Max Minghella’s Handmaid’s Tale Character Nick Dies

Warning: This story contains spoilers from season six of The Handmaid’s Tale.

Fans of The Handmaid’s Tale are bidding farewell to more than just the series.

As June (Elisabeth Moss) continued to lead the Mayday resistance against the Republic of Gilead, her longtime lover Commander Nick Blaine (Max Minghella) embarked on his final journey in the penultimate episode.

After Commander Joseph Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) planted a bomb onboard a commander-only plane to take out Gilead’s most powerful male leaders—which he planned to be far away from before it took off—he was ultimately expected to get on by Commander Gabriel Wharton (Josh Charles) with Nick added as a last-minute passenger in the May 20 episode.

“She told me to give all this up,” Nick told Joseph, an ally of the resistance, of June. As they buckled in, Joseph replied, “You should have listened to her.”

For Max—whose character previously foiled the rebellion’s plan to attack a Jezabel’s brothel used by high-ranking commanders—Nick’s demise was “a very poignant way to end to me.”