Severance Episode 4 Just Hinted at Death Sentence for One of the Most Beloved Characters

The fourth episode of the second season was perhaps the most unnerving experience for fans of Severance. The episode's culmination was Irving's attempt to expose Helly. He finally realized that Helena was actually pretending to be an innie.

Irving Finally Realized That Helly Had Been Replaced by Helena

Episode 4 was very different from the show's usual format. Mark, Helly, Dylan and Irving found themselves in the woods. There they encountered their clones, or simulations.

In the evening, Milchick told everyone the story about Kier and his twin, Dieter Eagan. When Helly began to mock the bizarre story and Mark supported her, Irving was offended.

Irving once again confronted Helly about her outie's life by mentioning the story of the night gardener. Later, convinced of his theory, Irv decided to take extreme measures.

Irving's Innie Is About to Be Erased From the Memory of All Who Knew Him

In the Episode 4 finale, Milchick accused Irving of attempted murder of his colleague – the man drowned Helena not only to get Seth to return Helly, but also to prove to the others that it had been Helly's outie with them in the office.

This action was punished by immediate dismissal. Milchick added that his very existence will be eliminated. As Irving transforms from the innie to the outie, Milchick says that Lumon will make sure that no one remembers Irv's existence.

Dead Seal Could Be a Hint at Irving's Outie Death

It is easy to assume that Lumon will eventually kill Irving's outie for exposing their lie and revealing Helena's secret.

This is confirmed by a mysterious find – on the way to the waterfall, the four came across a dead seal.

Redditor Ghost_Monsoon suggests that this could be a pretty direct hint that the man's innie won't be the only one to suffer the consequences of his actions – Irving's outie was a Navy SEAL in the past.

The Seal Could Also Be a Sign That Irving's Innie Is Now “Dead”

However, we have never seen Lumon actually kill anyone. The only example is Petey, but his death wasn't the company's fault (not directly, at least).

Why would Lumon kill anyone when they could just erase the memories of the rest of the workers? So maybe the dead seal is just a reference to the “death” of Irving's innie.

Most likely, everyone who knows him will be made to forget him in order to protect Helena's secret. If Irving doesn't remember who he is, and no one else knows about him, he will become a nobody.

This connects the decomposed seal associated with Irv to the phrase written in The Perpetuity Wing: “The remembered man does not decay.”