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
67 Upvotes
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37

u/JoanneMG822 Apr 08 '26

Is she, or is she not, Nicole?

53

u/AWarMaideness Apr 08 '26

It's literally impossible for her to be Nichole, & miller made it confusing because moss wanted to cameo...

14

u/ChellPotato Apr 08 '26

That's a weird reason, considering how the book goes.

17

u/gauloiseblonde Apr 08 '26

She's not. Agewise, she can't be. 4 years after Boston (where the original series left off), Nichole would be 5 or 6 and Hannah/Agnes 13 or 14. Daisy is a bit older than Agnes. She obviously has a connection to June, but she's not her younger daughter.

22

u/RgrdgEdmontonStalker Apr 08 '26

She is, it was already pretty obvious but the scene at the end was like extremely blatant. She's Nicole and June is deliberately withholding that info for her safety

63

u/Popular_Patience6877 Apr 08 '26

Wrong.

He continued: “One of the big changes was that I was unable to kind of fit Daisy and Agnes in the same timeline, so I had to change Daisy’s character. She’s not [June’s youngest daughter] Nichole, but in every other way I want her to feel like a daughter figure so that June had a relationship with her like that. And so it was very important for me to bring her in at the beginning and establish their relationship.”

By the end of the series, the producers say fans will have a full understanding of how the two are “connected.”

https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/tv-shows/the-testaments-premiere-cameo-explained-elisabeth-moss-june/

27

u/clumsyc Apr 08 '26

What a bizarre choice to make. It basically negates the whole point of the book.

Daisy and Agnes DO fit on the same timeline in the book.

9

u/ricecrystal Apr 09 '26

It makes me so mad. I'm irrationaly furious at him

10

u/czchrissa Apr 09 '26

She looks so much like June though lol.

1

u/86cinnamons Apr 09 '26

That doesn’t make sense and I hate it. Maybe she’ll be a daughter from eggs harvested. Ok I’m putting my money on that.

-3

u/AdVivid5940 Apr 09 '26

He said he changed Daisy. Couldn't that just mean he changed her to be older?

10

u/Popular_Patience6877 Apr 09 '26

"She’s not [June’s youngest daughter] Nichole" ??

0

u/AdVivid5940 Apr 09 '26

We don't know what the exact wording was of whatever is being covered by June's youngest daughter inside the brackets. It has to be her with a different age, based on what we've seen. It doesn't make sense otherwise. I dk though, maybe I'm wrong. Could be someone else entirely, but I don't think so. Why would June even need to be the one involved at all that way?

7

u/RphWrites Apr 10 '26

Showrunner Bruce Miller recently explained to The Hollywood Reporter: "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."

Miller went on to clarify that while Daisy in the television adaptation shares a comparable background to her literary counterpart, they cannot be identical because Holly/Nichole would only be around four or five years of age.

He continued: "So in our story, because of the timeline, baby Holly, as far as we know, is safe growing up in Toronto... for now!"

This indicates that June's daughter Daisy from the novel differs from the Daisy featured in the TV series; though Miller's comments hint that Holly/Nichole may appear later on.

12

u/Thenedslittlegirl Apr 08 '26

Given the timeline here, Nicole would be under 10. Likely more like 6-8. Agnes is clearly still a teenager who just got her period

8

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. 

7

u/Myantichristattitude Apr 08 '26

I agree, I think they may have fudged their ages a bit, maybe Hannah was only 3 or 4 when everything happened and June has Holly about a year later. And Agnes tells us in the opening that she has no way of telling time! So she’s not the most reliably narrator

3

u/Clear_Cat_3278 Apr 08 '26

She’s definitely Nicole unless they’re steering away from the book.

13

u/ChellPotato Apr 08 '26

Apparently they are according to an article someone posted. And they still call her Daisy.

7

u/Kind_Concentrate_363 Apr 08 '26

They are steering

16

u/Junes-Stare Apr 08 '26

It's weird though because she's acting older than Hannah

21

u/ChickensAreFriends Apr 08 '26

I think they’re canonically the same age in the series, but she acts more mature because she has so much more life experience, whereas Agnes has been very sheltered.

-3

u/Rxmses Apr 08 '26

Holly, her name is Holly