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Severance Theories #3 - What Does MDR Actually Do?
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- čas přidán 29. 08. 2022
- Let's talk about some of the biggest theories related to one of Severance's most important mysteries; What are the numbers and what does MDR actually do?
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#severance #thenumbers #mdr
OK, theories on the numbers, what do you got?
They're refining eachother 🤣
😂💀
@@rickenfatania or refining themselves 🫥
What if the rush to get their quarterly deadline met is to mass sever large groups of people so that they’ll vote in favor of severance? (“We know where you stand in the congressional hearings….” At Ricken’s dinner … “I already knew which way I was voting…” said by Arteta…
To piggyback off of the taming chips/employees theory, I believe the town (going by the name of Kier of course) is part of the Severance deal somehow even if not all of the people are severed. So not only are they taming the four tempers within severed Lumon employees, but perhaps even people in the town who were severed without their knowledge. So that way they never leave the town (or find themselves too content or simply unable to leave) and Lumon keeps their "files" in their database
i think they’re killing eels in the ocean to make it habitable for humans to live in after the apocalypse
😂
I started watching cause of this comment after that episode
I have a theory that they are refining the minds of the severed employees by “taming the four tempers” as kier supposedly did.
They are definitely "taming" chips/people. Your theory certainly holds water.
This is the only reasonable explanation
Fits most of the plotholes left by other theories
thats good ass theory- i hope this is true
@@whitetiger12066 what’s an ass theory?
Something I haven't seen discussed is the possibility of each member of MDR representing one of the tempers. It would explain why there seem to be necessarily four of them, and why they can't interpret eachother's screens.
My guesses would be:
Dylan -- Frolic
Mark -- Woe
Irving -- Dread
Helly -- Malice
I like it!
Makes sense. Quick search for the definition of these words.
Dylan: Playful behavior or merriment. Or a sexual act or encounter.
Mark: A cause of sorrow or misery; a misfortune.
Irving: To be in terror of; fear intensely. Or to anticipate with alarm, distaste, or reluctance. Or to hold in awe or reverence.
Helly: A desire to harm others or to see others suffer; extreme ill will or spite.
At least Mark's and Helly's Outy's seem to be spot on. Irving's and Dylan's innie's reflect the definitions as well.
I like the theory and it seems to make sense until I realized that Helly replaced Petey and thus Petey must also represent malice for this theory to make sense, but he seems anything but, most evident in the video of him at his funeral. Also their refinement puts all tempers into the boxes not just one. Maybe there's more to it, but for now this theory doesn't feel 100%
@@ernestszoka3024 Hmm, interesting. We don't really know anything about Petey pre-unsevering though, he may well have had some malice that we never saw.
Oh, and I could imagine number sub-categories or something. Like the "malice" screen would still need to be refined further into "fearful-malice", "frolic-malice", etc.
As i was rewatching season 1, there was a scene where the crew was nervous that Helly wouldn't complete 100% of the file on time to reach quota. In this scene, it shows Mrs. Cobel watching Helly through her monitor and i wondered "why is cobel just watching her face instead of the file details to monitor her progression? Is there something from Helly's facial reactions that provide the same insight?"
I'm beyond excited waiting to see what season 2 brings! My theory: the second season could focus on MDR before Helly's introduction
Lumon is trying to transfer consciousness. Most likely so they can move it from one body to an other. But getting all of what a person is can’t be done by computer only. They need humans to capture the emotional components. MDR is working on making sure the consciousness is being accurately copied/recorded/transcribed.
That would explain the revolving.
Most likely "the board" have already transferred?
@@alistairgray5466oh that's interesting. Maybe they're like body snatchers lol. The board is full of people who's bodies they've snatched. Perhaps they also snatched the Asian lady
That would make sense actually the revolving could be the transfer like severance I would assume the og god ceo is in helly’s dads head and the “wax” statues are the actual bodies of the hollowed out ceo that all collectively make up the board. I don’t think the board is a body per say
makes sense
There is a real condition called "Synesthesia" where stimulation of one sense can overlap and induce others -- people can taste sound or hear color, things like that. There is also specific types called "number form" and "ordinal personification" that are hinted at in the show. Obviously this is rare, so if this is the case then MDR would indeed need "special people". It may also explain the reason for their severance and that of other departments -- by cutting out most of the world's external stimuli and memory bias, the employees can focus on their specific types of synesthesia responses.
Obviously the deeper "WHY" is the main mystery, but the "HOW" makes a lot of sense if this is the scenario. MDR and the other departments are indeed doing real work with real results. Also, loving the channel!
Hey, raven lord! Thanks for stopping by. I remember learning a bit about that in a psych class many years ago. It's thought provoking to consider that there might be some relation there. The idea that MDR requires a specific set of innate skills, paired with the difficulty of the job makes me wonder if they (MDR dept) do indeed have some particular mental condition that makes them suitable to task. It would be even more interesting if we find out that Petey and Helly have something in common, indicating that each Refiner has a unique predisposition making it easier for them to identify a particular temperament, on top of being specially gifted.
I have synesthesia! Chromestesia specifically,sound have colors to me. I get excited when anyone else brings it up lol I like your ideas!
Very interesting!
Irving being a painter and seeing his own negative thoughts as oozing black paint definitely backs up this theory.
This is an interesting theory, especially for me because I have synesthesia. I see sounds in dim lighting, numbers and letters are intertwined with colors in my mind, etc. Since there are 4 categories for the number sequences leads me to think it is DNA related. I've seen other theories that it could be DNA related. They might be trying to recreate Kier Egan from family DNA if his body was cremated. Basically a cloning project. The could also be filtering out corrupted gene sequences. Refining might require people with no social memory.
