Episode 4 Location Theory
Repost because last one was removed!
(E4 SPOILERS) No, they weren’t really outside, nor was it “all a dream.”
We know that they weren’t really outside. Beyond the wireless TV, digital clones, the feasibility of transporting them to this place, the fact that Ms. Huang is there—we have confirmation that they weren’t outside in the form of the Glasgow Protocol. To change Helena back to Helly, Seth deactivates Glasgow Protocol. If they were outside the severed floor, it would be the overtime contingency that would turn her back into Helly. Glasgow Protocol is what allows a severed employee to remain in outie form when on the severed floor.
This is where people get scared. Is it really all a simulation, then? Is Severance jumping the shark? Is it just all a dream? Is the severed floor even real? Is it going the same way as Lost?
Fear not—this is not the case. In Episode 1, Petey gives Mark a map of the severed floor. On this map is a large area labeled “Team Building.” Seeing as we know what the TB in ORTBO stands for, this provides strong evidence that this is where the Severed workers are during episode 4.
Here’s how I imagine the team building wing: this is a real environment. There are trees and snow, a real waterfall and river, but of course, there is a ceiling. The perception filter fills in the severance floor ceiling with a sky, and probably helps prevent the innies from wandering too close to the walls.
How we know there is a perception filter: the job they do involves seeing scary numbers (clearly something has been altered in their brains beyond severance itself) and the hallways change shape, disorienting them. Unless we’re to believe the hallways and doors are moving, it’s clear that their perception of a space can be altered to disorient them.
HERES HOW WE KNOW THE PERCEPTION FILTER DOES NOT CREATE THEIR ENTIRE REALITY: Helena, Seth, and Cobel can all navigate the severed floor and interact with the innies. Even if you subscribe to the theory that Cobel or Seth are severed, we know for a fact outie Helena was on the severed floor and able to move around and interact with the space. So there is a large degree of legitimacy to the physical reality of the severed floor. The chips can disorient them, add in details, maybe erase a door from their vision, cause them to be unable to find a hallway that they can see later, not know how many steps they’ve taken before they have to turn right, but they don’t create the entire environment the characters are inside of.
The physical reality of the Team Building retreat also explains how Irving was able to drown Helena. Some people believe this was fake; I don’t. She was in real danger. The stream is underground in the Team Building wing of the severed floor. However, water is water, and drowning is drowning, no matter how embellished the environment is by a perception filter.
IN SUMMARY: No, they were not really transported outside. No, it wasn’t “all a dream.” The chips can embellish reality, not create new reality from nothing. Therefore, you don’t need to worry about Severance going completely off the rails with non-falsifiable dream sequences.
I’ve stated all of this as inalienable fact because it is easier for me to describe my thought that way, but this is my understanding of their world, and of course that’s just my opinion. I understand the hesitation that “it was all a dream” creates, but because of the map Petey shows us, we can infer that that isn’t truly the case here.
Repost because last one was removed!
(E4 SPOILERS) No, they weren’t really outside, nor was it “all a dream.”
We know that they weren’t really outside. Beyond the wireless TV, digital clones, the feasibility of transporting them to this place, the fact that Ms. Huang is there—we have confirmation that they weren’t outside in the form of the Glasgow Protocol. To change Helena back to Helly, Seth deactivates Glasgow Protocol. If they were outside the severed floor, it would be the overtime contingency that would turn her back into Helly. Glasgow Protocol is what allows a severed employee to remain in outie form when on the severed floor.
This is where people get scared. Is it really all a simulation, then? Is Severance jumping the shark? Is it just all a dream? Is the severed floor even real? Is it going the same way as Lost?
Fear not—this is not the case. In Episode 1, Petey gives Mark a map of the severed floor. On this map is a large area labeled “Team Building.” Seeing as we know what the TB in ORTBO stands for, this provides strong evidence that this is where the Severed workers are during episode 4.
Here’s how I imagine the team building wing: this is a real environment. There are trees and snow, a real waterfall and river, but of course, there is a ceiling. The perception filter fills in the severance floor ceiling with a sky, and probably helps prevent the innies from wandering too close to the walls.
How we know there is a perception filter: the job they do involves seeing scary numbers (clearly something has been altered in their brains beyond severance itself) and the hallways change shape, disorienting them. Unless we’re to believe the hallways and doors are moving, it’s clear that their perception of a space can be altered to disorient them.
HERES HOW WE KNOW THE PERCEPTION FILTER DOES NOT CREATE THEIR ENTIRE REALITY: Helena, Seth, and Cobel can all navigate the severed floor and interact with the innies. Even if you subscribe to the theory that Cobel or Seth are severed, we know for a fact outie Helena was on the severed floor and able to move around and interact with the space. So there is a large degree of legitimacy to the physical reality of the severed floor. The chips can disorient them, add in details, maybe erase a door from their vision, cause them to be unable to find a hallway that they can see later, not know how many steps they’ve taken before they have to turn right, but they don’t create the entire environment the characters are inside of.
The physical reality of the Team Building retreat also explains how Irving was able to drown Helena. Some people believe this was fake; I don’t. She was in real danger. The stream is underground in the Team Building wing of the severed floor. However, water is water, and drowning is drowning, no matter how embellished the environment is by a perception filter.
IN SUMMARY: No, they were not really transported outside. No, it wasn’t “all a dream.” The chips can embellish reality, not create new reality from nothing. Therefore, you don’t need to worry about Severance going completely off the rails with non-falsifiable dream sequences.
I’ve stated all of this as inalienable fact because it is easier for me to describe my thought that way, but this is my understanding of their world, and of course that’s just my opinion. I understand the hesitation that “it was all a dream” creates, but because of the map Petey shows us, we can infer that that isn’t truly the case here.