Severance Season Finale Answered the Most Important Question of the Show (Not the Goats)

Ladies and gentlemen, Severance Season 2 finale is here! Is there a better duo than Mark S. and Helly R.?

It was difficult to surpass the ending of the first season, but – all hail Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller – Severance didn't disappoint, and the Windmills of Your Mind by Mel Tormé just landed on the playlists of every fan of the show, as well as one of the most romantic finales we've ever seen just went down in television history.

But we're here to discuss some serious stuff – the Cold Harbor episode was not only ecstatic, desperate, beautiful and just brilliant, it also answered some really important questions.

The Severance Chip Is Still Unfinished, and the Clues Were All Over the Place

While we still don't know the end point of the experiment on Gemma (though there is a compelling theory about it – read it here), we do know for sure now – the experiment itself was to perfect the chip.

Wasn't it perfect before? Well, it actually wasn't. Looking back at the first and second seasons, we can see that the hints were everywhere.

Mark continued to feel sad even on the severed floor, he just didn't know the source of it; in the first episode of the first season, Milchick quickly stopped Mark when he started to describe his negative emotions.

The Gemma Experiment Explains the Odd Interior of the Severed Floor

It also explains one of the biggest mysteries – why the severed floor looks the way it does, and why the entertainment and rewards were extremely odd events like egg parties or gifts in the form of erasers.

The innies existed in such a sterile, lifeless interior only so that nothing could cause strong emotional outbursts in them – because the chip was not yet finished.

Cold Harbor Was the Final Test of the Chip's Barrier, and It Failed

The final test for Gemma in the Cold Harbor room was to dismantle the crib, hence the name of the room – eagle-eyed fans noticed that this was the name of the model of crib Mark once bought, but the spelling was a bit different – Col d'Arbor. This can be seen in the episode Chikhai Bardo – the name is written on the box.

For Gemma, who had a miscarriage, this should have been one of the most traumatic and painful experiences of her life, but her 25th innie didn't feel anything at all.

Mark, who burst into the room, interrupted the experiment and showed Jame Egan, who was watching Gemma, that the experiment had failed.

Gemma's innie, robbed of all memory and having spent most of her short life with Jame's voice, believed not him but a crazy-looking, bloody man – which can only mean that somewhere deep inside, her trust and love for Mark still leaked through the chip’s barrier.

So we now know what Mark was working on, what exactly happened to Gemma during the experiment and why, why the severed floor looks the way it does, and that the severance chip can be considered an imperfect development by Lumon that still needs Gemma to get finished.

Yes, There Will Be Severance Season 3

It's not like anyone actually doubted that. However, shortly after the premiere of the final episode of Season 2, Apple TV+ was quick to officially confirm on their X account that Season 3 is coming.

The premiere date is yet to be scheduled. While we wait, we will do our best to enjoy each Thursday night without Severance equally.