The Severance Season 2 finale gave us plenty of shocking moments, but one scene in particular might hold the key to a major twist potentially coming in Season 3 — a twist that centers on Helly R.
The finale certainly went out of its way to demonstrate that Jame Eagan, the head of Lumon, doesn’t love his daughter Helena. But at the same time, he sees something in her innie, Helly, that intrigues him in a way that’s deeply unsettling. During his visit to the MDR floor, in fact, Jame made his feelings abundantly clear. He told Helly directly that he doesn’t love Helena, his own daughter. He also revealed that he’s fathered other children but doesn’t see Kier in them.
Yet, despite his cold rejection of Helena, he tells Helly: “I saw him again. In you,” referring to the fire of Kier that he seems to think lives in her. Helly, poised to stab Jame in a fit of righteous fury, is met with an eerily satisfied smile. “There he is.”
Jame’s words and reactions suggest, to me, that he believes Helly is the true embodiment of Kier’s legacy, not her outie. This distinction is crucial, because it sets the stage for what I believe will be a game-changing twist in Season 3: Jame somehow engineering a reversal of Helly’s severance — flipping her innie and outie, making Helly the dominant persona while suppressing Helena, if not doing away with her outie entirely.
This would make sense for several reasons. Jame clearly sees Helly as the uncorrupted version of his daughter, the one who embodies the Eagan “vision” in its purest form (also worth pointing out: Jame’s affectionate nickname for Helena is Helly). Also, Helly is driven by a fierce moral clarity; she’s the one who most vocally opposed Lumon’s horrors. Ironically, that very trait may be what makes her valuable to Jame. He might believe that if he can manipulate or reprogram Helly’s motivations, he could create the perfect heir — one who has the Eagan “fire” but also the compassion that Helena lacks.
If Jame does succeed in flipping Helena and Helly, it would be one of the most terrifying fates yet on Severance. It would effectively erase Helena while trapping Helly in a permanent outie existence, with no way back to her original self. We’ve seen Lumon exert incredible control over identity and memory, so a reversal like might actually be within their capabilities. And given that Season 2 ended with Helly in an extremely precarious position, this could be the ultimate move that seals her fate in Season 3.
Helly, the version of Helena that Jame now prefers, could be about to face the ultimate nightmare: Becoming the very thing she fought against. And the scariest part? Mark’s innie is deeply in love with her, so this would have implications for him, as well.
