Severance Season 2 Episode 3 Ending Explained: Why Mark Agrees To Reghabi's Plan
Breaking down Severance season 2 ep. 3's ending.
Warning! This article contains spoilers for Severance season 2's episode 3.
Severance season 2 episode 3's ending not only marks Reghabi's return but also paves the way for a significant change in Mark's story. Unlike Severance season 1, which gradually raised its tension to build up to the biggest twists in its overarching storyline, season 2 does not hold back from delivering one surprising reveal after another in its opening episodes itself. Although the Apple TV+ sci-fi show has been hinting that Mark would agree to reintegrate for quite some time, it is surprising that he took the decision so early on Severance season 2.
The implications of Mark's decision will determine the narrative direction of Severance season 2's future episodes as it sets in motion a new phase of his quest to find the truth about Gemma. Ms. Cobel, too, seems to be on somewhat of a redemptive journey in Severance season 2, given how she is starting to lose faith in the company she remained loyal to for so long. With so much going on in Severance season 2's episode 3, it seems necessary to break down the key turning points and how they will shape the show's future episodes.
Why Mark Finally Agrees To Reintegrate In Severance Season 2 Episode 3His Desperation To Find His Wife Drives Him
Mark's encounter with Cobel in Severance season 2 episode 2's ending makes him wonder whether his wife, Gemma, could still be alive in the Lumon building. Owing to this, he tries to find a way to communicate with his innie in episode 3. This is when he crosses paths with Reghabi, who previously tried to convince him to reintegrate. Reghabi asks him if his innie said anything about Gemma being alive during the Overtime Contingency incident. With this, Mark realizes that Reghabi, too, has seen his wife alive in the Lumon building.
RelatedHow Severance Works (& Why It's Terrifying)
Severance season 1 slowly revealed how Luman Industries' severance process worked, with each new revelation being more sinister than the previous one.
When he asks Reghabi about her, she reveals Gemma was alive and well the last time she saw her in Lumon. Mark joined Lumon as a severed employee because he struggled to deal with the grief of losing his wife. Learning that she might still be out there shocks him, forcing him to resort to extreme measures to find the truth about her fate. He was previously afraid of reintegration after seeing its negative effects on Petey. However, after he learns about Gemma, the mere prospect of seeing her again drives him to care less about the side effects and more about reuniting with her.
The Reintegration Process In Severance Season 2 Episode 3's Ending ExplainedReghabi Uses A Form Of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation For Reintegration
Reghabi's setup in Severance season 2 episode 3's ending primarily includes an electric pulse generator and a magnetic coil. With this setup, she induces electric currents into Mark's brain through a process called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which, in real life, is used for activating less active or inactive brain regions. Since Mark's innie brain is inactive when the outie takes over, the electric pulses help increase activity in his innie brain as well.
While stimulating his brain with the electric pulses, she asks him questions about both his innie and outie's lives. She does this to ensure that Mark also consciously makes an effort to overlap his innie and outie memories by bridging the gap between them. Reghabi gradually increases the level of difficulty of the questions so that Mark does not experience a lot of cognitive load.
When the reintegration finally happens, both innie and outie waves in the oscilloscope intersect, leaving Mark with a unified sense of self.
To finally complete the process and converge his innie and outie personas, she asks a question that establishes a common ground between both personas: "What is your earliest memory?" This convergence is reflected in the oscilloscope that initially shows two separate waves for his two personas. When the reintegration finally happens, both innie and outie waves in the oscilloscope intersect, leaving Mark with a unified sense of self.
When Irving visits the O&D department in Severance season 2's episode 3 to ask them whether they have seen Gemma, he runs into Felicia. The two reminisce about their time with Burt, and Irv even shows her how he has been sketching a picture of Burt almost every day in his notebook. This is when Felicia notices a sketch of the dark corridor that Irving recreates from his outie's paintings. She reveals it is the "Exports Hall." Although she seems clueless about where it goes, she claims O&D sent some shipments there before "a guy" took up the role.
