Viral Severance Theory Reveals How Lumon Works and MDR’s Sinister Plan 

Severance Season 2 is almost upon us and the anticipation regarding it is through the roof. The intensity with which people are looking forward to this season is evident by a never-before-seen move made by Apple TV+ where they made all their content free to watch for a weekend solely to promote Severance. However, where there is anticipation, it is followed by numerous theories. While most of the theories are just, well, born out of a fan’s imagination, we have come across one that makes a lot of sense and reveals the answer to a question pondered upon by almost every fan of the franchise. So, based on this very theory, let me answer what Lumon does and where the Macrodata Refinement Department or MDR department fits into it.

Lumon Is Trying to Revive Kier and the Eagan Lineage

The theory I am referring to comes from Redditor fillgates where he answers all the questions we have ever had regarding Lumon. According to this theory, Lumon has its fingers in almost every industry. However, the ultimate goal of Lumon is to resurrect Kier Eagan either literally or as more like an AI model.

The theory suggests that before Kier passed away in 1939 he “saved” himself or his consciousness and the source code could be found in his writings. However, since he died so long ago, the data is primitive and extremely messy. Now, they need to get this data in order and this is where the Macrodata Refinement Department comes in.

What Does the MDR Department Do in Severance?

As mentioned above, the data of Kier’s consciousness is extremely messy and is in what you could call a “data soup” which essentially means that there is a lot of noise around the useful data. This Severance theory suggests that the MDR exists to refine Kier’s consciousness data to facilitate his rebuilding.

If we assume that Lumon wishes to revive Kier as an AI, the people who work in the Macrodata Refinement Department are essentially humans in the loop or HILT. Not everything can be programmed into an AI and it has to be trained and taught by humans to give out the correct answers and this is what Mark and his team are assumed to be doing with their quarterly quotas.

According to Kier and his writings in Severance, every single person comprises four tempers – Woe, Frolic, Dread, and Malice. When the refiners create a set of four numbers and put them into bins, they are essentially sorting out this data into one of the four tempers and the numbers seem to be “tokens” an AI model uses to process the questions asked by the user.

How Will They Resurrect Kier in Severance?

Now the question that remains is how exactly Lumon plans to revive Kier. While MDR is actively working on rebuilding Kier’s consciousness, the other departments might be working on creating other physical aspects facilitating the return of Kier Eagan. The O&D or Optics and Design might be working towards creating items from Keir’s life so that he could return to things familiar to him.

On the other hand, the goats discovered by Mark and Helena could be a part of biological research to create tissue to recreate Kier. This is also backed by how scared and distressed the caretaker of those goats was when they both entered the room since they were being raised for slaughter. Finally, the house in the Perpetuity Wing is not just a part of the museum but is built for Kier to return to when he is revived.

Now another crazy thing mentioned in this theory is why Gemma is at Lumon as Ms.Casey. According to the accounts of Mark’s outie, Gemma passed away after the accident but it seems that Lumon managed to save her life but she ended up being brain dead. However, Lumon made her a test subject for the said AI model which is why she cannot leave the company premises and is being tested on a different Severed floor of Lumon.

So, what do you guys think of this theory, let us know your thoughts in the comments and while we wait for Severance Season 2, stay tuned with us for further updates!