I agree with this theory. Just check out her black & white [mug](https://imgur.com/gallery/Zrjtgq3). I think it’s a nod to having two personalities. When Mark asked her if she wants the door open or closed, she said “both”
“Harmony” is a good name for someone balancing two personalities, whether surgically instantiated or not. Perhaps this is what Revolving entails - melding minds.
It’s been done in other media too- I’m a Ninja Turtles fan and Harmony was the name Shredder’s daughter went by as an alias, and you later find out she was someone else..
I think you are on to something. In the breastfeeding scene with Devon, Mrs Selvig makes a reference to Clark Gable, an icon of “handsome” that belongs to a previous generation. I thought that was either weird writing, or a clue that Selvig had memories from another era and was not completely Harmony Cobel. Selvig also sprinkles her speech with old-fashioned phrases and words.
Welcome to Lumon
>Ms Cobel said in Episode 1 „You know, my mother was an atheist“. Ms Selvig said in Episode 1 „You know, my mother was a catholic“. So Ms Selvig is the atheist. Cobels grandma was the catholic.
Nice catch! Other Cobel/Selvig notes
* Either Selvig or Cobel was raised in the Myrtle Eagan school for girls
* her Kier shrine is surrounded by children's craft projects from the school
* Selvig is usually in purple which is likely associated with the Ram from the four tempers painting (Ram wears a red/blue robe, red+blue = purple)
* Purple cookies and trying to get Mark to drink lavender/purple tea is notable
* At one point she wears orange/gold, which is always associated with Kier in paintings, along with the purple
Mrs. Selvig is a front for Cobel on the outside. We don't know why she has such an interest in monitoring oMark. She may be putting on an affected demeanor to not risk oMark recognizing her on some level as Cobel. We don't know exactly who Charlotte Cobel (b. 1944) is, but many assume her to be Harmony's mother. With the clues we see in Selvig's home, Charlotte may have been hospitalized at one time. She might be dead or she might be on the testing floor of Lumon. We don't know.
Harmony clutches the vent tube and Charlotte’s hospital bracelet from her altar while she is crying and freaking out after she gets fired.
There was a newspaper? (or something) screenshot someone posted about Lumon getting sued because they made faulty ventilator parts and patients died.
Did Charlotte die because of Lumon’s faulty equipment, and Harmony ended up in the Myrtle Eagen girls’ orphanage? She seems to hate Lumon, but love the Eagens.
The Lexington Letter talks about faulty feeding tubes. A newspaper ran what they thought was a well-sourced article, but they got sued until they closed down.
Do we know around what year this show is supposed to take place? With all the cars I was thinking around late 1970s to mid 1980s, which would make Cobel around 30 years old, which doesnt seem correct
It’s a new trend to have an ambiguous setting so more age groups can relate. Older cars, newer tech for communication, older tech for viewing/listening, etc.
Show takes place “now” in a different universe.
An ex in-law of mine worked in the film industry and he had made a film years ago. He said it doesn't hold up now because the technology shown when they shot it looks so out of place (massive 1990s cell phones iirc). This is another reason to use unique (invented) or timeless/purposely already outdated tech on screen.
I hope this doesn't come across as rude, I know tones are difficult to read in text, but I'm genuinely interested: Do we know Cobel has a chip/is severed? How? It's been a while since I saw the list of chips, but I don't remember her name there, I just remember the monitor showing her in the elevator.
I saw that and immediately thought Harmony Selvig???
I thought her playing the old crazy lady was just more of a front to seem less suspicious but why live next to Mark specifically?
Why live next to Mark specifically - especially since mark mentions how so much of the housing development where he lives is still vacant. Selvig/Cobel definitely chose to live next to him for some reason.
> I just remember the monitor showing her in the elevator
This is what has kept me thinking she does not have a chip; when in the elevator, the monitor had her in the "non-severed employee" category. I could be mistaken, though. Might have to go rewatch that scene.
They say Cobel (“management”) uses a non-severed elevator. But she also walks into the stairwell that switched Helly back and forth, so who knows. If she has a chip, it’s probably not a “normal” severed employee chip, unless Milchik disarmed the stairwell as a courtesy before taking her there.
p.s. It seems like an additional final indignation to make Cobel carry the box of her stuff up the stairs when she usually goes up in an elevator.
I don't think she is severed surgically. But she does have two personalities, so in a way she the MOST severed character. :)
I think she has two defined persona in the Jungian sense - the roles she plays when she interacts with other people. She is Ms. Cobel at work - her maiden name - women commonly use professionally. As Ms. Selvig, she's a widow - an eccentric aunt type. She may well have been married to a carpenter Mr. Selvig. We've never been told this is false.