The work is mysterious and important!
Should be the mission statement of corporate companies everywhere.
I don’t agree that having them actually just moving numbers while not producing anything real is lazy… I felt like the writers were alluding to the way humans fall victim to “groupthink” so easily. At first she realizes it’s nonsense (if the numbers were actually causing physical emotion she would have been able to feel it immediately). Slowly she is pulled into the weird world they inhabit and becomes one of them. I think making them actually just random numbers in boxes makes the thought of severance that much scarier. It implies that the numbers are not the things being observed and manipulated, the employees are. I don’t think my theory is correct or anything but I think it actually adds more depth to the story, the idea that those numbers mean didly squat.
I think MDR is slowly cracking the code of human emotion/psychology. Lumon is in the business of mind control but despite their advances this tech still has a long way to go. It is MDR's job to refine the code future chips will have.
I'm just as hooked on these theory videos as I am on the series. Great work!
Hey, thanks Greg! Glad you like them!
I think it cannot be a coincidence that the deadline for MDR is the same day as the friends-of-LUMON grand gala event...
Good catch. It appears that whatever they completed has something to do with the events of that day.
@@nautilusfiles my theory is they're doing some sort of remote viewing / precognition type prediction of events, which tracks with the deadline and the gala event. There's a book titled Phenomena by Annie Jacobsen about the stuff the CIA and friends were doing with remote viewing and binaural beats and even spoon bending that will blow your mind and got me thinking about how someone might do that sort of spooky stuff with Lumon's resources.
Ohhhhh I didn't even think of that
I feel like what they do is either not important to the overall plot, are a metaphor for mindless busywork in corporate America, or is pointless busywork as Lumon performs some sort of experiments on the team.
Also, please do a theory on why Helly didn't tell anyone about trying to hang herself.
The writers seem too smart for huge plot holes, and the board not finding out immediately seems super odd, given her dad is the CEO.
I got the impression that it just wasn’t something that could be discussed. Also in real life, CEOs typically aren’t on the board of their own company. Makes me wonder who is on the board.
@@donyale6 I feel like Lumon's board would be more involved, and that Helly would have some way to get in contact with them, you'd think she'd want them to know to ensure her innie didn't actually kill her. IDK, to me it seems like a question I hope they answer.
I thought that’s what her dad meant when he said he heard what that innie did to her?
@@HeatherHolt yeah, he's aware of it, but he makes it seem like he found out when the board found out. Seems like Helly would have immediately told her dad or someone on the board.
@@AlexDoesCZcamss I think helly’s father said to her “I can’t believe he did that to you” so maybe cobel lied to her dad about why she was in the hospital?
Can we talk about Alexa next? Can we trust her completely?
(Or did Cobel find her after the terrible first date, ask her to go on more dates with him and report back to her, but then Alexa started to slowly get feelings?)
Also I noticed when they talk about the specifications of their job: Irving falls asleep
When Helly said she wanted her outie to "have the life sucked out of her and know it was her who did it": only then they found the other department
edit:
more things I thought of: Petey's doodles on the map lightly suggest mind control -- which makes me think of How Gemma "died" (and Cobel's mother) and maybe instead of death -- they're in a coma? And being controlled?
Good question! I was suspicious of her in the beginning, mainly because she was so persistent, and I couldn't see why she liked Mark so much given how obviously disconnected he was on their dates. That was weird... I can totally understand where you're coming from though. I wouldn't trust anyone in that town completely, tbh. I would not be surprised if Lumon has eyes everywhere. I mean, it's practically a company town.
I would imagine Lumon owns the police and the hospitals, giving them the means to get access to hospital patients or declare someone dead even though they are technically alive, comatose and they. They might keep them on the severed floor where they prepare them for chips. I think the chips act as overrides for parts of the brain, giving a coma victim, or even a brain-dead person new life (but they are not the same person consciously). I think this was the fate of Charlotte and Gemma.
Most of the names of towns are places in New York. Dranesville is in Virginia, and there was a battle there in 1861 in which the union army killed and wounded many people. Lumon was started in 1866, so just 5 years after that battle. I don't know what the place names have to do with the numbers, but every set of numbers has a place name at the top of the page. The town of Keir is supposed to be in either Deleware (DE) or Prince Edward island (PE); I think both abbreviations are on documents we see in the show. Also on Prince Edward is a town called Montauk. Again, not sure if that has anything to do with any of this; there is also Montauk N.Y. where the "Montauk Experiments" supposedly took place. This is just information, not answers, but make of it what you will.
This literally has been the best thing since my breakup 2 months ago lolol
Hey Olivia! Ouch! Well, this show is kind of like being severed. It's a great escape from reality. Keep your head up. Good things are coming :)
Same.
Fantastic video! I love thinking about the mystery of the numbers. I honestly have no idea what they could be, but the fact that each MDR employee has emotional reactions to sets of numbers is obviously extremely important.
If I had to guess, the emotional reactions are related to their own chips, but they’re not refining their own chips. The theory that they’re somehow constructing code that can "resurrect" people who might be brain dead does seem to fit well with this. The MDR employees are teaching the software how "regular" people react (emotionally) to all sorts of different situations, so they will be able to have people like Ms. Casey be more...lifelike? Normal? Something like that. The chips allow the severed employees to see the situations being simulated in the numbers/code. Maybe. I don’t know. It’s going to be a looooong wait for season two...
