A handmaids tale Fred Death No mans land Gilead

On The Handmaid’s season 4 finale, No Man’s Land plays a pivotal role in June’s story and Fred’s death. Where is No Man’s Land, and who controls it?


During The Handmaid’s Tale season 4 finale, Commander Fred Waterford’s death occurred in a place Nick Blaine called “No Man’s Land,” but where is the Handmaid’s Tale No Man’s Land area, and do any laws govern it? Season 5 chronicled June Osborne’s journey from a Gilead Handmaid and leader of the resistance movement to a Canadian refuge determined to exact vengeance against the man who raped and tormented her and Gilead as a whole. The location of Fred’s demise also serves as a metaphor for the emotional and mental state of the main character and the uncertain futures of the central characters who inhabit Margaret Atwood’s dystopian world.

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After Fred decided to betray Gilead in exchange for his freedom in season 4, June brokered a deal between Commander Joseph Lawrence and Mark Tuello that nullified Fred’s immunity, and he was returned to Gilead during episode 10, “The Wilderness.” At the Gilead-Canada border, Fred was handed over to Nick Blaine and the Eyes. He was then transported to the Handmaid’s Tale No Man’s Land, where June and a group of former Handmaids killed Commander Waterford. June later has to return, to travel through No Man’s Land in The Handmaid’s Tale season 5 in order to get to Canada, but what exactly is the territory?

Related: Everything We Know About The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6


No Man’s Land Explained

The Handmaid’s Tale No Man’s Land area mostly refers to the unoccupied land between Gilead and Canada, and in real life is a term used to describe an indeterminate or unoccupied state or place (e.g., the Korean Demilitarized Zone) that is sometimes considered uninhabitable. During World War I, No Man’s Land was used to describe the distance between the trenches of Allied soldiers and enemy troops. The Handmaid’s Tale has established Hawaii and Alaska are all that’s left of Free America following the Second American Civil War. However, there are still disputed areas (such as Chicago) scattered throughout the 48 contingent states: these pockets of America aren’t under Gilead’s control and include the Gulf Coast, the West Coast, and an area along the Canadian border. No Man’s Land is apparently a place where neither Canada nor Gilead maintains a presence, exerts authority, or takes ownership over land that stretches anywhere from a few hundred yards to miles.

No Man’s Land is also thematically significant because it reflects June’s mental and emotional state. She can’t let go of Gilead because of what the totalitarian regime did to her daughter and the atrocities June suffered for five years as a Handmaid. She’s also unable to adapt to life as a free woman in Canada, shrouding her future in ambiguity. Fred was also in unchartered territory, cast out by both countries, and banished to a place where a group of women was in control: a stark contrast to the patriarchal theocracy he helped construct. The stretch of wilderness and the events that occurred there indicate all the central characters will exist in some state of uncertainty in The Handmaid’s Tale season 6.

What Happens To June In No-Man’s Land

Nick and June in The Handmaid's Tale Season 5

The Handmaid’s Tale No Man’s Land area is further explored in The Handmaid’s Tale season 5, which sees June in the unclaimed territory for a good part of the season. In episode 5, “Fairytale,” June and Luke go to meet a mysterious Guardian in No Man’s Land who has information about Wife Schools like the one Hannah is in. The two end up meeting the Guardian and spend time in an abandoned bowling alley. Unfortunately, while on the way to Canada, the Guardian steps on a landmine, losing his leg. Since people are hot on their trail, they have to leave the Guardian behind. Regardless, June and Luke are captured. June is later put on a transport of detainees, following which she runs into none other than a pregnant Serena Joy in The Handmaid’s Tale season 5, episode 6, “Together.”

In The Handmaid’s Tale season 5, episode 7, “No Man’s Land,” Serena Joy and June try to make it back to Canada, until Serena goes into labor. The pair take shelter in an abandoned barn, and with June’s help, Serena gives birth to Noah. June is able to make it out of No Man’s Land and get Serena and Noah to a hospital, but, unfortunately, Serena and her baby are taken by Canadian Immigration officials. The Handmaid’s Tale No Man’s Land area is definitely a lawless and dangerous territory, and the area will probably be back in the final season as June heads the Mayday resistance.

Next: The Handmaid’s Tale Completes Aunt Lydia’s Testaments Transformation

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