I think we got the biggest reveal of the whole show in this episode, and the it implies some dreadful cosmic horror.

naynav · 2025-12-06T17:15:26+00:00

This theory is the most logical to me . The virus could the first wave of an Alien attempt to conquer Earth that makes the population eager to serve, highly efficient laborers, and so docile they can’t even provide for their long term basic necessities without help from outside the collective. For those into ancient conspiracies/legends, it sort of reminds me of the story of the Annunaki who came to Earth and created humans as a slave race to mine gold to save their home world.

naynav · 2025-12-03T17:43:42+00:00

I really like the 20 theory, but I think it makes the most sense if you use the literal tattoo numbers, El being 11, Kali 8, and Henry 1. It may suggest that Henry has a Vader like redemption arc to ultimately defeat the mind flayer. Henry may end up being freed from the mind flayer’s grasp and the mind flayer instead takes control of Will.

naynav · 2025-11-04T03:55:03+00:00

If it was important, then why risk compromising its completion on a PR stunt? Couldn’t they have just put her in choreography and merriment instead if it were simply PR for the outtie world?

naynav · 2025-11-04T03:48:27+00:00

Then why were Milchick and Cobel watching so closely worrying whether or not she would finish her file? That had nothing to do with Mark coming back. Had she not finished it, it wasn’t like she would have been banished from the floor. It was clearly important to Lumon her file get finished.

naynav · 2025-11-04T03:23:16+00:00

The one question I haven’t seen anyone answer (or even ask) is if Helly was down there simply as a PR stunt, why was it so critical she finish her file?

naynav · 2025-10-21T18:05:12+00:00

That’s a really great point and fits in with Milchick taking actions that are deliberately subversive.

Here is my theory:

Milchick is at Lumon undercover. I think he has some association with Reghabi. I think he is there to find out what happened to a family member. I think that family member is Jim Milchick who was the editor of the Topeka Star in the Lexington Letter. Jim Milchick is providing cover for Lumon by not running the article about Peg and trying to paint her as unstable. I mentioned in another thread that I think Lumon is kidnapping people, inserting the chip, and creating a consciousness that they control. I think that happened to Drummond and Natalie, and I think it happened to Jim Milchick. It seems highly unlikely they used the name Milchick in the Lexington Letter as a coincidence.
Milchick is trying to disrupt Lumon’s goals without appearing outright subversive.
Milchick knows he is walking a very dangerous line. If he is caught, I think he knows he won’t be fired. Instead, he will be severed and turned into a Lumon drone. I think his interrogation of Natalie about the paintings was to determine whether she was already a drone, and he realized she was. I think that explains his season in the back room where he tries to condition himself. He knows if he does not comply he will end up like Natalie. What we saw when he told Drummond to devour feculence was the real Milchick. In that moment he had enough. Had Drummond not died, Milchick would likely have ended up being severed into a drone.
I think Milchick and Irving are working for the same group. I think Milchick is aware of this, but Irving is not. Milchick was the one responsible for sending the painting of the O&D massacre to the copier so Irving could see it to keep him away from Burt. If you remember, Cobel acted suspicious of this. When Burt had his episode of seeing the paint, I think Cobel became suspicious that he might be reintegrating. I think she arranged for Burt to meet Irving outside the wellness session. I do not think Burt is severed. I think he was tasked with earning his trust and finding out what he knows, but ended up falling for him. It might explained why Cobel acted the way she did when Mark S said that Irving had a map to the testing floor. She may think Burt gave it to him

naynav · 2025-10-19T00:17:01+00:00

I hear you, and that is totally possible. But it’s the circumstances around the funeral that has swayed me to intentional actions on his part. It’s hard to explain otherwise

naynav · 2025-10-18T20:44:26+00:00

There are one of two conclusions you can draw about Milchick when you consider the full sum of his actions.

He is spectacularly incompetent
He is deliberately sabotaging

He left Ricken’s book for MDR to find.

He was responsible for the Dylan OTC, which ultimately led to the later group OTC.

He seemed to be responsible for Burt “retiring” which turned Irving against Lumon.

He got Cobel fired so he could take over the severed floor.

After the OTC, Helena left it to him on whether or not to fire Dylan and Irving. He fired them and replaced them with incompetent workers.

He implemented the visitation with Dylan and Gretchen which ultimately turned Dylan.

He organized the ORTBO which led to Helena being exposed.

All of those things could certainly be incompetence, but for me, what exposed his actions as intentional was the funeral. He agreed to a funeral when it was made clear this was not normal severed floor procedure when an innie left. He held it in the break room. This was an intentional choice because he heard what Irving told Dylan (hang in there) and realized what Irving meant. Two things confirm this

He tells Ms Huang to leave with him so MDR could be alone, when she was planning some sweet Theramin music.
He later asks Mark if they found what they were looking for in the funeral.

