Severance season 2: our 5 favorite theories about the Apple TV+ series

Almost three years: this is the long wait that fans of Severance had to endure, after the final cliffhanger of season 1. Fortunately, the science fiction series produced by Apple TV+ finally returns for a season 2, of which the first episodes will be revealed on January 17, 2025. To wait until the return of the terrifying Lumon company, here is a compilation of the 5 craziest (or not) theories, put together by fans.

Warning, the rest of this article contains spoilers for season 1 of Severance.

Ricken, Mark’s brother-in-law, also experienced dissociation

In season 1 of Severanceonly the employees of Lumon Industries are forced to undergo an astonishing surgical operation: the dissociation between work and private life, which separates the characters’ memories in two. One theory suggests that Mark, Helly, Dylan, Irving and the others are not the only ones in this situation: Ricken, Mark’s brother-in-law and the author of the famous book that encourages employees to rebel against Lumon, could also be dissociated.

His behavior, as well as that of his friends, is particularly strange in season 1 of Severance. During the grand finale, we learn that Rebeck, a young woman close to Ricken, has wounds on her head. From there to imagining that these were caused by the placement of the dissociative implant, there is only one step.

A second interesting theory, about Ricken, implies that the latter is actually a member of the Eagan family, who created Lumon. He thus mentions the fact that he comes from a rather rich lineage, from which he moved away, and he firmly disapproves of dissociation. Would he have precisely written his essay, « The You You Are »in order to start a revolution in Lumon?

Maybe Mrs. Cobel isn’t as evil as you think

What if Harmony Cobel, the boss of Lumon Industries who does not seem to have undergone dissociation, was actually more benevolent than we think? The central character of Severanceplayed by Patricia Arquette, thus seems to have rather vague motivations. Portrayed as an authoritarian boss, Harmony Cobel could however be on the side of Lumon employees. On several occasions, she shows a particular attachment to Mark, whose neighbor she is also outside.

A theory, put forward by ScreenRant, also suggests that she could definitely switch in season 2, after being removed from the company in the final episode of the first season. His motivation? Probably his daughter, Charlotte, of whom we see some objects in season 1 and who could have a capital importance for the future. Is she in a similar situation to Gemma, Mark’s wife, who is supposedly dead and assumes the identity of Mrs Casey in Lumon? Mrs Cobel could then fight for her in season 2 of Severance.

Lumon’s real work is hidden by filters

Scary figures to collect to reach quotas, artistic paintings hung on the walls and even goats being bottle-fed in a dedicated room: Severance does not hesitate to stage sequences, each one crazier than the last, which maintains the mystery of the real work of Lumon employees. What if these details were actually used to hide the truth from them about the terrible missions they must fulfill on a daily basis?

This is what reveals a theory put forward by certain fans, to explain these incongruous elements of the series. The latter would thus function as a sort of filter, probably put in place thanks to the implant which allowed the dissociation of the employees, in order to control them. A concept reminiscent of Kill without qualmsepisode 5 of season 3 of Black Mirrorand which stands out above all as a way of hiding Lumon’s true goal, surely much more macabre than we think.

Lumon seeks to create clones

The famous goats seen in season 1 of Severance are obviously at the heart of many theories. One of the most popular of these is that Lumon is actually looking to develop industrial cloning, starting with these adorable animals, before being able to apply it to humans.

This could, for example, explain the presence of Mrs Casey in Lumon: what if she was in truth a clone of Gemma, only intended to work in the company? Harmony Cobel, who seems to have lost a loved one, probably her daughter, Charlotte, could also dream of seeing her resurrected using this technology.

Lumon employees are lab rats

In the grand finale of season 1, we learned that the character of Helly was actually Helena, the daughter of Jame Eagan, the current CEO of Lumon Industries. During a conversation between these two characters, we also discover that the company wants to give the whole world the opportunity to have access to dissociation. Would the employees then be real laboratory rats, only hired to test the benefits, or not, of the implant?

This is one of the most likely fan theories, since it would explain many things: the mystery surrounding the employees’ work, which would then be fictional, the reason why Helena seems determined to promote the implant, but also the existence of numerous protocols at Lumon, in order to regulate employees as much as possible.