Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: 3 big mysteries solved in Woe's Hollow and 5 new questions I have about the hit Apple TV Plus show - Related to plus, violent, solved, show, new

Invincible season 3 changes Oliver Grayson's shocking and violent coming-of-age moment for the better – and for the worse

Invincible season 3's first three episodes are out now on Prime Video.

This season's third episode adapts a hugely significant Oliver Grayson moment from the comics.

The R-rated show's take on this key event left me with mixed feelings.

Invincible season 3 has taken flight on Prime Video – and, out of everything that transpires in its first three episodes, there's one hugely crucial moment that I keep coming back to for a myriad reasons.

The incident in question takes place in this season's third chapter, titled 'You Want a Real Costume, Right?', and revolves around a graphically violent coming-of-age situation for Oliver Grayson. If you've watched Invincible's latest episodes, you'll know exactly what moment I'm referring to.

There'll be some of you, though, who haven't, so this is your one and only warning: Full spoilers immediately follow for season 3 episode 3 and the graphic novel series that it's based on, so turn back now if you'll be streaming them at a later date (bookmark this page, though, and come back once you've seen episode 3 and/or read the comics).

If you're still here and have watched episode 3, you won't need reminding that the half-brother of Mark Grayson, aka the adult animated show's eponymous hero, makes his first kill during that chapter of the best Prime Videos' third season. Or, rather, first two kills, because he murders the villainous Mauler Twins after they break into a missile silo with the view to launching a nuclear warhead to destroy Earth's satellite system. You see, the Maulers want to own the planet's communications network – wrecking the one that's currently in place means every nation will need to pay them in order to send messages to each other.

That's what they're hoping for, anyway, until Mark and Oliver arrive to *ahem* save the day. But, when the Maulers successfully launch their nuke, Mark is forced to fly after it to stop it. That leaves Oliver alone to deal with the Mauler Twins.

That's where things take a turn for the worse. After they knock Oliver about a bit and then goad him for being a little dweeb, the Maulers find out just how powerful Mark's younger sibling is. He breaks one of the twins' jaws, flies right through his other foe's abdomen (which kills him instantly), and then, despite the broken jawed Mauler surrendering, Oliver smashes his head in with such force that he decapitates the remaining Mauler.

Oliver Grayson #INVINCIBLE #INVINCIBLESeason3 [website] 6, 2025.

It's not only an incredibly shocking and ultraviolent moment in the comics and Amazon's TV adaptation, but also proves how sociopathic and psychopathic Oliver is. Indeed, his insatiable bloodlust, obvious disregard for the Maulers' lives, and clear incomprehension at what he's just done are all traits that his and Mark's father – Nolan Grayson, aka the now-disgraced Viltrumite warrior known as Omni-Man – displayed in abundance throughout Invincible's first season.

Surprising no-one, Mark is absolutely furious when, after stopping the nuke, returns to Earth to find out Oliver has murdered the Maulers. The fact that he has to hear it second hand from Global Defence Agency (GDA) director Cecil Stedman, who becomes the latest person to betray Mark (in Mark's mind, anyway) in season 3's early episodes, doesn't help, either. Long story short: Mark whisks Oliver away to scold him for executing the Maulers in cold blood.

Until this point, Invincible season 3 has performed a near-perfect adaptation of how this scenario plays out in the graphic novels. Once Mark and Oliver are alone, though, the show makes some nuanced changes in the scenes that follow – and it's these tweaks that help and hinder the melodrama to come.

Let's start with the positives. Unlike the source material, which sees Oliver follow Mark into the sky to receive his telling-off, Mark grabs his sibling by the left arm and drags him into the stratosphere. It's a subtle but fascinating alteration that indicates how mad Mark is with Oliver, especially after the former has constantly told the latter that killing people, no matter if they're good or bad, is a big no-no.

The incredibly tense conversation that follows plays out in a similar fashion to the anger-fuelled chat depicted in the comics. The show, though, makes another minor tweak by making Oliver teary-eyed as he defends his actions. It's a reminder that Oliver is still just a kid – one who's excited by the prospect of possessing superhuman abilities, but also a pre-teen who has no idea of the damage he can cause by using them, especially if he's in a highly emotional state. People, adults and kids alike, can well up and/or cry when they're angry, so this is another example of how dramatic this scene is, and how Amazon has upped the ante to make it as hard-hitting as possible.

