by This article contains spoilers of Severance!!!
Severance Season 2 Finale starts with Mark Scout and Mark S. communicating over the camera in the birthing cabin. Mark Scout is telling Mark S. he wants to save his kidnapped wife. Mark S. empathizes with Mark Scout’s motives. However, he is very smart when it comes to protecting his interests. If Mark Scout wants to save his wife, innie Mark –once outtie Mark escapes with his wife– will stop existing. In a way, death. Innies understand this very well, for example, when they demanded a funeral ceremony after Irving was fired.
When I think about conscience, I also think about animals having a conscience and a short-term memory. I used to wonder how my dogs or cats didn’t suffer from anxiety or depression, and while I don’t deny animals experience it, I believe they do it out of a circumstance that makes them feel that way. For example, separation anxiety. However, my dogs never seemed to have anxiety over the future, over life after death, never mind the meaning of existence. The reason for that is that they don’t have a conscience like humans. Their memory isn’t long enough for them to remember worries for a long period, or even come up with them.
Innies, compared to my pets, are humans and have a conscience and a long-term memory. They can feel things and wonder about things. Even though they’re treated like some type of “second-class citizens”, they are humans, and they deserve human rights. They deserve the right to live and the right to choose how they live. Innie’s and Outtie’s are like cell reproduction and mitosis; they both come from the same place, but two different cells –in this case, people– are born. Who is supposed to take over? Who deserves to live if the other must die?
Mark
Mark Scout’s solution was to reintegrate. Hence, both men exist at the same time at the same place. But, most likely, the inner fight between Innie and Outtie will continue. Will Mark Scout fight for his interest while Mark S. is slowly forgotten? Or will Mark S. have a strong comeback once reintegration is successfully finished? I think this is a metaphor representing the conflicts humans have with themselves, especially with their inner child. It’s an allegory that shows how our inner child looks for validation, recognition, and love but also gives in to its impulses because it doesn’t know better. The Innie and the inner child haven’t been disappointed and deeply troubled yet, so the fight for what they think is right is perceived by the inner child as something attainable if they push hard enough. The Outtie is the portrayal of a mature realistic adult, someone who is still willing to fight for love, but more strategically. It gathers information, analyzes its strengths, weaknesses, and allies, and thoughtfully plans the next steps. However, they’re both motivated by their ego. As humans, both the Innie and the Outtie can rationalize individually, therefore two different egos coexist in the same brain.
Helly
Helly R.’s ego is also an example of the individual birth of a conscience. She is different than Helena, she is rebellious, and she protests Lumon’s unethical practices. But if she’s an innie with the mind of a child, how can she be so rebellious rather than clueless like Gemma in every project? Well… Gemma’s conscience has been divided 25 times and tested enough times to reach a point of emotional numbness, but Helly R. has only experienced one severance procedure. My theory is Helena’s rage and impotence are bleeding into Helly R.’s conscience. Helena’s inner child feels pain and rejection yet fights back. Almost like children throwing temper tantrums to call for their parent’s attention and acceptance. When she first saw Helly R. and Mark S. kiss, she was intrigued and couldn’t believe it, and repeated the recording several times as if she was in awe at seeing herself being loved by someone else. We know Jame Eagan dislikes her, he blames Helly R.’s actions at the Overtime Contingency on her. He believes she is incompetent, and he seems irritated at Helena’s search for his approval.
In the season 2 finale, Eagan tells Helly R., “You tricked me, my Helly”, as he finally confronts her for the Overtime Contingency. The interesting part is that he calls her “my Helly” because it shows he sees her as more than a tool. The Eagan’s see Innie’s as instruments or robots, but he feels an odd connection to Helly R. He relies on his admiration for Helly’s boldness and impulses. He sees Keir’s wit on her, and no one else. He doesn’t see her as astute enough to admire her just for the pleasure, but because Lumon is probably looking for the best Innie to implant Kier’s conscience in. When Ms. Cobel retrieves Petey’s conscience from his body, both Mr. Milchick and Ms. Cobel hide it from Lumon to avoid exposing Petey’s reintegration. This might prove that Lumon can save severed memories and conscience. Eagan even tells Helly, “I used to see Kier in her, but it left as she grew”, referring to Helena. But later he says, “Until I saw him again, in you”, after Helly almost stabs him. Right after that, he says, “There he is”. He sees Kier in Helly’s boldness and determination to fight for what she thinks is right.
