Severance: Cold Harbor is way more than just a job goal for the MDR

Severance progresses in Season 2 Episode 7, titled "Chikhai Bardo." This episode shows us that Cold Harbor isn't just any regular project at Lumon. It's linked to much bigger, darker plans the company has. The MDR team members, Mark, Helly, Dylan, and Irving, first thought their job was only about working with data.

But Cold Harbor is more than that—it's about control, causing pain, and something weird like bringing people back to life. We're left wondering what Cold Harbor really is and why Mark is right at the heart of it.

Here's what we've found out so far on Severance.

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Cold Harbor is an experiment beyond Severance

From the first season, we know Lumon isn't just about office work. The series had already shown us that Cold Harbor is connected to Mark's supposedly dead wife, Gemma (aka Ms. Casey). In Season 2, Episode 7, we learn Lumon is breaking Gemma's mind into several separate Innies, all stuck in never-ending pain.

The name "Cold Harbor" gives us a clue. It's from a Civil War battle in 1864, and Lumon began in 1865. This might mean Cold Harbor is the peak of Lumon's ideas about changing who people are. They're not just playing around; it could be their main goal.

Fans have started to guess that Cold Harbor could be how Lumon tries to give people's pain to other parts of their minds.

In Severance, one of Gemma's split selves has to write thank-you cards, which goes against what Mark remembers about her. If these parts of her are just for dealing with bad memories, we wonder what's next for the program. And what does this mean for the people who are part of it without knowing?

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Is Mark’s role in Cold Harbor the key to Lumon’s endgame on Severance?

Episode 7 of Severance shows how crucial Mark is for the Cold Harbor project at Lumon. His performance in Memory Deletion Recall (MDR) directly affects the project's advancement, which was at 68% at the start of season 2. The mystery continues: Is Mark helping to revive his wife's consciousness or erasing it?

Reghabi, who has insight into the reintegration process, says that combining disconnected personalities can be disastrous for the person. This suggests that Mark might either be saving or losing himself through his work.

Dr. Mauer, played by Robby Benson, adds to the creepiness of Cold Harbor. He has a lot of control over Gemma's situation. He tells her false things to make her feel terrible. For example, he says Mark has moved on and had a child when she kept asking about him. This shows that Cold Harbor is not just about the project itself but also about pushing people to their mental limits.

Severance keeps revealing more and more about what Lumon can really do. Cold Harbor isn't just a project; it's about testing how much a person's mind can take. The question is whether Mark will escape or be stuck working on the project.

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Severance Season 2 is on Apple TV+, with new episodes every Friday.

Stay tuned to SoapCentral as Cold Harbor continues to unfurl.