Severance Key Facts Breakdown
Created By
Dan Erickson
Rotten Tomatoes Critics' Score
97%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
84%
Streaming On
Apple TV+
Milchick performed the Overtime Contingency Protocol in Severance season 1 after Dylan stole a card from the O&D. A closer look at the O&D cards suggests they feature fatal combat moves an individual can perform on another. If O&D was sending similar training cards to the testing room through the Exports Hall, Lumon might have been using the cards to train certain individuals. The company might be "refining" part-timers like Ms. Casey through the MDR and O&D departments before "exporting" them to the outside world to perform tasks for Lumon.
...Individuals sent to the testing floor are probably being trained to perform high-stakes, covert operations under the guise of corporate work before being "exported" to carry out missions.
In The Lexington Letter, a severed Lumon worker's outie manages to get in touch with her innie by using a secret symbol-based language. Through these letters, she learns the nature of her innie's work and realizes that it might have something to do with a real-world terrorist incident that caused harm to one of Lumon's biggest competitors. This raises the possibility that individuals sent to the testing floor are probably being trained to perform high-stakes, covert operations under the guise of corporate work before being "exported" to carry out missions.
Why The Mammalians Check Helly & Mark For Pouches On Their BelliesTheir Suspicion Stems From A Rumor
In Severance season 1, Burt revealed that a rumor surrounding the Marcodata Refinement employees suggests that they are all marsupials and have Goa’uld-like larvae in the pouches around their stomachs. It is believed that the larvae will one day eat the MDR workers and fully replace them. The Mammalians have seemingly caught the wind of similar rumors, explaining why they ask Helly and Mark to lift their shirts to check them for pouches.
While it remains unknown where these rumors stem from, Dylan, too, has bizarre theories about the O&D workers in Severance season 1. This seems to establish that someone from the higher-ups intentionally spreads these rumors to ensure the departments stay away from one another. They probably do this because a union between various departments could eventually pave the way for massive rebellions against Lumon.
She Feels Threatened By Helena's Driver
Cobel gives Helena a final chance to have her back at Lumon by saying she will only join as an MDR worker. When their interaction gets heated, Helena calls Natalie and asks her to arrange a meeting with the Board. Although Cobel initially seems keen on knowing what the Board has to say about her willingness to return as the severed floor's head, she suddenly backs off from the Lumon building and returns to her car after seeing Helena's driver.
Severance season 2 is scheduled to have a total of 10 episodes.
Her reaction suggests that she suddenly realizes what Helena and Lumon are capable of doing to her. In Severance season 2's episode 2, Helena assures Cobel that Lumon is not scared of anyone when Cobel threatens to expose them. It seems like she finally understands that the company cares little about her well-being and would get her out of the way if she did not comply with them. Therefore, she backs off before anyone from Lumon can harm her.
Why Lumon Wants To Create An Innie Version Of Ricken's "The You You Are"The Book Could Be An Effective Device To Control The MDR Workers
Lumon realizes that Ricken's book played a crucial role in encouraging the MDR workers to start a rebellion and fight against the exploitative system they were trapped in. They also realized that certain words and sentences in the book left a heavy impact on the Lumon employees, evoking feelings of autonomy and self-worth. Therefore, to use this to their advantage, Lumon seemingly hopes to harness the impact of the book by turning it into a manipulation device to control the employees.
One of Kier Eagan's quotes highlights how he believed that "the surest way to tame a prisoner is to let him believe he's free." Following Kier's words, Lumon seemingly wants to sell a false sense of freedom to the MDR workers by giving them access to a new version of Ricken's "The You You Are." By doing this, the central company in Severance only wants to reinforce its control over the workers by giving them the illusion of autonomy.
Your RatingSeverance
Release Date
February 18, 2022
Showrunner
Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman
Severance is a psychological thriller series featuring Adam Scott as Mark Scout, an employee at Lumon Industries who undergoes a "severance" procedure to separate his work and personal memories. However, as work and life personas mysteriously begin to collide, it quickly becomes clear that not all is as it seems. Created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle, Severance is one of the biggest hits on Apple TV+.