Prep pack · temporal graph

Severance

About to watch S02E01 · Hello, Ms. Cobel

Spoiler-free to End of Season 1 · Episode 9 "The We We Are"

100% spoiler-free up to the final frame of S01E09. Nothing from S02E01 or later is included. Gold pack · temporal graph at ordinal 9.

Months since last watch

14m

Long gap (passport-weighted): foundational who/where listed first.

Standard

Lumon severs work selves (innies) from outer lives (outies). MDR refines mysterious data under cult-like corporate religion.

Mark, Helly, Irving, and Dylan discover enough to revolt. An overtime contingency wakes innies in outie bodies.

Helly's outie is Helena Eagan - heir to Lumon's founding family.

Season 1 ends mid-crisis: innies loose in the outer world with partial truths. Irving seeks Burt; Dylan sees his son; Mark finds Devon and the Selvig lie; Helly reaches a gala stage as Helena.

MDR revolt; overtime contingency.

Helly is Helena Eagan.

Cobel is Selvig.

Season bridge: everything above is end of Season 1. S02E01 ("Hello, Ms. Cobel") has not started.

Cutoff discipline: every fact above ends at S01E09. Do not import anything from S02E01 ("Hello, Ms. Cobel") or later.

Key events (pre-cutoff)

01Helly repeatedly tries to escape or harm her innie self; Lumon blocks her.
02Team learns more about break room abuse, goats department hints, and board mythos.
03Overtime contingency activates; innies wake outside; major identity reveals hit mid-action.
04S1: MDR revolt; overtime contingency.
05S1: Helly is Helena Eagan.
06S1: Cobel is Selvig.

Character status cards

Snapshots as of graph ordinal ≤ 9 (S01E09).

Mark Scout

Mark S.

alive

Severed MDR worker; grieving widower outie

Loc. Outie world / MDR (innie trapped mid-revolt)

Motivation: Innie: understand Lumon and find meaning; Outie: numb grief
Emotional state: Innie awakened to horror; outie still mid-wake crisis at season end
Last known: Outie wake-up plan executed; confrontations mid-reveal at S1 end

Allies

Helly, Irving, Dylan, Devon (outie)

Threats

Lumon, Cobel, board

Helly R.

alive

New MDR hire; outie is Helena Eagan

Loc. MDR / outie identity crisis

Motivation: Innie wants freedom; outie serves Lumon dynasty
Emotional state: Innie rebellious; truth of outie identity detonating
Last known: Innie Helly's outie revealed as Helena Eagan at the gala path

Allies

Mark, MDR team

Threats

Eagan family control, Lumon

Irving Bailiff

alive

Rule-bound severed worker with secret outie investigation

Loc. MDR / outie with paintings

Motivation: Find Burt; understand black hallways and exports
Emotional state: Devotion and dread
Last known: Outie investigating; innie mid-overtime contingency

Allies

Burt (complicated), MDR

Threats

Lumon discipline

Dylan George

alive

MDR refiner; family man outie

Loc. MDR

Motivation: Perks, pride, protect his outie family once he learns of them
Emotional state: Furious protectiveness after seeing outie family
Last known: Triggered overtime contingency for the team

Allies

MDR

Threats

Lumon

Harmony Cobel

Mrs. Selvig

alive

Floor manager dual identity as Mark's neighbor

Loc. Lumon / town (Selvig cover)

Motivation: Control MDR; serve and scheme around Eagan mythos
Emotional state: Unraveling control as innies rebel
Last known: Cover as Mrs. Selvig exposed to Mark's circle mid-finale path

Allies

Milchick, board (strained)

Threats

Innie revolt, board discipline

Seth Milchik

alive

Deputy manager; wellness and enforcement

Loc. Lumon severed floor

Motivation: Maintain order; serve Lumon culture
Emotional state: Performative calm under crisis
Last known: Responding to MDR overtime chaos

Allies

Cobel, Lumon

Threats

Innie coordination

Devon Scout-Hale

alive

Mark's sister

Loc. Outie world

Motivation: Protect Mark; understand what Lumon did
Emotional state: Alert, protective
Last known: Part of the outie support network as truths surface

Allies

Ricken (complicated), Mark

Threats

Lumon reach

Reghabi

alive

Former Lumon; reintegration experimenter

Loc. Outie underground

Motivation: Undo severance / expose Lumon
Emotional state: Urgent, clandestine
Last known: Working with Petey path and Mark's outie

Allies

Mark (uneasy)

Threats

Lumon

Continuity web

Relationship map

Ink diagram of who is bound, opposed, or entangled as of the cutoff (End of Season 1 · Episode 9 "The We We Are"). Click a name to pin. Edge labels appear on focus.

8 figures18/18 ties shownhub: Mark (9)

Hover or click any figure to open their tie dossier. Hostile and tense ties carry direction marks. Secret ties are dashed.

Open threads

What happens after the overtime wake-ups?

critical

Innies are mid-reveal in outie spaces. Outcomes are not settled at S1 end.

Who cares: Mark, Helly, Irving, Dylan, Lumon

What is MDR refining?

high

Numbers still unexplained; goats and exports hint at darker systems.

Who cares: MDR, board

Can Cobel's cover survive?

high

Selvig identity is cracking as Mark's outie network notices.

Who cares: Cobel, Mark, Devon

Path to now

S1 open · Lumon

Helly arrives at MDR

New severed worker; resistance begins immediately.

S1 mid-late · Lumon

Team fractures and reforms

Smuggling, wellness, and defiance escalate.

S1E09 · Outie world

The We We Are

Overtime contingency; cliffhanger revelations mid-action.

World state

Lumon remains powerful; severance is legal/corporate-protected in-world.
Outie Mark still believes he is managing grief; innie Mark now holds revolt knowledge.
Status quo at season end is the baseline for the next stretch.

Constrained desk chat

Temporal RAG over this pack only. No model calls. No post-cutoff index rows exist.

Desk · Cutoff desk open. I only know this show through End of Season 1 · Episode 9 "The We We Are". Ask about characters, threads, or events before that line. I will refuse anything later.

Spoiler-free to End of Season 1 · Episode 9 "The We We Are"

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