The Best 'Severance' Season 2 Fan Theories (So Far)
Now that Severance season 2 is finally here, fans and theorisers alike are chewing on the new episode like it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet. Just one click into the r/SeveranceAppleTVPlus Reddit and the flurry of recent activity will make your eyeballs spin around inside your skull. Every shirt color or stray look indicates something to the Internet sleuths trying to solve the Apple TV+ drama's mysteries.
According to Severance creator Dan Erickson, none of the theories that he’s read so far are correct. "I love all of them and some of them are kooky, but the show is kooky, so it makes sense," he told Entertainment Weekly. "I would not say that I've seen anybody get it totally right. We are trying to lay down the seeds of where it's ultimately going, and I do think that people notice that… But I don't think that I've seen anything where I'm like, 'Oh God, they got it. Time to leave the country and change my name.'"
To prove Erickson wrong, we rounded up our five favorite theories about Severance season 2 so far.
How Long Has It Been Since the Season 1 Finale?
In real time, it’s been nearly three years since Mark S. (Adam Scott) and his team experienced their Outie’s lives in the season 1 finale. In Severance, it’s only been about five months. That is, if you believe Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman).
“When Mark comes out of the elevator running, he passes the purple office area that was meant for a Lumon expansion. That area looks the exact same as it did when Helly first started,” Reddit user Choano writes. “He's also confused by the layout of the hallways. He's either forgotten his way around, or Lumon has had some time to move the walls, creating new arrangements of hallways.” Even stranger? “The new refiners have been there for only a few days before Mark S. shows up” and “Milchick is still setting up his new office.” Why does it feel like it’s only been a couple of days, if that?
Did Helena Take Helly’s Place?
This is the theory that’s driving the Severance Redditors up the walls. According to many theorists, Helly R. (Britt Lower) didn’t just lie about her OTR experience because she was embarrassed. Helly lied because she’s actually her Outie, Helena Eagan.
“My theory right now… That is definitely Helly Eagan down there with the gang,” one Redditor wrote. Many others quickly chimed in to agree. “Why would Helena let Helly go back to the severed floor when she 1.) has no use for her anymore and 2.) can pretend to be her Innie to find out what the rest of MDR is up to and report back to the board,” another theorizer added. “I LOVE THIS SHOW.”
Not everyone is on board, however. As one commenter pointed out, “I believe that if it were Helena, she would have had a better lie prepared—one without the glaring plot hole of a night gardener.”
How Did Gemma Become Severed?
Before we dive into this theory, props to Reddit user Old-Reputation-8987 for really sorting through the numbers on this one. According to the theory, it’s possible that Gemma (Dichen Lachman) was severed against her will.
In the severed employee list that belongs to Irving's Outie (John Turturo), there is a man named Doug Coleman,” the Reddit user explains. Coleman was reportedly involved in a car crash in 2007. He fractured his left hand and sued the city—and it's all jotted down in Irving’s news. “Irving has his own handwritten note that reads ‘Did the settlement lead to severance?’” the theorizer continues. “This feels eerily similar to Gemma's case, i.e. car crash leading to severance… Maybe severance has some kind of interest in car crash victims or maybe they are better at being severed.”
This theory might explain how Gemma ended up as Ms. Casey on the severed floor, or why we don’t know where her Outie is living.
Who Is Miss Huang?
When Mark and his Macrodata Refinement team arrive back in the office, they’re greeted by a new employee, Miss Huang (Sarah Bock). The odd bit is that Miss Huang is very young. When Mark asks her about why she is a child, she simply responds that it's, “Because of when I was born.”
“People have speculated that Gemma died/went into a coma and was brought back as a full time Innie that never leaves,” Reddit user metalmechx commented. “If that’s true, Ms. Huang could be the same. She said she used to be a crossing guard. Maybe she got hit by a car one day, went into a coma and revived as a full time Innie.”
I’m noticing a lot of theories this time around that deal with car crashes. Still, this is the best theory I’ve seen yet—outside of the next one.
Is Lumon Working on Cloning?
If I know Hollywood like I think I do, the only reveal better than “Mark’s wife is alive” is that “Mark’s wife is pregnant.” I can’t promise anything, but my suspicions rose again when Miss Huang entered the series. Nothing is straightforward in Severance, so the answer is likely a bit more complicated.
So far, the most popular theory is that the MDR team is working on cloning. There’s a goat room—and even an entire study on the meaning of Mark S.’s Cold Harbor file. The flash of his wife Gemma next to (seemingly) some vital signs in season 2’s premiere certainly added a lot for us to think about as well.
“The Egan's focus on preserving themselves (like the wax sculptures or the 'clone' of the house) makes me think that Lumon is creating artificial human bodies and that the true purpose of severance is to learn how to transplant a consciousness,” one Reddit user wrote. That theory was posted three years ago, but it doesn’t feel any less true today.
As another theorizer posted in all caps: “LUMON IS TRYING TO RESURRECT KIER EAGAN, EITHER IN MIND OR BODY.” There’s the juice, right there!
Bookmark this page, folks. Meet us here next week when episode 2 drops even more Easter eggs about what’s really happening on the severed floor.
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