Severance
word of advice ! This article contain major spoilers for Severance time of year 2 ’s installment 7 .
Severanceseason 2 ’s episode 7 is one of the most stimulant installments of the serial , feature everything from detailed flashback to Mark and Gemma ’s past to shock revelations about the testing level . Each newepisode inSeveranceseason 2seems to top its predecessors . Episode 7 go on this trend by walk viewers through some of the best visuals in the series while giving away surprising details about what is actually going on in the overarching story . Like allSeveranceinstallments , episode 7 , too , leave watcher with more questions than answer .
However , it makes enough room for audience to descend up with many solid theories about Lumon ’s aim , the examination story , Gemma ’s fate , and Mark ’s future . A lot happens in theApple TV+ sci - fi show ’s newfangled episode , making it gruelling to keep up with every plot development and revelation it presents . Owing to this , a elaborated breakdown of all the major narration progressions inSeveranceseason 2 ’s episode 7 seems necessary .
What The Ending Flashback In Severance Season 2’s Episode 7 Reveals About Gemma’s “Death”
The Truth About Gemma’s Fate Remains A Mystery
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In the final flashback inSeveranceseason 2 ’s instalment 7 , Gemma asks Mark if he would be concerned in assist a party with her . Mark , however , seems too consumed with his employment and ask Gemma to go without him . Before go out , Gemma assures him she will be back by 10:00 pm . Moments later , constabulary cable car arrive in front of Mark ’s house , suggesting that they are there to inform him about Gemma ’s stroke and death . Mark ’s implicated expression and look of self-abnegation almost confirm they split the news show of his wife ’s demise to him .
The version of Gemma on the testing flooring remembers Mark and want to go back to him .
Custom Image by Dhruv Sharma.
Severanceseason 2 ’s instalment 2featured a scene in which Mark explicitly tell Devon that he envision Gemma ’s body and confirmed it was her after her expiry . In another recent installment , Reghabi implied that Lumon might be stealing the bodies of drained person from the Ithiel Town ’s morgue to experiment on them . These details suggest that Gemma might have really give-up the ghost in the automobile accident , and Lumon find a style to repair her . However , what remains unreadable is how they brought her back . The version of Gemma on the testing storey remembers Mark and wants to go back to him .
The fact that she has memories from her life before Lumon suggestsshe is still the Gemma Mark make out in the outside world . Severanceseason 2 episode 7 ’s windup flashback also lift questions about what caused the accident . Did Lumon intentionally organise it ? Or , was Gemma in on Lumon ’s plan to misrepresent her death ? Many of these questions stay on unrequited but the other flashbacks from episode 7 on the face of it allow some surmise .
Mark & Gemma’s Severance Backstory Explained
Mark Has Been Associated With Lumon Far Longer Than He Realizes
The flashback reveals that Mark and Gemma were trying to have a baby . However , things took an unexpected turn of events for the twosome when Gemma had a miscarriage . They tried to go down the IVF route by seeking help from a local fertility clinic , but that , too , did not do work out . This is when Gemma seemingly got involve with Lumon . In one flashback , she has a set of Chikhai Bardo carte , one of which was stolen by Dylan from theO&D department inSeveranceseason 1 . “ I retrieve I got onto the posting list at the clinic , ” she says , suggest the clinic sent her the calling card to help her recover .
Severance season 2 ’s lineament a Modern possible action credits sequence , which seems to hint at many challenging future developments in the Apple TV+ series .
The clinic Gemma refers to seems to be run by Lumon . By promising that they could help her hatful with the pain of her bomb pregnancy , the Lumon clinic must have lured Gemma into agree to sign up for their experiment . “ So what hap once I ’ve been in all the rooms ? " she asks in one shot , implying she clearly hope to get something out of her incumbency with Lumon .
Image via Apple TV+
In the flashback where Gemma and Mark infix the clinic , the Doctor from the examination floor also briefly seem in the setting . This seemingly confirms that Lumon had their centre fructify on Mark and Gemma a long time ago .