Hi, David! Thanks for the kind words. I like this theory. The MDR crew could be acting like a machine learning unit, essentially programming the chips to know how to behave and respond to external stimuli. Ms. Casey could be an early - not so polished- version of this. This explains her seemingly emotionally vapid, robotic presentation. Great point! Thanks for sharing your thoughts :)
What a nice surprise to get a video drop notification from Nautilus :) I subscribed to the theory that MDR was working on severance chips - until I read the Lexington Letter. Now I’m curious to know how the numbers could correspond to real-world events. The implications are horrifying. But I’m so curious to find out how and why Lumon are doing it.
Welcome back, Lee :)
I'm going to try to keep it spoiler free, but I think both things might be true. Who knows how many chips are in the wild? Either way, there's no doubt that Lumon is evil, no matter their means.
@@nautilusfiles oooh 😯 Now that you’ve said that I can see what you mean. Both could be true😬 With MDR unwittingly commanding things… Can’t wait for Season 2!
I think the Lexington Letter slightly gives away the answer. I won’t spoil it because it’s better to have not read it honestly, but that might be a definitive answer as to why they needed to reach 100% by a specific point in time. truly scary shit from lumon and I can’t wait for season 2
Yeah, I didn't want to say too much about the Lexington Letter for the same reason. What it reveals makes me question the nature of certain external events.
Where can I read it?
Please keep the severance videos coming, They are fire! You deserve more subscriber’s, I can tell you have put a lot of work into these videos.
Hey, thanks! More to come! Yeah, they aren't long, but the editing takes a bit of time. Good thing I love that part too 😂
Dude, Your the man. Thank you for these videos. I can’t express my gratitude enough.
7:23 Your Body Snatchers theory is the best one yet I’ve come across amongst dozens and dozens of videos.
At this point in the series (end of season one), I’m going to bookmark it here and now that this is the true reason for refinement.. to capture a person’s consciousness and refine the parts of the brain (that retain one’s personality) that are dying, in order to preserve a person’s identity, or as their brain mirrors it at that given state to be used in a clone.. or to a further extent, refining removes any portions of a one’s personality that conflicts with Eagan’s core principals. Time will tell if this theory holds true.
If their work were so imperative and time sensitive, likely they would be showing the intensity and length at which they work a little more in the show maybe? I'm not thinking it's life or death in those moments yet.... But good theory yeah.
They could be even more of a test subject, 'refining' their own reactions. After all, by the end of season 1, there's a pretty good argument that Lumon is responsible for the 'humors' in the MDR team. They're the ones incentivizing Dylan's behavior, terrifying Irving into a state of religious rapture (until it fails), plausibly causing Mark's entire tragedy, and of course Helly's 'malice' - her need to work her will on every situation - is pure Eagan.
Awesome video as usual.
I think the numbers definitely match the four tempers, because the progress bars are WO = woe, FC = frolic, DR = dread, MA = malice. It seems then like the number sorting brings some kind of balance to something (or throwing something off-balance, as in the case of Peggy?)
It's kind of neat that the four tempers are ominous. Even frolic isn't necessarily good.
I tried to match the four tempers to the four humors, just to see. To my mind sanguine (friendly) = frolic, melancholic = woe, choleric (angry) = malice, and that leaves phlegmatic (calm, detailed, unemotional) = dread. I'm not sure that phlegmatic exactly = dread, but - the two descriptions of the numbers were "scary", which equals dread (or malice), and "calm" which ... is phlegmatic. So, could be something, could be nothing.
And, which figure in _Kier Taming the Four Tempers_ matches to which temper? The man dressed as a fool must be frolic. I'm going to match the ram with malice because rams can be pretty aggressive. The old woman could be dread, facing mortality? The bride is woe?
And wow, hey look. Someone already did this work at the severence wiki, although they match things a bit differently: severance.wiki/theories_about_the_four_tempers
Rendall! Thanks for stopping by! There is some debate about the avatar temperament matchups. I still can't decide on the matches to Woe or Malice, but I like the assignments of MDR members to temperaments on the wki. I mentioned elsewhere that I hope we get some confirmation that Helly and Petey had something in common as proof that each spot is indeed filled by a Refiner with the right "talents".
The Four Tempers also map nicely to the elemental emotions recognized by modern psychology: Frolic is Joy, Dread is Fear, Woe is Sadness, and Malice is Anger. Notably missing are Surprise (which may be a form of Fear) and Disgust. The fact that Kier did not acknowledge Disgust may be significant; for example, a leader who did not feel disgust may not be revolted by the prospect of using Severance to maintain control over employees.
There are lots of Scientology-like aspects to LUMON. As a worshipped leader pontificating on the mind with no correction and opposition, Kier may well just come up with plausible-sounding, but bizarre and dangerous, theories much like L. Ron Hubbard did.
I am definitely of the mindset that the numbers are particularly presented to the individual viewing/sorting them (or possibly the particular severed chip of that person?) However....I think we're ALSO being served a full seafood dinner of red herrings in this regard, so the mystery can be uncovered in a timely way. (The viewers sorting our own numbers so to speak). It's also possible they're a bit of stage dressing but I am hoping not. Also, as I post this, you're approaching 1k subs, so congrats!!
Hey, Colleen :)
The writers are a crafty bunch, and they do a good job of protecting their secrets until the right time. I sometimes find myself not trusting a clue because it seemed "too easy" to recognize. I think you're right about the numbers being specifically assigned, although I had not considered that their respective chips might play a role. Interesting... 😮
Thank you! Officially 1K today. I feel like I should do something milestone worthy lol.
You should add a Superthanks button! I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d like to support your channel financially
Thanks, Jeremy! I have no idea how that works but I'll look into it lol. I do have a Patreon setup now, though.
