Mechanic·Partial canon

The Four Tempers

Kier's model of the soul — Woe, Frolic, Dread, Malice — the four bins MDR sorts numbers into.

 Updated through Lore

Kier Eagan taught that the human soul is composed of four "tempers": Woe (WO), Frolic (FC), Dread (DR) and Malice (MA). Macrodata refiners sort number clusters into these four bins by the emotion each evokes. The tempers are Lumon scripture, printed on the walls and drilled into every employee.

What's confirmed in canon

LoreKier defines the soul as four tempers; the doctrine underpins Lumon's philosophy and the MDR bins.

S2MDR's four bins are shown to correspond to the tempers, tying the work to Kier's model of the self.

Where the community lands

The tempers are the bridge between Kier's cult and the actual mechanics of MDR: refining a mind means sorting it into Woe/Frolic/Dread/Malice. Fans read Cold Harbor as the test of whether a person can be fully "balanced" — severed even from Woe itself.

Still open

Q1Is "balancing" the tempers the true goal of severance?

Q2Does completing all four tempers "finish" a severed person?

Connected entities

The Numbers Kier Eagan Macrodata Refinement Cold Harbor

Connections graph

Full graph

Laying out…

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