Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Severance.
Severance's Lumon Industries is clearly hiding many secrets, and the truth behind the company's creator may be the key to them all. The new Apple TV+ series brings Parks & Recreation's Adam Scott as Mark Scout, one of few people who accepted to participate in the “severance” process of what is one of the biggest yet mysterious companies in that universe. Produced and directed by Ben Stiller, Severance has already proved that it will be the type of show whose each episode will leave a good amount of clues for viewers to pick up.
Severance's frightening premise deals with a company whose employees in certain departments must undergo a frightening process in which their personal memories are separated from their working memories. Thus, neither Mark nor any of his co-workers have any idea who they are outside the small departments of Lumon Industries. Likewise, none of them have any idea of what or who they work with once they leave the building. By making it so that not even the memories of its main characters can be trusted, Severance creates a tense atmosphere in which any narrator could be an unreliable one. That makes the truth about Lumon Industries’ secrets way more difficult to be uncovered.
One of those secrets is who’s really behind Lumon Industries. Upon entering the large but sparsely populated company building, employees can see a huge and imposing portrait of the face of Kier Egan, the man who appears to have been the creator of Lumon Industries. As if the glorious portrait right in the middle of the building wasn't enough, the characters in Severance have as a daily task to praise this portrait of Kier Egan. At no point, however, it is made clear whether this Kier Egan is still alive, what his contribution to Lumon Industries really was, and whether he was the one who came up with the idea of the “severance” process.
It is curious that in addition to the lack of information about what Lumon Industries actually does, with characters making assumptions ranging from cosmetics to ocean cleaning, little is also known about the company’s creator. The almost ritual of worship of the mysterious figure of Kier Egan that the employees must perform every day hides the fact that Severance's characters most likely don't know anything about the man they theoretically work for. In fact, considering all the lies surrounding Lumon Industries, Kier Egan might not even exist. This would be another similarity between Severance and Loki, as both shows would deal with a workplace that follows unreal figures.
Finding out more about the true creator of Lumon Industries may be what Mark needs to understand the real truth behind Severance's biggest secrets. It is likely, however, that such an answer will not arrive until the end of the season. Until then, it is up to viewers to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
Severance releases new episodes every Friday on Apple TV+.