You should really consider doing some asmr or something along those lines. Your voice is so soothing and seriously put me at ease. I was having trouble sleeping and it came at the worst possible time.... while I was trying to binge watch Severance. I was super late to the game on this show but I found your videos and had to get an apple tv subscription. Any who, your voice is so great.
Thanks, Candyvain, it's really nice to hear that! Glad you discovered the show; better late than never. Being on Apple TV limits the exposure Severance gets, which is a shame because it would probably be a national hit, otherwise.
I might actually try the ASMR thing because a few people have told me something similar. You never know!
I have to imagine that the Lexington letter wasn’t a red herring. At least I don’t think it was. If it is true the files being completed relate to things that help Lumon.
But I find the idea that their work relates to the severance chips appealing as well. I like that I don’t know. It’s exciting.
The best thing about Severance is how engrossing the mysteries are and how much room they give us for potential answers to the big questions :)
I have a feeling that it has something to do with bombings. I found it almost confirming my idea when Dylan's theory also included bombings, even though his theory is "bombing the sea of eels to clean it up to live in". But that could easily be hinting at a meta metaphor that the "eels" are people Lumon doesn't want in their space. Of course, Dylan the character, just thinks it might be literally about cleaning up the sea. Which tbh, is a decent guess, tho we know as viewers that because it's a tv show that the answer will be more overtly sinister. Of course someone wouldn't want to think they're doing evil, so as a worker he'd guess something that sounds well intentioned. -even tho *actually* fucking with the sea like that is also bad haha. Anyway I was watching another vid that mentioned The Lexington Letter (companion book to Severance) and it mentioned a bombing theory as well, because the book has a character wonder if an incident that happened after they finished an MDR file with the name of the same town the incident happened in was related. Of course, that is just me sticking with my first thought for now since idk, something about a meta concept of, "this show is a criticism of capitalism" *and* when I read the list of states in the answer manual at the beginning (not realizing that all those Armed Forces territories on the list are real- I thought it was more likely a dystopian future hint about the world the characters were in where America already took over some territories or something, but after I finished watching the show I looked it up and was unsettled by those actually being real), so that it being an effed up military thing makes sense and was already on my mind. Like, that it'll end up meaning to be a criticism of how much American military does imperialist bombings to steal resources bc capitalism, alongside the more centered workplace related critique on capitalism. Its a big abstract reach but that was my thought process on why I feel sure it has something to do with them unknowingly bombing what is likely loads of towns. Lumon attempting to become the global superpower itself in that way as well as controlling people with the chips of course. But because most of it was just "that was my first idea" and its also still pretty vague, it'll probably be something else *or* that but way more specific and relating to the towns within the country, as hinted in the show & book.
Season 1 is more about the dystopian horror of working for companies and the cult-like admiration they get from some techbros, like Apple (Jobs was such a fucking sociopath, but that's also true for the following names), Musk, Zuckerberg and similar leeches on society. So definitely anti-capitalist (not seeing that much puts one on an intellectual level with Rickon and his odd friends, I'd say), but not anti-imperialist. Not yet, anyhow.
The creator apparently has stated he wants to explore the wider society around Lumon, including the military, in the next season(s).
@@wawawuu When I fist watched the show I thought the replica house was over the top (not that a sci-fi kinda show doesn't have the right to be, tbf) but then I saw in a video that there is a replica of the Walton's office for Walmart IN REAL LIFE and I'm still not over how disturbing that is. Like, sure it's part of a museum rather than in an actual in service Walmart, but still, the whole thing is so creepy. Worshiping corporate CEOs like that.
@@ollie2111question is whether a manager of the quarter gets a waffle party there...
The theory you stand by (that they're coma patients) would really explain how Mark achieved success in his first year and even got a face plate from it. Refining his literal wife would've been a breeze subconsciously and that's how she came to as Miss Casey.
They're obviously mining Bitcoin
The Lexington Letter is very interesting and seems cut and dry, but why would they release one of the biggest mysteries of a television show in a written document rather than in a dramatic fashion on screen? Many viewers won't even know it exists. Are they planning to reveal it on the show, which will be less dramatic as some of us already know, or are they planning to completely disprove the Lexington Letter as simply a theory that was incorrect? (Keep up the great work, I binge watched the entirety of season 1 yesterday and your channel is exactly what I came to CZcams looking for!)
Thanks, NB. Really appreciate the support. I'm also at a loss as to how they will tie the LL into the series. I can't see how they can allow it to exist separately without addressing the obvious importance of what it reveals.
If the last theory is true, I think it's likely we see Petey again.
Petey was different to Gemma in that he was dead, not almost dead. Cobell drilled into the skull of his corpse at his funeral to get his chip out… It seems like his body would be unsalvageable. But his mind might still exist, and may implanted in someone else’s body.
Maybe that's why they killed him off so early, oh damn now I do feel like he is gonna return somehow.
@@sopyleecrypt6899 That's a great point, I totally forgot about the funeral scene.
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
Oh dang you are surely right
I agree that the first theory feels light compared to the detail and depth of everything else, but the realization by the innies that their entire existence is just busy work because they are lab rats could be haunting and in line. The building is set up like a maze. The whole thing have me vague John B Calhoun's mouse Utopia experiment vibes
Congrats on 1k subs!
Thank you, Lee! You guys are amazing!
So one problem I have with the last theory, is if that was the case, it would have made more sense for the "awful thing" in the Lexington letter to have happened BEFORE the file got refined. The awful thing presumably put a lot of people in the hospital, so if MDR really was severing people on life support, the lexington file would have needed to be refined after all those people got put in the hospital. I think that the severance chips do more than just severing people, I think that the end goal is to essentially turn people into slaves/drones for Lumon, and that extra work needs to be done by the chip for people that are full on being controlled by Lumon. MDR is working to suppress any strong emotions that these Lumon sleeper agents have so they don't wake up and take back conscious control. Note that Dylan/Irv say that Helly needs to "fence of the bad data," which makes me think that they are suppressing any strong emotions that a severed/mind-controlled person would have about, say, committing violent acts of corporate espionage.