The Ego
Helly R. and Mark S. can rebel and protest Lumon’s control and rules because they have an ego. Their ego separates them from their Outtie, as it proves they have a rationale and conscience. In my opinion, there’s no happy ending for everyone because two people are living in one body. One would have to give up their conscience for the other, hence their life for the other.
This also makes me think of psychoanalysis descriptions of I, Id, and the Superego. Freud’s psychoanalytic theory divides the human psyche into three interacting components: the Id, Ego, and Superego. The Id is the most primitive part, motivated by instinctual desires and the pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification. The Ego works as the rational mediator, balancing the Id’s impulses with reality. Meanwhile, the Superegorepresents internalized moral values, acting as a critical voice that enforces societal norms and ideals, often inducing feelings of guilt or pride. Together, these three elements shape human behavior and personality through constant internal conflict.
The reason why Innies are so hesitant to fight back is that their internal conflict is based on wanting to explore what more is there to life. It’s only natural for Innies –like any human– to question existence, desire pleasure, and search for a better life. Their Id is making them impulsively fight back for what they think they deserve, like causing the Overtime Contingency, exploring the Severed Floor, and contacting the Optics and Design department or the Mammalians Nurturable department. Their Id is what allows them to explore which possibilities are there and which boundaries exist, but their Superego is what keeps them scared and obedient. Irving is especially obedient at first, in Season One he disagrees with Mark and Helly’s desires to contact other departments. As their internal conflict and impotence grow towards Lumon’s manipulation, they rely more on their Id’s impulses. As the Innie’s are like children, they are also in conflict between discovering who they are, exploring their surroundings, and testing their limits.
If you read the Lexington Letter, then you might remember Peggy Kincaid was also an MDR employee and she contacted her innie. She described her to be childlike, she knows what a beer is, but can’t name any brands, just like Helly and Mark know the word Equator, but don’t know what it is. I think the Innie’s essence relies on their innocence, and because of this, Mark S. decides to stay with Helly R., leaving Gemma behind. He never falls in love with Miss Casey, he doesn’t know Gemma, and he is innocent enough to think he can fight for the love of his life, Helly R. Now, what is going to happen to them? Where are they running to? The elevator?
Irving
When Irving, Burt, and Fields are having dinner at Burt’s home in episode 6, Fields shares their views on Christianity, salvation, and being severed. Fields argue Innies are individuals who can be judged separately from their Outties. Burt describes his younger self as a “scoundrel”, he believes he can go to heaven if his Innie is a good man, thus reuniting with Fields in paradise. Shortly after, Fields and Burt explain to Irving how they switched from calling each other “Hun” to “Attila.” Burt says they switched 10 years prior, but Fields says it was 20 years earlier after they went out for some drinks with Burt’s Lumon Partners. Irving then mentions that the first severed procedure only happened 12 years ago. If we think about that detail and compare it to the first sentence they said at dinner – “Irving, no one’s ever thrown blood on you into your way to work”–, we can assume Burt has been working for Lumon long before he got severed and the Mind Collective knows who he is, and protested him, but why? Probably because he is someone high up in Lumon.
