‘Severance’ Season 2 Mega Theory: What is Lumon Up To?

Severance Season 2 has just kicked off on Apple TV+ with an excellent first episode. Audiences, specifically big members of the online community mostly on X / Twitter, continue to theorise about the company’s endgame, with many believing that Lumon is conducting psychological or neurological experiments that possibly involve mind control, immortality, or societal manipulation. Some even speculate that the severance procedure itself is a front for something far darker, potentially tied to creating an idealised workforce or erasing individuality altogether.

General speculation that takes the show at face value, including that the severed employees’ “innie” lives might be broadcasted or monitored for entertainment or data collection purposes, draws eerie parallels to reality TV and corporate overreach.

Fans are also questioning the role of Mark’s wife, Gemma, and whether she holds a key to understanding the severance procedure’s broader implications. Theories abound that her involvement with Lumon may be deeper than initially revealed, potentially making her a pawn or a significant figure in the company’s plans. The importance placed on her, even having a moment related to her being the big cliffhanger of the first season, signals that she is going to be huge going forward, and what Lumon has done with Gemma may tie into our big theory.

What is our theory about Lumon?

After the end of the first episode of season two, it’s abundantly clear what the job of the macrodata refinement workers is at Lumon – what our main characters have to do on a daily basis. The numbers that the group is looking at are actually data, and their job is to sort the data and potentially weed out unwanted pieces of information. Essentially, they are trying different combinations and patterns to see which are successful and which aren’t. What they are doing is genome sequencing, the process of analysing and decoding the complete DNA of an organism to understand its genetic makeup. This technology has transformative potential in fields like medicine, agriculture, and even ethics, as it allows scientists to identify genetic markers for diseases, predict traits, and potentially alter DNA through tools like CRISPR.

If Lumon is using severed employees to process genome sequencing data, it could point to ambitious and morally ambiguous goals. One possibility is that the company aims to engineer genetic ‘perfection’ by manipulating the human genome, creating designer humans or workforce models optimised for productivity, health, or obedience. Not only this, but the baby goats displayed in the show appear to be used for testing and reproduction – it’s possible that they are using these animals to test out cloning, which seems to have worked, considering how many appear to be in the room.

Whilst this has been a theory for quite some time, this shot from the end of Season 2, Episode 1, almost undoubtedly proves the theory. The ‘ITNO’ in the corner seems to stand for Iteration Number, which means that we are looking at the 25th version of Miss Casey, meaning that she must be pretty important for Lumon and that this has been a long ongoing process. Earlier in the episode, we are introduced to Miss Huang, who is a child. There are many theories as to why she’s young, but we’re going to guess that Lumon is not operating and experimenting on children – at least not yet. Instead, since Lumon is so interested in cloning and duplication, it is entirely possible that Huang is a clone, specifically a child clone. It’s entirely possible that she is a young clone of Miss Casey, considering they seemingly have 25 different versions of her, and she seems to be one of their main test subjects. If not Miss Casey, it is still likely that Huang is a young clone of someone, implying that Lumon isn’t just interested in clones but in youth and getting younger as well.

As well as this, the bottom of the screen involved four boxes with ‘WO,’ DR’,’ FC,’ and ‘MA’ in them, which stand for woe, dread, frolic, and malice – the four tempers that Kier, the founder of the Severance program, proposed needed to be kept in balance. It would seem that Lumon is experimenting on clones and attempting to find the perfect balance of the four tempers, trying to maximise them in order to create ‘the perfect human.’ This could be used as an extension or upgrade on the severance process. Lumon could see this as the natural next step. For people who don’t want to undergo the procedure or now don’t even need to sever their brains in order to forget half of the day at work, they would now be able to create a clone of themselves that does the work for them, so they no longer have to go to work at all and still get the full day to themselves. Total freedom – but at what cost? It’s possible that Lumon has already begun experimenting with some clones instead of choosing severance, but we’ll get into that soon.

