Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for The Handmaid's Tale season 5, episode 9 "Allegiance"! The Handmaid's Tale season 5, episode 9 shares a shocking revelation regarding Agnes Mackenzie, also known as Hannah Bankole, June Osborne and Luke Bankole's estranged daughter who they have been trying to rescue since Gilead came to be. As Agnes, Hannah (Jordana Blake) becomes the foster daughter of Commander MacKenzie and his wife which renders her (technically) safe from most of Gilead’s atrocities – save for her impending marriage (which Mckenna Grace's Esther Keyes proves is not really safe, either). Two years shy from becoming a Gileadean child bride, 10-year-old Hannah attends a wives' school to be primed for her own household as a future wife. However, despite her apparent indoctrination, there is evidence that all hope is not lost for Hannah.
Like the other abducted kids in the Republic of Gilead, Hannah’s years in the system make it easy to assume her adherence to its totalitarian and theocratic ways. Further lending credence, Margaret Atwood’s novel The Testaments). Given that Hannah chose her real name over Agnes, her actions assert a sense of identity which honors her previous life, or whatever she re from it.
What Does Hannah Writing Her Name On Paper Really Mean?
Hannah’s situation isn’t really that simple, considering that she was five when she was plucked from June and Luke. This is significantly too young to possess a clear worldview but old enough to have learned to write her real name. But, with Hannah’s upbringing including heavily reinforced Gilead propaganda, Agnes recalling her real name (let alone writing it) isn’t necessarily indicative that she re anything or everything else. It’s possible that the Handmaid's Tale's Hannah has become disassociated from her parents due to abandonment issues but remains fond of her real name, making her writing scene either something that would mean everything to the longing parents or a tragically meaningless glimpse into the past.
Should June and Luke Leave Hannah In Gilead?
Hannah has been a driving force in June’s survival of Gilead’s abuses. So after Angel Flight became a success, it further motivated June to cause more havoc until she finds Hannah in the mess. However, after Moira Strand smuggles June to Canada and discovers that the kids from Angel Flight are having a hard time reintegrating into normal society, added to their meeting with a friendly Guardian named Jaeden, it casts a shadow of doubt on June and Luke’s mission to retrieve Hannah, so much so that leaving her with the MacKenzies crosses their minds as something Hannah might want. Ultimately, Hannah has created a new life in 's Republic of Gilead, and it could be considered cruel to take that away from her.
Yet this approach doesn't last because Gilead is still Gilead, an exploitative nation that corrupts everyone in its territory. With this in mind, June and Luke reorganize with a more fiery determination to get Hannah back as The Handmaid's Tale continues. The consequences of her anticipated culture shock are but a temporary nuisance worth enduring as long as it removes her from a country where women are the legal property of men. If Hannah's writing is indicative of anything, it's that she doesn't belong in Gilead (no one does) and even a sliver of hope for a reunion is better than accepting her fate as a household wife.