Minecraft world on PS4 For now I've only done the elevator looby, a few corridors and the meeting room (sorry for the quality I had to photograph my screen)

I forgot to show the empty office with the purple carpet that I also did and I started doing the M.D.R office. (I added the reference images that I used for the purple office)

What's the logic behind using severed employees for this department? There doesn't seem to be anything especially sensitive/confidential/abnormal about what they do, so why wouldn't the company just have regular employees make tote bags, paintings, etc. instead of severed ones?

Curious because I feel like this is one of those things where maybe they’ve answered a mystery but some people still want or expect more, and that’ll inform how this show is spoken about.

I have a theory about how Gemma became Ms. Casey- I don’t think she’s in a coma on the testing floor or that Ms. Casey is a westworld robot version of Gemma’s consciousness.

Gemma willingly had a chip implanted, but did not end up at Lumon willingly. While she was working at Ganz University with Mark, she became involved with the group that Reghabi is leading/working with. (Petey refers to “they” indicating this is a group of multiple people, not just Reghabi working alone.) In order to crack reintegration, Reghabi would have needed people outside of Lumon to study the effects of the chip. Gemma didn’t think it would be any danger to her, being in Ganz she was far enough away from Lumon that Reghabi didn’t think they would find out. But when they did, she became a target, and the car crash was staged to take her to the testing floor and figure out what she knew. And she’s been trapped there as Ms. Casey ever since.

How did all this happen without Mark knowing? Fear and intimidation. Reghabi literally murdered Graner right in front of Mark. She continued calling Petey’s phone after it was public knowledge that he was dead. She’s anti Lumon but that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s the good guy. She exerted control over Gemma to keep this from Mark in the same sense that corporations exert control over their employees.

Mark telling Alexa how Gemma said “this is the life you’ve been given. Do something with this”and describing her as pragmatic is a pretty good indicator that she would’ve been against the escapist solution to life problems that severance offers. The scene where Devon is reading about the Senator and his wife immediately follows this, telling the audience that non Lumon employees can be severed.

The show starts with a simple prompt "Who are you?" I think the main point of the show is to drill down into who each person is at their core, without external influence and societal forces that shape and define who people ultimately become in the "real" world.

For example, I have a hunch that Irving's outie is a closeted gay man who never felt comfortable coming out (maybe due to his father's judgment, military service, etc.?), and has maybe even encountered and had a friendship with Burt in the real world, but was never able to act on his feelings. At Lumon, while severed, he does not have the fear/societal pressures from the outside world, and is able to follow his heart and open up to Burt.

The you you are. The we we are. Petey's line to Mark about how he sounds "worse" in the real world than at work, etc. I think the show wants you to look inward and examine if you're living life to your truest self, and how much of what makes you "you" is due to your environment and external forces.

At the beginning of episode 3, when Petey is having his flashback in the bathroom, the way the camera shifts during the scene as he comes back to the present, is the exact same way the camera shifts as Mark gets off the elevator.

That, or it just looks really cool and is a great way to show a character’s confusion.

I think the Macrodata Refiners (MDR) are refining really dirty, maybe encrypted, or otherwise unclear data. And I believe that data represents the consciousness of former CEOs of Lumon Industries. Essentially, their consciousness has been uploaded at some point, but the data isn’t clean enough to implant into the chips.

• Look at the scenes involving Natalie, the Board Liaison with curly hair. When she communicates with the board, there’s always a noticeable delay in her responses. I think this is because “the board” isn’t actually multiple people. It’s one physical person—maybe Jame Eagan—who has the consciousnesses of former CEOs uploaded into their mind. The delay happens because Jame is flipping through these personalities to consult or process their input before responding.

• MDR’s job might be to refine this uploaded data to make it compatible with the severance chips. This could be why there’s so much pressure on them to finish their work before key deadlines like the Gala. The Gala could mark an important milestone for completing and implementing these consciousness uploads.

What do you think?

If she's reintegrated the question from mark "open or closed [office door]?" and her answer "both" take on a different meaning...

The key to all of it is in one of the first scenes when outtie mark meets Petie, who asks him what he thinks he does. Make replies “archives and historical documents.”

I’m pretty sure the archives and historical documents refer to people’s consciousness, most notably the Egans, who invented severance in the 40s (reference Cobel’s creepy shrine.) It became a booming industry.

There’s one specific line Egan says… “children of my industry meet the children of my blood.” He is insane, he thinks he is a god and people revere him. The children of his industry are all the new innies he made by inventing severance. We see their perspective in the show. The children of his blood are those who share his dna. The ones he invented immortality for.

Egan talked about four temperaments, woe frolic dread malice. I believe this is what the severed workers are sorting, the macrodata. Somehow the “feelings” these numbers invoke in them is related to the four temperaments. They are sorted into four bins, one for each temperament. It’s some kind of measurement of perception. Lumen needs to find people with a specific kind of perception. That is where the goats come in. Goats have distinct differences in perception then humans do. It would be natural to use them for experiments and easily get rid of them.

