After Becka (Mattea Conforti) killed her father, the ramifications of that violence are echoing throughout Gilead. The Eyes and Commanders are now on high alert, and the women are seen as enemies once more. Can Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) keep the peace with the men? Or will Commander Judd (Charlie Carrick) use this event as a way to make sweeping changes through Gilead once again? The Testaments season finale unravels a complicated web.
Spoiler Alert !!!This is a spoiler recap and includes spoilers for all of The Testaments and The Handmaid’s Tale.
The Testaments Season 1 Episode 10 Recap
The next morning, Agnes (Chase Infiniti) gets ready for a day at Aunt Lydia’s school. Agnes and Paula pass each other wordlessly the next morning. Agnes relays the coroner’s report to the audience, revealing just how vicious Becka was in her attack. At school, Shunammite (Rowan Blanchard) peppers Daisy (Lucy Halliday) and Hulda (Isolde Ardies) with questions, but both girls remain silent about Dr. Grove’s sexual assaults. They do not know about the murder, but when Agnes arrives, the school is called to an assembly.
Becka sings “Rise and Shine” to herself in a prison cell, where Aunt Lydia (Dowd) comes to visit. However, Lydia is pulled away to speak with Commander Judd. He is furious that a man of Gilead was killed by a woman, and even with Dr. Grove’s crimes, there needs to be punishment. Judd thinks Becka should be sent to the Red Center to become a Handmaid. When Lydia pushes back, Judd retorts, “There is no ‘we,’ anymore.”
At the school, Aunt Vidala (Mabel Li) breaks the news to the Plums and Greens. Everyone but Agnes is shocked, with Agnes storming off to the woods as Vidala says a prayer. She confronts Garth (Brad Alexander), who holds her as she breaks down in tears. Aunt Estee comes out to yell at Agnes, but Garth snaps at her. Estee tells Agnes to return to class, telling her to snap out of it. She seems ready to hide the secret encounter.
Agnes runs into the bathroom, where Shu, Hulda, and Daisy follow. As the girls keep the bathroom clear of other girls, Agnes tells the group that the Eyes took Becka. When Shu tells Daisy that the Eyes do not show mercy, Daisy rallies the group to help. Agnes goes to Vidala, demanding to know what is being done for Becka. Daisy tells Hulda and Shu to lie about her whereabouts.
Upstairs, Agnes and Vidala fight about Becka. They each quote scripture to point out the flaws in each other’s thinking. Vidala tells Agnes to leave, affirming to Agnes that the faith Gildead pushes is just a lie, and the Aunts only use it for control. Outside, Daisy draws Garth’s attention and threatens to do something extreme if Mayday does not intervene.
At home, Agnes and Paula take a visit from Commander Weston (Reed Diamond). They speak about Becka, but Agnes remains careful about her opinions. When Weston presses her, Agnes reveals she was one of Dr. Grove’s victims. As head of the Eyes, he tells Agnes he will do whatever he can for Becka.
Garth steps outside and listens to Radio Mayday, hearing both Tuello (Sam Jaeger) and June (Elisabeth Moss) give him orders. “Let’s take care of our loose canon tonight.” Becka is driven home by Commander Weston, who tells her and her mother they’ll have twenty-four-hour surveillance until she’s taken into final custody.
Before the end of the day, Daisy receives a message to be out at the honey by 10 PM. That evening, Daisy rushes out of the Pearl Girl dorms and heads for the rendezvous. She’s met by Mayday, who hides the girl in a honey barrel. When the truck stops, Daisy meets June at the docks. When June orders her onto the boat, Daisy grows angry. June reminds her that Daisy is bigger than one person. If they want to win, she cannot threaten the handlers or other Mayday operatives.
Daisy fights back, telling June about each of the girls. When she says “Agnes,” June suddenly stops in her tracks. She drills down on Agnes Mackenzie, and suddenly, Daisy realizes what June has. Agnes Mackenzie is baby Hannah. Daisy tells June about her daughter and asks her for more time. June lets slip that she cannot “lose another one” but lets Daisy go.
Lydia watches Vidala enter the Aunt’s office, and she asks if her protégé has come to gloat about her failures. Lydia knows that Vidala will have no trouble pushing her out of the role. Vidala asks why Lydia never liked her, and Lydia admits she was always jealous of how easy everything came to Vidala. However, while Vidala could storm off angry, she instead turns back to Lydia and offers to work together to help Becka.
The truck returns to the school, but the Guardians are already looking for Daisy. Luckily, Garth finds them first and frames Daisy for smoking when he catches her. Lydia tells Daisy she’s due for punishment from Aunt Estee for smoking. Daisy tells the Aunt she was outside smoking because she feels responsible for Becka. Lydia admits she feels responsibility for all of the girls like a mother would, but Daisy reminds her that mothers die for their children.
