The Testaments, the spin-off to The Handmaid's Tale, has arrived on screens, bringing with it several significant changes from Margaret Atwood's 2019 novel. The show, set four years after the original series, compresses the timeline compared to the book, which began 15 years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale.
Showrunner Bruce Miller explained the decision to The Hollywood Reporter, stating that parts of the book set far in the future are being saved for later, while the core story of the girls finding husbands is the focus for now. This shift affects character ages and relationships, notably between protagonists Agnes and Daisy, who are now the same age in the show, whereas in the book Agnes is about ten years older.
Other changes include Aunt Lydia's backstory: in the book she was a judge before Gilead, but in the series she was a teacher, as established in The Handmaid's Tale. Aunt Vidala's role is also altered; in the book she supported Gilead from the start, but the show presents a different origin for her involvement.
Agnes's upbringing sees minor compression, with her adoptive mother Tabitha appearing less prominently. The character of Garth, an Eye working with Mayday, is introduced early in the series, adding a new layer to the resistance narrative. These adjustments aim to fit the story into the existing TV universe while capturing the essence of Atwood's novel.
