Everything to Remember About ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Ahead of ‘The Testaments’

The Handmaid’s Tale wrapped up last May after six seasons, though fans of Hulu’s dystopian Margaret Atwood adaptation already knew a sequel series was on the way. The Testaments, based on Atwood’s 2019 follow-up to her 1985 original novel, will continue the story of Gilead, but it looks to be making at least a few alterations to its source material. Most notably, at least from what we know ahead of its premiere, The Testaments takes place just a few years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale. In Atwood’s book, there’s a 15-year gap between them. We won’t be spoiling any details from The Testaments (from either the book or the show) here, no matter how much the internet has already made them known. But we will be retracing the end of The Handmaid’s Tale to let you know where things stand—and where they’ll go next in The Testaments. Gilead, the setting for The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments, is a new country that replaces most of the U.S. after a brutal coup led by right-wing religious extremists moved to action by sharply declining birthrates. Thanks to flashbacks in The Handmaid’s Tale, we see how the general population dismissed or outright ignored any signs of a brewing up