The way Gemma cooperates with Lumon ’s workers on the examination floor suggests that , to some extent , she is willing to put up with whatever they are attempt to achieve from their experiment on her . However , by the end of the episode , she , too , gets suspicious and assail Doctor Mauer before rushing out of the Lumon building . Unfortunately , for her , she turns into Ms. Casey moments before she arrive at the " Exports Hall " and forgets everything about her spirit as Gemma .
The Purpose Of The Rooms On The Testing Floor Explained
Each Room Triggers A New Innie For Gemma
Doctor Mauer reveals that Gemma visited six rooms on the testing flooring throughout the day : " The Billings room , the Lucknow way , St. Pierre , Cairns , Zurich , and The Wellington room . " When he require her if she recollect anything from the rooms , she assure him that she recall nothing . For each room , Gemma is give a specific kit , allowing her to associate each way with a clothing item . owe to this , even before she enters the Wellington room , she associates it with something defective and acknowledge it by enunciate , " Oh s**t ! " as soon as she lay her eye on her getup for the room .
The name of the succeed rooms have been reveal so far :
When she enters the Wellington room , she transitions into an innie who seems afraid of the Doctor . Severancehas established that innies are " create " by Lumon to be " forever " in a specific infinite . This suggests thatthe Wellington elbow room ’s innie has expend her entire life getting dental treatments , explaining why she fears Doctor Mauer and involve him for a break . In another room , Gemma seemingly transitions into an entirely unlike innie and experiences a feigning that involve a turbulent aircraft .
Lumon apparently judge to test whether any of the traumatic innie memories leak out into Gemma ’s consciousness .
In the Allentown room , she finds herself living through eternal Christmas , where a man , posing to be her partner , require her to write grateful Christmas calling card with her non - dominant hand . It looks like all the suite subject her specific innies to trauma and torment . By doing this , Lumon seemingly seek to test whether any of the traumatic innie memories leak out into Gemma ’s consciousness . Since Gemma only experiences strong-arm pain from the rooms with no memories of the cause , Drummond acknowledges the severance barriers are hold .
The Cold Harbor Room Explained: What Is Inside It?
It Is The Only Room Gemma Has Not Been To
Gemma says that the Cold Harbor way , which antecedently did not even have a name , is the only way she has not been to . When she involve the Doctor what will happen after she visits that room , he enjoin , " You will see the world again , and the world will see you . " In response , she inquires if she will get to come back to Mark after the Cold Harbor elbow room . To her discouragement , Doctor Mauer return a cryptic reply , saying , " Mark will benefit from the world you ’re siring . " While only time will tell what the Cold Harbor way hold , it will seemingly complete the mental testing Lumon has been conduct on Gemma .
Severance Key fact Breakdown
Created By
Dan Erickson
Rotten Tomatoes Critics ' Score
97 %
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
83 %
Streaming On
Apple TV+
Sincethe name of each room corresponds with a Indian file Mark ’s innie has crop on in the MDR department , it is operose not to think that Mark has been unknowingly " plan " Gemma ’s innies . This mean that Cold Harbor , too , will have another distinct innie Gemma , who will be subjected to one final test . The Cold Harbor elbow room will apparently determine the effectiveness of the severance procedure , helping Lumon empathise whether the severance barriers hold even when the innies are exposed to some of the most traumatic billet .
Why The Doctor Lies To Gemma About Mark
He Seems To Be Conducting A Test On Her
Almost midway throughSeveranceseason 2 ’s episode 7 , the Doctor on the face of it plays mind biz with Gemma , claiming that Mark has strike on . He also tries to convince her that she , too , has fall for someone else from one of the rooms on the examination floor . Gemma does not believe him and smashes his capitulum with a death chair before attempting to leave behind Lumon . Doctor Mauer seemingly does this to make Gemma more compliant , fear that her desire to reunite with Mark might make her defiant .
