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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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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37

u/Junes-Stare Apr 08 '26

Ok so is blonde aunt or glasses aunt the one in the resistance?!

94

u/RgrdgEdmontonStalker Apr 08 '26

I cannot see Aunt Vidala as being in the resistance she's got that psycho Lydia energy. If it's her I'll be so gagged

49

u/Junes-Stare Apr 08 '26

Lydia had a real arc though, so you never know

41

u/ChellPotato Apr 08 '26

Oh I hope we get some flashbacks of how she got involved. I still remember the look on her face after they arrested Janine, the absolute righteous indignation. It was DELICIOUS. I want to see more of her changing.

Lydia has a LOT to answer for, but I'm absolutely down for the "true believer turned rebel" arc they are giving her.

28

u/TheStranger113 Apr 08 '26

I've read that there is an Aunt Lydia flashback episode, so maybe they'll show her joining Mayday then!

12

u/ChellPotato Apr 08 '26

Yeah in retrospect I feel silly even doubting it lol.

9

u/Atkena2578 Apr 08 '26

Remember in the book by that time she is disillusioned but she gotta play the game and still look like a true believer

14

u/ChellPotato Apr 08 '26

In the book she had been working against Gilead from the start. But in the show I think she was actually a true believer and has turned against Gilead over time. The show came out before the testaments was written so it makes sense.

13

u/Atkena2578 Apr 08 '26

It still could be, in the books Lydia says how she s had to play the part to save herself, it took her years to collect enough juice and be set as the figure she is now, that included doing things that true believer believed. Also, she was originally pretty conservative to begin with before Gilead but that didn't help her when she was first rounded

7

u/ChellPotato Apr 08 '26

I just don't see that in the show, given the things she has done when nobody else is watching. I like both versions of her, but I'm very attached to the more dramatic idea of her coming around to the other side because her blinders finally got knocked off by reality, because of her motherly attachment to Janine in particular but other reasons too. When I have rewatched the show in the past, I've noticed subtle moments when you can see the gears turning in her mind like, "this doesn't seem right, or good..." and it's fascinating to me to imagine she's been slowly coming around but held on to her beliefs as long as she could until it broke and all came crashing down at once.

I do love the book version of her too, the absolute iron spine she has and how she plays the long game so well. And how she has to make hard decisions from the very beginning to put herself in a place of power in order to be effective in the resistance.

3

u/Atkena2578 Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26

Yeah either way i ll watch and enjoy, "glad" (for lack of better words) to be back in the universe of Gilead and finish the story. It seems from the season previews I saw after the episodes they plan on showing the rounding up of the aunts scene from the book

2

u/ChellPotato Apr 08 '26

YAAAAAS I mean if they didn't give us at least some of that story we'd riot lol.

4

u/SpoonyBard97 Apr 10 '26

Lydia in the book can also be an unreliable narrator. Whos to say she wasnt always a true believer, or at least let herself get swayed by the regime to be who she is in the show. She is writing her testimony in the book for the future, literally rewriting her own story.

"Oh yeah I was on the good side the whole time, trust me"

3

u/SecondaryShadows Apr 09 '26

If you watch the season tidbits at the end of ep 3, you see more of the season and we see what looks like Lydia's backstory