Severance Season 2: What’s the Deal With Gwendoline Christie’s Lorne & the Goat Department?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Severance Season 2, Episode 3, “Who Is Alive?”.

Severance‘s latest installment debuts the Apple TV+ sci-fi thriller’s most outlandish character yet: Lorne (played by Game of Thrones alum Gwendoline Christie). So, who is Severance Season 2, Episode 3’s Lorne, and what’s the deal with the goat-centric department she’s part of at Lumon Industries?

Who Is Gwendoline Christie’s Lorne in Severance Season 2, Episode 3?

Lorne belongs to Lumon’s Mammalians Nurturable department, AKA the room where Severance Season 1’s mysterious goats come from. Season 2, Episode 3, “Who Is Alive?”, doesn’t reveal the exact nature of her responsibilities; all we know – based on the department’s name and dialogue in the episode – is that Lorne and her colleagues spend their days raising goats. And Lorne’s apparently in charge of that operation, given she summons the others with her own Lumon-branded bell.

Other than that, Severance Season 2, Episode 3 doesn’t reveal much else about Lorne. We know that (like most people on the severed floor) she’s wary of co-workers from other departments. It’s also implied that she’s somewhat more well-adjusted than her eccentric colleagues. Her outfit is essentially a pastoral-themed business suit (rather than the creepy goat headdresses others are rocking), and she’s not surprised when Mark and Helly’s exposed tummies don’t have pouches!

What’s more, Lorne proves herself capable of being reasoned with. After Mark and Helly explain why it’s important that they find Ms. Casey, their logic – combined with the Mammalians Nurturable team’s shared fondness for the missing wellness counselor – wins Lorne over. She’s not going to help with the search, but she won’t get in the way, either.

Related: Severance Season 2: What Do Mr. Milchick’s Paintings Mean in Episode 3?

What Is the Goat Department’s Purpose in Severance?

That’s one of Severance‘s biggest ongoing mysteries – and Season 2, Episode 3 doesn’t offer any answers. But as you’d expect, fans already have plenty of theories about what’s really going on in Lumon’s goat department. Some believe the goats are test subjects for research designed to resurrect Lumon founder Kier Eagan, and then make him and his family immortal.

Related: Severance Season 2: What Does ‘Fetid Moppet’ Mean?

Others are convinced that the furry critters in Severance‘s goat department are part of a wider cloning initiative that also involves Ms. Casey. And then there are those who think Lumon’s simply breeding the goats to sacrifice in one of its sinister, cult-like rituals. Is any of this speculation on the money? Only time (and Severance Season 2’s seven remaining episodes) will tell!

Severance Season 2 is currently streaming on Apple TV+, with new episodes dropping Fridays.