I think the intent of the "awful" thing was to do damage to a rival, not recruiting. I think if Lumon was trying to create a scenario to harvest bodies, they'd probably act in a more discreet manner. It is possible that the sabotage misfired and that's how we get said "awful thing", or maybe things worked as planned. I don't want to spoil anything here, so I am being as vague as possible. Aside from that, I think the overall idea is to create drones, as you put it, much like Ms. Casey, as well a type of digital immortality.
My first thought was that the refining was some sort of decryption/encryption process of sensitive data, and that the key to solving the encryption lay in the emotional response triggered by their chips
I would say the intuition part is correct. All 4 of them + Pete sought further depth in one way or another. Their intutions told them something was wrong. Bert took this to mean looking beyond for deeper meaning within the guidebooks but when he discovered they lacked truth he knew he had to point his intuition elsewhere
I share the same busy work theory. The work is just to test them. The work most likely is meaningless and they are in some kinda experiment to verify if severance works. Eventually they sell severance as a product to other big corporations.
For new shows I would like doing a breakdown on The Resort. Amazing show as well
Thanks! I had no knowledge of this until now. I just watched the trailer and I'm intrigued. I'm a big fan of William Harper's work. I'll definitely give it a watch.
O&D having different reactions to the hatchets lines up with the idea that refiners can’t see each other’s number groups which solicit different emotional responses as well. I think they’re doing the most subconscious work on their emotional reactions, hence their title “refiners.” They may be “taming their tempers” or cleaning up the last, deepest, hardest to label bits of their own subconscious feelings
"If you're an Outtie and you haven't watched it yet..." 🤣😂🤣
Intro is an absolute banger in this one. 🤣
I always click on your videos straight away!!
Thank you, Phoebe!
Me too. 😃
I think they are refining the souls of the innies from the testing floors...I can't wait for season 2!
Interestingly, there are four tempers and also four MDR employees. Despite being severed and de-personalized, each employee has distinct character. This may be coincidental but there seems to be parallels between the show’s definitions of those four tempers, and the unique ways each employee behaves. Great video btw
There’s a significant connection between Mark and “woe.” “Woe” is defined as “great sorrow or distress,” and the personification of woe resembles a bride. Obviously the death of Mark’s wife brought him great sorrow and distress.
Thanks, Mike. Yeah, I think this is why there are exactly four positions, and the prerequisite "talent" is their innate ability to detect specific strings of numbers that represent something they only recognize subconsciously because it's based on their outties experiences/personality.
I think it has to do with kier taming his four tempers. When they visit the perpetuity wing, the statue of kier says something along the lines of after he tamed his tempers he achieved greatness. I think they are taming the tempers for people. Controlling and manipulating. Especially bc one of the 9 values of Lumon is "wiles" which literally means devious manipulation.
In the Lexington letter peg said something about audibly saying "f this job" and she has never felt that way before. So I think that's somewhat linked to what mdr is doing.
Also is there a video going more in depth the tempers to the colors we see throughout the show??
Green - woe
Blue - malice
Yellow - folly
Red - dread
Which to me would make sense why we see so much green and blue in the office and is an indication of severance/being trapped.
Green/woe bc if you've ever worked in corporate America. You know.
Blue/malice bc lumon is actually evil
Red/dread which you only really see as an indicator to the "outside world" (I put it in quotes bc I don't think any of the town of kier is "outside" I think they're all trapped to some degree.) The only time you ever see it is when someone like Natalie is on screen. She wears a lot of red. Also, side note. Mark is wearing red pj's in the opening sequence. A hint of some type of matrix stuff...?
Yellow/folly which you don't see often, especially not alone. It's usually surrounding Blue or green which to me I feel like makes it an indication of an intermediary of some sort
I also have theories on the color orange and how it connects to Ricken
And the color purple. I could keep going but I'll spare everyone who read this much. I made a video on tiktok with my whole theories @ milk._honey
Eh, I still think it's busy work. These are really fun theories, but just because the showrunners gave emphasis to something, doesn't mean it wasn't just to throw off the viewer and gaslight them into thinking it's more than just something for the innies to do while they're being watch as guinea pigs. Pitfalls and red herrings make the world feel more deep and sinister. It's good sci-fi world building, but sometimes not knowing is part of the fun. I want to know, and a lot of these theories would be good and rewarding story telling, but it's just as fun if we never know.
This is such a good theory, it’s ALMOST a spoiler!
I think it's like "Lost" - the writers are setting up stuff that looks cool, but have no idea yet what it actually means or where the story is going.
I'm pretty convinced that the numbers work can only be about themselves. Two things have convinced me - First, the level of the tech isn't nearly sophisticated enough to sort actual modern levels of data about the larger severance process or anything like dying people in other locations. I think Severance is intending the answers to their mysteries to be grounded, not "magic". Decades-old computers aren't sophsiticated enough to process the data sets you'd need to do things outside the room. They'd be unlikely to even have the capacity to interface with this kind of advanced technology. These are human brains we're talking about here, so no, those floating numbers aren't "programming" anyone or anything. They are a program running inside those individual, very limited computers for the sake of the user only.
