name appears on the refugee list. We're sure we weren't the only ones with our hearts in our mouths when everything falls silent and Holly (Cherry Jones) shouts: "June Osborne" across the crowds of people.

Episode two: Exile

Just when we thought Serena was turning her back on Gilead, episode two sees her return to New Bethlehem — a town built by Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) in an attempt to reinvent the falling regime. Realistically one of Serena's only options to ensure her and her baby's safety, she takes her place back as Global Ambassador of Gilead.

But she bills the new town as progressive, allowing women to work, read and learn — and most notably, banning the use of handmaids.

Meanwhile Canada has become a volatile place for American refugees escaping from Gilead, due to the overwhelming refugee crisis and rise in extremist groups.

With nowhere now feeling particularly safe, Luke (O-T Fagbenle) and Moira (Samira Wiley) volunteer with resistance group Mayday, who are plotting a revolution — while Luke is desperate to use the opportunity to get his daughter, Hannah, back. Their plan leads to them finding themselves stuck in no man's land.

Episode three: Devotion

In episode three, we see Serena and Commanders Lawrence and Wharton try to convince a group of foreign dignitaries that New Bethlehem is a safe place for refugees to return to. It comes after a pretty frank conversation between Serena and Lawrence, in which he tells her "we broke this country and we need to fix it".

Meanwhile June, concerned Luke and Moira are unprepared for the dangers that lie ahead of them in no man's land, heads to the abandoned theme park they're stuck in to rescue them. But she wasn't alone. In this episode, Luke and Nick come face-to-face — and it was a little awkward to say the least!

Nick risks his position (and potentially his life) by helping to move patrols to clear the way for Luke and Moira's escape. Unfortunately as they try to leave, two Eyes appear and Nick has to shoot and kill them both.

Back in Gilead, Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) pays a visit to the Lawrence household, hoping to save Janine (Madeline Brewer) and other ex-handmaids from a nearby Jezebel's. But they don't want her help, holding a grudge for her years of involvement in their oppression.

Episode four: Promotion

Mayday takes huge steps forward in its quest to bring down Gilead in episode four. We see June and Moira cross words over who will join a mission to bust their friends out of Jezebel's and kill the commanders. It's eventually decided June, Moira AND Luke will go together, leaving baby Nicole with June's mother in Alaska.

The plan is to get somebody on the inside to scope out the brothel, before "the military rolls in". Luke will deliver the bombs, while June and Moira dress as Marthas to provide domestic services for Jezebel's and alert the women trapped inside.

At the brothel, Janine faces bullying from Commander Bell (Nobody Wants This' Timothy Simons), who belittles her at every given opportunity, making her walk around on all fours "like a cat". But there's a moment of joy for the former handmaid, as Commander Lawrence hands her a drawing created by their daughter, Angela.

Meanwhile, Rita (Amanda Brugel) is reunited with her sister in emotional scenes in New Bethlehem. Organised by Serena, who looks on with longing, it's agreed the former Martha will settle with her family as part of the new community, until it's safe to get them all out.

Elsewhere in Gilead, Serena's blossoming relationship with Commander Wharton leads to the pair sharing a fruit pie and dancing in the street. The commander admits he'd always had a soft spot for the former Mrs Waterford, even when she was married to Fred (Joseph Fiennes).

Episode five: Janine

In episode five we see Moira and June head back in to Jezebel's to start the revolution. Reliving her earlier trauma there, Moira is on a mission to 'take back her pride and her body' — but there's a moment of panic when a guardian threatens their safety. After approaching them in one of the bedrooms, a scuffle ensues, before June and Moira kill him and dispose of his body.

They also find Janine, who they briefly hope to break out of the brothel. They soon realise it's safer for her to stay for another week and alert the other working girls, before returning in a week for everybody.

Meanwhile in another room, Lawrence overhears a conversion between the commanders in which they reveals plans to "put him on the wall". It only spurs Commander Lawrence on to support the revolution any way he can, so he's happy to oblige when June and Moira ask for his help to smuggle them out of Jezebel's and across the border.

Meanwhile one of the Eyes that Nick shot earlier in the series wakes from his coma. In a bid to keep his identity a secret, Nick finishes him off — something which clearly didn't come easy to him.

And in a twist we didn't see coming, Commander Wharton asks for Serena's hand in marriage. Despite telling him she didn't "come back to be a wife", we can see Serena slowly begin to be sucked back in to the Gilead regime.

This comes after Serena tells Aunt Lydia she plans to open a fertility centre in New Bethlehem, where handmaids will retire.

Episode six: Surprise

In episode six, we see the revolution step up a gear, before an ultimate betrayal which shapes the rest of the season.

When asked by June if he's willing to help Mayday take out the commanders, Lawrence says: "It's either your psychotic plan or the wall!" But as June and Moira begin to put their plan to get the girls out of Jezebel's into action, she discovers Nick has told Commander Wharton everything.

While hiding in Serena's cupboard alongside the man she believed would defend her to the death, she overhears Wharton telling Serena his son-in-law helped him to 'shut down' Jezebel's, after discovering the resistance was planning a 'massacre'.

June is left reeling. Nick had just asked her to run away with him to Paris.

Elsewhere we see June ask Rita for help, but she's refused, with Rita saying she just wants to keep her family safe. And June tells Serena she cannot forgive her behaviour in the Waterford household.

Episode seven: Shattered

In episode seven, we see the price the girls in Jezebel's pay following Nick's actions. The girls were shot and killed in cold blood — while Aunt Lydia is left bereft. Later discovering Janine was saved from the same fate by Commander Bell, she's seen to be visibly relieved, but that soon changes when she visits the Bell household and sees the danger Janine is in there.

