WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Severance season 2, episode 10.After years of theories and speculation,Severanceseason 2, episode 10 finally reveals what the goat-raising department at Lumon is truly for. The concept ofgoats being held on Lumon’s severed floorwas introduced back inSeveranceseason 1, episode 5, asHelly and Mark’s exploration of the area led them to a room where an unnamed man was feeding milk to baby goats. Before the two left, the man cryptically told them the kids were not ready for an unknown purpose. At long last,Severanceseason 2’s endingrevealed what that purpose is.
While season 1 did not elaborate on the goat mystery, season 2 briefly expanded on what is known about that department. New members ofSeverance’s cast of characterswere introduced in season 2, episode 3, revealing the goat department to be named Mammalians Nurturable. However, the strange nature of the goat-filled field and its workers only raised more questions. Thankfully, season 2’s finale pulls back the curtain, answers questions about what the goats are for, and ties everything back to the consequential story ofSeverance’s Cold Harbor file.
What The Mammalians Nurturable Department Does For Lumon
The Mammalians Nurturable Department Is Raising Baby Goats On The Severed Floor
Severanceseason 2 officially confirms that the department in charge of raising the goats is Mammalians Nurturable, which has a team of severed employees much bigger thanLumon’s Macrodata Refinement department. As seen in season 1,the Mammalians Nurturable department is responsible for raising and tending to goats, the said “nurturable” mammal. Additionally, based on the goat wrangler’s dialog from season 1, the department is getting the goats ready for some purpose with Lumon, which is finally unveiled in season 2.
As revealed inSeverancethus far, there are quite a few ways that the goats are nurtured and raised by Mammalians Nurturable. In addition to bottle-feeding the goats,the severed employees dress up like the animals to blend in with the kids, put them in “husbandry tanks,” and use shears to groom them. Some employees also dress in hybrid business and farming clothing that is reflective of old-fashioned dairy farming and milkmaid attire, suggesting that Lumon believes this style will help the employees raise the goats better.
Gwendoline Christie’s Lorne knows the true dark purpose that Lumon has for the goats…
Of course, just like with Macrodata Refinement not knowing what their numbers mean, the wider employees of the Mammalians Nurturable department are unaware of what Lumon’s deeper purposes are with the goats. Like MDR, they are simply instructed to fulfill their duties by raising the goats in a certain manner outlined by Lumon. Thanks toSeveranceseason 2’s finale, though, it has been confirmed that Gwendoline Christie’s Lorne knows the true dark purpose that Lumon has for the goats.
Lumon’s Cult-Like Ways Extend To The Harmless Animals
Image via Apple TV+
Despite the countless theories that have been crafted sinceSeveranceseason 1 about the goat department at Lumon, the real purpose is much more simple and straightforwardly dark than anyone thought. InSeveranceseason 2’s finale, Mr. Drummond is shown meeting with Lorne, who has a baby goat in tow as an offering. They enter a room opposite the Testing Floor that houses therooms Gemma enters inSeveranceand begin a sacrificial ritual, with Drummond stating:“This beast will be entombed with a cherished woman whose spirit it must guide to Kier’s door. Is it up to the task?”
This comes after Drummond asks if the goat has verve and wiles, the former meaning vigor, spirit, and enthusiasm, and the latter meaning methods of manipulating someone into doing their bidding. Drummond loads a gun and says"We commit this animal to Kier and his eternal war against pain,“but the sacrifice is interrupted by Mark’s attempts to break down the door to the Testing Floor. All of this reveals ’s goat department than ever before, tying everything back to Gemma’s story.
What Lumon Has Really Been Doing To Gemma/Ms. Casey In Severance
Severance season 2, episode 7 revealed vital elements of Gemma/Ms. Casey’s backstory, including what Lumon has been doing to her the entire time.
