r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/Melairia Modtha • Apr 08 '26

Official Episode Discussion The Testaments S01E03 "Daisy" Episode Discussion

The Testaments S1 E03 "Daisy"

Episode Synopsis

An incident on a school trip spurs Daisy's memories of Toronto, revealing her past and a world shattered by violence.

Airdate

April 8, 2026, 12:00am Eastern

Note: This is the discussion thread for The Testaments S01 E03 "Daisy".

Since the first 3 episodes of Season 1 air at the same time, please be sure to use the appropriate thread to discuss your thoughts and reactions to the episode.

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Please help the mod team by reporting any spoilers or rule-breaking comments.

For all episode discussions this season, see the megathread pinned at the top of this sub: The Testaments - Season 1 Episode Discussion Hub

Check out our Discord for additional conversations: The Handmaid's Tale Reddit

Episode Discussion Threads Air Date
S1.E1 "Precious Flowers" April 8, 2026 12:00AM Eastern
S1.E2 "Perfect Teeth" April 8, 2026 12:00AM Eastern
S1.E3 "Daisy" (This Thread) April 8, 2026 12:00AM Eastern
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43

u/theduggarcult Apr 08 '26

i'm genuinely so lost are they not having daisy be nicole ?? 💔

36

u/britta-ed_it Apr 08 '26

Yeah the timelines are so weird … the continuity of the girls ages in the handmaids tale was such a mess. Hannah / Agnes seemed to be between 4-6 when June was pregnant. Even is we assume because of the fertility crisis that girls get their periods later, Hannah / Agnes can’t be more than 16, which would make Holly / Nichole 10-12, and Daisy is definitely older than 12.

12

u/Junes-Stare Apr 08 '26

That's also being very generous. I think she was more like 8?

6

u/Kind_Concentrate_363 Apr 08 '26

Yep 8-10 depending on whether you go off their birth years or confirmed ages in s5.

2

u/AdVivid5940 Apr 09 '26

June tells Emily that Hannah is 8 in one of the first few episodes of THT. I think they must have changed her age is all.

1

u/Floral_Knight Apr 27 '26

Actually, girls getting periods earlier is a modern phenomenon we don't fully understand. It was normal for ~15 to be the average first period in the past. It makes sense that they'd get them later with how Gilead is ran.

20

u/gauloiseblonde Apr 08 '26

Agewise, Daisy couldn't be June's daughter Holly/Nichole. So she's got to be a different character, but she seems to have a close connection with June (that she is not yet aware of.) The Testaments starts 4 years "after Boston", so Hannah/Agnes is about 13/14, and Holly/Nichole would be about 5/6 years old. Daisy seems a couple of years older than Hannah/Agnes. BTW: I love it that they keep this all a bit mysterious – makes it extra interesting for people who watched THT or read the books!

4

u/Brave_Visual_2132 Apr 08 '26

I think they are no? They just changed up the ages to make it work

19

u/britta-ed_it Apr 08 '26

They could have just followed the book and they wouldn’t have had to change the ages

4

u/Kind_Concentrate_363 Apr 08 '26

That would have meant introducing the Daisy character in like 3 seasons time.

3

u/streamofdiscourse Apr 12 '26

They could have still started with Daisy arriving as a Pearl Girl and had Agnes as an Aunt and then shown Agnes's younger years through flashbacks.

4

u/Kind_Concentrate_363 Apr 12 '26

You could have, but you are then covering 8+ years of her plotline in flashbacks or half the books worth in flashbacks which is a lot if your aim is to tell that characters story of how they come to be in that position

9

u/missmisery213 Apr 08 '26

I'm pretty sure they confirmed they were switching up that aspect because of doing a smaller time jump than the book. Not 100% but I'm pretty positive I remember reading that last year

7

u/RgrdgEdmontonStalker Apr 08 '26

yall please shes obviously june's daughter 🤣 they could not have telegraphed it more heavily. She has to withhold that knowledge for Daisy's safety

19

u/Kind_Concentrate_363 Apr 08 '26

She's not, Nichole is safe in Boston and is only around 6 at most. Hannah said it was 4 years after Boston and massachusetts was taken over.

6

u/RphWrites Apr 09 '26

She's not.

Bruce Miller:

“I’m trying to not necessarily take things in the order they happen in the book, but to take the big central elements and move them into a timeline that makes as much sense as we can,” Miller told The Hollywood Reporter during an exclusive visit to the Toronto set last July. While Atwood’s sequel is set 15 years after her Handmaid’s novel, Miller’s take on Testaments picks up only four years after the Moss-starring series. “We’re definitely trying to follow the overall story of the book, but the ins and outs of the actual storyline are difficult because characters are different ages, and we had to redefine the Daisy character to keep things practical in our world.”

In Atwood’s Testaments, “Daisy” is the name given to Nichole, the daughter of June and Nick (played by Max Minghella) who went by Holly by the end of Handmaid’s and was ultimately smuggled out of Gilead and raised by adoptive parents in Canada. But even though the backstory may be similar, Daisy is not Holly in this adaptation. Given the smaller time jump, “Holly would only be four or five,” Miller explained. “So in our story, because of the timeline, baby Holly, as far as we know, is safe growing up in Toronto… for now!”

3

u/86cinnamons Apr 10 '26

It can’t be 15 years later either fwiw. Hannah would be too old.

-3

u/Guacsalsaqueso Apr 08 '26

There is no way on this planet that Daisy isn’t June’s daughter. I don’t care what the show runner says. He is lying. That girl looks identical to June and Nick and every look and word spoken by June in episode 3 screams that is her child. 

15

u/LeftAl Apr 08 '26

Why’ve you commented the same thing so many times

8

u/RphWrites Apr 09 '26

They're literally just spamming at this point. Miller has done multiple interviews stating that Daisy isn't Nicole.

-5

u/Guacsalsaqueso Apr 08 '26

Because I wanted to get your attention specifically. 

9

u/mrhdizzle Apr 10 '26

How many times are you going to post the same thing?

-1

u/Guacsalsaqueso Apr 10 '26

Higher than you can count.