'The Handmaid’s Tale' Season 6 Episode 9 Recap & Ending Explained: Is Nick Dead?

The previous episode established that the handmaids were out to kill, and June Osborne was finally about to free the oppressed in Gilead. In the penultimate episode of The Handmaid’s Tale, June and the handmaids waited for the US military to bomb the hotspots in Gilead and take over control. But in a surprising turn of events, after the sedative wore off, the commanders were quick to react. The handmaids were apprehended before they could cross the border and be brought to safety. Since a Guardian had witnessed June’s conversation with Aunt Lydia, presumably he had informed his seniors that June was the one who’d planned the operation. June was locked up in a specialized cell, and she waited to be hanged on the wall.

Spoiler Alert

While the handmaids had done some serious damage by murdering a few prominent commanders, it was not the full-blown revolution that we were waiting for. June ended up behind bars, and Wharton had successfully brought everything under control. He spoke to June, encouraging her to beg forgiveness from God and ask for his mercy before she was executed. June tried to talk sense to him, reminding him of the innocent women he’d recently killed at Jezebel, but none of that bothered Wharton. He’d convinced himself that he punished those who dared to dismantle a country built on holy virtues and teachings.

The next morning, the people of Gilead gathered to watch June’s execution. She was shocked when she realized that all the handmaids would be executed along with her. June was devastated, but she was in a helpless position. Aunt Lydia was also dragged to the podium. After years of her faithful service to the state, Wharton announced that Lydia had betrayed the cause because it was under her guidance that the handmaids had turned into savages. Lydia didn’t feel a hint of shame, and she boldly stated that the commanders were ‘wicked, godless men’ and her girls were their victims.

Soon June begged Wharton to allow her a few minutes to publicly beg God for forgiveness. Wharton was pleased, and he kept her request. While initially it seemed June had accepted her fate, we gradually see a glimpse of the feisty woman she’d always been. She encouraged the people of Gilead to rise against the oppressor and fight for their freedom. Wharton instructed his men to hang June immediately, and just when he thought he could silence her, chaos erupted in the audience. Luke and several members of Mayday attacked the supporters. They had knives and guns to take down the Guardians, and they finally freed the handmaids. Even though for a brief minute, June had lost consciousness, she soon came back to her senses. The US military arrived in their fighter jets and bombed the prime locations in Gilead. June finally breathed an air of relief; the revolution had arrived. 

Serena was stunned when she witnessed a handmaid commit murder, and she ended up at Commander Lawrence’s house. She didn’t know what else to do, and after witnessing the monster that her husband was, she refused to return home to him. The next morning, Lawrence’s wife, Naomi, commanded Serena to make peace with High Commander Wharton. She advised Serena to contain her liberal ideas, especially after 37 commanders were killed by the handmaids. Naomi was an old-school Gilead woman who supported the efforts of Wharton and his men, and she expected Serena to also fulfill her duty as the wife of a high commander. She thought it was time Serena reconciled with her husband, especially now that he needed her support the most. She had invited Wharton to her house, and she asked Serena to have a word with him.

Wharton’s demeanor had changed once again, and he spoke to her with the same softness that Serena was familiar with. He admitted that he didn’t expect Serena to be so offended seeing a handmaid at his place, and he had come to realize that he should have respected her opinion instead of projecting his ideas onto her. He was willing to try for children on their own, and if they were not blessed, he believed God would show them a way to make their dream of having a family of their own come true. Whether or not Wharton truly believed in what he was saying remained dubious. He wanted to protect his marriage, and perhaps he said what he had to to convince Serena that he was still the same man she fell in love with. Wharton was planning on meeting the High Council to discuss their next course of action at DC, and he instructed Serena to stay in Boston with Lawrence and Naomi. She found out from Wharton that June was arrested. She was heartbroken to discover that June had infiltrated her wedding and had planned the entire operation around her auspicious day. While she was not happy with how things turned out, the entire incident couldn’t make her hate June. She knew what June had been through, and she sympathized with her. Also, she and her son wouldn’t have been alive if June had not helped them. Since she couldn’t do anything about the situation, she decided to pray for June.

Soon after the rise of the rebellion, US military forces made their way into Lawrence and Naomi’s house, and they found Serena with her baby waiting inside. They provided her protective custody in the hopes of gathering information from her. They knew that they had to kill the extremist commanders, and only then would they stand a chance to take over Gilead. Serena was the only person who they believed knew the whereabouts of the commanders, and June was confident that only she could crack Serena. While June expected Serena to feel discontent seeing her alive, she seemed rather pleased. Serena didn’t despise June for what she’d done, but she also strongly believed that killing people was not her decision to make. June chose not to get into an argument with her and instead inquired about Wharton. But Serena refused to put a target on her husband’s back. June reminded her that her decision to not support the rebellion would result in the deaths of more innocent people, and they would forever remain in captivity. June reminded her that her husband was a tyrant, and men like him would only bring more suffering and grief into the world. She hoped Serena would make the right choice, knowing what was at stake. Serena ultimately chose to do the morally right thing and informed June that Wharton and the other commanders would be flying from Bedford to DC at 7pm. She chose to protect the future for the sake of her son and the children of Gilead at the cost of her husband’s life.  

Rose experienced discomfort after she consumed the wedding cake laced with sedative. Nick brought her to the hospital on time, and she was saved. Rose urged Nick to join her father and the other commanders and contribute to the fight against the rebellions. She reminded him that he could have lost his family, and June was responsible for it. She wanted him to show his allegiance and end June once and for all. Meanwhile, the military tracked down Joseph Lawrence and brought him to their HQ. He was told that he was the only one who could stop the commanders from flying to DC. Since he supported the rebellion, they expected him to do them a favor. They had an altitude trigger that they wanted Lawrence to leave onboard and get off the plane before the commanders arrived. Lawrence was hesitant; he explained that he was an economist and not James Bond, but he didn’t have much of a choice. The airspace was closed, and placing a bomb in the aircraft was the only way to kill the commanders. Lawrence ultimately agreed, and June decided to accompany him. 

Towards the end of The Handmaid’s Tale episode 9, when Lawrence was about to get on the plane with the briefcase that had the bomb, his colleagues showed up. He didn’t expect them to arrive this early, which meant that if he had to execute the plan, he also had to make peace with the fact that he too would be killed in the blast. When Wharton asked Lawrence if he was planning on joining them, he agreed after a slight hesitation. He knew that the rebellions would have a massive upper hand if the commanders were killed, so he decided to sacrifice his life for the sake of the greater good. He knew he’d failed to create a balanced society, and this was the only way he could compensate for his mistakes. He looked at June one last time before he got on the flight— they both knew it was their final goodbye.

June was flabbergasted when she saw Nick there. He decided to join his father-in-law after Rose encouraged him to take a stand for Gilead. Maybe deep down June wanted to stop him, but she couldn’t afford to ruin the plan. The freedom of Gilead was more important than safeguarding their love story, which was ruined the day Nick disclosed her plans to Wharton. Later, Nick inquired of Lawrence about June. He expressed that she’d asked him to give up his life as a commander, but he couldn’t. Lawrence simply wished Nick had listened to her, knowing that he then would have been alive and on the right side of history. But it was too late. 

In The Handmaid’s Tale episode 9’s ending, June watched the aircraft blow up in the air and Nick died along with Lawrence in the blast. It pained June to witness such a tragedy, but she didn’t have a choice. With the most prominent commanders out of the way, Gilead will suffer. There will be no one left to devise strategies, giving the military an immediate opportunity to seize control.