The second thing is the layout of the offices--all those serpentine hallways. It's clearly a metphor for being rats in a maze. These people are subjects of an experiment by Lumon about social control and response to stimuli. I had it in my mind that the emotional responses were pure projection. People in contained conditions where outside stimulation that's so muted and anodyne need a place to channel their feelings, so it's not so much "busy work" as compelling them to pacify their human needs into random elements through hours and hours of focus and the power of suggestion. The majority of the 'innie's' conscious time is taken up staring at these numbers with little distraction. In this way, the "deadlines" aren't to prepare data for anything productive elsewhere, but to fulfill the parameters - experimenting on their response via numbers of hours and adherence to arbitrary benchmarks.
Doesn't explain the four groupings, the limited number of study subjects or countless other things, but that's what I'm going with for now.
Okay, I just read the Lexington Letter, which takes my theory above out to the woodshed and shoots it right between the eyes. My new thought: if it isn't the computer itself that's connecting them, it's the chips! Since it looks like they might have activated a sleeper terrorist who himself has a chip in his brain, maybe the chips can connect with one another. One of the "baskets" they put numbers in is to "elicit rage or a desire to do harm". So they're feeling the feelings of other severed people and unknowingly manipulating them. Soooo sinister!!!
Maybe they're training some sort of AI, since they're basically classifying data by dragging the feelings into certain boxes.
One thing I know for sure now is that all of MDR chips are linked together. We get an early hint of this when Peter is unsecevered and as he has his sickness and death that Mark has a clear visceral reaction even when they are in separate places unable to see each other. Later Dylan gets his refiner of the quarter reward and he chose a clear encasing of all the MDR workers in one hologram like cube in constraint to Mark’s singular head/bust spinning on his own desk in his one. This further hints they are connected and becoming more connected over time. The curtain is really pulled back during the season finale when they are all in override mode. You can see how they react and how it’s connected. I think they are connected to the point that even outside of work the chips are working on their brains. It also raises the question of if their innies are so unfamiliar with their outies when they are in override then are their outties actually outties at all or just under a different type of control from Lumen. Perhaps those core principles carry over and Lumen is trying to refine these workers to work for the best of the group and then use that information to control society at large. The more I watch this show the more I just cannot wait until season 2. As much as I dislike the long wait I’m glad to have something to look forward to and if they do it week to week then I’ll have a good 2 months or so to enjoy it. The stakes for the show are incredibly high both for the show itself and for the audience.
That's a very interesting observation and you might be onto something!
Nice video! I think this is the mystery I’m most interested in
Did anyone notice when Irv paned to look at Burts house while in his car we see the same white car as Mrs. Corbell? It was a slow and specific pan. It almost felt like we should have paid more attention to that. And during the fair well party to Burt, it seemed as though he had a lot of pull with Milcheck especially when he asked him not to say any more. He may know than we think.
I need to rewatch this because that's wild! If it is the same model, then it probably holds some significance. Perhaps a company car? The placement might imply that Lumon is everywhere, or something darker. Great catch!
So, Burt's department was maintaining artworks, and there was a department which grows goats, and takes them away once growth has reached sufficient amounts.
Personally, I think Burt's department is involved in marketing and PR for Lumon (trying to give them a good image).
I think MDR is seeing the numbers as performance of each severed chip, and is in charge of eliminating the inefficient workers, or maybe detecting the chips which may be deficient.
Though, this would be very anti-climactic, therefore unlikely.
Whatever MDR is (or isn't), I am TOTALLY putting "Macro Data Refinement Engineer" on my resume.
My guess: They're wiping important parts of ppl's memories to iron out kinks & perfect the severance process.
With the internet, maybe nothing is going on, and they scanning the net, and are waiting for the best most plausible theory to use for the show!
I feel as a guess… the secret is in the department title… macro data refinement.
I imagine they are assessing neural feedback of employee emotion… this allows them to present qualitative data that reinforces their position of severance as a global good.
It could also explain why senior leadership is in such a rush before Helena Eagan’s presentation while helly makes it out via the override. 🤔
I think MDR 'refines' the people that Petey mentions never leave.
My theory on the whole show is: It´s a great satire but I hope they don´t screw it up in the next season. Stripped bar from the sci-fi elements "Severance" would make for a pretty entertaining, maybe great Updike story. But the many lose ends of season one make me fear for the worst. ("Lost" is calling.)
My theory when I first watched it was they are refining emotions, triggers that would bring the real world to their innie. I believe that you need to be emotionally intelligent because you need to be able to identify emotion, trauma etc.
Finished season 1 yesterday. Late to the game, but this theory video got recommeneded to me because the algo realized I searched for severance once.
I dont think they talked about what revolving is in the show, have they? Hm, an old rich man having mysterious plans? I think the body snatcher theory is very likely and that he wants to transfer his consciousness to live forever.
My favourite theory out of the bunch, however, is that the numbers are not numbers, but that the chips make the refiners see numbers. The refiners need high emotional intelligence. Subconsciously, they would empathize with whatever they are seeing. Which would make them feel different things. Its likely that all the files are also specifically adjusted to the person and the experiences of their "outie". Outie of Helly had an abortion, just as an example. Show a picture of an abortion clinic, Helly would subconsciously react, the other 3 wouldn't.
The emotional intelligence part is crucial. If it wasnt, it would be a hell of a specific detail to include, wouldn't it?
Can’t wait to see Season 2
Keep it up! Love your videos!!
Thanks, Alan! Appreciate the support :)
5:00 - Actually I'm not sure whenever they can or can not see scary numbers
While watching, I assumed that they don't do anything, that it's busywork meant to keep them occupied while they're being observed as a sort of proof of concept for severance.
This is undermined slightly by seeing the supervisor character nervous about meeting quota, implying that it's something important, and supported by seeing the party/presentation that Helly attends at the end, the purpose of which is to promote severance to the corporate partners attending.
