12

Aunt Lydia addresses an unknown future reader, weighing potential reactions and outlining why she has survived Gilead’s purges: her indispensability managing women, her leverage through accumulated secrets, and her careful discretion. She remains vigilant, sensing danger despite her precautions.

Summoned to Commander Judd’s office at the Eyes’ headquarters, Lydia hears that Gilead’s Canadian agents have identified and eliminated two Mayday operatives whose cover was a Toronto used-clothing store, with Pearl Girl intelligence aiding the operation. Judd praises the Pearl Girls, while Lydia notes she let him take credit for the initiative. He says the action will be denied publicly.

Judd then raises a troubling analysis: the high success rate of Handmaid escapes suggests a leak within Gilead—someone with access to security deployments informing the Underground Femaleroad. He asks Lydia for any leads and mentions awaiting updates on Aunt Adrianna, the Pearl Girl found dead in Toronto.

Afterward, Lydia reflects on the choices that led to her position, recalling the pre-Gilead spiral of disasters and political collapse. She admits she underestimated the threat, expecting normalcy to return.

Lydia recounts the coup’s immediate aftermath at her workplace: courts closed, women’s finances abruptly seized, and panic among colleagues. Armed men burst in with a list, seizing the pregnant Katie, assigning Tessa to a “box store,” and ordering Lydia and Anita—both “lady judges”—to the stadium. The women are cuffed, transported in a van, and delivered to a stadium repurposed as a prison.