Lastly, an emotionally distressed Oliver flies away from Mark, who's forced to chase after him. It's a switch-up from the scene in the comics – one that sees the pair continue to verbally spar above the missile silo – which adds a dynamism and fraughtness to proceedings as Mark is coerced into following his half-sibling before he can accidentally hurt himself or anyone who might get in his way. The chase also forces Mark to engage his brain and compose himself emotionally so that, once he catches up to Oliver, he can explain why it was wrong to kill the Maulers in a more mature fashion.

To me, this seemingly negligible changes make for a much more effective sequence than what's depicted in the comics. However, in my view, the scene that follows feels like a downgrade on its graphic novel counterpart, and the aforementioned chase sequence is partly to blame. Indeed, with Mark and Oliver now discussing matters in a largely calmer manner, the tension built up pre-chase is lost. In the comics, the conversational fury intensifies with each clapback and counterpoint, and leads an increasingly anxiety-driven situation.

My biggest bugbear with the show's presentation of this iconic moment, though, is the absence of a single word uttered by Mark on the page. In the comics, after Oliver asks if Mark ever considered that Nolan was right in his belief that humanity wasn't worth saving in its current guise, a blind-sided by meditative Mark replies "...sometimes". In the TV show, Mark remains silent as he stares forlornly at Oliver.

I recognize why the change might have been made. At its thematic core, Invincible season 3 is an entry that deconstructs the concept of heroism. As viewers, we're asked to consider what it means to be a hero and whether they're infallible or not (spoiler – they're not). Mark's hushed response to Oliver's query points to he's similarly pondering that fact.

Nevertheless, ever since Invincible's first season ended, Mark has grappled with the notion that he's not only Nolan's son and the fact he's part-Viltrumite, but also struggled to move past the sins of his father. Is he destined to follow in Nolan's footsteps and bring planet Earth (and humanity) to heel under the Viltrum Empire's tyrannical boot? Or, will he be able to emerge from his dad's world-conquering shadow and be a more empathetic superhero who values life above all else? It's a dilemma Mark battled in Invincible season 2 part 1 and Invincible season 2 part 2, and is now doing so again here.

I firmly believe that if Amazon's adaptation had kept the "...sometimes" line, it would've been a far stronger showing of how Mark continues to wrestle with the idea of the hero he wants to be and the hero he has to be. Without it, his reaction to Oliver's burning question just doesn't hit as hard as I wanted. It might not matter to those who've only watched the show or even to other long time fans of Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, and Corey Walker's literary works. To paraphrase Mark in Invincible's season 2 part 2 finale, though: I thought it would've been stronger from a gut-punch perspective.

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Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: 3 big mysteries solved in Woe's Hollow and 5 new questions I have about the hit Apple TV Plus show

Full spoilers follow for Severance season 2 episode 4.

You were warned, Severance fans. Before the critically-acclaimed series returned on January 17, numerous members of the press – myself included – mentioned that season 2 episode 4, titled 'Woe's Hollow', would emotionally stun you. Indeed, I teased as much in my Severance season 2 review, but I wasn't convinced that many fans had taken any notice.

Now that 'Woe's Hollow' is out on Apple TV Plus, though, the critically-acclaimed series' fanbase is losing its collective mind over what happened in Severance season 2's latest chapter. As the dust settles on one of the show's best episodes so far, I'm here to answer your biggest questions about its ending, which mysteries it solves, and discuss some new theories that I have in the wake of its release.

This is your final warning: huge spoilers immediately follow for Severance season 2 episode 4. Bookmark this page for later, go and watch it right now, and then re-open this article once you've made it through the end credits.

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: wait, that's not Helly R...

Ever since episode 1 of the hit Apple TV Original's second season landed on one of the world's best streaming services, fans have suspected that something was amiss with Helly R. Many of us believed that she hadn't returned to Lumon alongside her fellow 'innies' and that Helena Eagan, the daughter of Lumon's current CEO, had infiltrated the Macrodata Refinement (MDR) team to spy on them for the nefarious biotech corporation. That's one of seven big theories I proposed following the release of Severance season 2's first episode.