I wouldn't be surprised if it's something else, or that it links to the core ideas of the series, specifically the nature of human identity, but if it is, I'll be happy to wait and have that revealed at the right time. I hate it when I guess the answer prematurely.
Do you have a Patreon page or something similar? I really want to pay you for watching your videos, they are excellent and clearly involve a lot of work!
Hey! Thanks for the kind words. I don't have a Patreon yet, but I am going to launch one starting next week.
I really loved this show,watched it just a week or two ago, anyone has anything similar for me to watch,i love this type of shows 😊
You know I gotta be the first glad you back
What's good Noell! Thanks for comin through!
The work is mysterious and important.
I figure there are different models of Severance chip, and the town names are their prototype codenames. The data is data received from the prototype chips implanted in people who are dying and their failure rate is tied to the success of the implant and survival of the host. Sort of a combo of theory 2 and the last theory
I like this. It's both plausible and interesting, if it turns out to be true.
Lumen is the archangel Gabriel?
Interesting Walken connection.
Here's what I think
The eagans seem to have two key priorities
1) creating a family under one single rule around the world
2) control and longevity, they want to live "forever"
The rooms we've seen so far seem to be categorized into 3 categories
Work:
1) MDR
2) O&D
Employee management
3) wellness check
4) security
5) break room
Progenity and office rooms seem to fall here
Development
6) expansion for future severed people with lots of empty space
7) tech testing elevator (the one Gemma went down)
8) Goats (I'm assuming here for now since idk where else it goes)
Therefore, excluding the employee management rooms and offices, to me, it seems like what lumens goal is
1) rapidly expand severance and continue testing it. Its still a tech in development as throughout the series things like reintegration and the chips all seem like new tech (legislation is still pending). They want to fill up all these rooms asap with severed people.
But why?
To meet goal #2
They want the lumen/eagan legacy to never die. It is clear throughout the series that they want to be remembered forever with portraits and art everywhere, the progenity room and how much the eagans talk about legacy with their "bible".
Therefore, I believe they are using goats to clone humans and testing it on damaged individuals with PTSD or other issues like car crash victims etc. MDR is cleaning up errors found in the severance procedure since they seem to be able to download all the code written in a chip. Therefore, it isn't farfetched that they have access to the code and run it through MDR clean up.
The time crunches are coming into play because of eagans who are close to death or have ailments that they need the severance procedure to solve for. And Gemma is a clone with the capability of all her memories intact.
The riot that they allude to where the departments attacked each other was real and that is also the code they are cleaning up. They are cleaning up the failed severance code of the past which is why the number of severed employees is so few and it isn't ready yet for the eagans to use it. The time crunch is coming up because of the government legislation and dying eagans so they need to prove it works and to keep the Eagan legacy alive.
Helly R was another test guinea pig in all this and potentially even a clone herself. Maybe she's part of the revolving already (or she was in the past and they're testing an eagan clone and how it reacts to severance). This could be why although Helena seems bought into severance her severed version rejects it immediately. This is VERY unlike every other severed person we see that seems to accept it to some level. The difference is that Helena /Helly wasn't broken before being severed and I think given how much reverence she receives in the last episode, I believe she isn't just an Eagan but also a clone. She's an experiment in more ways than one
Maybe it's not as complex as we would like it to be. Maybe the numbers/groups of numbers represent people who are interested in working for Lumon / are potential candidates for severance procedure and the MDR teams are refining lists of those people. Since Lumon is such a big corporation, they are probably hiring new people constantly so there would be a lot of numbers. We know that the MDR team can't refine everything because the numbers come and go very quickly, so maybe they're just sensing the numbers which represent potential candidates that Lumon will definitely not hire. Every group of numbers that gets sent to a bin is connected to one of the four tempers and represent unwanted candidates because of the overwhelming presence of one temper in the candidate. They only want to hire relatively balanced people.
I like this idea, Jural. Although, I would say it is pretty complicated 😂. If you haven't read the Lexington Letter, I would recommend it. It's a quick read, but the events that take place in it make a connection between what MDR does and the real world, and the implications are kind of scary to contemplate.
The numbers are minesweeper numbers and the grid is a map, Lumen is looking for resources, specifically water.
Meant to post this here…
A small but critical detail is that upon completing her refinement work Helly’s screen showed a full color pixel art style Eagan flying off a mountain that they joked he could fall from earlier in the tour. This is important bc the screens are black and green the rest of the time without full color. If I’m recalling this correctly, that it was in fact Helly’s screen showing the animation, then it lends credence to the concept that they are actually seeing numbers in place of images or something else. If this is the case why would they only see black and green the rest of the time? There are some blurry lines with technology in the show. They have chips implanted in their brains which suggests the future, they have cell phones which although flip phones indicates the relative present, and they have dated computers which represent the past circa 80s-90s. They also have things like colorful overhead lighting when they have the dance party. To put it simply, I am chronologically confused. At what time in history is this show taking place? Certainly this is something the writers thought about. They wouldn’t just randomly put the pixelated Eagan animation in the show. They had to have someone make that specifically for them. That change or style from the old school black and green terminal style computer screen to an almost 16 bit Super Nintendo colorful animation suggests an evolution in technology as well. Is this to make the workers feel a sense of reward? I can’t recall exactly but im fairly sure the animated video playee on Helly's work station. Did they all see the animation? Will they just begin the process again or will there be changes? Im so excited for season 2, less than a year away (hopefully).
