After six long, haunting seasons, THE HANDMAID’S TALE finally comes to a close—bringing with it a mixture of resolution and lingering questions. Hulu’s series finale, which dropped on May 26, doesn’t shy away from emotional weight or devastating choices. But the answer to one of the show’s most burning questions—Do June and Luke stay together?—is both complex and deeply human.
The episode opens in the aftermath of a bombing that wiped out many of Gilead’s most powerful Commanders, including Commander Joseph Lawrence (Bradley Whitford), Commander Nick Blaine (Max Minghella), and Commander Gabriel Wharton (Josh Charles). With Gilead’s leadership dismantled, a new hope rises. Massachusetts is freed, and the resistance known as Mayday turns its attention to New York City and, ultimately, Hannah—the daughter that June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) has been fighting to reclaim for years.
It is in this new landscape, scarred but hopeful, that we finally witness June and Luke (O-T Fagbenle) confronting the future—not just of the world around them, but of their marriage.
A RELATIONSHIP BORN FROM LOVE, TESTED BY WAR
June and Luke’s relationship began with passion and devotion, but by the end of The Handmaid’s Tale, it has been deeply reshaped by trauma, loss, and transformation. Their love, though enduring, is marked by the profound weight of what they’ve endured—together and apart.
When Gilead first tore June from her family, their bond was violently severed. Years later, after June’s harrowing escape, her reunion with Luke was marked not just by relief but also by unease. She was no longer the woman he had once loved. And he was no longer the man who could simply protect her. The shared mission to rescue Hannah had kept them aligned. But as time wore on, that shared goal became the only thing tethering them together.
THEIR SEPARATE WOUNDS
Throughout Season 6, it becomes clear that June and Luke are struggling to stay connected. June, once a woman fighting to survive, has become a soldier of resistance and a mother aching for reunion. Luke, too, is fueled by anger and guilt over losing his wife and daughter. But instead of bringing them closer, their pain often drives them in opposite directions.
Luke’s discovery that June still harbors feelings for Nick—a man who not only helped her escape but also fathered her daughter Nichole—further complicates their fragile dynamic. Though Luke understands the dire context of that relationship, he cannot overlook what it symbolizes: the distance that now lies between him and June.
DIFFERENT ROADS TO THE SAME GOAL
In the series finale, that emotional divide becomes a quiet but undeniable reality. As the war in Boston ends and Mayday prepares for its next move, June and Luke have a long-overdue conversation. No accusations. No dramatic outbursts. Just clarity.
Luke tells June he’s heading to New York to continue the fight. He won’t stop until Gilead is dismantled entirely. For him, it’s about justice, retribution, and freedom—for everyone. For June, the mission is more personal. She wants her daughter. She wants Hannah home. While Luke joins the broader war, June remains focused on the single thing that has kept her going all these years: reclaiming her child.
This is where their paths officially split—not in anger, but in understanding.
LOVE WITHOUT TOGETHERNESS
Do Luke and June love each other? Without a doubt. The series never questions that. Their love has survived separation, war, betrayal, and unimaginable trauma. But love alone isn’t always enough to sustain a relationship—especially when both people have changed so profoundly.
Their final goodbye is quiet but weighted. Luke supports June’s decision. June understands Luke’s need to keep fighting. There are no promises of reuniting, no vows made in desperation. Just mutual respect. Acceptance. Love, unspoken but present.
In many ways, this farewell is more intimate than any of their earlier reunions. It acknowledges what they’ve been through and who they are now. June and Luke aren’t breaking up in the traditional sense—they’re simply recognizing that they’ve outgrown the version of themselves that once fit together.
FLASHBACKS, FORGIVENESS, AND FINAL SCENES
The finale is filled with powerful moments that revisit the people and pain of June’s past. Serena Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski), now a refugee and stripped of her former power, apologizes to June for everything. In a surprising act of grace, June forgives her. Meanwhile, Janine (Madeline Brewer) is returned by Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) and allowed to reunite with her daughter Angela—a symbolic nod to healing and redemption.
June also reconnects with her daughter Nichole, and in a surprise return, Alexis Bledel’s Emily tells June of her time back in Gilead. Through these interactions, we see a fuller picture of who June is now—not just a survivor, but a leader, a mother, a symbol.
And then there’s the haunting final scene. June, in a green overcoat that mirrors the Wives’ uniform (a striking departure from her red handmaid robe), walks through the ruins of the Waterford home. This house, once a prison, now stands as a hollow monument to her past.
She imagines grabbing Hannah’s hand. She smiles. But the reunion is never shown. That, like her future with Luke, is left open to interpretation.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?
So, do Luke and June stay together?
Not in the traditional sense. There is no definitive breakup, no final embrace promising to reunite. But there’s also no bitterness, no regret. What exists between them is a different kind of love—one forged in survival and understanding, not in shared dinners and quiet evenings.
They are on separate missions now, both chasing the same dream in different ways. Whether Hannah returns, whether Gilead is truly destroyed, and whether they ever find each other again are questions left unanswered.
And maybe that’s the point.
The show doesn’t offer a fairytale ending because The Handmaid’s Tale never promised one. It offers something better: authenticity. Growth. And the idea that sometimes, letting go is also an act of love.
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