Irving’s Severance Season 2 Fate Repeats One Of Season 1’s Biggest Tragedies & Makes It Worse

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Severance season 2 episode 5.

Irving’s grim fate in Severance season 2’s episode 5 repeats one of the saddest plot developments from season 1 and makes it even more tragic. Irving was initially the more compliant and obedient MDR worker in Severance season 1. While other MDR employees had a spark of rebellion from the beginning, Irv always showed some resistance towards standing against the company he worked for. However, he, too, started despising Lumon after Burt’s departure and took it upon himself to burn the company down.

During his Severance journey, Irving has experienced many highs and lows. While the highs include the moments he got to spend with Burt, the lows came when he struggled to deal with the grief of accepting Burt’s retirement. However, one of the most tragic moments in Irv’s story comes in season 2’s episode 4 when he sacrifices himself to expose Helena Eagan. Severance season 2’s episode 5 highlights how Irving’s innie’s departure from Lumon not only repeats the biggest tragedy from his season 1 narrative but also makes it worse.

Irving’s Innie Death Means The Rest Of MDR Now Knows What He Went Through With Burt In Season 1

The MDR Workers Now Understand What Grief Feels Like

Severance has always emphasized how the innies see themselves as separate individuals from their outies. Owing to this, when innies like Petey suddenly get terminated from the company, it is hard for the remaining innies to come to terms with their departure. The innies, however, do not understand death like the outies, explaining why the MDR employees have such a strange reaction to the dead seal in Severance season 2’s episode 4. However, since they, too, are humans, they experience a sense of grief, which is why Mark removes all the group photos after Petey leaves Lumon.

Irving faces the same tragedy in Severance season 1 when he watches Burt leave Lumon. A dark cloud of grief dawns upon him, making him believe that Burt is experiencing a certain kind of death. The MDR innies seem to empathize with Irv but seemingly do not understand how he feels. Since the MDR workers never experienced losing a loved one, they struggle to comprehend what Irving goes through when he loses Burt. However, Mark, Helly, and Dylan finally realize how Irving must have felt when he lost Burt when they lose Irving after the Woe’s Hollow incident.

Why Milchick Still Lets MDR Have A Funeral For Irving (Despite Miss Huang’s Disapproval)

Milchick’s Outlook Does Not Align With Lumon’s Values

Severance season 2’s episode 5 establishes that introducing reforms and new perks for the severed employees would improve their loyalty to the company. This, in turn, would make them better workers. The fact that Milchick believes the innies need to be treated more humanely instead of being ruthlessly punished for every mistake suggests that a part of him empathizes with them. While the frontrunners of the company, like Drummond and Helena, call them animals, Milchick seems to believe that they deserve a sense of autonomy and freedom to be able to work productively.

Owing to this, even when Ms. Huang warns him not to arrange a funeral for Irving, Milchick ignores her. He believes that, like normal outie humans, the MDR workers also deserve to grieve someone they will never see again. Although Milchick agrees to tighten the leash on the MDR workers after his performance review in Severance season 2’s episode 5, his empathy towards the MDR workers suggests that he, too, will gradually turn against Lumon.