I still am hung up on this small detail of the computer screen going from the truly retro black and green monitor of the 80s to an early 90s style full cover 16-bit pixel art animation of Kier Eagan upon Helly completing her work. It had to be intentional. There’s no way in a show this meticulous that they would add a detail like that for no reason. There’s quite a few loose strings that they left untied that are driving me crazy and making me chart out all my questions into a confusing mess on the wall connecting the dots.
Notice the SIZE and AMOUNT of number change as well. Sometimes the number are small and there are dozens if not hundreds on screen. Other times they are large and less than 20 on screen.
I also really like the theory your mentioned in the goats video (great video, everyone check it out!) the chips being in the goats while being refined might be a bit too out there to make it to fruition, but I really like it
Gemma is dead. Ms. Casey's consciousness is in a computer.
Maybe the file they were working on was Gemma's and they are trying to delete her outie all together so that someday the whole world will have a new innie only Eagan worshipping persona only. Maybe this is why the first response to finishing the file they let Mark see Gemma one last time before she goes down to be tested to see if her outie is now completely gone.
MDR immediately reminded me of the Breakers in Stephen King's Dark Tower Universe. Everything's Eventual man.
Well made video
I don't think they're directly refining people's minds, but maybe categorizing output from people's chips to improve the (to us) black box AI that decides what belongs to the innie/outie mind.
It’s a psychological experiment, all of it, including the numbers. Their job really reminds me of many experiments I participated in for money.
Theory: At first, they come in, are TOLD what emotions to expect (only the 4 from the Eagan Bible), and they start 'refining'. The numbers at first mean nothing, and are completely random, but the peer pressure leads to them to start finding patterns and deluding themselves into feeling the emotions, at which point the chip analyses changes to the brain, generates the next field of numbers based off those changes, and the loops starts again.
Like a machine learning algorithm using the human brain as a framework, the thumbs up or thumbs down being the feedback and the numbers being the input data. The brain itself is the algorithm, and Lumon is researching mind control/reprogramming for the Eagan cult.
(Lexington spoilers)
Though the whole thing with the exploding truck doesn't really fit in to this, so I'm lost. Cool theory though I think
I think they are looking for the reincarnation of Kier. Many of the themes and processes are similar to the process of finding a reincarnated dalai lama
I think they're sending drones out to find out where the bad eels are
Perhaps recovered people with some kind of damage. Depression, for example. Troble with hunger
My theory is that these people aren't alive anymore but have become Ai and that both environments are a product of the Ai's creation not to completely lose it. The numbers they're looking for in terms of "bad" and "good" numbers is just Ai learning new script.
According to Marx's Theory of Alienation the workforce owns nothing but their sheer ability to do work. They are forced to sell their work in order to sustain themselves since all things made to survive are owned by someone else. But the system leads to a high degree of compartmentalization in the work place and does very little to enable a humane and meaningful environment. We find this in the term work-life balance. Instead of being an extension of our identity, work and personal life have become conflicting concepts. The numbers symbolize the meaningless we experience in such a work space while we can sense that we are only cogs in a production process with no real emotional attachment to the final product. It is the bastardization of work that we are experiencing.
Subbed, you do some damn good vids.
To me the innies have a lot in common with the hosts in Westworld. The latter were programmed to not perceive/consider anything that would tell them they're not real (repeated phrase: "Doesn't look like anything to me.")
We see things through the innies' eyes while they're at work, so all we see is harmless pictorial cards (why would anyone care if someone took one outside?) and sequences of numbers. What they're actually seeing and doing may be something different altogether. For all we know they could be torturing dissidents or assembling cyborg soldiers, and the cards could be important and classified internal documents, or instruments of mind control that are too dangerous to be seen by anyone outside while they're in development.
Maybe the kids (goats) are actual kids (children).
Dying for season 2! 🎉
Groups of numbers can sometimes be seen as different depending on where they are placed, even though their true signifigance can only be parralled through their total irrelevence even when grouped in similar formats....Take Suduko and the top 9 teams in the English Premiere Leaugue Soccer table. Both grids contain 9x9 numbers and in reality they share insignificance although to millions of people they seem important. There are problems in devloping A.I. in that artificial intelligence sees numbers as neutral where humanistic interpretation is almost impossible to 'code'. It's like trying to get a sand pit on the grounds of an impressively built sand castle, we can understand the lunacy of such concepts but only because the building blocks of consciousness allow us to easily understand the rhetoric of such ideas, whereas a sandcastle built by a machine is so different from the sand pit to where they both have equal value.
So as a theory the neuro network mapping of true human awareness would look like something that completely relies on instincts that CANNOT be specified or even suggested, they might have to be farmed from willing subjects with a very intuitive yet undcypherable method. I hope in season 2 they put a chick in it and make her gay!
I was really confused when Burt’s location was already marked on the map
I’m behind the Lexington letter theory.
And I saw that Twin Peaks gif have you or will you ever delve into THAT madness??
Yes, and yes! It's right up my alley. I've got this bucket list of characters/shows that feels like a mountain right now. Twin Peaks is on the menu. I want to branch out a bit soon. Honestly, If I had it my way, I'd make two videos per week. Until that day comes, I'll chip away at the list lol.
@@nautilusfiles Twin Peaks alone is a huge topic. Include The Return if you can!
how marketing sees you +++ASPIRERS+++
Contain sparkle, shine, and charisma. Aspirers seek to be impressed so using social proof and testimonials to create a sense of jealousy that triggers them to act.
- Become a reference point in helping them define a person image. (You can easily do that with create an avatar and walking them a before-and-after story of the person they look up to.)
- Most importantly show them a better version of themselves if they take action
great video this show is so interesting
Glad you enjoyed it!
Another banger....
Thank you!