What happens to Irving in Severance? Character's fate, revisited

Irving, played by John Turturro, is one of the most complex characters in Severance. Known for his loyalty to Lumon Industries and his quiet but emotional bond with Burt (played by Christopher Walken), Irving has always been an interesting man.

By the time season two ends, his storyline takes an unexpected turn. The last we see of him is him saying a heartbreaking goodbye to Burt before boarding a train with his dog, Radar.

Irving’s fate in Severance

Irving’s time at Lumon began nine years before Petey Kilmer’s reintegration. Six years after he started working at Lumon, he agreed to the Severance Procedure, splitting his existence into two: the Outie, who lived freely in the outside world, and the Innie, who only knew the severed floor. His Innie, Irving B., became a Senior Refiner in Macrodata Refinement and eventually the longest-serving member of the team.

Over time, Irving developed feelings for Burt. Their relationship was one of the most emotional storylines in Severance. But tension grew after Irving attended a dinner with Burt, Burt’s husband Fields (John Noble), and himself, after Irving was fired from Lumon and his innie was killed. That uneasy evening suggested Burt’s ties to Lumon might be far stronger than Irving believed.

In the episode The After Hours, this suspicion comes to a conclusion. Irving walks into his apartment to find Burt waiting, reading through his personal notebook. In one entry, Irving had written about the possibility that Burt was connected to a series of deaths and disappearances. When Burt tries to defend himself, Irving quickly insists that he no longer believes those words.

Burt then reveals the truth: he has worked with Lumon for years, long before the Severance Procedure was even created. He admits that he was ordered to drive people to places where they would vanish, but claims he never saw what happened afterward.

While this confession shows Burt was complicit in Lumon’s actions, it also reveals that he chose to ignore the company's ill actions but did not commit a crime himself. Still, it raises unsettling questions, including whether he played a role in Gemma’s (played by Dichen Lachman) disappearance.

Despite Lumon’s orders, Burt takes a risk. Instead of delivering Irving to his potential death, he protects him. He drives Irving and Radar to a train station, giving them the chance to escape. Burt warns him that he cannot know where Irving is going and that he must never come back, but this action shows that his loyalty lies more with Irving than with Lumon.

Their farewell scene is both emotional and final. Burt tells Irving he chose to be severed because he did not want to feel like a terrible person who drove people to danger. He also said that the good part of him fell in love with Irving. Irving admits that he wishes he could remember their time together, but doesn't. Despite that, the string pull between them exists, and it's evident in the last few moments before Irving leaves.

Irving boards the train with Radar, getting away from Lumon control and into an uncertain future. But this is likely not the end for Irving, as there's a lot about the character yet to be known, like the paintings he makes. Besides, when John Turturro was asked by The Hollywood Reporter if he would be satisfied with Irving's ending in season two, he said,

"No. And I don’t think it is. If someone wanted the story to be complete? It could be! But I think there’s so much more here."

Severance is streaming on Apple TV+.

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