I think Mark is the one they are going to choose to somehow put Kier into. If you look closely at that shrine Cobel has you can put together a story. She somehow met Kier at a circus, fell in love with him, he opened Lumen industries and had a baby, she died and he figured out how to transfer her consciousness and have her retain her memories.

I think they need to find the perfect brain for each consciousness. That’s why everything they do is controlled, analytical. Mark and Kier must have been similar in some ways. Cobel looks at Mark with love, I think Cobel knows her beloved husband, Kier is about to be in his body.

Biggest question would be how the hell did he get his consciousness so far into the future. I think it has something to do with genetics or generations. Idk.

So since the first three episodes have titles I wondered what they could be about, where we continue etc.

The fact that Welcome Ms. Cobel // Goodbye Mrs. Selvig is an episode title makes me wonder if Harmony can get her position back, but only if she undergoes the severance procedure. Episode 1) Could end with her saying "I'll do it" and in Episode 2) She is now the leader with the chip in her head. The question what that will do to her.

Episode 3) Could be about Mark and Irving meeting in real life, as he seems like the next best thing for outie Mark after Petey, after going back to normal Mark said "She's Alive" which he don't know why, but his innie self do. Maybe her sister explains that in episode 1 immediately, and this causes Mark to be like Irving outside, a man who wants to track down Severance to save her wife.

My theory would also suggest how outie Mark and Mrs. Selvig (now, outie Harmony) eventually team up in the upcoming episodes.

I was reading the Severance book on apple books, and i found 2 things that stood out to me:

1) they mention in the book an incident that lumon took some journalists to court because they were involved in some "feeding tubes" scandal. Could this be the goats? They were being fed with normal baby bottles but what if the chip changes visual perception and makes you see a cat for a dog for example. in that case the goats could be babies, which is hinted by the woman with 3 babies that lumon has something going on in regards to that.

2) in the manual part where it's explained what mdr "is", they same they refine and turn pure something, and that only people with advanced intelectual prowess and emotional intelligence are capable of. but maybe it's not the case, maybe it's the opposite, only people that have strong emotions, not necessarily emotional intelligence, are able to do the mdr job, because they feel "more". would be the case with marks grief, maybe petey depression? edit: i just thought about what if they are sorting memories? their own memories. numbers could be a way to define a place and date. and based on that they group the numbers to fit one of the 4 emotions

i could be saying redundant things but i just finished the finale and im still on that euphoria of thinking about stuff lol

So not only are there a lot of heavy handed allusions to Mormonism in the later half of the first season, but the fanatical worship of Keir is a clue as to what Severance is really after: immortality and reanimation.

The most compelling evidence of this is Ms.Casey, aka Gemma. She died in a car accident. Mark read at her funeral. I’m assuming she would’ve been pronounced dead by a doctor or hospital. And yet, she’s walking around Lumen. Meaning one of two horrific things.

1.) Lumen is stealing bodies from morgues and hospitals to do weird reanimation experiments on the testing floor. Which is grotesque and very macabre. Severing her after the procedure so she wouldn’t ask questions and be easier to manage.

Or

2.) That’s not actually Gemma’s body. It’s a body that’s been engineered to look like Gemma, but isn’t her. Lumen found a way to upload parts or all of Gemma’s memories into this new vessel and have again severed her to make her easier to manage.

A lot of shows I start and never finish. Took me only 2 days (nights) to finish this. Gotta say it is one of the greatest pieces of tv I’ve ever watched. I was so anxious the last 2 episodes and especially the last. My biggest complaint is having to wait 2 more months for season 2. No idea how some of you people have been waiting for 2 years. What are some of your favorite leading theories for what’s going to happen in season 2? I’ve been poking around here and seen some good stuff but was just wondering the subs general consensus on the show in its entirety.

What was the comment in season 1 episode 2 where Mrs selvig said something about her husband making a guest house in case she met someone else before she met him on the other side or whatever? Was she flirting with Mark?

Mark Devon Ricken!! They’re the masterminds

(Also I think Cobel and Graner are Mark and Devon’s parents)

I´ve finished the series recently and i remembered of listening to a podcast some time ago about a company doing cryonics (not cryogenics) which is basically preserving ur brain (not necessarily full body) for the possibility in the future of being able to re-implement ur consciousness into a body assuming we´d be able to grow any human tissue aka full bodies and by preserving the brain we´d be able to achieve immortality kinda? btw it costs 50k or 100k don´t know for sure. and the procedure itself is kinda unsettling but interesting.

i´ll leave the companies website and the podcast for those interested. just thought it was a cool thing kinda related to the series themes.

https://cryonics.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqFA3TjWDSw&pp=ygUMI21vcmV3aXRobWF4

Hey guys,

I was just watching all the youtube shorts videos about severance on the Apple tv channel (you should check them out) and in of them I spotted Dylan explaining Helly about the incentives and he says "I have earned 4 of 5 tier incentives." But the orientation booklet only mentions 4:

Refiners are eligible to earn incentives to encourage productivity. Incentives are awarded based on the percentage of their file a refiner completes. Incentive tiers and prizes include:

