shades-of-severance

[shades-of-severance]

A reintegrated Mark takes Helena up on her offer to hear more about his Severance experience and get to the bottom of Lumon's intentions. A post-Zufu divergence mini-fic.

One week later. A shady bar on the outskirts of Kier. Mark meets Helena again for a drink...

He decided to push a little further. "I heard you got severed, too."

Her expression went guarded. "I did.”

He shrugged. "Can I ask why?"

She answered crisply: “I believe in the procedure. My family wouldn't promote it for our workers unless we genuinely felt it benefited them."

He tilted his head. “Sure… that’s what you have to tell the cameras, right?”

Her jaw clenched. "It's the truth."

"Right." He took a sip of beer. “So you've always been like this? Preaching the wonders of Lumon from birth?"

She let out a slight snort. "I've always abided by the Nine Core Principles, if that's what you're asking."

He raised a brow. "What are those again?"

Without missing a beat, she rattled them off:

"Vision, Verve, Wit, Cheer, Humility, Benevolence, Nimbleness, Probity, Wiles."

Mark gave a low whistle. “Impressive.”

Helena shrugged. “My father used to make me recite them before bed every night.”

"And then there’s the Four Tempers, right? Frolic, Dread, Woe, and… “Malice.” “Those are the ones you have to watch out for."

She bobbed her head. "Tame." She paused, swirling her beer. "I haven't always done a great job on that front…"

“Oh yeah?” He leaned forward slightly. "Which ones did you, uh, succumb to?"

She arched a brow. "I need another drink…”

He rose, heading to the bar, telling himself to keep his composure. This was going well; she was loosening up. He purchased two fresh bottles and came back. 

"There. I paid, so now you owe me a story."

Helena exhaled and rolled her eyes theatrically. "I'm really not that interesting. I mostly work and go home."

Mark pinned her with a look. "What? You scared now? Afraid I'll find out you're human?"

Her eyes flashed. "Fine. If you insist on hearing something... scandalous." She took a drink. "I went to this all-girls boarding school. Myrtle Eagan's School for Girls."

Mark set his elbows on the table. "See, this is not a boring."

A sligh,t but still detectable grin formed. "I might've broken curfew a couple times. Snuck a couple drinks.… occasionally fraternized with the, uh, opposite sex."

Mark's eyes glinted. "All things you're... kinda doing right now, ironically."

"Don't get me pulled out of Myrtle Eagan's all over again."

"So, if I manage to curb all my sinful impulses, I get-what?"

She set her bottle down. "The text says, ‘Should you tame the tempers as I did mine, then the world shall become but your appendage."

Mark chuckled, "That's... a choice of words."

"Yeah," she snickered, "it reads like a really bad euphemism."

He smirked. "Well I guess I need to tame my tempers. Right now, l'm dealing with a pretty average appendage. Mediocre at best."

"I doubt that…,” She replied softly and for a second, the air between them lit up with tension and heat. She cleared her throat and tried to regroup. "Sorry, that was... I crossed a line."

Mark's heart thudded. "I don't think you mind crossing lines," The memory of the ORTBO night flashed, an image of her in that tent. He couldn't chase it away.

[shades-of-severance]

a dribble: helly's reintegration...

Helly wakes up staring into blinding light.

Her throat is already dry, and she croaks out the next couple words, mid-sentence: “Forgive me for the harm I have caused this world...”

It’s her voice, but not quite. It's younger and child-like.

She looks down at her hands and finds them smaller as they lay flat on the table in front of her. The hands of a girl probably no older than ten.

Not her hands as she knows them. Helena's.

She continues reciting the statement on her own, and somewhere inside herself, Helly can feel wants to mean it. She wants it to be true so badly.

"...I am thankful to have been caught, my fall cut short by those with wizened hands."

Her father is in front of her, younger than she's seen him by at least a decade or two. He's sharp and unsympathetic as he stares at her. “You know we’ll do it a thousand more times if we need to.”

Helly wants to scream or cry. Attack, even. But she's paralyzed. Fully at the mercy of the memory her mind has forced her to witness and the dark shadow of the man before her.

"Again," He says.

“Forgive me for the harm I have caused this world."

[shades-of-severance]

Mark S. begins to glitch again while he and Helly are barricaded inside the severed floor. His health declines and he gets worse.

