A new theory has seemingly figured out the secret behind Severance's mysterious Cold Harbor initiative, and it has something to do with Gemma and Helly.
So far, Season 2 of Apple TV+'s hit thriller has introduced some epic new layers to its ever-evolving labyrinthine workplace plot.
Paramount to new twists and turns has been the introduction of Cold Harbor, the file that Adam Scott's Mark S. is working on while at his desk in the show's conniving megacorp, Lumon, and something the Lumon brass has maintained he needs to finish at all costs.
New Severance Theory Explains What Really Is Lumon's "Cold Harbor"
Fans seem to think they have uncovered the true intention behind the Cold Harbor project in Severance Season 2.
This new theory connects the mysterious Lumon initiative with Britt Lower's Helly R. and Dichen Lachman's Gemma (who was revealed to be the thought-to-be-dead wife of Adam Scott's Mark S. at the end of Season 1).
A certain contingent of fans (via Reddit) has started to think the series is lining up Cold Harbor to perhaps be the key to Lumon experiments to have its customers no longer have to experience life's inconveniences, including death.
This stems from the idea that both Helly and Gemma have experienced death or near-death experiences—something that has continued to be referenced throughout Season 2 so far.
Eagle-eyed viewers spotted that both Gemma and Helly's Severance chip numbers appeared in relation to two different files being worked on by Mark S. and the Macrodata Refinement (MDR) team.
This included Helly's specifically appearing on Mark's computer as he worked on the Cold Harbor file in Season 2, Episode 7 (aka "Chikhai Bardo").
As seen elsewhere in that very episode, some of the file names previously seen in the series began to appear on room names that Gemma's outie was seemingly being forced into with what seems to be multiple innies going through various instances of constant discomfort.
One room fans did not get to see inside, though, was the mysterious Cold Harbor room, leading many to continue to question the specifics of what Lumon is doing with this particular project and how Macrodata Refinement plays into it.
Well, Helly's chip number appearing at the top of the Cold Harbor file may be the key. Helly's innie has now come close to death twice (via suffocation in Season 1 and drowning in Season 2).
Both of these methods of death are mentioned by the Lumon Testing Floor nurse to Gemma's outie in Season 2, Episode 7, seemingly indicating she knows more than she is leading on and potentially hinting that—whether Helly knows it or not—she may be serving as some sort of morbid guinea pig for Lumon's experiments.
Given the testing that Gemma's innie/multiple outies is going through, it looks as though Lumon may be attempting to develop a product that would allow partial severance of a customer's brain.
This would offer the ability to turn one's innie on and off to experience life's major inconveniences (read more about what Lumon is doing in Severance here).
While Gemma has seen some of these in the rooms named after completed files by the MDR team, Cold Harbor could potentially be hiding Lumon's attempt at helping people disassociate from their own deaths via severance. This would, in theory, allow users to turn on their innie when the great klaxon call of mortality comes a-ringing.
Without MDR having completed the Cold Harbor file—or "refined its microdata" via these on-the-brink-of-death experiences being lived out by Helly's innie—its door remains closed as its results are not stable enough for proper testing.
Severance Season 2 continues on Apple TV+, with new episodes dropping every Friday.