You may be on board with the theory, but wondering – why would Lumon even want to get into clones? Why would they need clones if they already have people willing to be severed? Well, if they can successfully get their clone project operational, then for every person that agrees to the process, they could make hundreds or even thousands of clones of them and have a fully willing, self-fulfilling clone workforce that commits itself to the company, and they could even be sent out to other companies leaving humanity total freedom to do whatever they want whilst our clones operate workplaces on our behalf. Of course, this brings in a multitude of ethical concerns and gives a strong challenge to individuality – is our work part of our identity? Thus, would making a clone do our work remove a part of who we are? With the Severance program and a potential venture into clones, it seems that they are insistent on removing individuality and crafting society to give up their rights and hours of their day in order to fulfill the company’s goals. With them viewing humans as disposable as this, it’s also possible that they aim to use these clones to build their own society, perhaps one devoted to work and betterment of each other as opposed to the cynical and selfish habits that humans are so renowned for.

However, whilst this is very interesting, it’s not the only way that the story could go. Specifically based on their possible experimentation with younger clones, it also appears that Lumon is trying to tap into exploration of immortality or an intention to remain youthful. They could be using the knowledge and information they get from MDR’s work in order to find the best DNA patterns to create a new and younger organism.

But why would they want to do this? For Kier Eagan. Throughout the first season, Eagan is referred to by many titles such as ‘The Founder’, ‘Chosen One’ and ‘The Grandfather’ – this denotes how he is viewed and ordered to be viewed by many of the workers, as the man integral to their lives and daily processes at work. If this sounds a bit weird, that’s because it is. This behaviour comes across as more cult-like and this may just be the case. The characters and board do everything according to his theories including consideration of the four tempers and have multiple statues and paintings around the severed floor depicting him as a god-like figure, a saviour that had all the answers. This cult-like behaviour is exactly why we believe that Lumon is doing these tests, experimenting with cloning and immortality in order to revive Kier Eagan, the founder of the Severance project. For such a famous and respected man who was heavy into philosophy, his body has likely been preserved and that could be in a cryo-chamber, where they keep the body whilst they wait for enough tests to be successful. The strange behaviour of this cult-like-business could be because they are working towards bringing him back and with younger characters being introduced this season, it is entirely possible that we are getting close to seeing Eagan in the flesh, or rather in the mind of a clone body.

This would also explain why Ms Cobel is so dedicated to the company. She has grown an attachment and feels a level of responsibility after looking after the severed floor for so long, but it could be that she also wants to utilise this tech for herself. If they successfully manage to bring a dead person back to life by providing them with a new body, she would want them to do this for her mother, who she mentioned many times in the first season and even still has a tube containing something from her mother, which we know due to it being labelled ‘Charlotte Cobel’, which could prove that she is holding onto this in hope that the process is successful and she can bring back her mother. 

Is Helly R. Her Innie or Outie Self in Season 2?

In the season 2 premiere, lots of fans have caught on to the fact that Helly isn’t quite acting as she usually does, and jumped to the conclusion that she must be outie Helly impersonating her innie in an attempt to get on the inside and learn more information about the group that almost took down and ruined Lumon’s reputation. Whilst this is entirely possible and the likely truth, what if this is neither innie or outie Helly? But instead, a clone. If Lumon really is operating with clones and testing out new bodies for old minds then the best place to truly trial it out would be in the heat of a moment, experiencing real situations and engaging with people who know that person. Clone or not, there is definitely something up with Helly and we believe that it must be outie Helly, Helena Eagan, coming on the inside to make sure that the Severance program operates properly and to identify weak links in their system.

There is a lot to take in and still a full season left to go, so these could easily be disproved within a few weeks time. But with the overwhelming and growing amount of evidence, this seems to be at least one potential avenue where the show could go. Nonetheless, this is one of the best pieces of media available on Apple TV+ and we cannot wait to see where the show goes from here.

Severance Season 2 stars Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, Tramell Tillman, John Turturro, Patricia Arquette, and Christopher Walken. The show is created by Dan Erickson with episodes directed by Ben Stiller, Uta Briesewitz, and Samuel Donovan. The 10-episode season starts streaming weekly on Apple TV+ January 17.

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