Severance Episode 3 Just Confirmed This Head-Spinning Fan Theory About Five Boxes
Lumon's influence on its employees is much greater than we thought.
In the final scenes of the third episode of the second season of Severance, Mark makes a fateful decision – to merge his inner and outer personalities. Previously, he had resisted the procedure because he had seen Petey suffer severe consequences that led to his death.
Gradually, however, Mark realizes that his inner and outer versions cannot communicate with each other without the risk of being caught. In the end, he trusted Reghabi and decided to take this desperate step.
Mark Went Through Reintegration in Season 2 Episode 3
Finally, we were shown the reintegration procedure. Reghabi attached a device to Mark's head that reads five frequencies of the brain waves of the innie and outie – Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma – which are not synchronized in a severed state.
By asking Mark questions about the lives of his outie and innie, Reghabi caused the two parts of the man's consciousness to begin to merge.
The Brain Waves Reghabi Mentions Are Real
Reddit user Expensive-Wind-3559 noted that the Greek letter Theta (θ) resembles the severed-brain symbol that appears in the show.
Moreover, the types of brain waves Reghabi talks about are real:
Delta (δ) – waves associated with restorative processes, especially during sleep. The delta symbol can also be found in the series, specifically in the MDR orientation manual on Page 11.
Theta (θ) – these waves occur when relaxed wakefulness turns into drowsiness. It is also called a "twilight state" because a person is between sleep and wakefulness.
Alpha (α) – these waves are associated with a relaxed state of wakefulness. Alpha waves occur when we close our eyes and begin to relax.
Beta (β) – waves associated with higher cognitive processes and focusing attention in the normal waking state.
Gamma (γ) – these waves are well observed when solving problems that require maximum concentration.
Lumon Can Control MDR Workers and What They See on Computers With a Chip
Based on the number of brain waves, it is obvious that each of them is related to one of the boxes where the MDR workers sort the numbers.
Fans suspect that Lumon uses these waves to affect the memories of innies and even outies through Theta-waves. This would explain why Irving's outie tries to sleep as little as possible.
It is possible that MDR employees process their own memories unconsciously and replace them with what the company needs them to remember. Viewers believe that Lumon can use Theta-waves to induce a state similar to sleepwalking in innies – one thing can happen in the minds of the employees and another in reality.
In this way, Lumon can ensure complete confidentiality of its projects – the chip probably controls what the workers see on their computer screens.