Irving’s Nightmare In Severance Season 2 Episode 4 Explained

WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Severance season 2, episode 4!While the other MDR team members are seemingly unaffected when they go to sleep, Irving suffers a creepy nightmare in Severance season 2, episode 4 that helps reveal one of the show’s biggest twists yet. Though Severance season 2, episode 3 ended with Mark being reintegrated, the following outing changes pace as MDR’s Innies are brought to Woe’s Hollow, a location with great importance to Kier Eagan’s backstory and philosophy. As they learn about the story of Kier’s twin brother Dieter and how he tamed “Woe,” the “field trip” provides several other personal revelations to MDR.

Ever since Helly’s story about her Outie mentioned a “night gardener,” Irving has been suspicious of his colleague. In Severance season 2, episode 4, he confronts Helly about her inconsistencies and accuses her of being an Outie, with this argument leading to Irving fleeing into the woods with a torch. While Helly and Mark become intimate in her tent, Irving falls asleep in the freezing cold, slipping into a nightmare involving MDR’s numbers, Burt, and the Gaunt Bride from Kier’s story. As horrifying as Irving’s nightmare becomes, it finally gives him the answers he was seeking about Helly and Lumon.

Why Irving Sees "Woe" & Burt In MDR's Cubicles In His Nightmare

In Irving’s nightmare, he finds himself wearing a business suit while walking through a clearing in the woods where the MDR cubicle sits. At Irving’s desk, moths swarm his computer screen, while Burt G. sits at the desk next to him, slowly opening and closing the dividing wall. Directly across from Irving’s desk is the Gaunt Bride, who represents Woe in Kier Eagan’s philosophy of the Four Tempers. As Woe types at her desk, Irving notices numbers and letters forming peculiar patterns on his computer screen. Suddenly, the bride appears right next to him, startling Irving awake.

The appearances of Burt and Woe seem strange in Irving’s nightmare, but have very different meanings. The recenct nature of Irving being told the story about the Gaunt Bride at Woe’s Hollow doubtlessly contributed to her inclusion, whereas Burt being present at the desk can be explained by how much he dominates Irving’s waking thoughts – why wouldn’t he also appear in his dreams? This is the first time that Irving has been allowed to fully sleep in Severance outside his brief naps that he was advised against in season 1, so his Innie’s inner thoughts are pouring out in horrifying ways.

Burt opening and closing the dividers might be symbolic of their romance.

Throughout Severance season 2, Irving has also been greatly affected by the emotions associated with Woe, which is due to Burt G.’s retirement and the discovery that his Outie is already in a relationship. Burt opening and closing the dividers might be symbolic of their romance, with it seeming attainable during their early meetings, then being shut down in Severance’s season 1 finale, only for the option to be there again in season 2. Burt’s Outie has been following Irving’s Outie since he showed up at his door, so the nightmare might be telling Irving their story isn’t over.

The appearance of Woe, who is associated with sadness and melancholy, might be telling Irving to channel his sadness and anger and use that to find the truth about what’s happening at Lumon. After Woe starts typing on her computer, Irving looks at his own and sees stranger patterns in the numbers and letters, which reveal to him exactly what he needs to know about Helly’s real Outie identity. She then startles him back awake, perhaps trying to snap Irving out of his melancholy and inspire him to take action.

What The Numbers & Letters On Irving's Computer Screen Really Mean

Helly/Helena's Twist Is Spelled Out To Him

When Irving stares at his computer screen from the Macrodata Refinement department of his nightmare, the first arrangement of numbers includes “1,” “4,” “7,” and “5.” It’s still unclear what exactly those numbers are indicative of, but they could be related to a file that will be assigned to one of the refiners in Severance. Alternatively, these numbers might represent coordinates or code numbers that Irving would need to access certain parts of Lumon, perhaps being connected to Irving’s paintings of the black hallway leading to the testing floor elevator.

The file name that appears on Irving's computer screen is "Montauk," named after a city in New York.

The sets of letters that appear in Irving’s nightmare are a bit clearer in terms of what they reveal to him. The computer screen features several variations of the letters “E,” “A,” “G,” and “N,” which are meant to clue into Irving that the answers he needs connect to the Eagan family. When he wakes up, Irving puts the pieces together and realizes that “Helly” is not only her Outie, but also an Eagan. As Irving explains, only an Eagan would have the power to send their Outie to the severed floor instead of their Innie.

On the same screen as the letters that spell out “Eagan,” Irving sees repetitions of the numbers “1,” “0,” “3,” and “5,” in various orders. Like the previous set of numbers, the symbolic meaning of these ones as a group isn’t very obvious. The meaning of Macrodata Refinement’s numbers, in general, is still largely a mystery, but they could be related to a certain data set that reveals more about Lumon’s intentions with the Cold Harbor file in Severance season 2.

The Real Meaning Of The Moths Flying Onto Irving's Computer Screen

The Symbolism Of The Moths Can Be Interpreted A Few Different Ways

The MDR desk cubicle and computers in Irving's nightmare in Severance season 2 episode 4

As Irving walks up to the cubicle in his nightmare, he finds that moths are swarming around his computer screen. Of course, it’s dark outside and moths are attracted to light sources, but there’s a deeper meaning to their inclusion. Moths are often associated with symbolizing love, death, and transformations, which are fitting themes for the journeys of Severance’s main characters. One interpretation could be that the moths represent Irving’s love for Burt, grief over the “death” of Burt’s Innie, and transformations after that loss.

Severance Season 2's Remaining Episode Schedule
Episode #	Release Date
5	February 14
6	February 21
7	February 28
8	March 7
9	March 14
10	March 21

Alternatively, the moths could symbolize the reveal that Helena has secretly transformed herself into Helly, and that this twist will lead to the “death” of Irving’s Innie when he’s fired. Another possible meaning of the moth on Irving’s computer screen could connect to Severance’s Cold Harbor file. They might symbolize that Gemma isn’t actually dead, but is being transformed into a completely new person through the data refinement and experiments on the testing floor.

How Irving's Nightmare At Woe's Hollow Brings Back A Severance Season 1 Story

This Isn't The First Meaningful Nightmare Irving Has Had

While this is the first full-fledged nightmare that Irving’s Innie has experienced, it isn’t the only time he’s been given strange signs while asleep. Back in Severance season 1, Irving had a habit of arriving exhausted and briefly napping at the office. Whenever he would nod off, Irving would hallucinate black goo forming on his computer and around the office. It wasn’t clear until later that this was a message from Irving's Outie related to the black oil paintings of the testing floor elevator, so Irving’s Outie was likely sending him another message in Severance season 2, episode 4.

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