Brilliant Severance Theory Perfectly Explains Lumon's Greater Purpose & Gemma's Tragic Fate
The phrase "You will see the world again, and the world will see you" sounds vague? This theory shows that it makes perfect sense and that Lumon's plans are really meant to change humanity.
The seventh episode of the second season of Severance, titled Chikhai Bardo, became a really important event for fans. We were finally shown one of the main mysteries of the series – the testing floor and what happens to Gemma there.
As always, Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller did not give direct answers to our questions, but if you take a closer look and remember the history of Lumon, you can get a general idea of what Lumon is trying to achieve with its Gemma experiment.
The Beginning of Lumon's Activities Was With Anesthesia Production Factories
The story of Lumon began with a plant that produced ether – a substance used for anesthesia. However, even before ether found its main application in surgery, it was used recreationally for "ether frolics" – hence the name of one of the tempers.
From this we can deduce the main goal of Lumon – to "anesthetize" society, to rid it of negative emotions and experiences.
The MDR Employees Are Refining Gemma Herself
How is Gemma connected to this, and why is she irreplaceable? Reddit user BoopsR4Snootz suggests that the MDR workers are not refining the rooms Gemma enters (each sign on the test floor has the name of a file the MDR division is working on), but rather Gemma herself.
In each room, Gemma goes through unpleasant or even painful situations – from a visit to the dentist to the grueling process of writing hundreds of greeting cards. And in each room, there is a separate severed version of Gemma experiencing only one of the situations.
Dr. Mauer then gets feedback from Gemma – for example, we heard her say that her mouth hurts after going to the dentist. The goal of the experiment is to bring Gemma's chip to a perfect condition, so that Gemma's outie feels no consequences of the traumatic experience.
Redditor AppointmentFederal61 also suggests that in the final room, Cold Harbor, Gemma will have to die – this is the most painful thing a person can experience and the last thing Gemma will have to endure.
Gemma's Conscience Will Be Uploaded Into a Chip That Will Rid Society of Suffering
But what is it all for? According to the theory, Lumon is creating a kind of twisted version of a virtual assistant in the form of a digitized Gemma, who will experience traumatic events in place of other people – including death.
This theory perfectly explains Dr. Mauer's phrase: “You will see the world again, and the world will see you.” Gemma will become a ubiquitous and irreplaceable part of the new ideal world that Lumon strives to build.