Warning! SPOILERS for Severance.
Severance, Apple TV's intense dystopian sci-fi thriller, has finally concluded its first season. Severance is the first series created by LA-based screenwriter Dan Erickson. In this dark spin on the classic workplace comedy, futuristic mega-corporation Lumon Industries is taking work-life balance to the extreme through the mechanism of memory-splitting Severance Chips implanted into employees' brains. The series finale, Severance season 1, episode 9 "The We We Are," ends with several cliffhangers.
After Dylan successfully enables the Overtime protocol in the Severance Chips of Mark, Helly, and Irving, the three members of the Macrodata Refinement Department discover revelatory information about the lives of their respective outies. However, Harmony and Milchick find a way to stop Dylan and shut down the wayward innies' plans. The ending of Severance season 1 also gives audiences their first glimpse of current Lumon Industries CEO, James Eagan, who confirms the theory that Lumon aims to sever the world. The finale's biggest reveal is that Helly is actually James Eagan's daughter, a direct descendant of Lumon Industries founder Kier Eagan.
Severance, in its season finale, lays to rest several theories that have haunted fans of the show. That said, these revelations also pave the way for more theories and possibilities about Lumon Industries' true purpose and history in Severance season 2. Here's everything that you might have missed in the season finale of Apple TV+'s Severance.
Do Burt And Irving's Outies Know Each Other?
Just before Milchick tackles Dylan to stop him from engaging the switches in the security room, Irving's innie bangs on the door of Burt's home in Kier Town. This means that his outie will come to in front of Burt's house, to be greeted by Burt and a man who appears to be Burt's outie's boyfriend or husband. It's currently unclear whether the two Severed workers know each other, but if Burt and Irving are a real couple in the outside world, that could explain their intimate connection as innies. Most importantly, as Burt seems to already have a partner, he could be having an affair with Irving.
What Gemma Being Alive Means For Mark And Lumon Industries
In the last scene when Mark screams, "She's alive!" pertaining to Gemma, Mark is still holding Gemma's picture. Combined with Mark's innie telling her sister about what happens in Lumon's shady Severed Floor, there might be enough clues for outie Mark and Devon to start piecing together the puzzle that is Lumon Industries. After innie Mark tells Ricken how much his book changed his life, Ricken is going to be determined to help Mark as well. The revelation that Mark's wife Gemma is still alive as Ms. Casey could be the beginning of the downfall of Lumon Industries. If what Lumon did to Gemma and Mark is made public, the company's campaign for promoting the Severance Procedure could be derailed indefinitely, putting a stop to James Eagan's plans of turning everyone into Kier's children.
Every Theory Severance's Season 1 Ending Confirms
Helly's real identity as Helena Eagan is the biggest revelation in the Severance season 1 finale. This explains why Helly's outie always rejects innie Helly's attempts to quit. Meanwhile, the longer glimpse into Irving's outie life also confirms the theory that, despite his fierce loyalty to Kier Eegan and the founder's ideals, Irving is the mole in Lumon Industries' basement. Not only does Irving's outie repeatedly paint the Severed Floor elevator that goes further down into Lumon's basement, he also keeps extensive notes on the locations of Lumon's Severed employees. Lastly, at Lumon's PR event, Senator Angelo Arteta's wife Gabby outright mentions that she's Severed, confirming what Devon suspected about her in the last episode.
Why Helly/Helena Eagan Got Severed
Apart from confirming the long-standing theory that Helly is actually an Eagan, the season 1 finale also reveals that Helena got Severed as a PR move for promoting mass usage of the Severance Chip. By allowing herself, James Eagan's daughter, to get Severed, Helena aims to show the world that it's a safe and worthwhile procedure. However, innie Helly manages to throw a wrench into Helena's plans by sabotaging her speech. The personalities and actions of Helena and James Eagan put into focus how Severance's Lumon Industries parallels the real-life companies that run the global tech industry.
How Will Milchick Punish Dylan And The Other Macrodata Refiners?
Severance has shown what happens in the Break Room, but this new offense by the Macrodata Refinement Department surely deserves a graver punishment. Lumon's response to the incident is likely to involve both the elevator to the deeper levels as well as the different unexplained protocols of the Severance Chip. Apart from Overtime, these protocols are: Beehive, Branch Transfer, Clean Slate, Elephant, Freeze Frame, Glasgow, Goldfish, Lullaby, and Open House. Based on context clues alone, the erring refiners could soon face getting their memories erased, being reprogrammed, transferred to other departments, or possibly even frozen in suspended animation until their innie's next assignment. Whatever the punishment will be, it's bound to show darker things about Lumon in Severance season 2.
Irving's Father: Did Lumon Industries Implant Severance Chips Into Military Veterans?
Irving's home reveals that his father was a well-decorated Navy veteran, as evidenced by Irving's father's uniform, picture, and the various medals that hang on the wall. It's also revealed that, apart from repeatedly painting the mysterious elevator, Irving's outie has also been gathering information on Lumon Industries' workers. Other than the fact that Irving is actively infiltrating Lumon, the implication here is that his father could have something to do with Lumon's history. The military – or at least the U.S. Navy – could have been involved in the first Severance Procedures. Just as Severance helps Mark process the trauma of his wife's death, Lumon could have Severed combat veterans as an experimental treatment for PTSD. This could be why Irving's infiltrating Lumon.
Why Did Mrs. Selvig/Harmony Cobell Try To Stop The Innies?
Plenty of evidence suggests that Harmony, also known as Mrs. Selvig, is actually on the side of Lumon's workers. Most of this can be found in Severance season 1, episode 8 "What's for Dinner?" during which Harmony gets fired for hiding things from the board. Harmony was also genuinely happy and supportive about Mark's decision to quit Lumon. However, in the finale, she rushes to stop Dylan in the security room and Helly's innie from speaking at the Lumon PR event, even calling Milchick in her desperation to protect the company. Indeed, Harmony could see the incident as a quick way to get back into Lumon's good graces. On the other hand, Harmony could just be worried about the potential brain damage that comes with the prolonged use of Overtime or any of the other Severance Chip protocols. This would be consistent with Harmony's interest in Mark and Gemma's interactions, Petey's reintegration, and the other effects of the Severance Chip that Harmony hid from the board. In any case, Severance season 2 is bound to reveal if Harmony is more loyal to Lumon or the exploited innies of Severance.
Everything We Know About Severance Season 2
Severance season 2 has been officially green-lit by Apple TV+. There's no official release date yet, but based on how season 1 was shot and produced for a full year before being released, fans should expect Severance season 2 to come out sometime in the second quarter of 2023. Although it's impossible to say how season 2 will end, it's safe to say that it will begin with the Macrodata refiners' outies scrambling to react to what their innies have just done. In the meantime, Lumon's board is bound to make big changes to the Severed Floor.
Severance releases new episodes Fridays on Apple TV+.