In the disturbing world of Severance, no element is accidental, especially not water. Beneath its sterile office spaces and eerie corporate culture, the show is flooded with visual and linguistic motifs that evoke this life-giving element. From cryptic file names to chilling acts of drowing, water in Severance becomes more than background texture, it becomes a key to understanding the company’s ethos and possibly, its endgame.
While the severed floor seems devoid of nature, water in Severance flows through the narrative in unexpected ways. It’s a metaphor, a symbol, and perhaps even a method of control, hinting at Lumon’s deeper ambitions linked to becoming the giver of "new life". The more closely we examine the show’s visual language and thematic breadcrumbs, the clearer it becomes that water is not just an aesthetic choice, but hints at the company's ambitions.
What first appears to be an innocuous file-naming convention quickly turns into something far more telling as we piece together all the clues. As the Macrodata Refinemant team handle files with names like "Tumwater" and we hear of “Lake Shore” and “Reservoir Holdings,” we begin to see a linguistic pattern emerge. These aren’t just random corporate documents; they’re pieces of a larger symbolic puzzle. Water in Severance is frequently invoked in documentation, suggesting that the company is mapping, or manipulating the source of life.
Water, after all, sustains life. It moves, transforms, and adapts - everything Lumon seems desperate to suppress in its employees and control in others. Could these file names be referencing real-world water resources, or do they hint at something more abstract, like reservoirs of memory or consciousness? Even the show’s original working title, Tumwater, adds another layer of intrigue. A real town in Washington State, Tumwater gets its name from the Chinook word for “waterfall.” But it’s also the name of an alkaline compound used to treat water.
The implication? Lumon is treating minds like contaminated streams - purifying, processing, and rendering them suitable.
Cold Palettes and Corporate Purification
Severance's visual design bolsters this interpretation. The sterile corridors of Lumon are bathed in cool tones- blue, grey, and green carpets - that evoke water and nature. In contrast, red, the color of vitality, flesh, and passion, is largely absent on the severed floor. This absence feels intentional and when we see it we must focus on it. Think the blood drawn from Milchick by Dylan when he bites him out of rage or, when Mark S chooses Helly over his Outie's wife Gemma in the Windmills of your Mind sequence.
Water in Severance isn’t just imagery; it’s a mood. The subdued palette mirrors the emotional numbness enforced by severance. It's as if Lumon is washing away the messier aspects of being human - anger, joy, grief -in favor of a distilled, docile version of the self.
Paintings of Kier Eagan overlooking the Great Lakes reinforce the mythologizing of water. These visual cues, quietly positioned throughout Lumon’s halls, portray Kier not just as a founder, but as a god-like figure surveying a domain built on fluidity, control, and reverence. The company’s logo itself is a stylized water droplet! We also see a lot of the water tower outside of the Lumon office. Is it a symbol of life, or a brand stamp of domination over it?
Is it Baptism or Drowning?
No moment captures the thematic weight of water in Severance more than the harrowing scene at the Waterfall on the Ortbo in Season 2 Episode 4. Here, Irving attempts to drown Helena - a brutal but necessary act that feels both deeply personal and religiously symbolic. Irving is certain Lumon and Mr Milchick have planetd Helena Eagan as a mole and the only way to know for sure is to threaten her life!
Drowning, in many mythologies, represents purification, a painful rebirth and washing away sins which are usually just very human characteristics deemed undesirable. Within the context of Lumon’s near-religious hierarchy, it becomes a twisted sacrament: a forced cleansing of identity, echoing the company’s core philosophy.
The Waterfall itself holds a sacred place in Lumon lore, tied to Kier Eagan’s teachings. That Irving chooses this exact location for such a grim task on the Ortbo suggests a belief, conscious or not, that the water holds power, perhaps even the truth.
In this scene, water in Severance is not about renewal, it’s about annihilation of the self, a total submersion using a sacred symbol of Lumon to completely undo itself. Helena’s survival, only ensured by Milchick’s intervention, reminds us that the company controls not just when you work but whether you live. Milchick's facade was finally dropped in front of the Innies in this scene when presented with the drowing of the next CEO.
Drowning, in many mythologies, represents purification, a painful rebirth and washing away sins which are usually just very human characteristics deemed undesirable.
Control Through the Elemental
If Lumon’s severance technology is about dividing the mind, then water may represent the deeper goal: full domination of the soul. Through visual motifs, linguistic cues, and symbolic acts, water in Severance is consistently aligned with control, of emotion, identity, and even mortality. It’s the perfect metaphor: beautiful, necessary, and utterly unstoppable when misused. What begins as quiet symbolism eventually surfaces as thematic architecture by Season 2.
By embedding water so deeply into its world-building, Severance invites viewers to reconsider what we’re watching. This isn’t just about office politics, it’s about absolute power and control over nature which, in reality, cannot be controlled. This power doesn't just reshape people's beliefs, but rewrites the terms of their humanity.
So prepare to see more water metaphors in the Lumon universe, ask yourself: Is it cleansing… or is it claiming? Water in Severance may seem like a minor detail at first glance, but it ultimately functions as one of the show’s most potent metaphors.
