Sumith Prasad
The second season of Apple TV+’s science fiction series ‘Severance’ begins with immersing viewers in the ambiguity surrounding “Cold Harbor,” a file Mark Scout refines as an employee of Lumon Industries’ Macrodata Refinement (MDR) division. The seventh episode of the installment further reveals that there is a secret room named after the document, which is part of the series of experiments involving Gemma (Ms. Casey). The sophomore season’s finale provides much more clarity regarding the file and the mysterious chamber. After a long wait, Gemma enters the room and encounters something closely associated with her life, which is key to figuring out what Cold Harbor really is! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Cold Harbor Tests Gemma’s Response to an Emotional Trigger
The mystery behind Cold Habor starts with the file or the set of numbers Mark Scout refines as his twenty-fifth assignment. From Harmony Cobel, we know that the collected numbers or data create a new consciousness, persona, or even an innie for Gemma based on their distribution among WO, DR, FC, and MA, the four categories that represent the four tempers Woe, Dread, Frolic, and Malice, which form the consciousness of every human being as per Kier Eagan’s teachings. In other words, Mark’s work on the document creates the innie version of Gemma inside the Cold Harbor room.
Inside the Cold Harbor chamber, Gemma encounters a crib that resembles the one Mark bought for their unborn child when she was pregnant. The entire ordeal is described as an “efficacy test,” which means that Jame Eagan and Dr. Mauer are trying to find out whether the “test subject” has the ability to produce the intended response to the “test object.” From the Lumon CEO and the physician’s interactions, it is evident that this desired reaction is the lack of emotion Gemma displays after seeing a thing that would have otherwise immersed her in immense sadness, specifically because of her miscarriage.
Before joining Lumon, Gemma had tried different ways and options to become a mother. Her miscarriage had severely affected her emotionally, and it is safe to assume that she agreed to be involved in the experiments to fulfill her wish to bear a child. The same Gemma dismantling a crib, which symbolically represents motherhood, without any significant reaction is surprising. Of course, she is not herself in a severed room like Cold Harbor but her innie. Still, the aspiration to become a mother and the connection with symbols associated with motherhood must be considerably rooted in a human being to be eliminated by a severance chip.
The Cold Harbor Test Sheds Light on Lumon Industries’ Motive Behind Locking Up Gemma
Since Jame Eagan and Dr. Mauer are satisfied to see Gemma disassociating with her maternal instincts, seemingly one of her primary character traits, we can draw different conclusions regarding the series of experiments she involves herself in. First of all, the procedures that conclude with Cold Harbor can be aimed at transforming Gemma into a new person altogether. The twenty-five tests or experiments must have been conceived to discover whether it is possible to alter, replace, or eliminate the primary character traits of an individual. After twenty-four such tests, Cold Harbor can be the experiment designed to prove whether the previous ones have successfully given birth to a new persona within Gemma’s same physical body.
This theory also explains Gemma’s reaction to the crib, Jame Eagan and Dr. Mauer’s response to her reaction, and the nature of the test. If this is really what Lumon has been trying to achieve using her, the reasons behind the endeavor can be several. The Eagans can be trying to find out whether it is possible to replace an individual’s characteristics with the traits of their ancestors to resurrect them. Considering the family members’ devotion to figures such as Kier, Phillip “Pip,” and Leonora Eagan, it is unsurprising that the living Eagans likely want to immortalize their predecessors.
If the Eagans are not trying to resurrect their ancestors, they can be aspiring to commercialize this procedure. As a multinational company, Lumon can sell the technology to replace the character traits of any individual worldwide. In other words, the company can take advantage of converting human personas to a file like Cold Harbor and give life to it in bodies like Gemma. Since human civilization has always been obsessed with immortality, Lumon may succeed in attracting several buyers to reap profits with such a technology.
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