Severance Fans Speculate on Season 2 Conspiracy Theory

The following contains spoilers for Severance Season 2, Episode 1, “Hello, Ms. Cobel.”

Lumon Industries’ dubious corporate culture has done little to instill trust in Severance fans over the series’ grueling three-year hiatus, with a popular conspiracy theory quickly surfacing in the immediate wake of Season 2’s premiere. Audiences don’t believe all the Macrodata Refiners are who they claim, particularly Britt Lower’s Helly R.

“Hello, Ms. Cobel” thrusts Mark S. back into the labyrinthine basement of Lumon Industries’ severed floor without his fellow whistleblowing Macrodata Refinement team. When Adam Scott’s Mark wills his colleagues back to Lumon, not all of them are truthful about their “Outie” experiences in Season 1’s finale. Where Irving obfuscates the truth to avoid airing his heartbreak to the office, Helly R. weaves an entirely fabricated tale.

In Season 1’s twisty finale, office revolutionary Helly R. shockingly discovers that her “Outie” is none other than Helena Eagan, the daughter of Lumon CEO Jame Eagan. Instead of airing her ties to Lumon’s top brass, Helly R. paints a fabricated image of a non-descript “Outie” while swapping war stories with her coworkers. With identity serving as one of Severance‘s central themes, this scene could easily be read as a manifestation of Helly’s inner turmoil about embodying her own oppressor – though, Severance fans have a more sinister interpretation.

Of all the theories that arose from “Hell, Ms. Cobel”, none became more prevalent than the notion that an unsevered Helena Eagan’s returned in her “Innie” Helly R.’s place to monitor Mark and his team of would-be revolutionaries. Though she and Mark have found themselves in a workplace romance, Helly agrees to help him find and free his “Outie’s” presumed-dead wife, Ms. Casey, from Lumon Industries. Severance fans became immediately suspicious of this offer, believing Helena Eagan’s exploiting Mark’s trust in Helly R. to intentionally throw him off the scent of Ms. Casey.

Though she’s attracted a deluge of sideways glances from fans, Helly R.’s not the only source of distrust in Severance‘s returning audience. Fans have cast doubt on everything from the Macrodata Refinement team’s “Outie” reputation as whistleblowers to the mysterious new employee Ms. Huang. Another interesting theory about Ms. Casey emerged when X user Zach Lewis postulated that Mark’s team may actually have a hand in crafting the wellness counselor’s severed personality.

Only time will tell if Helly R is who she says or if any of fans’ additional theories will hold water, as Severance‘s long-awaited second season unravels weekly on Apple TV+.