Viewers of The Testaments have been left questioning the true intentions of one significant character, reports the Mirror.

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers from The Testaments and The Handmaid's TV series and the novels by Margaret Atwood

The Testaments on Disney+ and Hulu continues to attract audiences, who have become enthralled by the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale.

Taking place four years following the conclusion of The Handmaid's Tale series finale, the new programme tracks the privileged young women of Gilead as they undergo preparation to become Wives for various Commanders.

The young women all attend an educational establishment overseen by none other than The Handmaid's Tale character Aunt Lydia (played by Ann Dowd), who seems to present as a considerably gentler and more compassionate presence when compared to her brutal, domineering persona in the original programme.

This has led numerous viewers to query Aunt Lydia's genuine motivations and whether she should be considered a villain.

The response to this question is complicated and multifaceted.

Aunt Lydia is originally portrayed as a villain in The Handmaid's Tale as she trained women at the Red Center in how to become Handmaids, effectively forcing them into state-sanctioned rape and impregnation.

She was also shown in the original Hulu drama as freely dispensing Gilead's Old Testament justice for those who failed to adhere to the severe laws of the extremist religious regime. Aunt Lydia was responsible for Janine Lindo (Madeline Brewer) losing an eye after the Handmaid dared to speak back to her, and she also oversaw the stoning of a man.

There were occasional insights into Aunt Lydia's life before Gilead and suggestions she may have possessed a judgmental nature, yet beneath the severe facade lay a deeply human woman.

The series finale appeared to demonstrate the scales finally falling from Aunt Lydia's eyes following her direct observation of the hypocrisy within the Commanders and Gilead itself, particularly through the treatment of Janine and the other women compelled to work at the brothel Jezebels.

The Testaments further chronicles Aunt Lydia's political awakening.

The explanation for Aunt Lydia's softer demeanour in The Testaments stems from her elevated status following the Boston uprising, with a statue erected in her honour at the school.

Aunt Lydia has risen to a more influential position and no longer trains Handmaids, effectively removing her from the frontline of Gilead's most brutal policies - instead operating at one remove.

In The Testaments novel, Aunt Lydia covertly orchestrates Gilead's downfall by compiling evidence of war crimes and atrocities perpetrated by the Commanders and other figures within the closed nation.

She also reunites June Osborne's (Elisabeth Moss) daughters Daisy Nichole and Agnes Jemima. Together they succeed in exposing Gilead and precipitating its ultimate collapse. Furthermore, the book illuminates how Lydia and fellow women are essentially forced to fight for survival during the Gilead takeover, when the Sons of Jacob first began rounding up women. Lydia does whatever is necessary to preserve her life or risk enduring a far grimmer fate.

Actress Dowd recently offered insight into Aunt Lydia's transformation between The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments, telling Deadline that she is a "changed person" in the intervening years.

She went on to say that: "It's a whole different world." Adding: "And she enters as a gentler self, that fierceness, that wall is no longer present."

Ultimately, the question of Aunt Lydia's morality hinges on whether the ends justify the means of everything she has done.

The Testaments airs weekly on Hulu and Disney+ on Wednesdays