1841 CanonMajor
Kier Eagan is born
Kier Eagan, future founder of Lumon Industries, is born — reportedly a sickly child, and, per the Compliance Handbook, a twin to a brother named Dieter.
Severance Universe
Timeline
From Kier Eagan and the founding of Lumon to the Season 2 finale on the testing floor.
Kier & the Founders
Lumon’s origins and the Eagan dynasty behind the severed floor.
1865 CanonMajor
Kier founds Lumon and preaches the Four Tempers
Kier becomes CEO of Lumon and builds a corporate religion around "conquering pain" and a soul made of four tempers — Woe, Frolic, Dread and Malice.
1939 CanonMajor
Kier Eagan dies; the cult of Kier begins
Kier dies after ruling Lumon for 74 years. The company venerates him as a prophet, its succession passing through his Eagan descendants.
Before severance
Gemma, Mark, and the world above the chip.
Before severance CanonMajor
Mark and Gemma marry
History teacher Mark Scout and Gemma build a life together, hoping for a child — a loss that will later define Mark's grief and Gemma's Cold Harbor test.
Before Season 1 CanonMajor
Gemma "dies"; Mark severs to escape the grief
Gemma is declared dead in a car crash — in fact taken by Lumon to the testing floor. A shattered Mark undergoes severance so that eight hours a day a version of him feels nothing.
Season 1 · 2022
The MDR team, the Overtime Contingency, and the outie world.
S1 · Good News About Hell CanonMajor
Petey vanishes; Mark takes over MDR
Mark's friend Petey disappears from Macrodata Refinement, and innie Mark is promoted to lead the four-person team.
S1 · The You You Are Canon
Ricken's book reaches the severed floor
Ricken Hale's self-help book smuggled onto the floor gives the innies a language for selfhood — and, quietly, for rebellion.
S1 · In Perpetuity Canon
The innies are indoctrinated in the Perpetuity Wing
MDR is walked through Lumon's on-floor shrine to Kier and the Eagan CEOs — the cult made literal.
S1 finale · The We We Are CanonMajor
The Overtime Contingency exposes Lumon
Dylan holds the OTC active while Mark, Helly and Irving wake in their outies' lives — Mark realizes "Ms. Casey" is his wife Gemma, and Helly is revealed as Helena Eagan.
Season 2 · 2025
The return, the testing floor, and Cold Harbor.
S2 · Hello, Ms. Cobel CanonMajor
The team returns; Milchick takes over
Coaxed back to Lumon, the MDR innies return under new manager Milchick, with Cobel ousted and off-grid.
S2E4 · Woe's Hollow CanonMajor
Helena's impersonation of Helly is exposed
On the ORTBO retreat, the team discovers Helena Eagan has been posing as Helly — a betrayal that fractures MDR's trust.
S2E7 · Chikhai Bardo CanonMajor
The testing floor and Gemma are revealed
Gemma's captivity is exposed: a hidden testing floor where she is severed into many selves, one per numbered room, each a trauma experiment.
S2E8 · Sweet Vitriol CanonMajor
Cobel is revealed as severance's inventor
In her hometown of Salt's Neck, it's revealed Harmony Cobel invented the severance procedure Lumon claimed as its own.
S2E10 · Cold Harbor CanonMajor
Gemma completes Cold Harbor; Mark chooses Helly
Gemma dismantles the baby's crib and feels nothing, completing Cold Harbor. Mark kills Drummond, frees Gemma — but the chip reactivates and innie Mark runs off with Helly, leaving Gemma screaming behind a door.
After Season 2 Theory
Season 3 (renewed, unaired)
Lumon has crossed the Cold Harbor threshold, Gemma is trapped on the severed floor, and Mark's two selves are at war. Season 3 is confirmed but has not yet aired — everything past here is prediction.