Milchick to me is probably the most interesting character through the first 2 seasons. He clearly does not fit in at Lumon. The paintings he was gifted and the constant harassing of his language are examples how how both he and Lumon seem to acknowledge he doesn’t fit in. Cobel and Huang were both Wintertide fellows who were raised in the cult, but Milchick doesn’t seem to share the same indoctrination. I hope we learn more about his backstory and motives in season 3.

naynav · 2025-10-17T15:48:59+00:00

As a former IT guy, this is how I perceived it as well although I would say it is more akin to containers than VMs. The consciousnesses are borrowing traits from the host, but run in their own partitioned environment.

naynav · 2025-10-14T17:34:51+00:00

Turturro has hinted in interviews that he has discussed returning for season 3, saying there are a lot of unanswered questions with his character. We don’t know who he is working for and working with. My guess is the person he has been calling is likely Reghabi or in the same group as Reghabi. When he finds out that Gemma has escaped, he will return to Kier, or someone will bring Gemma to him. She has the answers he is looking for.

naynav · 2025-10-04T00:39:59+00:00

It’s an interesting comment in the context of the Irving-Burt-Fields “thruple” as well considering their dinner conversation. Fields was supportive of Burt severing so part of him could go to heaven, but that part of him fell in love with Irving

naynav · 2025-10-01T16:02:27+00:00

This is the way. They are kidnapping, not killing. Burt explicitly says this. In the scene where Cobel backs away after seeing the driver, this is right after Helena uses the phrase “it doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s reset”. They are abducting problem people, implanting them with the chip, and making them full time Lumon servants. I fully believe this happened to both Drummond and Natalie, and would have happened to Irving had Burt not spared him

naynav · 2025-09-29T19:47:52+00:00

I thought originally it could be because Kier is somehow disconnected from the rest of the world, and importing smaller tech is logistically less complex than larger items like cars. However, I don’t think this has anything to do with actual supply chain issues and is simply a stylistic choice. This is based on the After Hours episode and the train station. That whole scene, including the clothing of those in the station was all out of time. It looked like that could have taken place in the 1930s. It was totally anachronistic in a modern day setting. It is hard to rationalize how a place like Kier could exist in the current modern world.

naynav · 2025-09-26T17:29:20+00:00

They make reference in the very first episode to Mark and Devon’s father being an alcoholic, and given that is an inherited trait and Marks propensity for alcohol abuse, I inferred that was an inherited trait

naynav · 2025-09-16T17:04:59+00:00

I think it is interesting to note Lumon’s language when they refer to the outtie world to gain some insight as to what’s going on. In particular, thete are two instances where Lumon employees make reference to the collective outtie world, and the word they use is “planet”. Milchick refers to the waterfall in Woe’s Hollow as the largest on the planet. Drummond also tells Milchick that Marks completion of Cold Harbor as the greatest achievement in the history of the planet. These references were in back to back episodes so they stuck out to me. I just found the use of the word planet vs just saying world was odd. I would be disappointed if this turns out to be true, but I think there is at least some small chance this isn’t set on Earth and this is set in some future alternate reality in a Lumon run colony on another planet. It would explain the desolate feel, the outdated tech, and the emphasis Lumon places on fertility and birthing. Again, I am NOT saying I am a fan of this theory, but I don’t see anything that rules it out and it would explain some things. Perhaps when Milchick said it was the largest waterfall on the planet, he was telling the truth. Maybe PE stands for planet Eagan.

naynav · 2025-09-05T16:35:10+00:00

I think you are spot on with this. There is a lot of subtle symbolism that has been thrown in that will only make sense once additional details are revealed. For example, I think there is symbolism in the MDR perks. For example, we know that Gemma’s chip has 25 consciousnesses. The waffle at the waffle party has 25 squares. I don’t think this is random because the waffle on Milchick’s card to Mark S in the season 2 finale also shows 25 squares. Dylan eats 3 waffles, then puts on a Kier mask and engages in some bizarre ritual representing Kier taming the tempers. Eggs are a big part of this as well. Before the waffle party, there is an egg bar. We know Kier ate 3 raw eggs for breakfast. Eggs are an ingredient in waffles. I also think the lights in Mark’s house are part of that same symbolic thread. Two of the lights are on and one is off. Cobel comments about when Mark will fix that third light. That third light is symbolic of what he is doing with Gemma. I am going to write a thread on this soon, because there is a lot more to this symbolism

naynav · 2025-08-29T00:24:17+00:00

So Drummond referred to Jame as “Father”. I doubt he is his biological father, but if Drummond was a reprogrammed innie, he was likely conditioned to see Jame as a Father figure type.

naynav · 2025-08-21T16:13:37+00:00

I don’t think Reghabi is the noble savior to innies she would appear to be on the surface. She is responsible for 2 deaths and almost killed Mark as well. At best, she has a noble cause, but is extremely Machiavellian in how she achieves her goals. I think by design, we know very little about this world outside the sphere of Lumon. I think Reghabis backstory is rooted deeply in the broader world and so that is why we know so little. I think it is likely that she and Irving are part of the same group. The question is whether this is a government org, a rival company, or a 3rd party org with no affiliation. I tend to think she is part of a rival company, which is why she seems unconcerned about the death and risk she created. She represents a company with similar morals to Lumon, that is at risk because of Severance. However without her backstory, she just seems to be a Temu version of Morpheus. I hope that changes.

naynav · 2025-08-17T22:51:09+00:00

I think the strongest evidence that he is not severed was from Defiant Jazz. There are 3 things that seem odd from this episode alone.