Helly feels helpless.

Dylan suggests that they use the glasgow block to talk to Helena to see if she can help save Mark.

Helly scoffs. There's no way her evil outtie would help Mark.

Dylan is not so sure. He saw Helena with Mark, and he doesn't think it was all an act. Also, having gone through his own experience with his outtie, he understands how love can transcend the severance barrier and believes Helena can feel the love Helly has for Mark and is predisposed to having her own feelings for him.

Desperate, Helly agrees to ask Helena for help...

[shades-of-severance]

Devon & Ms. Casey

Gemma escaped Lumon – but Cobel, who never intended to help Mark or Gemma and only sought to preserve her own creations, permanently turns Gemma into Ms. Casey before dispearing.

Now, Devon finds herself responsible for a woman who’s only a few hours old, has never been outside, and looks exactly like her presumed-dead sister-in-law. Devon and Ricken take Ms. Casey in, caring for her and trying – futilely – to trigger old memories, but the severance barrier ultimately holds.

Ms. Casey senses their disappointment. She knows they want her to be someone she’s not – but she can’t help who she is.

In time, though, Ms. Casey begins to form her own identity. She is like Gemma in some ways, but clearly her own person. As a genunine friendship develops, Devon comes to a realization: the innies are people and what she and her brother asked of Innie Mark was horrible. Worse still, if Lumon is brought down, Devon may be complicit in erasing countless innies – people who, like Ms. Casey, are just as real and human as anyone else.

[shades-of-severance]

Thinking about Helly deciding they needs to speak with Helena to get more information on Lumon while they're barricaded on the Severed Floor... so her and Mark return to the conference room where Helly first woke up...

"Hi there, you on the table..."

"Who is that?"

"Five questions."

"Mark??"

[shades-of-severance]

White

At Kier's and Lumon's mercy.

Similar to Blue, White in Severance symbolizes ultimate Kier control or total submission to Lumon, with characters often portrayed as being at its mercy.

The Severed Floor: The most dominant use of the color White. The entire floor is under Lumon’s control, with its severed workforce wholly subject to its will.

Helly: When Helly feels most trapped by Lumon, she often appears in White rather than her usual Blue or Green.

Helena: In a parallel, Helena wears White when it is first announced in Season 2 that she will be sent to the severed floor. We also see her in White during her morning swim at the Eagan home—a space that is itself starkly White, echoing Helly’s sterile prison.

The Kier's Most Faithful Servants: Strict adherents to the Kier ideology often appear dressed in bright White.

Snowy Environments: Outside the severed floor, Lumon-controlled environments are frequently blanketed in snow, including the ORTBO retreat and the entire town of Kier.

[shades-of-severance]

Coordinated.

"And to think I wore this nice-ass shirt for her today."

"When you picked that shirt, you didn’t know she existed."

"Well, maybe love transcends severance."

Severance. Ep 106.

[shades-of-severance]

Purple

A Movement Color. Blue ⇾ Red.

Purple is often used in Severance to symbolize a movement from Lumon-controlled blue to passionate red — usually for love.

Music Dance Experience: Before the room turns distinctly red at the end of the MDE, when Dylan bites Milchick, we see purple lighting as Dylan's priorities actively change in front of us—from earning Lumon perks to wanting to know his family.

The Purple Room: Seen several times throughout Seasons 1 and 2. First, when Helly is being taken from the conference room to the stairwell. Then again in Season 1, when Mark asks Helly to join him in mapping the severed floor — a significant act of rebellion from Mark, done for Helly. In Season 2, we see the room twice: first when Mark runs by it as he searches for Ms. Casey, and once again when Mark and Helly return to the room to make love for the first time.

Irving Turns on Kier: During the egg bar scene in Season 1 (coveted as fuck), Irving stares at a painting of Kier before he smashes an egg inside one of the handbooks—once one of the most valued things in his life — until Burt.

Purple Breakroom Chairs: Unsure if they will return to their jobs at Lumon after the OTC, MDR sits on purple chairs, symbolizing their move from good Lumon employees to rebels.

Gretchen: Dylan’s outtie spouse is dressed in purple as he continues to find new passion outside of MDR with her.

“Hang in There”: Irving’s last message to MDR—helping his found family rebel, hidden behind a poster of their first act of defiance.

