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What Is Irving Really Up to? My New ‘Severance’ Season 2 Episode 5 Theory Is a Doozy

He’s the ultimate Trojan Horse

severance season 2 episode 5 theory irving
AppleTV+

It’s been a tough season two for poor Irving on Severance (which streams on Apple TV+). First, he loses Burt, the love of his (innie) life. Then, he wakes up in a frozen tundra where nobody believes him about Helena posing as Helly and nobody will let him eat a seal. Now, he’s officially fired and remembered only as a smiling head of watermelon. Thems the breaks.

But coming out of the most recent season two episode (aptly named, “Trojan Horse”), I have a new theory about what he’s been up to, and how at least some of this is part of his plan.

severance season 2 episode 5 theory irving
AppleTV+

The Theory

Outie Irving has been communicating with his innie through his dreams, in order to break into the exports hall and uncover secrets about the “Montauk” project.

severance season 2 episode 5 irving theory
AppleTV+

The Evidence

We’ve known for a while that, in his sleep deprived state, Irv’s memories can seep from one side of his severed brain to the other (the elevator he paints as an outie, the black paint that oozes all over his desk as in innie). We also know that his outie—who keeps a trunk in his closet with old navy medals and an article about suing Lumon for workplace injury—has been investigating Lumon and tracking severed employees throughout the town of Kier.

This season, his investigation has become more overt. We’ve seen him, now twice, go into a phone booth and report on the work of his innie. The first time, he says that his innie received his message. The second, he worries, “I think they know what my innie was up to.”

We don’t yet know who he is talking to. (An inside mole? An outside revolutionary like Reghabi? Ms. Cobel, as one redditor posits?) But we do know that innie and outie have been trading information back and forth—mostly about the look and location of the down elevator (information he hid behind the “hang in there,” poster for Dylan), but also about certain events outie Irv would like his innie to look into.

This comes to pass, most notably, when Irv falls asleep against a rock in “Woe’s Hollow,” and dreams, among other things, of a computer with a file entitled “Montauk” along with a very specific number sequence. This, I believe, was a message from his outie.

severance season 2 episode 5 theory irving f8fb37
AppleTV+

Ok, So What Is Montauk?

Well, per more deep dives in Reddit and per Wikipedia, this probably refers to the Montauk Project, a conspiracy theory dating back to the 1940s that “alleges there were a series of United States government projects conducted at Camp Hero or Montauk Air Force Station…for the purpose of developing psychological warfare techniques and exotic research including time travel.” Alleged subjects reported recovering repressed memories of torture, which were the direct result of the research teams trying to disjoint (or, ahem, sever) their minds.

Short story: It probably didn’t happen, but if it did, it was a massive government cover-up.

severance season 2 episode 5 irving theory
AppleTV+

But Bringing it Back to Irving

The retro Navy paraphernalia makes me wonder if Irv’s father was somehow involved in this project, either as a researcher or a subject, himself (which would give Irving something in common with Cobel, who is also investigating/avenging on the behalf of a parent). Does Irv think Lumon was behind the Montauk Project (and thereafter tried to cover it up)? Does he think that there’s something in the exports hall that could verify this claim? And has he been sending encrypted messages to himself—perhaps through the dream-state number sequence, which sure seems like it could be military code…?

I also wonder if there was something about his relationship with Burt that threatened to uncover more about Montauk. After all, we thought Burt was retired after a lengthy career. But, in this episode, Burt’s outie tells us he was fired for having a romantic “entanglement.” Maybe the Lumon overlords needed to get him out quickly before he risked telling Iriving something important?

Either way, I can’t wait to meet Burt’s husband, Fields, who has his own theories and can maybe shine more light on the matter. Also: Ham and expensive wine. My kind of meal!

severance season 2 episode 5 theory irving 78f9b3
AppleTV+

Couple More Things

  • I can’t take credit for this theory, but others have noticed that ORTBO (the team offsite from episode 4) is an acronym for ROBOT and Dieter Eagan is an anagram for “AI generated.” Could it be that we’re dealing less with clones, and more with robots?
  • At the beginning of this episode, we see somebody going down to the exports hall with a bunch of dental tools, and later we hear mention of innies “who die on the floor.” A) Grim! B) Are they extracting teeth from dead employees/car crash victims so they can’t be identified by their dental records?
  • We’ve now seen a few instances of Milchick feeling uncomfortable about the paintings he was given and his role within Lumon. Is he starting to realize the board’s claims of inclusivity are platitudes? Could he turn?!?
  • No Cobel for a few episodes. Mark my words: She’s lurking. Possibly at the other end of Irv’s phone call.

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jillian quint editor in chief purewow

Editor-in-Chief

  • Oversees editorial content and strategy
  • Covers parenting, home and pop culture
  • Studied English literature at Vassar College

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