One Severance season 2 fan theory gives even bleaker meaning to Mark S's Cold Harbor mission

This article contains major spoilers for Severance season 2, episode 10.

Following the Apple TV Plus show's thrilling season 2 finale, Severance fans are trying to unpick what that 'Cold Harbor' reveal *really* means – and some of their theories are soul-crushing.

In episode 10, viewers learned that 'Cold Harbor' was a codename for a set of numbers Mark S. had to sort down in Macrodata Refinement, and that said "files" made up different personalities for his wife Gemma's innies. Mark S. mentions to Harmony Cobel, as she's telling all, that he's sorted 24 files so far, which essentially means that Gemma has lived as 24 alternative people since she was severed by Lumon. Given that she's not allowed to leave like the others, it's heart-breaking.

What's worse is that the 25th rodeo was set to be Gemma's last, so to prevent her from being wiped entirely, Mark S. and Outie Mark staged a rescue mission – which culminated in Mark S. helping Gemma regain her consciousness and break out of Lumon, before he decided to stay behind with Helly R.

"Cold Harbor was about testing whether the barrier could hold and a severed person not feel anything their outie would have felt. Of all people, it was [Innie] Mark passing that test and feeling nothing for Gemma at the stairwell door in the end," a Reddit user speculated shortly after the latest chapter aired, suggesting that 'Cold Harbor' was Mark S's mission all along and Gemma was just collateral damage.

Others echoed the sentiment, but claimed that Lumon was also evaluating Gemma's ability to retain her memories, too, which one writing: "In the Gemma centric episode, she gave Mark s**t about him not being able to build a crib. I think she wound up building that crib and not being able to have a child was obviously a traumatizing thing for her.

"They had her in her old clothes taking apart the crib she built to she if she felt an ounce of emotion over it. All of the other innies bring their shit with them in a sense, the sadness in Mark's eyes, the dark hallway in Irv's dreams, etc. But that was the ultimate test to see if there was anything of the old Gemma inside of that innie, having her slowly take apart a crib that meant so much to her on the outside without breaking down."

"That makes Mark the perfect worker that Lumon should be after," wrote one more, as they referred to Helly R's outie Helena Eagan: "He even follows the future CEO without question."

"Or Innie Mark did not trust Outie Mark at all," argued another, while a fifth said: "I think it's this and anyone thinking it's deeper than that is wrong lol. Mark never seemed to have any feelings towards Ms Casey so [Innie] Mark being nonreactive to Gemma makes sense."

Fortunately, we know some sort of closure is coming, or some semblance of closure, at least – this is Severance, after all – now that Apple TV Plus has officially renewed the show for a third season. The streamer announced the news on March 21, just a few hours after the season 2 finale went live.

"The idea of getting to make more Severance with the greatest cast and crew on Earth is more thrilling to me than all the world's finger traps combined," said creator Dan Erickson. "I can't wait to continue spreading woe, frolic, dread and malice with these truly incredible people."

Severance seasons 1 and 2 are streaming now. For more, check out our picks of the best Apple TV shows or our guide to all we know so far about Severance season 3.