10 Biggest Severance Season 3 Story Setups & Teases

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Severance season 2.

In the final episode of Severance season 2, the sci-fi series set up a number of storylines for Mark and his peers that will inevitably continue into the following season. Severance first premiered on Apple TV+ in 2022 and told the story of Mark Scout, a man who works on the severed floor of a dangerous company called Lumon. Season 1 saw Mark and his colleagues starting a rebellion inside Lumon, and season 2 followed up with even more mysteries and secret plans. Now, Severance season 3 will hopefully see these plots expanded even further.

In particular, Severance season 2’s finale gave the next installment a lot to work with. The episode shows Mark S. returning to Lumon and finishing Cold Harbor. He is awarded with a campy musical performance, led by Milchick, before he manages to escape in order to save Gemma. After a bloody confrontation with Drummond, Mark leads Gemma out of Lumon. However, in the moment when Mark is supposed to follow Gemma out of the building, he decides to go back with Helly instead. This is where Severance season 3 is likely to jump off from.

10

Mark, Helly, & Dylan Face The Consequences

What Lumon Will Do To Mark

One of the first storylines that Severance season 3 will have to carry out is what happens to Mark, Helly, and Dylan. In the season 2 finale, all three of them go against Lumon in increasingly damaging ways. Dylan helps keep Milchick trapped in the bathroom, Helly assaults Milchick with a trombone, and Mark accidentally kills Drummond before entirely destroying the Cold Harbor project. Without a doubt, Lumon will have some form of retaliation against its employees.

The big question is what Lumon will do in Severance season 3. Mark harmed Lumon in a massive way, and this may lead to him getting fired and having his microchip removed, which would essentially kill his innie. On the other hand, because Cold Harbor has been ruined, perhaps Lumon needs Mark, and will keep him confined in the building until he can rebuild what he lost. Then again, Lumon must stay good in the eyes of the law, so the possibilities here are somewhat endless.

9

Mark & Gemma’s Not-So-Happy Reunion

Gemma’s Story Needs More Answers

Another major plot point that must happen in Severance season 3 is a real reunion between Mark and Gemma. Although the couple have an emotional moment immediately after Gemma’s release, Mark’s innie ends up leaving Gemma for Helly. Outie Mark will definitely have some explaining to do once he and Gemma can be together again. Of course, that is also assuming that Gemma does get out of Lumon and isn’t recaptured before she has a chance to get out of the building.

In a similar vein, Severance will have to offer more answers about what happened to Gemma. Harmony Cobel explained to Mark that Cold Harbor was him building different identities for Gemma, but there has yet to be an explanation as to how Gemma became Lumon’s subject in the first place. Once Gemma is finally safe, Severance will have to give her a chance to explain what happened to her after the car accident that was supposed to have taken her life.

8

Harmony Cobel’s Real Intentions

What Salt’s Neck Has To Do With Mark’s Story

Aside from the explosive events Mark carries out in Severance season 2’s finale, the second season also sets up intriguing stories for a number of its supporting characters. One of those is Harmony Cobel. In Severance season 2, episode 8, audiences follow Cobel as she returns to the town where she grew up. She soon reveals that severance was her own idea, but Jame Eagan took credit for it. Essentially, Cobel gave her whole life to Lumon, only for them to leave her high and dry, which is presumably why she is working against them.

Of course, Cobel’s intentions aren’t entirely clear though. She may be anti-Lumon now, and she certainly helped Mark in important ways, but Severance still hasn’t revealed her end goal. Cobel may want to take down Lumon once and for all, or she is simply biding her time until she can regain some semblance of power. Either way, Severance season 3 will most likely expand on Cobel and her role in the grand scheme of things. Salt’s Neck will also probably come back into play, as it represents Lumon’s disastrous effect on communities.

7

Irving Takes On A New Life

How Irving Can Reconnect With Mark & The Others

Irving is another character who gets a massive transformation in Severance season 2. After being fired by Lumon and reconnecting with Burt as his outie, Irving decides to leave town in order to get as far away from Lumon as possible. It isn’t clear where he’s going, but it seems inevitable that Severance season 3 will revisit Irving in this new era of his life. Perhaps, away from Lumon, he will get information that no one else is privy to. On the other hand, maybe Lumon will keep an eye on him, putting him in more danger.

Also, a mystery that audiences will have to wait for is whether Irving will ever get to reconnect with Mark, Helly, and Dylan. With none of his innie’s memories, Irving has no concept of who Mark, Helly, and Dylan are. Yet, they technically live in the same world and could conceivably be reunited somehow. In Severance season 3, we will find out if Irving’s story is coming to an end or if he will simply play a different role in the fight against Lumon.

6

Milchick Will Have To Pick A Side

Will Milchick Become Part Of The Rebellion?

