Severance season two is over, but does that mean Lumon’s “mysterious and important” work has also come to an end? What other new things did we learn about the company and it’s employees during the extra-long season finale? And what new mysteries will need answers during the Apple TV+ series’ third season? These are the biggest revelations and questions from “Cold Harbor.”
Revelations From Severance‘s Season 2 Finale, “Cold Harbor”
We Know What MDR Actually Does
MDR’s files are not people. At least not directly. It’s more complicated than that.
Each file—from “Tumwater” and “Allentown” to “Minsk” and “Wellington”—represents a room of experiences that severed MDR employees “complete.” Those rooms then become a new Innie consciousness for Gemma. Cobel told Mark S., “The MDR numbers, from your console, they’re a doorway into the mind of your Outie’s wife, Gemma Scout.”
Those clusters of numbers evoke emotional responses from the refiners because those numbers each represent the “Four Tempers” identified by Kier: Woe, Frolic, Malice, Dread. Cobel said they are “the building blocks” of Gemma’s mind.
We still don’t know all the science behind the process of MDR and how human emotions become numbers on a computer screen. We do know “Cold Harbor,” which lent its name to the episode’s title, was supposed to be the 25th and final Innie identity for Gemma.
Lumon Planned to Kill Gemma After She Completed “Cold Harbor”
Once Mark S. completed “Cold Harbor,” Lumon took Gemma into that ominous room for the first time. It was also meant to be her last. If everything went to plan that day, Lumon was going to remove Gemma’s severance chip, killing her in the process.
First, Lumon had to test if her new and final Innie would feel no emotional connection to Gemma’s most painful real-life experience, her miscarriage. “The barrier” on her unique experimental severance held. Dr. Mauer said, “She feels nothing. It’s beautiful.”
Gemma was moments away from completing her efficacy test, which consisted of deconstructing the baby crib alone, when Mark Scout showed up. His severance chip didn’t work on the Testing Floor, so it was his Outie who took her hand and led her out moments before Lumon could celebrate its momentous day. The two embraced and then fled to the elevator. As the door closed, Dr. Mauer screamed that Mark was going to “kill all of” those Innie identities.
As the elevator went up and their chips activated, Mark S. guided a confused Ms. Casey to the exit door. The Innie did not follow as Outie Gemma screamed for Mark.
The Goats Are Sacrificial Animals Used to “Guide” Souls to Kier Eagan in the Afterlife
Mammalians Nurturable raises and cares for a flock of goats on the severed floor because Lumon wants only the best, purest goats—those with “verve” and “wiles”—to use as both sacrifices and servants for Kier. Mr. Drummond summoned one so it could be killed and entombed with Gemma. He called her “a cherished woman” whose spirit the goat was meant to “guide to Kier’s door.”
Lumon has always been more cult than company, but this revelation made clear the people who work at the highest levels of the company really do see themselves as servants to a god. This was also far from the first time Lumon killed for Kier. Gwendoline Christie’s distressed goat-herder Lorne asked how many more of her animals would have to die, indicating the company has killed many people before.
Kier Eagan’s Ultimate Goal Was a World Without Pain
As Mr. Drummond stood over the goat he said, “We commit this animal to Kier and his eternal war against pain.” That was exactly what Lumon was trying to accomplish with “Cold Harbor,” to see if it could create a person totally free from the pain of their own life. The Kier wax statue also made reference to this when it told Mark S., “You have drawn my grand agendum nearer to fulfillment, thus making you one of the most important people in history.”
A world without pain sounds like Paradise. But as Helly R. told Jame Eagan earlier, his family had done the opposite. The Eagans had created Hell on Earth, and for that they would all burn there.
It’s possible they also believe that. (You have to keep reading to find out why in our “Questions” section.)
Lumon Has a Giant (and Talented) Choreography and Merriment Severed Department
We’ve always known Lumon’s severed floor has more departments than we know about, but we never could have imagined one of them would feature an entire marching band. That’s exactly who works in Choreography and Merriment. Milchick had the extremely talented group come and perform for Mark and Helly after he finished “Cold Harbor.”
Cobel Was Stunned to Hear Irving Knew about the Testing Floor Hallway and Elevator
Harmony Cobel—the inventor of severance who knows everything Lumon is trying to accomplish with her technology and who managed the severed floor for years—was shocked to find out Irving B. knew about the Testing Floor hallway and elevator. The fact she had no idea any severed employee was aware of it reveals Lumon isn’t as all-knowing as Mark S. once feared. Irving, both Innie and Outie alike, learned something vital right under Lumon’s ignorant nose.
Jame Eagan Hates His Daughter Helena and “Sees” Kier in Helly R.
Weirdest man in the world Jame Eagan came down to Lumon’s severed floor to speak to Helly R. directly. While there he revealed he’s an awful dad to more than just his rightful heir. “I do not love my daughter,” he told Helly. “I used to see Kier in her, but he left her as she grew.” He then confirmed what Cobel suggested when she snuck Mark and Devon into the severed birthing cabin. He has other children. “I sired others in the shadows, but he wasn’t in them, either,” he said.