Well, it turns out I and many others, including Irving B, were right. Irving B has been suspicious of Helly R since MDR discussed what they saw in the outside world in Severance's season 1 finale. Thanks to a weird dream he has (more on this later), plus the fact that Helena cruelly mocks him during a tense campfire conversation midway through this episode, Irving B determines that Helena is masquerading as Helly R. Confronting her the next day near Woe's Hollow's waterfall, he almost drowns Helena in a last-ditch, desperation-filled attempt to force Lumon's hand and confirm his suspicions.

Long story short: Irving B is right. Helena was planted as a mole within MDR to keep tabs on them and seemingly woo Mark S (the 'innie' of Mark Scout), so he gives up on finding Gemma, the wife of his 'outie', and uncovering more of Lumon's sinister working practices.

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: what is the Glasgow Block?

Okay, but how did Helena manage to infiltrate MDR? The elevator, which leads to the Severed Floor, contains the technology that causes a severed employee's 'outie' to be replaced by their 'innie' when they begin their latest shift at Lumon. So, how was Helena able to bypass this when she "goes to work" at Lumon? And why didn't Helly R appear alongside her co-workers when the 'innies' were transported to the real world for the field trip (or ORTBO, as Severed Floor manager Seth Milchick calls it) that takes place in episode 4?

It's all down to the Glasgow Block. Another program at Lumon's disposal, it seemingly allows the enterprise's unsevered managers to prevent a severed worker's 'innie' from materializing in certain situations. You know, like when the daughter of your enterprise's CEO has been tasked with spying on some severed employees... Anyway, we know this is the name of this software because Milchick tells someone (presumably back at Lumon HQ) to turn it off as Irving B drowns Helena.

Interestingly, 'Glasgow' is one of the program names that we first glimpsed in the final episode of Severance's first season. Remember when Dylan G used the Overtime Contingency (OTC) to send Mark S, Irving B, and Helly R into the real world? When he's cycling through Lumon's override systems in its security room, 'Glasgow' is one of the pieces of software that appears alongside OTC. Clearly, Lumon has had the Glasgow Block application lined up for a while in case it needed to use it for myriad reasons. That raises questions about what the other programs do and whether we'll see them in action in future seasons.

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: did Kier Eagan really have a twin brother called Dieter?

'Woe's Hollow' doesn't just confirm that Helena was spying on MDR and what the Glasgow Block is. Indeed, the latest episode of one of the best Apple TV Plus demonstrates also lifts the lid on some apparently critical details about Kier Eagan, aka Lumon Industries' founder who's worshipped by many of its employees. Revelations about Kier include him writing a fourth, secret appendix that few Lumon workers know about, his first encounter with Woe, one of the so-called Four Tempers, and that he supposedly had a twin named Dieter.

Of course, that begs the question: was Dieter a real person? I'm not buying that for one second. For one, Kier's proposes about what happened to Dieter are incredibly outlandish. In the fourth appendix, Kier writes that, essentially, Dieter was turned into a tree after committing the cardinal sin of, well, masturbating. Go figure.

In my view, Dieter never existed – instead, he's the 'evil twin' to Kier's morally righteous persona that Kier must exorcise, whether that's through taming the Four Tempers or doing something else. Despite its sci-fi vibes and aesthetic, Severance is as much of an exploration of religious symbolism and ideologies (the battle of good versus evil and cultism to name just two), and man's duplicitous nature – after all, this is a show where people have an 'innie' persona and an 'outie' persona. Dieter, then, is just Kier's evildoing persona that he fabricated and then "defeated" to become the upstanding, virtuous individual he's depicted as within Lumon.

Want one last piece of evidence? Dieter is derived from its fellow German name Dietrich, which roughly translates to "people ruler". What does Kier Eagan do, even though he's long since passed from this world? Laud it over Lumon. He's the ruler of the people who work for him. Get it?

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: what is the Montauk Project?

Severance season 2's fourth episode might have solved some big mysteries, but it also creates new questions and theories that need answering.

One of those is the Montauk Project. After he falls asleep, Irving B dreams that he's in a far more sinister version of the forest that MDR's enterprise retreat is being held in. Surrounded by thorny shrubbery, he walks towards an unsettling sound, which turns out to be a group of moths that are flittering around a computer monitor. Or, rather, four monitors, because he stumbles upon an office layout not unlike the set-up that the MDR team has at Lumon.

