Severance Season 2 Episode 4 hides sinister clue in ORTBO
Apple TV+The Innies go Outie in Severance Season 2 Episode 4, ‘Woe’s Hollow’, with Helly, Mark, Irving, and Dylan heading on an ORTBO – which may be a sinister clue hiding in plain sight.
Severance’s long-awaited second chapter has wasted no time in getting to the good stuff. In Episode 3, both Mark’s Innie and Outie continues their search for Ms. Casey/Gemma, leading the former to agree to undergo the dangerous reintegration procedure.
Asal Reghabi gets to work after promising she’s refined the process (so hopefully Mark doesn’t suffer the same fate as Petey in Season 1). As is often the case, there were also plenty of hidden clues to pore over, from Salt’s Neck to a chilling Easter egg.
But Episode 4 is unlike anything we’ve seen in the history of the Apple TV+ series. We soon find out why it received a bumped up age rating, and we also get to see our favorite MDR team in the icy terrain of the outside world. Warning: spoilers ahead!
ORTBO has hidden meaning in Severance Season 2 Episode 4
Mark, Helly, Dylan, and Irving are outside as part of their first ever Outdoor Retreat and Team Building Occurrence, or ORTBO for short. In case you didn’t spot it, ORTBO is an anagram of robot.
Could this be a not-so-subtle hint at Lumon’s ultimate plan? A leading theory is that the true goal is for the Innies to complete their work and then overtake their Outies permanently.
This way, the company can essentially create an army of mindless robots who are dedicated to Kier and can be controlled from afar.
This ties into Kier Eagan’s core principle: the Four Tempers that make up the human soul – woe, frolic, dread, and malice – must be tamed.
Perhaps the anagram is a hint that Lumon is actively working toward replacing human consciousness with something far more robotic, where free will is systematically erased in favor of total corporate obedience.
This imagery continues as the gang start heading out on their trip, which Mr Milkshake explains (via VHS) is in response to their “desire to see the outside world.”
“With your Outies’ blessings, you will spend the next two calendar days walking the meadows, thickets, brambles, and brooks that make up the Dieter Eagan National Forest,” he says.
Dieter is Kier’s twin, who you’ll learn more about in Season 2 Episode 4. Along the way, Mark and co are guided by exact copies of themselves, that look more like VR versions of their Innies – again, a bit like robots.
Apple TV+Milchick explains that “Kier’s twin was always with him,” which is why they created their own versions. But you can never know what to trust when it’s coming from Lumon.
Of course, this could just be overanalyzing a simple anagram and grasping at connections that aren’t really there – but with Severance, every little detail seems to matter. (Plus, it’s half the fun of watching this show.)
Severance Season 2 Episodes 1-4 are streaming on Apple TV+ now. Find out when the next chapter drops with our guide to the Season 2 release schedule. You can also read our recaps of Episode 1 and Episode 2, and find out what “Mammalians Nurturable” means.