Is Lumon's new video titled Macrodat Uprising simply a manipulation trick? Details from Severance Season 2, explored

The second season of Severance recently premiered on Apple TV+, putting an end to widespread audience anticipation. The first season of Severance ended on a high note, with Mark and his four teammates staging a rebellion inside the Lumon premises by taking hold of the Overtime Contingency Protocol. It is fair to say that by the time Severance season two rolled in, Lumon had decided on a devious policy to keep their innies under check.

The premiere of Severance season two has Mark reuniting with his former teammates. The group is then shown a video that depicts all of them as heroes and credits them for having created the Macrodat Uprising. The video further praises the MDR employees for staging the protest, citing reasons that the whole affair eventually led to Lumon adopting new and better measures to ensure the well-being of its employees.

Although it might appear to be rather well-meaning, the video and the version of the Macrodat Uprising can be speculated to be another subtle trick to establish Lumon's ultimate supremacy and manipulate the employees. Here's everything that we know.

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Severance season 2: All about the Macrodat Uprising video

The second season of Severance opens in the aftermath of the rebellion staged by Mark and his colleagues on the season one finale. Mark had put in a request to be reunited with his former teammates, and as the premiere for the second installment portrayed, his request had been granted by Lumon. Thereafter he is joined by Helly, Irving, and Dylan before all four of them are taken to what looks like a new break room.

Milchik had been waiting for the quartet inside the room and greeted them with a smile. He then proceeded to play a claymation video in which the Lumon building itself came to life and narrated the tale of the MDR employees staging a rebellion, referring to it as the Macrodat Uprising.

Contrary to what Mark and the others anticipated, the video mentioned that the rebellion helped Lumon adopt new measures to ensure the well-being of its employees. This included new snacks, incentives, hall passes, and even a mirror room where the innies can spend their free time.

Despite it coming off as a turn for the better, this new manipulation technique by Lumon can be expected to further bind the innies to the confines of their office. By making new implements in the workspace, the management is trying its best to make the innies dissociate completely from their outies.

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Creator opens up about Severance season 2

Severance creator Dan Erickson recently spoke in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in which he explained the connection between the real world and the Apple TV+ show and the way in which the former informs the latter. He stated:

"We looked at the ways that whistleblowers had been treated in the past by companies or, in some cases, by governments. Anybody who exposes misdeeds of a powerful entity, there’s often a period where they fight you, and then there’s a period where they try to assimilate you or co-opt your rebellion and make it part of the company story."

He continued,

"Maybe to some extent that’s sincere sometimes, but it always struck me as a very specific kind of manipulation. At the end of the day, a company like Lumon wants to be the good guy, and there’s the sense that even this rebellion—they take credit for it."

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Severance season 2 is available exclusively on Apple TV+.