There, Irving B sits at his desk and stares at what's on the screen. In the top left hand corner, the word 'Montauk' can be seen. Rows of numbers also litter the screen, but they're soon jumbled together to form the face of Helena Eagan. Some of the numbers also turn into letters that spell out her surname – clues that confirm to Irving B that he's right in his assumptions about Helena's infiltration.

But I digress. Unfortunately, there's no indication about what Lumon's Montauk Project is. I don't recall seeing it as one of business's 'innie' programs like the OTC or Glasgow Block from season 1 episode 9, so it's unlikely to be another piece of software that allows them to control the 'innies'. I doubt it's got something to do Project Cold Harbor, either, which is the project that Mark S needs to complete at Lumon and somehow has ties to Gemma.

'Montauk' is a name with real-life historical significance, though. For starters, there's a real-world conspiracy theory called The Montauk Project, which alleges that the US government conducted experiments surrounding psychological warfare and time travel in Montauk, New York. There's also The Montauk Monster incident – an event that saw an unidentifiable rotten animal carcass wash up on the shores of the New York City district in July 2008. MDR see a similarly styled carcass on their way to Woe's Hollow, which is a neat callback to this real-world mystery. It's possible, then, that references to Montauk in Severance season 2's fourth chapter are just the creative team's way of adding to the fictional and real-world puzzles within the show itself.

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: is Irving B dead?

It certainly seems that way. After almost drowning Helena to force Lumon to admit she's been spying on the MDR team, a furious Milchick tells Irving B that there's no choice but to "retire" him. As we know, that's code for "yeah, your 'innie' is toast". Considering Irving B almost committed "collegial murder" (Milchick's words, not mine"), it seems his time is up as a Lumon employee for his 'innie' and 'outie'.

Fortunately, Severance's creators spare us the pain of seeing Irving's 'innie' draw his last breath. Indeed, the screen cuts to black as Milchick tells Lumon to, well, sever Irving for what appears to be the final time. So long, Irving B.

That noted, I don't actually think Lumon destroys a person's 'innie' when it 'retires' them – and it's got something to do with the previously mentioned Glasgow Block. You see, in the real world, there's a scientific tool called the Glasgow Coma Scale. It's used to determine a person's level of consciousness after a serious brain injury or some other traumatic experience.

they killed irving b bc he was too smart, too clever, too wise. little do they know he’s gonna make a comeback and burn the severance building like he promised #severance [website] 7, 2025.

I theorize, then, that the Glasgow Block is the program utilized by Lumon when it wants to 'retire' an 'innie'. That doesn't mean that stated 'innie' is bumped off, though. Instead, I think they're simply placed into a comatose state. If required, Lumon can simply reawaken an individuals 'innie' if it needs them to.

If I'm right, that means that all of the supposedly dead 'innies' are still somewhere inside the brains of Irving B, Burt G, and any other severed employee who's been let go by Lumon. Long story short: there must be a way to bring them back and I wouldn't be shocked if one of the corporation's other 'innie' programs has the capacity to do so.

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: why did Irving tell Dylan to "hang in there"?

Before Irving's 'innie' is shut down (I refuse to believe he's dead), a guilty Dylan G shouts down to him to apologize for not believing him over Helena. Irving B responds by telling Dylan that it's okay and that he just needs to "hang in there".

This is an incredibly crucial callback to Severance season 2 episode 1. After Mark S' co-workers are welcomed back to Lumon and as they sit through that bizarre 'Lumon Is Listening' video (yes, that's Keanu Reeves voicing Lumon's anthropomorphic building in Severance season 2's premiere), a poster with the words 'Hang in there' can be seen on one of the walls. It also recreates the scene from season 1 episode 9 where Dylan G holds onto the two OTC switches to activate it.

What does all of this mean? Irving B has hidden something behind that poster and wants Dylan G to find it. Remember: in last week's episode, Irving B told Dylan G that he'd sketched the painting (the one that his 'outie' has made numerous times) of the long, dark hallway with an elevator leading down.

