After a five-month period of darkness, Lumon finally woke up Ms. Cobel’s least favorite severed employees, Mark, Helly, Dylan, and Irving. At least, that’s what they want us to think. Everything that we’re seeing in season 2 of Severance should of course be taken with a huge grain of salt. Things are not as they appear when a maniacal biotechnology company has the power to manipulate people’s minds. Naturally, because the possibilities are endless, plenty of fan theories have been circling the internet. Are the goats real babies?? Is Helly R. really Helena??? A bitch needs to know! But since the season is just rolling out, we’ll have to patiently wait for the answers to roll in. For now, let’s discuss one big fat question mark: what is Cold Harbor in Severance season 2?
What is Cold Harbor in Severance?
Cold Harbor is the title of the MDR file Mark S. is working on in season 2. At the very end of the premiere, Mark S., like the rest of his core four, decided to keep his job at Lumon. I mean, it was kind of an easy decision, considering quitting would have effectively ended his innie’s life. So Mark S. went back to removing those scary numbers from his MDR data as the episode came to a close. But wait — you might have missed the teeny tiny little clue that people are freaking out about.
For the first time, or maybe it’s just the first time fans are noticing it, the file on Mark’s ancient dial-up computer reads “Cold Harbor” in the upper left-hand corner. The screen also shows that the Cold Harbor project is already 67% complete, which means whatever he’s making happen is very quickly OTW.
Now, here’s the major kicker. The final moment of the episode flashed to a shot of Ms. Casey (AKA Gemma, Mark’s real-world wife) in a room somewhere. And what is in the corner of the surveillance video footage, you might ask? The words Cold Harbor, of course.
What data is Mark refining in Severance?
It would appear that the data Mark is refining is directly related to Gemma/Ms. Casey’s consciousness. Is Mark S. bringing Gemma to life, a second time, as someone other than Ms. Casey? Is he creating a third severed personality in her brain? Is he simply turning Ms. Casey’s severed chip back on after she got fired last season? Only time will tell, but I hope Mark S. and Ms. Casey and Mark and Gemma can get their happy ending. Is that too much to ask for in a dystopian future?
