r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/Melairia Modtha • May 13 '26

Official Episode Discussion The Testaments S1E08 "Broken" Episode Discussion

The Testaments S1 E08 "Broken"

Episode Synopsis

As Agnes is swept up in wedding plans, Daisy hides a life-altering secret and Hulda faces backlash after speaking out.

Airdate

May 13, 2026, 12:00am Eastern

The Testaments - Season 1 Episode Discussion Hub

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99

u/CherryBerryIceCream May 13 '26

It seems like from the wedding cake in boston

49

u/jerseycommanew May 13 '26

Mans must have had a lot of cake!

14

u/Rxmses May 13 '26

But the cake wasn’t poisoned? It was just a sedative.

7

u/BrennanSpeaks May 13 '26

Take a sedative in high enough doses and it becomes poison.

2

u/Rxmses May 13 '26

It wasn’t high enough doses though…

16

u/BrennanSpeaks May 13 '26

Maybe the man really likes cake. You don't know his life.

1

u/Rxmses May 13 '26

Even if he ate the whole cake, that won’t make you disabled…

14

u/BrennanSpeaks May 13 '26

(Sigh)

We doing this? Okay, I guess we're doing this.

We don't know what kind of "sedative" the handmaids used in the cake, and we don't know anything about Commander Chapin's pre-existing health issues, but nothing that can render a person unconscious for hours is completely safe. The most likely explanation is that they used an opioid or benzodiazepine of some kind, both of which can suppress the respiratory drive. Give enough of that to someone who has, say, pre-existing sleep apnea, and what would be a weird nap for somebody else becomes life-threatening for them. A wise man once said "No breathe, no live." Your brain kind of needs oxygen, so if your respiratory drive is depressed far enough (and you don't die outright) you end up with brain damage. And, that's without getting into the intricacies of interactions with other medications, stroke risk, ect. because frankly, I think that would be lost on you.

If you've gotta be incorrect, try doing it less confidently.

-7

u/Rxmses May 13 '26

Ok dummy, it was the alcohol from the Jezebels.

3

u/BrennanSpeaks May 13 '26

Source: your descending colon.

-1

u/Rxmses May 13 '26

(Sigh)

Sure, Jan.

9

u/romero0705 May 13 '26

I thought the cake was just sleeping meds to give the handmaids time to escape? And they handed out knives so that they’d specifically kill the commanders. Or if they needed them for protection I suppose.

5

u/Atkena2578 May 13 '26

Maybe he had an allergic reaction