I Have A Theory About What Severance's "PE" State Code Actually Means

Spoilers below for anyone who hasn't yet caught up on Severance's Season 2 episodes via Apple TV+ subscription, so be warned!

For as much time as audiences have spent in the world of Severance — 14 TV episodes and countless hours of speculation to date — next to no time has been dedicated to cluing viewers in on exactly where Lumon’s headquarters are located, at least in comparison to other U.S. landmarks. (If only Keanu Reeves’ animated building was more up front.) We know it was built in what became known as the city of Kier, in a state that’s only been referred to in text form as “PE.”

Bizarrely enough, viewers only know of one city that exists in Kier’s immediate vicinity: Ganz, PE. That’s where the college is located that Mark S. and Gemma used to teach at, and possibly where Devon and Ricken’s house is located. Beyond that, the most noteworthy reveal to date has been the nutso ORTBO episode identifying the Dieter Eagan National Forest, which may or may not be a legitimate distinction.

So without oodles and oodles of material to put forth as citation-friendly research, and likely not much coming later as the the 2025 TV schedule rolls on, let’s use what we actually know to take a few stabs in the dark at what PE could actually mean.

Theory: PE Stands For "Prime Eagan" Or Something Similar

I don't think anyone familiar with Severance lore would balk at the idea of Kier Eagan wanting more than just founding a groundbreaking and life-changing company. To me, he seems like the kind of person who would want to also have irreversible ownership of the land upon which his home and company were built. And if Lumon has the global reach of a company like Amazon or Google, then perhaps the Eagan family also possesses the power to stake land claims.

While I can’t pretend to know the intricacies of how one would go about legitimately adding a brand new state to the nation as a whole, we don’t really need to understand that complicated process to grasp the simpler idea that this bloodline is one that thrives on power and self-importance. And what better example can there be than naming a state after oneself?

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Kier's real name is Patrick or another name that would easily lend itself to this theory, but I don't think that's the case. And I also don't see him naming it after any of his siblings or children, so even if we get more Appendices readings down the line, they likely won't be about P-named characters.

Why I'm Leaning Specifically Into "Prime Eagan"

Remember the dream that Irving had in "Woe's Hollow" that clued him in on Helena's identity? Beyond setting up the temper Woe as a creepy AF stand-in for Helly, that sequence also delivers some interesting digital visuals on Irving's computer monitor.

The usual MDR numbers start going haywire as they're joined by a select series of letters (E, A, G, N) that can easily be anagrammed into "E-A-G-A-N." But the numbers on display — 1, 3, 5 ,7 — may be just as important, as they're all prime numbers.

Okay, that's not quite right, as the numeral 1 technically isn't a prime number. But when it's combined with other numbers, similar to combining letters to make "Eagan," then you can get 11, 13, 17, 31, 51, 71, and so on. It's not perfect, but few things about Lumon are.

Prime May Have Other Meanings, Too

In the world of Severance, even an easy concept like "natural childbirth leading to healthy traditional families" seems suspicious when applied to the Eagan family. Fans have all kinds of ideas about how twisted the lineage and family tree might actually be, with reports of inbreeding previously coming to light.

And so what if Prime Eagan is not only indicative of the city being the central hub for the family's business, but also pertains to each of the family members who has risen to the role of CEO? What if each of them, even the ones who seemingly weren't direct descendants, were actually still biologically linked with Kier Eagan through early attempts at cloning and gene-splicing techniques?

Which is to say, combined with the ideas that "Dieter Eagan" is an anagram for "A.I.-generated" and "ORTBO" anagrams into "ROBOT," that Lumon's founding family may itself just be the technology-infused result of Kier's efforts to keep his DNA alive for more than 150 years. Perhaps the seemingly young Miss Huang and the seemingly resurrected Ms. Casey/Gemma are also becoming biological acolytes in that way.

Theories have already sprung up positing that the unidentified, grey-haired doctor (assumed) in the cold open is Kier Eagan himself, but that's a whole other similarly glorious conversation.

Or Maybe I'm Entirely Wrong

The more I think about this idea, the more it seems both entirely correct and extremely unconvincing. Which is a huge part of why Severance is so fun to watch, since few shows nspire such off-kilter theorizing on a constant basis. But let's suppose I'm wrong here, and that PE doesn't mean "Prime Eagan" at all.

It's also possible that "Praise Eagan" could be the state name, with the oft-stated "Praise Kier" being more of a loyalist catchphrase within Lumon itself. But that's a bit more boring and less inventive than my initial idea, so let's pretend we already think it's wrong.

But while we're at it, let's fully replace our Straightforward Theory Thinking cap with the generic department store version and go through a few other ideas for what the letters could be indicative of in this universe.

• Party of Egg
• Place-for Eagans
• Pillaged Elements
• Perpetual Edification
• Perfection Excellence
• Paternal Ewwness
• Pleasant Escape
• Petey's Endgame

Just think of the existential ramifications if June Kilmer would be singing "Fuck Lumon" in a state that was illogically named after her dad. Or don't think about that at all, and shift back to why Lumon's gifted paintings to Milchick were so important that his reaction to them was the first positive observation addressed during his performance review.

Severance drops new episodes every Friday on Apple TV+, with only a handful of episodes left to go in Season 2. If only there was a chip I could put in my own brain to be able to watch from the beginning without remembering what happens.