One of Severance’s most compelling supporting characters is Mr. Milchick, and his story is amplified in season 2. After being promoted to head of the severed floor, Milchick finds himself struggling to control Mark and under scrutiny by his Lumon superiors. Although Milchick does his best to complete his job, there are moments when he pushes back against Lumon in interesting ways. In Severance season 3, it may be possible that audiences will see Milchick switch sides.

There is a chance that Milchick will become allies with Mark, Helly, and Dylan in Severance season 3. After telling Drummond to “devour feculence,” Milchick has shown that he doesn’t appreciate all of Lumon’s critiques against him, and perhaps there is a side of him that can understand the innie struggle. Even if this isn’t the case, it seems inevitable that Milchick will finally lose his cool in Severance season 3, offering a better look at his true feelings.

5

Miss Huang’s New Lumon Assignment

How Miss Huang Connects To The Larger Story

Severance season 2’s finale offers endings (satisfying or not) to almost all of its characters, yet one who doesn’t show up is Miss Huang. The young girl who works as the deputy manager of the severed floor is sent away by Mr. Milchick right before the end of the season. Milchick explains that she will be sent away to fulfill her next role for Lumon, but there is no clarity about what this will entail or where she is headed. Hopefully, this won’t be the last we see of Miss Huang.

One interesting thought is that Miss Huang’s storyline parallels that of Cobel. Perhaps, like Cobel, Miss Huang comes from a town where Lumon has a strong grip over the community, pulling people into the organization from a young age. There is a chance that, like Cobel, Miss Huang is being trained for some higher purpose at Lumon, and audiences will get to see glimpses of this in the next season.

4

Ricken’s Role In Lumon & Beyond

Severance Season 3 Needs To Give Ricken More Screen Time

One final side character who will likely return in Severance season 3 is Ricken. Devon’s husband has mostly come across as an oblivious and egotistical person, whose book strangely resonated with the innies on the severed floor. In season 2, he plays a much smaller role, although it is revealed that he will be writing a new version specifically for innies funded by Lumon. In this way, Ricken may be influenced by Lumon in season 3.

If anything, Severance season 3 needs to drop more hints about what Ricken’s role is in the series. He was less important in Severance season 2, but the small moments he did have implied that something bigger could be coming. Ideally, it would be great to see what Ricken’s new book means for Lumon and how he will have an effect on Mark’s story and the Severance story as a whole.

3

Helly’s Future As An Eagan

Helly May Take Helena’s Place

A particularly compelling storyline that Severance set up in season 2 is Jame Eagan’s interest in Helly. In one of the last episodes of the season, Jame approaches Helly on the severed floor and reveals that she has the spirit of Kier in her, which no one else seems to have, including her outie, Helena. Jame does not explain what this means or what he intends to do with this information, but one guess is that Helly will be given a higher purpose at Lumon in season 3.

There is a chance that Severance season 3 will see Helly taken away from the severed floor somehow to become Jame’s heir. Clearly, Helly wants nothing to do with Lumon or its leadership, but she may have no choice but to spend more time with Jame. This will also create an interesting tension between Helly and Helena, who are very different. Ultimately, Severance season 3 will have to follow through with this strange conversation.

2

Mark’s Next Reintegration Attempt

Reintegration Might Not Work (Or Be The Best Option)

In Severance season 2, Mark starts the process of reintegrating himself and his innie. He eventually becomes too sick to continue, but the end of the season implies that Mark may want to finish out the process. More likely than not, we will see this intention come to fruition in season 3. Whether his innie wants it or not, Mark may try to finish reintegrating, and this could lead to disaster, both physical and mental, for Mark and his innie.

What makes the reintegration plot important is that it puts Mark at risk in two different ways. On one hand, Mark could get sick again from the reintegration process, and it could end up killing him. On the other, Mark could succeed, but his innie would lack the agency he once had, turning Mark into a completely different version of himself. Either way, reintegration is likely to come back up in Severance season 3.

1

Lumon’s Ultimate Goal

What Lumon Will Do After Cold Harbor

Last but not least, the mystery that Severance is constantly leading up to is what Lumon is really doing. Severance season 2 provided more answers about what Mark and his co-workers are doing in the Macrodata Refinement Department, but it is still unclear what Lumon is actually trying to do. A popular theory is that, using severed identities and baby goats, the company is trying to reincarnate Kier Eagan. Severance season 3 will come closer to proving or disproving this idea.

The first stepping stone of solving this mystery in Severance season 3 will be seeing what Lumon’s next move is. After Severance season 1’s ending, Lumon’s main goal was to get Mark to finish Cold Harbor, no matter the cost. Now that the project has been destroyed, Lumon will have to start over again, and it’s up in the air whether Mark will be a part of this. Ultimately, this is the throughline that keeps Severance going, no matter the season.