Vidala and Lydia visit Becka to walk through the story she will tell the Eyes. However, when they start telling it, everyone agrees to frame Becka’s mother for the murder. They frame the fact that Becka was only covered in blood because she tried to resuscitate Dr. Grove. Even Becka’s mother agrees to this version of events, telling her daughter that it is what should have happened.
Agnes cries in her room until her father, Commander MacKenzie (Nate Corddry), steps in to tell her Weston broke off their engagement. He asks if she knows why, but Agnes lies. MacKenzie is angry but moves on. He tells Agnes about Becka’s mother’s confession. Becka will be safe.
That night, Agnes wakes to see Paula scrubbing the bathroom floor. Paula asks if Agnes is happy with what happened with Weston. Agnes says she does not know, but Paula does not believe her. Paula starts ranting, believing that Gilead should have moved forward with their plan to send pieces of Agnes back to June in Canada.
Agnes runs out into the night, coming upon the barracks for the Eyes. She knocks on the window and grabs Garth’s attention. He steps outside to confront her, but she asks him to marry Becka. She gave up her life to save Becka, and while Garth thinks the other Commanders will not understand, she will. Their eyes linger on each other, and she leaves.
The next day, Becka goes to her wedding, where Agnes serves as her maid of honor. Becka begs for her mother, but we instead see her mother taken by the Eyes. She is hung by Gilead. Agnes and Becka kiss while Becka gets ready for her wedding. Becka and Agnes watch as Garth is made Commander. Afterwards, Garth and Becka are married.
Daisy and Agnes watch as Becka leaves with Garth. While Agnes feels sad, she knows that she saved Becka. Daisy uses this moment to reveal the truth about June Osborne to Agnes. At first, Agnes becomes furious, but Daisy reveals that she’s met June. She calls her “The Handmaid,” who was far more than a terrorist. She was someone who fought for those she loved. A moment passes, and Daisy calls Agnes “Hannah.”
Garth carries Becka into a house, and after laying her down, he locks her in the room. They do not consummate the marriage. Agnes goes through her collection of things in her room, including a small piece of art in her possession. As a child, she signed it as “Hannah,” and her memories flood back to her.
In Canada, June receives a honey jar with notes from Daisy. Daisy plans to build her own army with the other plums. Aunt Lydia speaks to Agnes about being the “first Green” to come back to us. It will be difficult to overcome, but Agnes counters that her birth mother, June, is already an obstacle. Lydia pauses and tells Agnes that June never gave up. As she leaves the office, she’s joined by Shu and Daisy. The three girls hold each other’s pinkies as they walk down the hall.
Is The Testaments Season 1 Episode 10 worth watching?
Yes, the nearly one-hour episode, “Secateurs,” gives us more insight into the future of The Testaments. Yet more importantly, it lands the emotional catharsis at the end of the season. While there’s still just a little too much June Osborne for the show’s own good, The Testaments makes the argument for the girls and leaders in place to buoy future seasons.
While the ending hints that we’re about to re-run the entire season, with Daisy and potentially Shu becoming Greens next season. “Secateurs” strengthens their alliance. While Shu has little to do in this episode, both Daisy and Agnes make big, political moves to save Becka. While they’re seemingly exhausting their favors in the process, they each prove effective at manipulating others for their benefit. “Secateurs” gives them agency, and while they’re not loud moves, they’re effective ones.
The scene between Halliday and Moss is one of the best of the season, but it does get dangerously close to fan service. We’ve known since episode one that Agnes is Baby Hannah, the very person June Osborne was going to look for at the end of The Handmaid’s Tale. However, Moss’ dialogue also reveals Daisy’s real parentage, namely that June is also her mother. The “I’m not going to lose another one” is on the nose for those of us who watched both shows, but for newcomers, this might skirt past their radar.
Infiniti puts an exclamation point on her season. While her scene with Conforti will certainly light the internet ablaze for the wrong reasons, it was an incredibly moving moment. The two women have been great scene partners all season, and for the team to pull off that moment with limited dialogue speaks to the character building.
We’ve been worried about Vidala using her hate and vengeance to get back at Lydia. That appears to be far from the case, with Vidala instead using Lydia’s weakness in “Secateurs” as a moment to shore up their alliance. Aunt Estee (Eva Foote) even creates her own secrets in “Secateurs,” which seems to reveal her time as Pearl Girl might have more Mayday influence than she’s let on to date. Perhaps Daisy’s plan for a women-led rebellion is more in place than she realizes.
“Secateurs” highlights the idea of pruning sheers, but any good gardner knows that sometimes you cut your trees to help them grow. Each girl, Agnes, Daisy, and Becka, feels incredible pain for decisions they made. But each is likely to grow into stronger and more dangerous characters because of their choices. “Secateurs” is the kind of episode that only works if the series has been calibrated to deliver these moments, and at the end of ten episodes, The Testaments landed the plane.
The Testaments “Secateurs” releases on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. All episodes of Season 1 are now streaming on Hulu.
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