What The Lexington Letter Is & How It Affects the Severance Storyline, Explained
This text slightly lifts the veil of secrecy surrounding Lumon's activities.
At the beginning of the first season of Severance, Irving thinks the Macrodata team is removing profanity from movies. Dylan thinks they're cleaning up the ocean to relocate civilization. And Helly asks if they're helping terrorists. Oddly enough, there's truth in their words.
In the spring of 2022, to the delights of Severance fans, a book titled The Lexington Letter was published, featuring correspondence between fictional columnist Daria Thorne and Jim Milchick, editor of the Topeka Star.
The Lexington Letter Adds New Details to the Series Canon
Daria received a mysterious letter from Peggy Kincaid, an employee of Lumon in Topeka, Kansas. The letter tells an eerie story of communication between Peggy's innie and outie, and also confirms the existence of unconscious memory that cannot be severed.
Series creator Dan Erickson confirmed the canonicity of the text in a Reddit AMA session with fans, so some of the answers can be found in its contents.
After going through the severance process, Peggy Kincaid finally stopped worrying about work. But later, she found herself experiencing too many emotions after returning from work – from elation to exhaustion to crushing anxiety.
The Lexington Letter Chronicles the Correspondence Between Peggy Kincaid's Innie and Outie
One day, Kincaid found a note from her innie in the pocket of her work clothes. Strangely enough, she knew about the secret language Peggy and her sister had invented, which encoded letter symbols with images.
In the letters, the innie wonders how she could know this coded language and doubts that the detector installed in the elevator will let this note out.
She says that she works in the Macrodata Refinement division with three colleagues, admits that she does not want to harm her outie, and asks her to answer that message.
Once they began corresponding, Peggy's outie told stories about her life and learned details about working at Lumon, surprised by the pointlessness of processing macrodata, and the company perks – plates of sliced melon and a waffle party.
The Lexington Letter Confirms Lumon Is Doing Dangerous Business
She also learned about the stern security guard, Mr. Dooley, and the ominous break room. And then Peggy's innie shared her joy with the outie: At 2:30 p.m. on November 3, she finished processing the Lexington file.
Two minutes later, there was a terrorist attack in New York. A truck belonging to Lumon's competitor, The Dorner Therapeutics, exploded. Dorner representatives announced that their classified equipment had been hacked. Peggy had no doubt: her innie was involved in corporate espionage.
After asking the innie for more details about work assignments and the Lexington file, Peggy's outie received no response. A few days later, she left the elevator soaking wet. Management left her a coupon for a local diner and a note about her incident at the water cooler.
That same week, Kincaid learned from her innie that the Lexington file had indeed caused the explosion, and that the severance chip was being used to train and brainwash people.
Peggy Was Probably Killed on Lumon's Orders
Soon she received the final letter in which her innie asked Peggy to run and find a safe place because ''they'' would be after her. Innie asks Peggy not to trust Lumon and admits that she was the best part of her life.
After telling her story to a local newspaper reporter, Peggy left town. On November 12, Daria shared the information with Jim Milchick. He refused to publish Kincaid's letter, fearing a lawsuit from Lumon.
Then Jim sent his colleague an excerpt from the obituary, stating that Peggy Kincaid had died in a car accident on November 11 at the age of 54.
Jim Milchick Appears to Be Related to Seth Milchick
The Lexington Letter has left fans with another mystery. How is Topeka Star editor Jim Milchick related to Seth Milchick?
Reddit users suggest that Jim and Seth may be related or clones. It is suspicious that Jim neglects such provocative information and mentions in his letter a recent conversation with a reliable source who works at Lumon.