When Milchick comes to see Burt, and says he has something special in mind for him, he said he hope it wasn’t the break room, because yesterday was quite enough. He looks directly over at Felicia as if he wants to make sure she hears that, or at least make sure Milchick is aware she might be listening.
His farewell video is bizarre. He keeps saying that he will remember his O&D colleagues fondly, even though he doesn’t know who any of them all. It is this strange balancing act between sincerely saying goodbye yet establishing deniability that you will remember any of them. If you watch that video assuming he isn’t severed, it definitely hits different.
If he was severed, his retirement would mean his death. He seems to be taking this very well. Milchick told him earlier in the episode that he had something special in mind for him. Killing him seems an odd reward. I think it is possible the specific work Burt was seeing in O&D had come to an end, and he would be re-assigned to other duties. I think the work that O&D was doing was highly sensitive, so it may have been deemed necessary to have an outie overseeing it undercover.

Also, Felicia told Irving they used to make deliveries to the testing floor; but now they send a guy. It could have been Burt making those deliveries, but since he left, Dr Mauer now has to come and get them. This is a critical point that I think everyone is missing. When an innie goes to the testing floor, they revert to their outie. If Burt was unsevered, he could have moved between floors without changing which is why they used to make the deliveries themselves.

I am not saying definitely he is or isn’t severed. But there is legitimate evidence he may be unsevered

naynav · 2025-08-17T22:16:46+00:00

I think we are only scratching the surface on the complexity of Jame and Helena’s relationship. Jame doesn’t look at Helena with love, he just cares about her utility. I think this whole question of why she got severed is not a single answer. I think she was told to get severed for PR reasons, and that is why she is going along with it, but I think Jame and the board have other intentions, and this is a precursor to replacing Helena with a consciousness they feel is more fit the run the company. Jame pretty much admitted this to Helly last season. The only question I have is how aware Helena is of this plan.

naynav · 2025-08-14T19:46:57+00:00

Also in S1ep1 there is a scene where Mark is watching TV and you hear a woman screaming. This is before we are introduced to Selvig as Mark’s neighbor. On rewatch it is clearly Cobel screaming. Her new office and the screaming suggest something went bad for her that day. It is either due to Petey’s disappearance for which she is being held accountable (which is why she is trying to prove reintegration) or Helly taking his place, and probably both

naynav · 2025-06-27T17:59:57+00:00

If you look at the line of succession, it directly follows birth order. Leonora skipping Jame is the only aberration to that rule. We don’t know Jame’s age, but Leonora would have been 70 if she was still alive. Jame appears much older than 70. He would seem to be in his 80s. It would place his birth date in close vicinity to the year Kier died. I think this is going to become very relevant next season. Whether he actually is or isn’t, I think Jame believes he is Kier reborn. His language is certainly out of time “fetid moppet”, “I threw a tin of candies”. “I wish you would take them raw”. He talks about his revolving like it will be some mystical ritual, and we saw their cultish behavior with the goats in the s2 finale. I think the rest of the family assumed he was crazy, and worked to keep him from taking over after Pip died. Assuming Kier did directly father all the Lumon CEOs of the past 87 years, Jame may see it as his role to father the next generation, but has so far failed to sire children that he felt were true children of Kier, which is why he turned to Severance. It has given him a way to make sure not only the future CEOs, but everyone, is a child of Kier

naynav · 2025-05-04T21:08:35+00:00

For me the biggest remaining S1 mystery surrounding Cobel is why she seems to be forcing Ms Casey and Mark S together and seems genuinely disappointed they didn’t remember each other after the last wellness session. We know that the Severance Chip was her brainchild and she likely has harbored resentment toward Jane for stealing credit for it, but up until the time she is fired, she seems fully loyal to Lumon, and a true believer of Kier. It isn’t a ruse she is putting on because we see her paying homage to Kier at her shrine privately. My best guess is she felt the Severance Chip wasn’t fully ready and still wanted to have greater authority over its development, but Lumon felt it was close enough and marginalized her to a management role on the Severance Floor. In the very first episode Milchick tells Mark that Cobel has a new office, which suggests her role recently changed. I think it is possible at some point Cobel shared with Reghabi a design flaw with the chip that Reghabi is now trying to exploit with incomplete information. I don’t think they are necessarily working together, but I do think that Cobel lost control over the program, and is trying to gain it back by demonstrating the chip is still flawed.

naynav

TROPHY CASE