As revealed by Ms. Cobel inSeveranceseason 2, Gemma was going to be killed after Cold Harbor was completed. Mark’s many files created different Innies for Gemma, who was simply used as a guinea pig by Lumon so they could test if the severance boundaries were holding. Gemma’s sacrifice went hand-in-hand with the goat, with the latter spiritually leading the former to Kier Eagan, the head ofSeverance’s Eagan family tree. Kier’s god-like status among Lumon’s employees and followers explains why the goat is needed as a sacrifice alongside Gemma, with the verve and wiles delivering her to him.
The Symbolism Of Lumon’s Sacrificed Goats Explained
Goats Are Rooted In Religious Symbolism
Concerning the sacrificial nature of the goats inSeverance, this stems from the religious cult nature of Lumon and how these animals link to several different religious practices in the real world. In many different religions, goats are used as sacrifices to appease deities.In Hinduism, the sacrifice of a white goat specifically symbolizes purification and spiritual significancein certain ceremonies. InSeverance’s case, the white goat with verve and wiles embodies the purification needed to guide Gemma to Kier, who is a god in his own right to his followers.
In Christianity, the Bible has goats used as sacrifices, but the animal also typifies rebellion and unbelief. This could link to Gemma with the goat sacrifice symbolizing the stripping away of any rebellion and unbelieving tendencies she had.
Some religions also paint goats as demonic or satanic figures that can carry the sins of someone into the afterlife to appease deities, potentially explaining another thing the goats ofSeverancesymbolize. In various mythologies, which Lumon is rooted in as much as religion, goats can represent conflicting values including fertility - linking to Gemma’s Cold Harbor room - abundance, aggression, darker elements like chaos and the devil, but also good luck. This conflict likely links to Lumon wanting to harness the manyTempers of Kier fromSeverance, explaining more symbolism behind their sacrifice.
Lumon Likely Wanted To Test The Bonds Between The Sacrificial Beings
When Mark and Helly ask whether Gwendoline Christie’s character has seen Ms. Casey in the department inSeveranceseason 2, episode 3, she reveals that Ms. Casey used to do “sessions” in their husbandry tanks. Despite primarily being used for aquatic animals, husbandry tanks are typically used for cultivating various aspects of biology and development. Ms. Casey being placed in them indicates the overlap with Lumon’s goats and Gemma’s status as sacrificial beings.
If Gemma was placed alongside several goats to find the best fit, Lumon could reduce the risk of anything displeasing the spirit of Kier…
It was likely that Lumon was placing Ms. Casey/Gemma alongside several goats in the Mammalians Nurturable department. This would likely have been done to test their “compatibility” as dual sacrifices. After all, the goat is expected to shepherd Gemma’s spirit to Kier after they are killed, meaning Lumon will not want anything to go wrong. If Gemma was placed alongside several goats to find the best fit, Lumon could reduce the risk of anything displeasing the spirit of Kier.
Severance Brings Back A Season 1 Severed Floor Rumor
One of the most peculiar moments in Helly and Mark’s visit to Mammalians Nurturable inSeveranceseason 2, episode 3 - that does not link to Gemma’s sacrifice alongside one of the goats - occurs when Gwendoline Christie’s character makes them show their stomachs in front of the other department workers. After doing so, Christie’s character tells her colleagues, “See? Pouchless.” Another employee retorts that showing their stomachs means nothing, indicating thatMammalians Nurturable has been given repeated propaganda claiming that Macrodata Refinement workers have stomach pouches akin to kangaroos.
Decorating the severed floor
Raising goats for sacrifice alongside Testing Floor subjects
Testing severance boundaries for Lumon’s various experiments
Overseeing every department on the severed floor
Keeping severed workers mentally happy
Perpetuity Wing
Exploring the vast history of the Eagan family
This is not the first time that MDR employees have been accused of having pouches. That idea was first brought up duringBurt and Irving’s scenes together inSeveranceseason 1when the former insistedthere was a widespread rumor that MDR employees are all marsupials with larvae in their pouches that will eventually eat and replace them. It seemed like this theory was only spread around Optics and Design, butSeveranceseason 2 now confirms that it also made its way to the goat wranglers who bred their livestock for a sacrificial means of pleasing Lumon’s founder, Kier Eagan.