Gemma on the Severed Floor: As Mark undergoes reintegration so he can literally break Gemma out of Lumon because he loves her, she appears to him in purple.

[shades-of-severance]

Color Theory Breakdown: Mark S. meets Mark Scout

Dissecting the use of color and what it may hint.

Mark Scout is lit in BLUE when speaking to Mark S. Blue is used in Severance when Lumon is present. It could be assumed that while Mark Scout films his appeal to Mark S., he is unwittingly under Lumon's influence.

Conversely, while Mark S. films his responses, there is NO blue. In fact there only seems to be hints of RED (usually meant for passion).

BLUE does begin to creep into frame for Mark S. when Cobel is speaking to him and attempting to talk him into completing the plan. Her plan. I think it's significant that Cobel does not answer Mark S. when she asks why she's doing this, nor does she ever mention that he should do it for Mark Scout or Gemma. I think this presence of blue may not be Lumon related directly... but may hint at Cobel's possible goal of preserving the Severance program. Thus the blue.

Finally, BLUE swallows Mark S. as he storms out of the birthing cabin seemingly agreeing to go along with Cobel's plan.

[shades-of-severance]

Red

Passion/Love/Rage/Unbridled Emotion

Red appears most prominently in emotionally charged scenes. Be it rage, passion, or love. Helly’s Escape Attempts: When Helly tries to escape via the elevator and stairway door, the scenes are lit with red, capturing her raw desperation.

Dylan Bites Milchick: The moment Dylan snaps is steeped in red tones, highlighting his sudden burst of rage.

Ricken’s Book: Ricken is full of big emotions and philosophical rants and often is associated with red.

Gemma's Barrier Testing Red: When Gemma's innie's are subjected to finished files, they're often in red when her innie is under the most stress.

Natalie’s Red Attire: Whenever Natalie fiercely defends Lumon (on TV and at the gala), she’s wearing red.

Helly R’s Red Hair: Notably down on the Severed Floor where she is at most outwardly emotional, but when she’s Outie Helena, her hair is often pulled back—like she’s trying to restrain her more emotional side.

Myrtle Eagan: Her statue is wearing bright red when we hear her backstory about how she determinedly pursued being CEO at a young age.

Cobel's Faith: Cobel's home is routinely lit in blue, accept at her alter to Kier where it is shown in shades of red.

Mark and Hellyna's Developing Love: Routinely in red. ❤️

[shades-of-severance]

Blue

Lumon control/influence

Lumon: Blue is heavily associated with Lumon and often appears when Lumon influence or control is present.

Blue Lighting in Outie Scenes: Mark’s life outside Lumon frequently has a cool, bluish tint. We see this same tint in Cobel’s home reinforcing the idea that even outside the office, Lumon is lurking.

Mark’s Return Balloons: When Mark returns to work, his face is printed on blue Lumon balloons as a reminder of Lumon attempt to keep Mark under their thumb.

Costuming: Ms. Cobel is often shown in blue, and the innies themselves frequently wear blue tones.

Helena's Chip: When Helena receives her implant, the x-ray it lit blue tint.

(Theories. Only theories.)

[shades-of-severance]

Green. innocence/ignorance.

One of the three core colors of Severance, green often appears in various shades in moments of innocence or ignorance. Aside from MDR, green is also more prominently featured in season 1 when the characters are more in the dark about Lumon's intentions.

Green Helly’s Introduction: When Helly first appears on the table in the orientation room, we see a bright green carpet and matching lighting in the control room as Mark and Irving ask her questions. Helly has no idea who she is or why she's there, while Mark stumbles through his first time doing an orientation. The Office: The biggest use of green in the show is on the Macro Data Refinement floor where the innies work tirelessly without understanding the purpose of their tasks. Ignorance personified.

Gemma’s Photos: We see green in some old images of Gemma, hinting at a blissfully innocent time in her and Mark’s past.

Irv & Bert in the Plant Room: The green plant setting underscores their blossoming and innocent love. Mark’s Green Bathroom: Petey’s breakdown in Mark’s bathroom shows his confusion for what is real and what is not. Helena Get's Her Chip: As Helena undergoes the severance procedure, her head is carefully cradled in a green medical cloth as she is unaware of what awaits her after she severs. (Theories. Only theories.)