How Severance Episode 5 Advances a Chilling Fan Theory About Irving

by

Just before Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman) decided to end Innie Irving’s (John Turturro) position at the end of the fourth episode of Severance‘s Season 2, Irv sent a significant parting message to his Macrodata Refiners (MDR) colleagues: “Just hold on, keep going.

Irv specifically addressed Dylan (Zach Cherry), his gaze fixed on him, as he acknowledged Dylan’s apology for doubting that Helena, daughter of Lumon CEO Jamie Eagan and descendant of Kier Eagan, the company’s notorious founder, had secretly infiltrated their group by impersonating her innie, Helly. In a different context, Irv’s final remark might have appeared harmless. However, given Irv’s mission to uncover the truth about Lumon’s “Exports Hall,” viewers swiftly noticed that his farewell held a significant implication. In the Season 2 premiere, a motivational poster with the phrase “Hang in There!” and an image resembling Dylan operating the OTC switches was displayed in the room where MDR watched the new innie orientation video.

In Episode 5, airing on February 14, MDR attends innie Irv’s Lumon-approved funeral, which features a watermelon sculpted as their late coworker’s head. Dylan spots the message and inspects the poster to discover that Irv had concealed a drawing of the Exports Hall, with instructions on how to access it hidden on the reverse side. After taking a brief glance at the sketch, Dylan replaces it.

What does Irving’s drawing mean?

The episode’s title is “Trojan’s Horse,” a term used by Ricken (Michael Chernus) in reference to his latest book, which Devon (Jen Tullock) considers Lumon propaganda. However, the actual Trojan Horse – something seemingly harmless but capable of causing destruction from within once accepted – seems suspiciously like Irving himself.

Based on what we’ve learned about Irving – his military past and apparent investigation into Lumon – it seems unlikely that he sought employment at the company merely as an escape from his personal traumas during work hours. In Episode 5, it appears that Irving, or rather his “innie,” secretively took a call on a phone, suggesting he believes he was dismissed because Lumon discovered what his counterpart was doing.

In a fashion similar to Mark’s current experiences as he undergoes reintegration, Irv’s outer and inner selves have been intertwined since the show’s first season, suggesting that Irv might also be collaborating with Dr. Reghabi, much like Adam Scott’s character and Karen Aldridge’s character in the series. After viewing his outie’s paintings of a foreboding hallway leading to an elevator at the OTC, Irv sketched a similar image. In Episode 3, he showed this duplicate drawing to Felicia from O&D (Claudia Robinson). She disclosed that this location within Lumon was known as the Exports Hall, where O&D used to transport shipments until Lumon started having someone collect them. The following Episode 5 began with a cold opening scene in which a mysterious man, whistling ominously, retrieved a tray of medical or torture devices from O&D and took it to the elevator in the Exports Hall – the very same location where Gemma/Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman) was taken after her retirement from her role as a wellness counselor in Season 1.

Several perspectives exist regarding Gemma’s predicament at Lumon, but some viewers have also pondered if Irving’s exploration of Lumon could be linked to the possibility that his father suffered a fate similar to Gemma. During the OTC, innie Irv stumbled upon a photograph of his dad in a Navy uniform within the same locked box where he uncovered other Lumon-related papers. Given the intricate nature of Severance, this discovery seems like it might be an important clue about something significant.

In a recent Reddit post, user Dry_Flatworm_4533 proposed that character Irv might be searching for answers or justice concerning something Lumon Corporation did to his father. They argued that since a picture of Irving’s father was explicitly shown in the show, it suggests he is vital to the story. Furthermore, they pointed out that Irv seems fixated on the testing floor elevator despite having no reason to know about it due to his job at Lumon. Even before losing faith in Burt, Innie Irv (the version of Irv who works for Lumon) was a devoted follower of Lumon’s ideology and should not have suspected anything untoward.

After receiving directions to the Export Hall from Dylan, I’m eagerly hoping that the rest of us will begin to unravel the mystery of the testing floor and perhaps discover some solutions for ourselves as well.

Read More

2025-02-14 12:13