What's Going on With That Mysterious Hallway in 'Severance'?

Warning! The following contains spoilers for Severance Season 2, Episode 5.

Severance has provided some confirmation into one of the show's biggest mysteries: The long, dark hallway that Irving (John Turturro) has been painting does, in fact, exist.

In the opening moments of the AppleTV+ show's latest episode "Trojan's Horse", a man wheels a cart down down a labratory, greeting two members of the Optics and Design Team. The employees are Felicia (Claudia Robinson) and Elizabeth (Rachel Addington), members of the O&D team we've seen before. As for the man whose face is covered...well, that remains a mystery.

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As the man walks down towards the O&D employees, he whistles a tune. The song, to my ear, sounds like "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot (this is confirmed by the closed captioning). Ever since the show's debut, fans have been fixated on names and their meanings. Water and battles have both been theories that have been popular online.

The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was a ship that was lost with the entire crew of 29 men in 1975. It was located several days later in two pieces, having sunk to deep water in Lake Superior. There have additionally been theories that Irving or his father may have been in the navy.

The whistling is haunting as the man asks the workers "do you have then?" They pull out a tray of tools (scalpels, mirrors and picks). The man takes them and walks back the way he came, whistling the tune again. The man uses a pass to open the door to the long, dark tunnel, which leads to another door with a red arrow pointing down. We've seen this location in Irving's dreams and paintings. But now we finally have confirmation: This place is real.

Who is the man in the hallway?

We really don't know. But the fact that his face was covered up sure makes it seem like Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson don't want us to know, at least for now. The first guess I had was that this was Christopher Walken. But the man bears no real physical resemblance to the actor. One thing is for sure, the man is important. He's an older man with gray hair but for now, that's about all we know!

What does the hallway mean?

This, too, remains quite the mystery. But we have some ideas. A leading theory online is that the fact that Irving has seen this image before might represent that this wasn't the first time Irving has been severed. If the hallway leads to an area where individuals can be re-severed, that might explain why Irving knew of the eerie location. We know Irving's outie had been trying to get a message to his innie (and that he was successful). But we don't know what that image was.

With this scene coming right after the end of last episode where Irving was fired, it's likely that the tools being brought downstairs are likely to be used on Irv. Let's not forget, the severed floor is already in the basement! We're going even deeper!

Related: 6 Questions We Need Answered in 'Severance' Season 2

Why The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald?

The choice of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald as the whistled tune in this scene is no accident. The 1976 song by Gordon Lightfoot recounts the real-life tragedy of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, a freighter that sank in Lake Superior in 1975, taking all 29 crew members with it. The song is a haunting elegy to those lost at sea, and its inclusion in Severance could carry multiple symbolic meanings.

First, the imagery of a shipwreck aligns with the show’s themes of isolation, loss, and inevitable doom. Much like the crew of the Fitzgerald, the severed employees of Lumon may be on a journey that will end in disaster—one they are powerless to escape. The song’s lyrics also emphasize a lack of warning before the ship's demise, mirroring the uncertain and sinister forces that seem to control the severed workers’ fates.

Second, there have long been theories that Irving or his father had a naval background. We’ve seen hints of military imagery in his memories and possessions, and his strict, regimented personality could be a remnant of that past. If Irving’s father was a sailor—or even a victim of a shipwreck—the song might be another key to unlocking his mysterious past.

Next, The Biggest Questions We Have After the 'Severance' Season 2 Premiere