Severance Ether Factories Are Not What You Think – They Were Used for Something More Sinister

Over the course of two seasons of Severance, we heard the story of Lumon's origins several times, and it was always the same – Lumon started with factories producing diethyl ether, one of which employed Kier Eagan himself.

We were even shown a picture of Kier and his future wife Imogene standing next to a vat with a man stirring its contents.

In the eighth episode of the second season, we learned that Lumon used child labor, and one of those children was Harmony Cobel, who later invented the severance process due to the death of her mother.

Ether Was Used in the Lumon Factories as a Primitive Version of Severance

But what if we told you that those factories weren't actually producing diethyl ether, but something else entirely?

Redditor oodport pointed out that diethyl ether isn't produced as shown in The Courtship of Kier and Imogene. Ether is not synthesized in a vat because it is extremely flammable and volatile.

We see that the vat in the picture is hot and that ether vapors are spreading throughout the room where several other workers stand.

According to the theory, the ether was used in the factories as a proto-severance. The boiling point of diethyl ether is 34°C/94°F, so it will be released into the atmosphere with the slightest heat.

Diethyl ether works in such a way that it causes short-term memory loss without significantly affecting physical abilities. Cobel said the last time she used ether was when she was eight years old – most likely when she stopped working at the factory.

Perhaps this is what prompted her to use the severance procedure as an alternative to ether – it does not cause addiction and is not harmful to health.

Dieter Never Existed – He Is Kier's Alter Ego in a State of Ether Intoxication

It is known that Kier Egan was a military doctor in his youth, and since Lumot was founded in 1865, the same year the Civil War ended, he could have discovered the properties of ether during the war.

Also, diethyl ether sounds similar to Dieter, the name of Kier's twin brother. Fans also speculate that Dieter did not really exist – he was Kier's alter ego, his shameful part, which appeared when he was in a state of ether intoxication.

Lumon Forced His Workers to Inhale Ether – That's Why There Are So Many Addicts in Salt's Neck

It also explains the number of ether addicts in Salt's Neck – Lumon left town, leaving behind workers who had been inhaling ether daily for years.

So it's safe to assume that Lumon was using a primitive version of severance back in the mid-19th century to prevent workers from remembering what they were working on. Hopefully, we'll find out the truth in the next two episodes of Season 2.