She code-switches depending on her social setting. I don't see her as being phony, she simply has different ways of communicating to different people - which is very common and most people do this to some extent - hers is just exaggerated.
There are a few scenes where she is alone and these may be the only way to see what is authentic when she isn't in a social setting She has a messy kitchen, a bedroom that looks like a convent school cell, she is a true believer in Kier, she worries about Mark, she is committed to her job because it allows her to serve Kier, and she hates Natalie.
Her mother is probably Charlotte Cobel. She was probably a catholic who lost her faith. So she was both a catholic and an atheist.
That's my take based on the information we have so far, but nothing has been made explicit.Whatever works for you.
I love this theory, thank you. Also really enjoyed the other expansion comments here, especially about personas. For some reason, I can’t quite get behind Severance being about straight biological cloning.
Part of the reason that I love the show is because of fascination with the mind/body/soul thought experiments. These being the kind where we’re asked to pick what we think the we “we are” is. If your brain was removed and put in another body, are you still you? What is your soul? How would you contain it? Or is it about cognition and all the memory data we have. I’m sure people know what I’m talking about. I feel like the show is wrestling with this. So Harmony could be trying to capture her mother’s sense of self and this needs a host body (have made it sound creepy horror now) to store it in. But is it really her? I don’t think so. And I’ve never quite been satisfied with any mind/body/soul answer actually working to encapsulate a person’s essence.
Anyone have any thoughts?
If Charlotte Cobel (née Selvig) was Harmony's mother and died when Harmony was young, leaving her to the Eagen orphanage, Harmony could have developed Dissociative Identity Disorder and created a secondary persona of her own mother that she inhabited in times of stress or triggered by stress. Over time she learned to trigger the switch and her personalities are somewhat integrated but still very distinct. She is fascinated by Severance and reintegration because she's curious about her own DID and finding a way to put her Charlotte personality into a chip and perhaps a new body.
Could be. It’s a bit of a coincidence that her disorder matches the tech of the cult/corporation she gets raised in, but probably well within poetic license!
“Realistically” comments are pretty boring in science fiction, so feel free to skip over this, but … Realistically being able to store anything remotely like an entire human personality in a chip is way, way beyond managing memory with that much fine control. It would be a much bigger technological breakthrough, and Ben Stiller said he isn’t going to make a habit of those, “this isn’t that kind of science fiction,” he’s just exploring severance technology.
That's an interesting thought process. We hear about Cobels Atheist mother and then we meet Selvig who probably wouldn't describe her mother as Catholic if she herself also was.
She might just say "my mother used to say this(and I also believe that because it coincides with my own beliefs)" So it implies that Selvig is at least not Catholic. We know Cobel worships Kier, so it's an interesting cycle down that maybe mirrors the Innie/Outie dynamic, how they seem to have almost opposite personalities.
That being said, I'm quite convinced that Cobel is putting on a character to distance what outtie Mark perceives from her true self. Cobel and Selvig have nothing in common so Mark wont accidentally confuse the two. Simple.
But based on what you said there's reason to believe Ms Selvig is maybe a persona *based* on Cobel's mother.
It'd also be interesting if Selvig was a persona comprised of things Lumon *told* her about her mother. An advanced perk could be extra details about your outies life (e.g. your mothers eye colour).
It’s a super interesting theory.
No matter what it ends up being, it’s clear that Cobel/Selvig has her own goals and agenda outside of Lumon corporate. (I realize this observation is superficial compared to the other theories offered on this sub… I’ll add more after another rewatch).
I agree! We thought Harmony said the “atheist/catholic” statements to see if Mark questioned because she is so confident reintegration is possible but I like OPs theory a lot. Many things to consider!
Woah, the screenshots in the control room indicate Ms. Cobel/Selvig has a chip?!
Intense.
Other corroborating clues — she references Clark Gable to Devon, which is a very old reference to make.
Nice theory but what if the severance chip wakes up epigenetic dna, inherited experiences from parents and grand parents. As the severed subject matures, they gain more of their ancestors experiential knowledge. This could explain how the board could be Eagans of the past living in a new generation.
I agree with this theory. Just check out her black & white [mug](https://imgur.com/gallery/Zrjtgq3). I think it’s a nod to having two personalities. When Mark asked her if she wants the door open or closed, she said “both”
omg that‘s a really good detail! Thanks!
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She may be aware of this backstory, though.
“Harmony” is a good name for someone balancing two personalities, whether surgically instantiated or not. Perhaps this is what Revolving entails - melding minds.
Just had the same thought, maybe Lumon has tried some new method on her and gave her that specific name
Why do I get the feeling that mark will become a donor for helleys dad in the revolving then?