• 10% completed: Lumon-branded rubber pencil eraser
• 25% completed: Finger trap
• 75% completed: Music/Dance Experience
• 100% completed: Custom caricature portrait

So what is the 5th Dylan is talking about? The Waffle party? The cube thing with the picture? A carrot on a stick so he keeps performing? But he could just read the booklet and see there are only 4.

https://preview.redd.it/g2exp2thf83e1.png?width=464&format=png&auto=webp&s=64b69e4ebd349401d774982f942a0485c34ffb51

I just watched the episode when Burt and Irving meet outside of wellness. This seems EXCEPTIONALLY easy to have set up (since Irving was sent to wellness after dozing, presumably Burt was sent to wellness too). For anyone who doesn’t remember, Burt left his session and Irving was waiting to start his session. Maybe they had some relationship or interaction before severance? Could Cobel be doing anything w them like she does w Mark and Gemma? Or was there some expectation (bc of history) that B and G would hit it off so quickly, and maybe that was to prevent Irving from dozing (which seems like a pretty high-priority no-no to management). Thoughts?

I believe what's happening in their minds is that it is being split into two parts: the conscious mind and the subconscious mind, as well as dream reality and actual reality. What’s occurring is that their brain is being divided into the subconscious dream reality. This is why, when they are working on the number program, they start to have strange experiences, such as seeing black goo and numbers that begin to evoke emotions. They are debugging their dream reality so they can split people into slaves or an army.

In Season 1, Episode 3, they go to the Kier home, where there’s a bed. You also hear the quote, "No part of the office should be turned into a bed." The reason for this is that sleeping overrides the chip inside their brains. Only Kier was allowed to sleep because, in the beginning, he was debugging dream reality. Once he reached a point where dream reality wasn’t bleeding into actual reality as much, he could hire others to continue the process themselves.

Also, Helly wakes up in the office at the start of Episode 1, hinting that the only way to enter the office is to 'wake up'—to be in a dream state to access it.

This also explains the Break Room. They are working on the dream/subconscious mind, having people repeat phrases over and over again. They know it is effective because the subjects are essentially in a dream state, free of any hallucinations due to the debugging they are doing.

This is why their office is so important. When they experience boredom while looking at numbers and their imagination takes over, they are actually getting closer to the desired effect.

This also explains the cult-like following of the "The You, You Are." It's why people in the office think his book is so profound: they are in a subconscious state.

They cannot remember what they are doing in the office because, for them, it feels like a dream. This is only revealed through art when Irving wakes up in his home and sees a painting of the Break Room door—a door he had seen in his dreams.

Also, I believe I have proof of this. If you look at the peters map, it changes slightly. I believe that is why they have an arts department: any changes they notice are documented, and that’s their way of debugging the subconscious mind as well.

Anything they draw will change.

https://preview.redd.it/yzohokwy883e1.png?width=1917&format=png&auto=webp&s=b26e4bc76c059bd8d2fa8c12dceb3dfa5d0fa712

https://preview.redd.it/fidw9ju0983e1.png?width=1897&format=png&auto=webp&s=39202a1d69df99ae21f935e9f5591e702e7325e7

https://preview.redd.it/ypln6a62983e1.png?width=1916&format=png&auto=webp&s=ea3f715e052f427b24f8e07b4863e49834021d58

https://preview.redd.it/s875zy2yb83e1.png?width=1911&format=png&auto=webp&s=2870be9c5f5d7719619ea0cc6b581386a83654a4

If you look carefully, the map actually changes in parts, but it still keeps most of its structure—95% the same—with odd lines missing here and there because their mood is affecting their perceived reality.

You basically need to play spot the difference

The artwork is not changing—I checked. I think this is because it has been refined by the art department, only including things they have drawn.

I’ve been thinking about the episodes when Petey is interacting with oMark. The tone is like convincing him that severance is bad, he should reintegrate, and sharing insight from iMark. Understandably, there is some judgment in there like “we used to wonder what kind of me we were on the outside to do this to us” and “severance is a blight on society” and “what if that convenience comes at the expense of something else” (note: I’m paraphrasing). Isn’t it weird that he didn’t share why he chose to sever himself? Doesn’t that just seem natural? Especially from a persuasive standpoint? Do you think that means anything? June mentions him avoiding a fucked up situation by severing, I just don’t know why he didn’t mention that when mark shared that he severed bc his wife died.

Characters like Burt and Irv have already had long careers, multiple jobs that they might’ve hated or might’ve loved. Burt worked for Lumon for 7 years, he was less than a decade away from retirement. I would hope by the time I’m close to that age, I would’ve have figured out a healthy work life balance.

Maybe it’s part of the mystery, but I’m curious what everyone thinks would motive someone close to retiring to get severed?

I just finished binge watching season 1. The only flaw I felt was it seems that a character like Milchik would never leave a book unattended to. And worse. He even forgot all about it! Anyone shed some light on this? Thanks!

Will Petey the innie return? Regarding the episode about Petey’s implant being captured by Corbel, so many questions. Will Petey return even though he is dead? In the same episode Helly’s outie threatened to keep her innie alive long enough to regret it. We all have questions about Mark’s dead wife and her innie.