Top Fan Theories for Apple TV's Severance
Apple TV+'s Severance has captivated audiences with its intricate, mind-bending narrative, exploring themes of free will, corporate control, and identity. Set within the mysterious Lumon Industries, the show follows employees who undergo a controversial "severance" procedure, splitting their consciousness into two distinct personas: their "innie," who only exists at work, and their "outie," who retains no memory of their work life.
As the show unfolds, it has left viewers with more questions than answers. What is Lumon’s true purpose? What are the implications of severance on the human mind? Who can be trusted? And what is really going on behind the scenes at this eerie, all-consuming corporation? Fans have been dissecting every clue, symbol, and cryptic line of dialogue to develop theories about the show’s ultimate direction. Below, we explore some of the most compelling and mind-blowing theories surrounding Severance.
1. Helly’s True Identity: Is She Really Helena Eagan?
One of the biggest twists in Severance was the reveal that Helly R. is actually Helena Eagan, a member of the powerful family behind Lumon Industries. However, some fans believe that the Helly we see in Season 2 isn’t the same one from the previous season—rather, it’s Helena herself, deliberately infiltrating the severed floor under the guise of Helly R.
Evidence Supporting This Theory:
A Sudden Shift in Behavior: Helly R. started out as one of the most rebellious innies, constantly fighting against Lumon’s control. However, some fans have noted that her demeanor has changed, raising suspicions that Helena has taken her place to spy on the resistance.
The Eagan Family’s Interest in Severance: As a member of the Eagan dynasty, Helena would have a strong personal stake in ensuring the success of the severance procedure, and infiltrating the severed workforce could be her way of monitoring its effectiveness firsthand.
A Potential New Form of Severance: Lumon has likely continued to refine the severance process, possibly finding ways to manipulate or replace an employee’s consciousness at will. This could mean that the original Helly has been overridden by Helena’s corporate-controlled consciousness.
What This Could Mean for the Series:
If Helly R. is truly Helena in disguise, then the resistance movement could be in greater danger than ever before. With an insider at the helm, the rebels may be playing right into Lumon’s hands without even realizing it. It could also signal that Lumon has discovered a way to manipulate severance beyond what has been previously shown, opening up terrifying new possibilities for control.
2. The Goats: A Symbol of Lumon’s Sinister Experiments
One of the strangest moments in Severance came when Mark and his team stumbled upon a room filled with baby goats being tended to by a mysterious Lumon employee. This seemingly bizarre detail has led to endless speculation about what the goats represent and how they tie into Lumon’s larger agenda.
Theories About the Goats:
Cloning Experiments: Some fans believe that Lumon is experimenting with cloning, possibly as a way to create fully severed workers with no outside consciousness at all. The goats could be early-stage test subjects in a much larger project involving human clones.
A Metaphor for Innocence and Control: Goats are often used in literature and film as symbols of sacrifice or innocence. Lumon could be breeding them to represent the manipulated and exploited severed employees, reinforcing the idea that the workers are nothing more than pawns in the company’s grand experiment.
A New Form of Severance: There’s also speculation that the goats are being subjected to an early version of the severance procedure, testing how consciousness can be split or controlled in non-human subjects before applying it to humans in more extreme ways.
What This Could Mean for the Series:
If Lumon is using the goats as part of some larger experiment, it could indicate that the company’s goals extend far beyond simple workplace productivity. The existence of living test subjects suggests that Lumon is playing with much darker and more ethically disturbing scientific advancements—ones that could fundamentally alter what it means to be human.
3. Macrodata Refinement: A System for Manipulating Human Emotions
Mark and his team in the Macrodata Refinement (MDR) department spend their workdays sorting seemingly meaningless numbers into categories based on their “emotional” properties. While this task seems arbitrary, many fans suspect that MDR is actually manipulating human emotions in ways that go far beyond the office.
Possible Explanations for the Data Sorting Process:
Rewriting People’s Emotional Responses: The MDR employees could be unknowingly processing real human emotions, which Lumon is then using to alter or suppress certain feelings in their workers and the outside world.
Storing and Repurposing Consciousness: Some believe that the numbers correspond to different aspects of a person’s consciousness, allowing Lumon to experiment with ways of transferring, erasing, or even rewriting human minds.
Controlling Public Sentiment: If Lumon has access to emotional data on a massive scale, they could be using MDR to influence how people feel on a broad level, potentially affecting politics, consumer behavior, or social unrest.
What This Could Mean for the Series:
If MDR’s work is actually controlling emotions, then Lumon may not just be altering the consciousness of their severed employees—they could be affecting the entire world outside their office walls. This would position Lumon as an even more powerful and insidious force, turning the severance program into just one part of a much larger plan for domination.
4. Lumon’s Ultimate Goal: Achieving Immortality Through Severance
One of the most chilling theories about Severance is that Lumon’s true goal is not productivity, but immortality—using severance as a way to transfer consciousness and ensure that the company’s most powerful figures can live forever.
How Severance Could Be Used for Immortality:
Mind Transfer Technology: Severance might be the first step in allowing a person’s consciousness to be stored and placed into different bodies, effectively granting them eternal life.
The Eagan Dynasty’s Endgame: Given the Eagan family’s obsession with control and legacy, it would make sense for them to use severance to ensure that their lineage—and their consciousness—never truly dies.
The Cult-Like Nature of Lumon: The company already treats Kier Eagan like a god. What if their true mission is to make him one—by ensuring that his mind can live on forever through severance?
What This Could Mean for the Series:
If Lumon’s goal is immortality, then the stakes of the story are even higher than we thought. The severed employees may not just be workers—they could be test subjects for the ultimate power grab: the ability to live forever at the expense of others. This could mean that Mark and his team are up against forces far greater than they ever imagined.
Severance has left viewers grasping for answers, and as the show continues, we can expect even more mind-bending twists and shocking revelations. Whether Lumon’s endgame is total mind control, immortality, or something even darker, one thing is certain—nothing in Severance is what it seems. As the mystery deepens, we’ll be watching closely, hoping to uncover the truth before it’s too late.