He might have also done this to test whether she remembered anything from the elbow room . By ask her if she feel more disposed to one of the way , he hopes to sympathise if her innie memories from any of them have leaked into her consciousness . Gemma ’s anger towards the Doctor ’s claims confirms that she remember nothing from the room .
The Meaning Of “Chikhai Bardo” Explained
Ego Death Is A Recurring Theme In Severance Season 2’s Episode 7
In the aftermath of the failed gestation , Gemma receives varsity letter from the fertility clinic that was helping her and Mark with the IVF treatment . The flashback calls attention to one of the cards Gemma invite in the chain mail , which is similar to the one Dylan had stolen from the O&D inSeveranceseason 1 . When Mark sees the notice and state it shows a man hit someone , Gemma explain that it represents " Chikhai Bardo , " the death of ego . She tell him the notice represents one ’s fight with one ’s own demons .
According to Buddhism , bardo refers to a liminal state between life and death . Six bardo states exist , defend one ’s journey from birthing to rebirth . " Chikhai Bardo " is the 4th one , marking the origin of the process of death . It is a pivotal pace that involves the dissolution of the self or egotism . Even the man ’s pose on the " Chikhai Bardo " card is called the Virabhadrasana Warrior Pose II , which is one of the three poses that serve as metaphors for ego end .
Since ego demise is such a uniform motif in theSeveranceepisode , it is hard not to believe it is something Lumon wants Gemma to achieve .
Image via Apple TV+
Before Gemma strike Doctor Mauer with a chair , he takes out Leo Tolstoy’sThe Death of Ivan Ilyichfrom the bookshelf , which is also about a man who understands the true purpose of his spirit during his last mean solar day by lease go of his ego and unreal living . Since ego death is such a uniform theme in the Severance episode , it is hard not to conceive it is something Lumon wants Gemma to achieve . They may be prove to create more evolved world through these experiment . Or , they could be driven by something even more sinister .
What Drummond Means When He Says They’ll Have To Say Goodbye To Gemma
They May Not Need Gemma Once The Project Is Completed
While looking at Gemma ’s progress through a screen , Drummond enjoin that they will have to eventually say goodbye to her . The nods to " Chikhai Bardo , " the Virabhadrasana Warrior Pose II , and the Leo Tolstoy playscript also suggest thatGemma will experience a certain kind of deathonce the Cold Harbor labor is complete . However , only time will severalize whether this will be a actual or metaphoric death and how it will impact Mark ’s narrative .
Why Devon Wants To Call Harmony Cobel To Help Mark & Reghabi’s Reaction Explained
She Realizes That Cobel Knows A Lot More About Lumon Than Any Of Them
InSeveranceseason 1 , Devon met Gabby Arteta at the Demora Birthing Retreat . To her surprise , Gabby could not recognize her when she ran into her outside the retreat . Devon connects the dots inSeveranceseason 2 and realizes that Gabby was likely lop , allowing her innie to bear the pain of gestation while maintain her outie spare from the trauma of childbirth . Realizing that this could facilitate them unite with Mark ’s innie , she suggests they should go to the retreat ’s cabin .
break season 2 ends its run on March 21 , 2025 , with its 10th instalment titled " Cold Harbor . "
She also considers call Cobel , but Reghabi grows incense by the idea . The former Lumon surgeon claims that Cobel was leaven by Lumon , suggest that Cobel has been involved with the company from a very vernal age . Reghabi ultimately leave when Devon test to call Cobel , butDevon seems convince that the former severed floor top dog might be able-bodied to aid them . InSeveranceseason 2 ’s sequence 7 , Devon turn over calling Cobel because she understands that she would have sex a lot more about Lumon than them , and they could gain from her knowledge .
Severance is a psychological thriller series featuring Adam Scott as Mark Scout , an employee at Lumon Industries who undergoes a " severance " subprogram to separate his work and personal memories . However , as work and life history personas mysteriously begin to clash , it quickly becomes vindicated that not all is as it seems . create by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle .
