When Severance season one debuted, it instantly became one of the most talked-about sci-fi thrillers. Its unsettling plot, where employees of Lumon Industries have their consciousness split between work and personal life, started endless theories and debates on social forums. The show’s haunting worldbuilding and slow-burning mysteries drew comparisons to Black Mirror and Lost, leaving viewers demanding another season.
Recently, three years after its first season, Apple TV+ dropped the second season,introducing even more mysteries surrounding Lumon Industries. Everyone asked one question: What is Cold Harbor? While the true purpose of this project remains ambiguous, the new season revealed that it is strongly connected to Mark’s innie wife, Gemma, and Lumon’s sinister plans.
What Is Cold Harbor?
Assigned by Lumon Industries, Cold Harbor is a mysterious project that Mark’s innie is tasked with completing. From the show’s start, Mark’s job at the Macrodata Refinement department involves sorting some encrypted numbers that trigger emotional responses, which, according to Cobel, are Kier’s Four Tempers: Woe, Frolic, Dread, and Malice, with each element representing Gemma’s personality.
The actual horror of this project is revealed in the season finale. It turns out that Cold Harbour is a psychological experiment designed to test how effectively the Severance technology can suppress emotional trauma.
This is proved when Gemma enters the Cold Harbor room and is instructed to dismantle a crib. Knowing fully that this represented a deeper pain in her, as she can never conceive naturally, the company wanted to monitor her response to this action. However, because of Lumon’s conditioning, she performs it without any distress, proving the technology’s success in erasing even the most deeply ingrained attachments.
Although the later season will reveal the true purpose of Cold Harbor, we’re all convinced this is just the beginning, as Lumon views this project as more than an experiment, but rather a part of their disturbing ritual. This can be linked to Lumon’s bizarre ceremony of sacrificing a goat, which is meant to guide the spirit of their founder Kier.
Why Is Gemma So Important To Cold Harbor?
Miss Casey, aka Gemma, is vital to Cold Harbor as she is the ultimate proof that Lumon’s Severance technology can control human emotions at a horrific level.
While in the MDR department, Mark unknowingly helps program a version of Gemma who follows Lumon’s instructions without question. This makes her a perfect test subject for Cold Harbor’s experiments, as her severed mind can be manipulated in ways that other employees cannot.
However, Lumon sees everyone as expendable. The ritualistic tendencies of this company are built on the principle of sacrifice that once a subject has served its purpose, it can be disposed of, just like the goats that have been repeatedly sacrificed.
During one of the scenes, the goatherd leading the Mammalians Nurturable department, named Lorne, complains about how many test subjects have already been eliminated.
This could hint that Gemma may be far from the first person to undergo all this. With Gemma now aware of Lumon’s non-ethical practices by the end of the season, she’s in more danger than ever. Whether she can escape and expose the truth, we’ll have to wait and see.