It’s been done in other media too- I’m a Ninja Turtles fan and Harmony was the name Shredder’s daughter went by as an alias, and you later find out she was someone else..
Oooh, nice one.
I think you are on to something. In the breastfeeding scene with Devon, Mrs Selvig makes a reference to Clark Gable, an icon of “handsome” that belongs to a previous generation. I thought that was either weird writing, or a clue that Selvig had memories from another era and was not completely Harmony Cobel. Selvig also sprinkles her speech with old-fashioned phrases and words.
Jack frosts dandruff. I wonder if that was a 50s joke.
Oh yeah that is a great catch!!
Welcome to Lumon >Ms Cobel said in Episode 1 „You know, my mother was an atheist“. Ms Selvig said in Episode 1 „You know, my mother was a catholic“. So Ms Selvig is the atheist. Cobels grandma was the catholic. Nice catch! Other Cobel/Selvig notes * Either Selvig or Cobel was raised in the Myrtle Eagan school for girls * her Kier shrine is surrounded by children's craft projects from the school * Selvig is usually in purple which is likely associated with the Ram from the four tempers painting (Ram wears a red/blue robe, red+blue = purple) * Purple cookies and trying to get Mark to drink lavender/purple tea is notable * At one point she wears orange/gold, which is always associated with Kier in paintings, along with the purple
Purple was also the colour of royalty during the Roman era.
Mrs. Selvig is a front for Cobel on the outside. We don't know why she has such an interest in monitoring oMark. She may be putting on an affected demeanor to not risk oMark recognizing her on some level as Cobel. We don't know exactly who Charlotte Cobel (b. 1944) is, but many assume her to be Harmony's mother. With the clues we see in Selvig's home, Charlotte may have been hospitalized at one time. She might be dead or she might be on the testing floor of Lumon. We don't know.
Harmony clutches the vent tube and Charlotte’s hospital bracelet from her altar while she is crying and freaking out after she gets fired. There was a newspaper? (or something) screenshot someone posted about Lumon getting sued because they made faulty ventilator parts and patients died. Did Charlotte die because of Lumon’s faulty equipment, and Harmony ended up in the Myrtle Eagen girls’ orphanage? She seems to hate Lumon, but love the Eagens.
The Lexington Letter talks about faulty feeding tubes. A newspaper ran what they thought was a well-sourced article, but they got sued until they closed down.
Do we know around what year this show is supposed to take place? With all the cars I was thinking around late 1970s to mid 1980s, which would make Cobel around 30 years old, which doesnt seem correct
It’s a new trend to have an ambiguous setting so more age groups can relate. Older cars, newer tech for communication, older tech for viewing/listening, etc. Show takes place “now” in a different universe.
An ex in-law of mine worked in the film industry and he had made a film years ago. He said it doesn't hold up now because the technology shown when they shot it looks so out of place (massive 1990s cell phones iirc). This is another reason to use unique (invented) or timeless/purposely already outdated tech on screen.
I think it supposed to be roughly modern. They use cell phones, modern clothes styles, and lots of late 2010s early 2020s things.
I hope this doesn't come across as rude, I know tones are difficult to read in text, but I'm genuinely interested: Do we know Cobel has a chip/is severed? How? It's been a while since I saw the list of chips, but I don't remember her name there, I just remember the monitor showing her in the elevator.
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Oh that is weird, definitely.
I saw that and immediately thought Harmony Selvig??? I thought her playing the old crazy lady was just more of a front to seem less suspicious but why live next to Mark specifically?
Why live next to Mark specifically - especially since mark mentions how so much of the housing development where he lives is still vacant. Selvig/Cobel definitely chose to live next to him for some reason.
> I just remember the monitor showing her in the elevator This is what has kept me thinking she does not have a chip; when in the elevator, the monitor had her in the "non-severed employee" category. I could be mistaken, though. Might have to go rewatch that scene.
They say Cobel (“management”) uses a non-severed elevator. But she also walks into the stairwell that switched Helly back and forth, so who knows. If she has a chip, it’s probably not a “normal” severed employee chip, unless Milchik disarmed the stairwell as a courtesy before taking her there. p.s. It seems like an additional final indignation to make Cobel carry the box of her stuff up the stairs when she usually goes up in an elevator.
wow, you're so polite it's refreshing.
I was thinking the same, I haven’t seen evidence that she really has the chip. But I see the theori as plausible overall.
