'Severance' Season 2 finale: Why is Lumon sacrificing goats?

The Severance Season 2 finale left us with a lot to talk about, but among the mysteries of Cold Harbor, weird paintings and what exactly is going to happen in Season 3, there's one four-legged topic that can by no means be ignored.

We're talking, of course, about the goats.

The animals have been clopping around the severed floor of Lumon since Season 1, but the finale gave us a semi-answer to the question of why they're there. Let's recap.

What happens with the goat in the Severance Season 2 finale?

It seemed inevitable that Gwendoline Christie would have a bigger part to play since her cameo in episode 3 as Lorne, the head of Lumon's Mammalians Nurturable Department. In the finale, we finally see her again, wheeling one of her baby goats to a room opposite the entrance to the exports hall. There she meets the ominous Mr. Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), and the purpose of the goats becomes horribly clear: They're sacrificial.

"We commit this animal to Kier, and his eternal war against pain," says Mr. Drummond, handing Lorne a gun. In the background, in patterns on the wall, we see images of a goat standing between two stick figures, one looking distressed while the other stands with their hand out. In another image, a goat lies upside-down on an alter, shining with light.

"How many more must I give?" Lorne asks.

"As many as the founder calls," comes the response.

The good news? Mark S. (Adam Scott) interrupts the sacrifice, and Emile the goat ends up going free. But why is Lumon doing this in the first place? What are they hoping to achieve?

Why is Lumon sacrificing goats?

As we know from the trip Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) takes in episode 8 to her childhood home, Lumon is just as much a religious cult as it is a company. And many of the people who work there don't appear to be faking their beliefs in the legends of Kier Eagan.

Animal sacrifice has historically been practiced in a number of religions, so it's not such a big stretch that Lumon — with its lore-heavy, cultish vibes — would have incorporated something like this into their practices.

What's perhaps more interesting, though, is the way sacrifice is being used within the frame of their religion. The goat in this case is being sacrificed at the same time that Gemma (Dichen Lachman) is entering the Cold Harbor room on the testing floor, where we know Lumon intends for her to be killed. What makes this even more disturbing, though, is the dialogue between Lorne and Mr. Drummond, which implies that this isn't the first goat that has been sacrificed in that room.

So, we have to ask: How many people has Lumon killed on the testing floor as part of the company's "eternal war against pain"?

Severance Season 2 is now streaming on Apple TV+.