So who does he see Kier in? Helly. “I saw him again….in you,” he told her.
Helly is full of righteous indignation. She’s also full of love, fear, sadness, and all the emotions that make us human. She is everything the Lumon CEO’s actual daughter is not, but that would seem to be a reason for him not to “see Kier” in her. Helly represents everything Kier Eagan claims a person needs to temper to master themselves.
So why does his descendant, the current Lumon CEO, see Kier in her, a person he has only met a handful of times? Not even Helly R. knows.
Kier Eagan’s Most Faithful Disciples Are All Full of Shit
Following in the Founder’s steps means conquering your tempers. Yet anytime something goes wrong, Kier Eagan’s most loyal, most faithful apostles/believers/sycophants turn feral. Harmony Cobel did it in season one when she lost her mind screaming and cursing in her car after getting fired. Mr. Drummond tried to murder Mark S. in a fit or rage in this episode, which also saw the normally stoic Jame Eagan cursing at the top of his lungs when Gemma left the “Cold Harbor” room. And Seth Milchick literally pounced onto the vending machine like a big cat when he broke out of the bathroom.
When things don’t go the way they want, they lose control. It’s almost as if trying to “conquer” your most basic emotions is a futile endeavor and everyone who claims you can is knowingly full of shit.
Dylan’s Outie Is Jealous of Him (But Likes Knowing He’s There)
Dylan’s Outie wrote a note to his Innie asking him to reconsider his resignation. In it Out Dylan talked about not being an impressive man, not like his Innie. He also said he liked knowing a “badass” version of himself was out there. That badass then showed up to help Helly keep Milchick locked in the bathroom, a reversal of the season one finale when Dylan locked himself in the security office while Milchick desperately tried to get in.
All Innies Want To Live and Fight for Their Existence
The marching band stood with Helly and Dylan after she said all of them could disappear forever at any moment. They knew she was right, just as the goat herders did earlier in the season. It’s the one thing that binds all Innies. Lumon might give them half a life, but it’s all they know and they will fight to keep it.
Questions From Severance‘s Season 2 Finale, “Cold Harbor”
What Are Mark S. and Helly R. Going to Do Now?
Severance season two ended like The Graduate, as two people ran off happily only to suddenly realize they have no idea what’s next and that might have made a huge mistake. (The sequence even had Gemma screaming like Mrs. Robinson.)
So what could possibly be next for Mark and Helly? Where are they going? They can seeimgnly only be together at Lumon, and Lumon is uh….probably not happy with either right now. The two wanted a little more time together and to see the Equator, but they might have minutes left in their lives. Cobel said Lumon would have no use for him when he finished “Cold Harbor” anyway.
Mark S. didn’t fully trust his Outie or reintegration to begin with. But when the moment of truth came it was his love for Helly that kept him from giving up his existence. That could mean the end of both versions of Mark, a realization the two Innies seemed to understand as they ran to nowhere in the severed floor’s halls.
What Did Lumon Have Planned After the Completion of “Cold Harbor” and Gemma’s Death?
Why is the creation of a single severance chip that can hold 25 distinct alternate consciousnesses, each free from the original human’s suffering, such a great thing for humanity? Is it because Lumon really does want to eliminate “pain” forever? Or do they just want to create the perfect worker, someone who can do 25 jobs without question or concern? Even if they want to do both, why would the rest of the world agree to this? Why would anyone else want this?
Lumon’s ultimate ambition is global, a dark dream for every person on the planet. What is it exactly? Harmony Cobel said they don’t atually care about anyone. So what do they care about exactly. Is it just power? Subservience? Kier Eagan? Whatever Jame and his executives had planned after the death of Gemma Scout is terrifying.
Why Was Lumon Trying to Create 25 Innies? (Why Not More or Less?)
Four Tempers. Nine Core Priniciples. Now 25 Innies. Why that number? What does it represent? Why not 20? Why not 30? Heck, why not 2,500? There’s a specific reason Lumon aimed for 25, so what is it?
Is There Something in the Severance Chip that Prevents an Innie from Harming Jame Eagan?
Jame Eagan didn’t react at all to Helly coming at him with the pen. It was as though he had nothing to fear. She then held her arm back in a very strange way, as though she wanted to attack but couldn’t.
Was that because she literally couldn’t and he knew it? Do severance chips have a failsafe that stops an Innie from harming the Lumon CEO? We know they can attack other people, like when Dylan G. bit Seth Milchick in season one and Lorne and Mark fought back against Drummon in this episode. But is Jame Eagan protected from any such danger?
Why Did Jame Eagan Seem Way More Normal While Watching “Cold Harbor?”
Jame Eagan was his usual strange, detached self when he spoke to Helly on the severed floor. He talked, walked, and behaved in his typical unnatural manner. But when he went down to the Testing Floor on the elevator (which dinged!) he seemed…..normal. His physical demeanor seemed to change and become more relaxed. The show also went from shooting him in all shadows to bright light.
Was that because he was overjoyed at what he thought was about to happen and his “frolic” broke through his icy, detached veneer? Or did he then also swear in “malice” because some piece of technology in his brain deactivated (or maybe reactived)?
Something is going on with Jame Eagan. He was two different people in this episode, which filmed him in two very different ways. What is it going on with him exactly and why?
Why Goats? (And Do They Reveal What Eagans Really Think of Kier?)
Of all the animals to choose as living sacrifices/guides in the afterlife, why did Lumon choose goats and not some other animal?
We know the world of Sevarance is a world with Christianity. There are also obvious and intentional similarities between the life of Kier and the life of Jesus Christ. In the Bible goats were used to carry away the sins of a community, hence the term “scapegoats.” on Severance, though, they are treated with great love and care. They’re also entrusted with shepherding important souls to Kier in the afterlife. Only, in the Bible, Jesus uses sheep to represent souls destines for Heaven and goats to represent those doomed to burn forever. Matthew 25:31-34 says, “Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.”
Does Lumon believe Kier is in Hell and Gemma would be joining him there” Do the Founder’s followers think Outies, none of whom actually worship Kier are going to Hell while their Innies are going to Heaven? Is that why a “scapegoat” has to take them there, because they are carrying the Outie’s sins with them? That’s exactly what Burt and Fields think.
It’s strange to think Lumon would worship someone they believe is in Hell, but they might also believe Kier is in both Heaven and Hell. This season introduced the idea of Kier’s possibly not-real twin Dieter, who succumbed to his tempers when Kier first conquered his. That would explain why Lumon fully embraced Harmony Cobel’s technology, because it made their spiritual beliefs real.
Will Jame Eagen Let Helly R. Have Helena’s Body?
Cobel told Mark S. there will be no “honeymoon ending” for him and Helly, but is she sort of wrong? Jame Eagan doesn’t love his daughter and “sees” Kier in Helly R. She is the child he has long tried to sire. So what if he elects to let Helly “live” and let Helena die? In that scenario he might even give Mark S. his body. Especially if Helena/Helly is pregnant, a theory the season’s penultimate egg-heavy episode only made seem more possible.
Helena Eagan craves what Helly R. has with Mark. Now she might lose her whole life to an individual she once said was “not a person.”
Can Gemma Escape the Lumon Compound Without Mark?
Gemma is outside the severed floor, but Lumon is a big place. Can she actually escape its clutches and get to freedom without Mark’s help? Yeah, maybe. Very few people even know who she is or what’s going on down on the Testing Floor. She has a much better shot of getting away then it would appear.
Was Irving an Orignal Test Subject for Gemma’s Chip?
How does Irv know about the Testing Floor? Why did his Innie say he worked at Lumon for three years when his Outie’s badge said nine? Why did a painter have an instant connection with Burt in O&D? And why does the show keep filming his face in half shadow as though he’s half in the dark about himself?
Is it because Irv was once on the testing Floor? Lumon must have worked up towards creating Gemma’s uinique chip. Was Irv an early test subject and he doesn’t remember his original Innie’s life even if he remembers the Testing Floor??
Is Tramell Tillman The Best Dancer Alive?
Whether dancing to defiant jazz or a live marching band, Seth Milchick can move. So while not particularly pertinent to the plot, this is still an important question.
Who Was Speaking for the Kier Eagan Wax Statue?
The enhanced statue of Kier Eagan needlessly roasted the verbose “Seth” during their performance. It was a strange moment, as that that should have been a glorious moment for Lumon. Why was that statue so mean to a loyal employee? Why would Lumon still be trying to make Milchick feel like crap even then?
That depends on who was actually controlling and speaking for that creepy replica. It wasn’t Drummond, Jame, or Mauer. Was is the mysterious voice that said just one word in season one? More importantly, why did the wax statue literally shake with rage when Milchick pointed out his inaccurate height? It was as though the Kier statue was actually alive.
The whole “show” was very weird. It was also very scary. That statue was a horror movie unto itself even before it appeared to be alive. The only thing that wasn’t scary was the amazing introduction music Lumon used to start the performance.
Were the Chicago Bulls 6-Time NBA Champions in the World of Severance?
If you know, you know. If you don’t know, let us introduce you to the greatest team opening introduction in North American sports history.
So, out of all the many revelations and questions raised by the show’s season two finale, this might be the most important: did Michael Jordan lead the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles in the world of Severance
Why is that important? Wow. If you have to ask you probably also mourned Drummond’s death, and we encourage you to go work for Lumon, a monstrous place that would think Toni Kukoč deserves to burn in Hell with Kier Eagan.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He does not “take” his eggs raw. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.