I believe Irving B has been playing the long game here. He knew he was going to fired by Lumon if (or, rather, when) he forced them to admit Helena had been spying on MDR, so he put plans in place for his colleagues to continue their quest to find out what Lumon was really up to. Long story short: I think Irving B has hidden his sketches behind that poster. if Dylan G is clever and brave enough to find them, he can tell Mark S and Helly R about the sketches, and they can use them to find the elevator and, potentially, Gemma.

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: hang on, are those clones of the MDR team?

Given other shocking events that transpire in 'Woe's Hollow', it's easy to forget another deeply unsettling moment that happens earlier in season 2 episode 4. As the MDR team begin their journey towards the titular location, they're apparently aided by silent versions of themselves, who point them in the direction of Woe's Hollow.

Severance fans have long believed that Lumon Industries' primary objective is unlocking the secret of human cloning. There are numerous threads on the main Severance Reddit page theorizing this is the case, with some viewers suggesting the series' adorable goats are all clones, Ms Casey is a clone of Mark's wife Gemma, and that the Severed Floor's newly installed deputy manager Ms Huang is a clone of Gemma or even what would've been Mark and Gemma's daughter. The purpose of all of this? To resurrect Kier by implanting his consciousness in a clone of his own body.

If – and it's a big if – this is the crux of Severance's story and/or biggest mystery, it would explain why MDR sees cloned versions of themselves as they try to find Woe's Hollow. Sure, these 'clones' could just be a mirage, but I'm struggling to determine how Lumon would make the 'innies' have hallucinations of themselves. I suppose they could be animatronics (Lumon has used them before), but the clone theory just makes more sense to me.

Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained: how will MDR react to events at Woe's Hollow?

If Severance doesn't provide answers to questions 4 through 7 in its next episode, it's a sure fire bet that it'll provide answers to this and all of the below?

How will Helly R react to the fact that Helena has been masquerading as her? Will Mark S tell her that he slept with Helena (he thought she was Helly, for what it's worth) and, if so, will it destroy their burgeoning romance? Will Milchick keep his job as Severed Floor manager? And is Dylan G going to take Irving B's advice or will he sacrifice it in favor of seeing the wife of his 'outie' again?

It's going to be a long week to get answers to all of these questions and more. So, as Irving B noted: "hang in there".

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Bill Gates: ‘Intel lost its way’

Bill Gates was once the embodiment of the computer industry. Though the co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft retired over a decade ago to pursue full-time philanthropy, people still listen when he talks — and in a recent interview, he talked about Intel.

Intel is having a rough time of late. The chipmaker’s stock is practically in freefall. It’s had high-profile failures for its most powerful CPUs, and rivals AMD and especially Nvidia are kicking its silicon butt in the AI arms race. In December, the business’s CEO Pat Gelsinger stepped down after working for Intel on-and-off for decades. Yeah, it’s bad.

Intel is also one of Microsoft’s most critical partners, so it’s no surprise that the organization’s woes came up in an interview with the Associated Press. “I am stunned that Intel basically lost its way,” Gates expressed.

“They missed the AI chip revolution, and with their fabrication capabilities, they don’t even use standards that people like Nvidia and Qualcomm find easy. I thought Pat Gelsinger was very brave to say, ‘No, I am going to fix the design side, I am going to fix the fab side.’ I was hoping for his sake, for the country’s sake, that he would be successful. I hope Intel recovers, but it looks pretty tough for them at this stage.”.

It’s a bleak snippet in an otherwise positive interview, and it doesn’t offer any realistic paths for Intel to make up ground. The organization’s most recent desktop and laptop chips have been met with more acclaim, and its new discrete GPUs are positioned to thrive in a budget space that has been woefully underserved for the last few years.

But you can’t make hundreds of billions in profit selling cards to cash-strapped PC gamers… and with Nvidia still standing strong even after taking a hard knock from the DeepSeek news, that’s definitely the measure of success for modern chipmakers.

Don’t take this for hyperbole. Intel isn’t in danger of an imminent collapse. But after dominating the market for both consumers and enterprises for decades, the enterprise simply isn’t the powerhouse it was a few years ago. The most recent development is that the stock price got a welcome shot in the arm following rumors of an acquisition, something that would have been unthinkable not so long ago.

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