Milchick
Milchick is portrayed by the actor, Tramell Tillman, the coolest most confident person out there. Literally, “SLAY KING”! His character is very interesting because he is manipulating his Lumon employees, Miss Huang, Helly, Mark, Irving, Dylan, and people around him. Even in the Lexington Letter, his brother Jim Milchick, editor at the Topeka Star, claims an inside source confirmed Peggy Kincaid’s passing in a car accident –just like Gemma–. Therefore, Seth Milchick’s influence goes further than we think. On the other hand, he allows his Superego to rule over his other psyches. For example, when he is looking at himself in the mirror telling himself “You must eradicate from your essence childish folly” or when he repeats his mantra “Grow up” aggressively to himself. He feels pressured by his meeting with Mr. Drummond, being told off over the ORTBO incident with Irving, and his complex vocabulary. But I think Milchick, as an African American man, faces an unspoken racism. He is gifted with paintings that represent himself as Kier, yet Kier is portrayed as an African American man. I think he dislikes this and glances at Natalie, looking for an empathetic gesture, but doesn’t get one. He feels uncomfortable because for so long he has enjoyed feeling in power and control, but those paintings are a reminder that there is someone else above him with enough power and control to even manipulate him.
I was looking on TikTok at some creators saying Milchick is an “unsevered severed” employee because he’s African American. This girl was saying that people of African descent pretend to be a different person at work. I think they can’t fully be themselves at work because they will be judged or sidelined. Mainly judged for being different, being more open, and… “loud”? As a Mexican, I have noticed that Mexicans like to have fun, we’re loud, we make jokes, and we’re cheerful, but other people seem more reserved. I know we should generalize because not every person is the same, but I think there is some truth to it. As Mexicans or African Americans, Indigenous, or people from different social groups, we tend to stand out because we are different and other people feel uncomfortable with that. Lumon, as a cult company, they are very repressive, everyone seems blue and very controlled. They’re not allowed to show emotion, and the Innies may not show enough emotion because they are confused about where they are, until slowly they start to express themselves. Ms. Cobel and Mr. Milchick have to repress any sentimental nature they may carry. That is also why Ms. Cobel, when visiting her childhood town, sees everyone addicted to substances and depressed, all those people were stripped away from something so human and so natural as being able to express themselves or their feelings.
TikTok: Via “killerkungfuwolfb1tch” –https://www.tiktok.com/@killerkungfuwolfb1tch/video/7485396245016562974?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7431726660640982534
Conclusion
The introduction theme of Severance has Mark on a bed with 22 babies. Some people speculated this meant Helena was going to get pregnant with Mark’s baby after sleeping together at ORTBO. However, at the end of the theme, a baby Kier crawls on the floor. We must consider Mark Scout and Gemma met at Lumon Industries when donating blood. When Gemma gets treated at the Lumon Fertility Clinic, the doctor is the same man conducting the testing on Gemma’s 25 severed personalities, including Ms. Casey. I think this means Lumon is testing humans to successfully separate emotions from the rationale. Again, I think they’re looking for a body to implant Kier’s mind in. That’s also why they test on goats. Once the testing succeeds in goats, they proceed to test in humans. Perhaps, Peggy Kincaid is also sequestered down in Lumon, just like Gemma was.
What will happen to Mark, Helly, and Gemma?
I think Lumon can erase severed personalities, not just turn them off. Ms. Cobel mentioned this was a possibility in Season 2 Episode 1, but because Mark S. was still working on Project Harbor, they couldn’t erase the MDR department’s minds after the Overtime Contingency.
It is also a possibility that Irving was severed long before 12 years earlier, he doesn’t remember because his mind was severed again. Gemma will try to gather forces from Devon and Rick to rescue Mark because, after this last rebellion, they will probably kidnap him and Helly. Since Jame Eagan doesn’t like Helena, he will probably keep Helly R. kidnapped at Lumon with Mark S. They will test on both of them, but Helly will be the new favorite project and might face several Severance procedures more, just like Gemma.
However, my last predictions might be wrong, and I’m still debating on what happened to Irving and all the information he had on Lumon, yet hid whilst having dinner with Fields and Burt. Also, how did he know someone was going to check his things at his house? I’m pretty sure he knew someone at Lumon was going to go over his things and hid the most important to avoid raising concerning questions. He gave them enough information to make them think he was researching them but was not fully informed about what they do.
What do you think? Let me know your theories in the comments.
