What is Severance season 2’s title sequence trying to tell us?

The second episode of Severance season 2 brings back an element missing from its predecessor: the show’s surreal, animated opening sequence. Severance’s showrunners have updated the intro for season 2, tying it into visual themes present in the first episode, like the clutch of balloons given to Mark S. by Mr. Milchick. 

So it stands to reason the animated intro may also provide some hints about the narrative themes and events that the second season of Severance will explore. Let’s unpack.

Severance season 1’s animated intro exclusively focused on Adam Scott’s Mark S/Mark Scout, and the overlaps and clashes between his innie and his outie. The animation communicated Mark’s depressive state and his two consciousnesses bleeding into each other, a phenomenon represented by oozing black slime. The intro reinforced the color themes of Severance: Macrodata Refinement green, Lumon blue, and red, a color associated with the real life of one’s outie.

In hindsight, there’s also a more subtle nod toward candles that connected Mark S. and Ms. Casey/Gemma; Mark, in red, is shown melting into a green chair, echoing the two-color candle seen in Mark’s wellness session with Ms. Casey and a hint at their relationship.

Severance season 2’s animated intro brings in even more diverse themes and imagery. We see Mark torn between Helly and Gemma. The image of his two love interests blur together in the opening animation’s final shot of the Testing Floor elevator. Mark’s descent into lower floors — and what appears to be deeper into his own brain — as he walks down a staircase likely refers to further exploration of Lumon by Mark and his colleagues in season 2, as they attempt to discover the whereabouts of Ms. Casey/Gemma.

Irving B. also makes a brief appearance in the intro in an intriguing way: Irv’s face is emblazoned on a Lumon mug, a container that overflows with white-colored brass instruments. Irving is said to be a lover of music, yes, as Ms. Casey describes his outie as “fond of records” — but we only see him listening to Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades” in season 1. Not exactly jazzy. (The brass instruments may be a callback to the “Defiant Jazz” played in season 1, and could reflect a renewed sense of defiance from Irving, who was previously a staunch rule follower and Lumon enthusiast.)

Other imagery utilized in season 2’s intro include:

• Mark being separated physically from his MDR co-workers — a hint at further rifts or blockage between them? Interestingly, the reflective wall that blocks Mark also obscures his face with what appears to be a white mask.
• Mark transforming into a (painting of) a goat. In a twist on a similar shot from the season 1 animated intro, outie Mark hops into innie Mark’s head, before morphing into a painting. This references season 1’s “The Grim Barbarity of Optics and Design,” in which Mark and Helly discover a room on the severed floor where a man is tending after goats. Thanks to a trailer for Severance season 2, we know that the goats will be back in force.
• Mark’s severance chip being extracted from his body. This could indicate that Mark is ready to explore reintegration, or that his innie and outie will work together to solve the questions they have about each other’s consciousness.
• Mark on some unidentified medication. A balloon-headed Mark, resting his head on a table, inflates then deflates, knocking over an unknown liquid that has the color of colostrum and appears to have mini Marks inside. Pills are scattered around the table. Mark’s head is resting on what appears to be a photograph, evoking imagery from season 1, where photos of Petey and Gemma haunted him.
• A lot of faceless babies. Mark’s sister recently gave birth, but the sheer number of babies seen in the intro indicates something deeper than that. Mark said that he and Gemma tried to conceive before her death, so this imagery may be a manifestation of guilt. Most of the babies shown in the intro are faceless — just like many of the Mark balloons — with the exception of one that looks like Kier Eagan. This could tie into theories that — potential spoiler alert! — a big part of the mysterious and important work at Lumon is being done in the name of resurrecting Kier. 
• The watchful eye of Ms. Selvig/Ms. Cobel. Despite some… employment disruptions between Lumon and Patricia Arquette’s character, Ms. Selvig/Ms. Cobel appears to be still carefully monitoring Mark S. in both innie and outie form, signaling her vested personal interest in his work.

The animation company that produces Severance’s animated title sequences, extraweg, may not mean everything it included in season 2’s intro literally, of course. These are simply our best guesses about what the showrunners and ​​extraweg may be trying to communicate. Your best spoiler-laden theories, insights, and corrections are more than welcome in the comments.