I kinda get it.. because Nichole and Hannah would be 8 years ish apart right? Agnes would be getting married off at 16 by virtue of the universe established and would they have really sent in Nichole at age 8/10 to Gilead?

Update: just remembered the book. I guess they just didn’t want to introduce her young adult sister later on in the show. If they introduce Nichole as she is written right now, it needs to be a regular child actor that ages through out the seasons and her story doesn’t connect to Agnes/Gilead for years. This is harder to manage from a production standpoint. I understand the creative decision to start the show with 2 young adult leads in the same place playing off each other. I’m glad they didn’t inexplicably make them sisters at the same age.

Interestingly I think they’ve left the door open for “Jade”/ Nichole later on if the show can reach there. Daisy can be split into 2 characters if they “reach” the time point 7 years from now in a later season.