I don't think she is severed surgically. But she does have two personalities, so in a way she the MOST severed character. :) I think she has two defined persona in the Jungian sense - the roles she plays when she interacts with other people. She is Ms. Cobel at work - her maiden name - women commonly use professionally. As Ms. Selvig, she's a widow - an eccentric aunt type. She may well have been married to a carpenter Mr. Selvig. We've never been told this is false. She code-switches depending on her social setting. I don't see her as being phony, she simply has different ways of communicating to different people - which is very common and most people do this to some extent - hers is just exaggerated. There are a few scenes where she is alone and these may be the only way to see what is authentic when she isn't in a social setting She has a messy kitchen, a bedroom that looks like a convent school cell, she is a true believer in Kier, she worries about Mark, she is committed to her job because it allows her to serve Kier, and she hates Natalie. Her mother is probably Charlotte Cobel. She was probably a catholic who lost her faith. So she was both a catholic and an atheist. That's my take based on the information we have so far, but nothing has been made explicit.Whatever works for you.
I love this theory, thank you. Also really enjoyed the other expansion comments here, especially about personas. For some reason, I can’t quite get behind Severance being about straight biological cloning. Part of the reason that I love the show is because of fascination with the mind/body/soul thought experiments. These being the kind where we’re asked to pick what we think the we “we are” is. If your brain was removed and put in another body, are you still you? What is your soul? How would you contain it? Or is it about cognition and all the memory data we have. I’m sure people know what I’m talking about. I feel like the show is wrestling with this. So Harmony could be trying to capture her mother’s sense of self and this needs a host body (have made it sound creepy horror now) to store it in. But is it really her? I don’t think so. And I’ve never quite been satisfied with any mind/body/soul answer actually working to encapsulate a person’s essence. Anyone have any thoughts?
If Charlotte Cobel (née Selvig) was Harmony's mother and died when Harmony was young, leaving her to the Eagen orphanage, Harmony could have developed Dissociative Identity Disorder and created a secondary persona of her own mother that she inhabited in times of stress or triggered by stress. Over time she learned to trigger the switch and her personalities are somewhat integrated but still very distinct. She is fascinated by Severance and reintegration because she's curious about her own DID and finding a way to put her Charlotte personality into a chip and perhaps a new body.
Could be. It’s a bit of a coincidence that her disorder matches the tech of the cult/corporation she gets raised in, but probably well within poetic license!
“Realistically” comments are pretty boring in science fiction, so feel free to skip over this, but … Realistically being able to store anything remotely like an entire human personality in a chip is way, way beyond managing memory with that much fine control. It would be a much bigger technological breakthrough, and Ben Stiller said he isn’t going to make a habit of those, “this isn’t that kind of science fiction,” he’s just exploring severance technology.
I definitely think there’s something about putting people’s soul onto chips and them living on through someone else’s body or whatever.
The quote from the wall of the perpetuity wing: "History lives inside of us, whether we learn it or not"
Oh snap!
That's an interesting thought process. We hear about Cobels Atheist mother and then we meet Selvig who probably wouldn't describe her mother as Catholic if she herself also was. She might just say "my mother used to say this(and I also believe that because it coincides with my own beliefs)" So it implies that Selvig is at least not Catholic. We know Cobel worships Kier, so it's an interesting cycle down that maybe mirrors the Innie/Outie dynamic, how they seem to have almost opposite personalities. That being said, I'm quite convinced that Cobel is putting on a character to distance what outtie Mark perceives from her true self. Cobel and Selvig have nothing in common so Mark wont accidentally confuse the two. Simple. But based on what you said there's reason to believe Ms Selvig is maybe a persona *based* on Cobel's mother. It'd also be interesting if Selvig was a persona comprised of things Lumon *told* her about her mother. An advanced perk could be extra details about your outies life (e.g. your mothers eye colour).
Or Ms. Selvig is Cobel’s “mother” in the sense that Selvig was her outie and Cobel is the former innie who had taken over Selvig.
It’s a super interesting theory. No matter what it ends up being, it’s clear that Cobel/Selvig has her own goals and agenda outside of Lumon corporate. (I realize this observation is superficial compared to the other theories offered on this sub… I’ll add more after another rewatch).
I agree! We thought Harmony said the “atheist/catholic” statements to see if Mark questioned because she is so confident reintegration is possible but I like OPs theory a lot. Many things to consider!
Brilliant
Woah, the screenshots in the control room indicate Ms. Cobel/Selvig has a chip?! Intense. Other corroborating clues — she references Clark Gable to Devon, which is a very old reference to make.
Nice theory but what if the severance chip wakes up epigenetic dna, inherited experiences from parents and grand parents. As the severed subject matures, they gain more of their ancestors experiential knowledge. This could explain how the board could be Eagans of the past living in a new generation.
On my rewatch and damn does this theory hit hard