Here's why June Osborne decided to tell Luke Bankole the truth about Hannah Bankole on The Handmaid's Tale. Ever since Moira Strand helped June escape from Gilead, much of the show's focus has been on June's struggle to adjust to her new life in Canada. In episode 7, "Home," June confronts Serena Waterford, and in episode 8, "Testimony," she faces Commander Fred Waterford as she takes center stage as the key witness at his pre-trial hearing. While fans have waited three long seasons to see the Waterfords get the punishment they deserve, it's become apparent that it may be too little too late when it comes to June, who is growing increasingly unstable after leaving her daughter Hannah behind in Gilead.
Despite have multiple chances to escape, June sacrifices her freedom to remain close to her eldest daughter, but after Gilead's military bombs Chicago, June has no choice but to seek refuge in Canada. To this point in The Handmaid's Tale season 4, June has lied to Luke, choosing not to divulge Hannah no longer recognizes her and appears to be a full-fledged child of Gilead. Instead, June tells him about her conversation with Hannah during season 2, when their daughter still has memories of her previous life. June can't bring herself to reveal the truth not only because she knows it will amplify the guilt Luke already feels for being unable to rescue his wife and child but because she fears he'll blame her for everything that's happened to Hannah, just as she blames herself.
In the final scene of The Handmaid's Tale season 4, episode 8, June decides to confess to Luke what's really happened to their daughter, but what causes her to change her mind? Since June's been in Canada, Luke has been trying to connect with his wife, but he's been unable to get her to talk to him about the trauma she endured during her seven years in Gilead. Against June's wishes, he attends Commander Waterford's hearing and finally gets a firsthand account of some of the atrocities his wife endured. Although Luke believes he knows everything and now he and June can try to move on, what he doesn't understand is what Gilead has done to their daughter is the main offense fueling her rage. June spends most of the Handmaid's Tale episode forcing Emily to confront Aunt Irene, and once she does, this motivates June to tell Luke. Not only is it hypocritical for June to demand honesty from everyone else when she's lying to her husband, but June seems to realize that what she perceives as an act of mercy is actually causing Luke more pain. If there's any hope of salvaging their marriage, she has to let him grieve with her instead of pushing him away.
Fans will have to wait until episode 9 to see what happens in the aftermath of June's confession, but a bigger question is whether there are other reasons that June finally reveals the truth. When Luke tells her he's working with Mark Tuello to search for their daughter, she gets angry, but her reaction is born out of fear. If Luke and Mark had dug too deeply into her story, they might have figured out she was lying. There's a part of June that likely felt forced to come clean because she had no other choice.
Luke is bound to be angry about how the totalitarian regime has brainwashed his daughter, and he may help June continue her crusade not just against Fred and Serena, who are back together and as dangerous as ever, but also against every Gileadean who is living in Canada. Given June approaches the conversation with such tenderness, using Luke in this way would be incredibly manipulative. However, it's how she learned to get things accomplished in Gilead, and that part of her still very much exists. Even though this latest development provides fans with hope about the couple's future on The Handmaid's Tale, June's trauma and her love for Nick Blaine may still prove to be too much for her and Luke to overcome.