Meanwhile June accuses Nick of giving up the women in Jezebel's to save himself, which he doesn't deny, telling her he's only human. He then tells Rita that June thinks he's a monster. When asked if he wants to be a man that does the right thing, Nick tells Rita he doesn't get to have what he wants.

Luke is also cross with June for sharing information about their plans with Nick — ultimately ending in the death of many innocent women.

Elsewhere, Serena and Commander Wharton continue to prepare for their wedding day.

Episode eight: Exodus

Episode eight is Serena and Commander Wharton's wedding day — and it's safe to say it doesn't exactly go off without a hitch! The handmaids are invited to attend the big day and former Waterford Martha, Rita, is hired to bake the wedding cake.

Despite previously wanting no part of the revolution, Rita gives us one of the biggest plot twists of the season, mixing sedatives in to the cake to help the handmaids take their revenge. Meanwhile we see the handmaids, including an undercover June and Moira, handing out blades at the wedding in preparation for their attack.

They later come face to face with Aunt Lydia, who begins to see (finally) the evil in Gilead and does her bit to help the handmaids continue forward in their mission.

On arrival at home after their wedding, Serena is shocked to find a handmaid waiting to greet the newlyweds. Commander Wharton tells his new wife she would be their 'sacred vessel', but Serena's unimpressed and tells the woman to run from the house, before leaving herself.

The episode ends with the handmaids running down the street and entering houses where sleeping commanders are executed.

Episode nine: Execution

Wow! Where do we begin? The penultimate episode aired on Channel 4 on Sunday 29th June — and was where season six really delivered. The opening scene, aptly complemented by Taylor Swift's 'Look What You Made Me Do' which plays in the background, shows the handmaids as they march down the street, each taking retribution against their former captors.

All hell breaks loose across the city, with Gilead wives trying to flea, as the handmaids continue their assault, before escaping in a truck. But when the trucks rolls into what they believe is a safe space, they're accosted by gunmen.

In this episode we see Serena and Gabrielle Wharton appear to make amends and Commander Lawrence packs his bags for a few days away to "address what incited the rebellion". Obviously emotional saying goodbye to his daughter, he asks his wife, Naomi, to read to her at night — something women and girls were previously banned from doing.

In shocking scenes halfway through the episode, we see the handmaids (and Aunt Lydia) strung up in the gallows, before Luke, Rita and the resistance launch a counter attack.

The US Government-in-exile enters Gilead in search of the commanders, who have already attempted to make their escape. On stumbling across Serena, Mark Tuello takes her to a place of safety, along with baby Noah.

Perhaps the most jaw-dropping moment of The Handmaid's Tale to date, is when Serena tells June the whereabouts of the commanders, giving her a chance to formulate a plan to get rid of them for good. Lawrence is asked to board their private jet ahead of their escape to plant a bomb. But when the moment comes, the commanders arrive early and assume he's escaping with them.

Feeling like there's no other option, Commander Lawrence boards the doomed plane, joined just a few moments later by Nick, who takes his seat alongside Lawrence, much to June's dismay. The episode ends as the plane takes off, exploding mid-air.

Episode ten: The Handmaid's Tale

After everything that happened in episode nine, it's hard to imagine the series finale would ever be able to top it. What we did get though, was lots of loose ends finally starting to be tied up.

Airing on Sunday 6th July, the 10th and final episode sees America reclaim control of Boston, with June and Luke vowing to help take back one city at a time, with Hannah their end goal. There's seemingly no happy ever after for the couple though, who agree they're no longer the people they used to be.

Luke's been working on restoring the electricity to the town, and as June burns her handmaid's cloak, we see the town flooded with light — in emotional and symbolic scenes.

Meanwhile Aunt Lydia joins the resistance, helping to secure the return of Janine, who is later reunited with her daughter Angela. Later in the episode, we see June fulfil a promise to Janine, telling her they would go dancing together, with Rita and Moira too. We see the women celebrate their freedom in the America they once knew, doing karaoke like they talked about during their oppression.

Also this episode, Serena and June shared a moment of forgiveness. As fans will remember, June previously told Serena she couldn't forgive what's she'd done, but in the final episode, she eventually does. And it clearly means a lot to Serena, the woman who started it all in the first place!

During their conversation, Serena offers her condolences about Nick, to which June replies: "He reaped what he sowed." Serena reassures her that Nick had no other choice but to make the decisions he did.

Taking a stroll down the streets she occupied as a handmaid, June stumbles across an old and dear friend, Emily, who hasn't been seen since season four, when she was believed to have returned to Gilead.

Emily repeats an earlier comment (from the first season) about a shop that used to sell ice cream. The pair hug and June discovers she's been taking part in uprisings elsewhere.

In the very last scenes, we saw June return to the Waterford House, where she begins to write her story... Which of course is The Handmaid's Tale.

Do June and Luke stay together at the end of The Handmaid's Tale?

It doesn't look like it. While they agree to continue searching for Hannah together, it's very much a "see you there" situation, both accepting that they have different roles to play now.

Luke tells June: “We don’t know each other like we did before”. But who knows what the future holds for the couple, as the door is left open to the possibility.

How does Nick die?

Nick is killed when a bomb is planted on the commanders' plane. Commander Joseph Lawrence is also on the plane, along with Commander Gabrielle Wharton.

Does June find Hannah at the end of The Handmaid's Tale?

No, but at the end we see June and Luke prepare to go in search of their daughter, vowing to take down every area under Gilead control until she's freed.

We'll have to wait for sequel, The Testaments, to be released before we can find out exactly what happens to Hannah,

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