Severance season 2 masquerading as Helly on the severed floor and the ORTBO summit, the latter half of the series has placed a greater emphasis on how Helena/Helly differ not just in their roles, but in personality and natural dispositions, operating as two distinct individuals.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Lower revealed that one moment in Severance where Helena is made to eat hard-boiled eggs for breakfast highlights a subtle difference between the two sides of her character. In an episode of Severance season 2, Helena reluctantly eats two hard-boiled eggs as Jame Eagan (Michael Siberry), her ghastly father and the current Lumon CEO, sits by and watches. Read more about what she had to say below:

I will say, though: Helly R. really liked the eggs in season one. If you recall, at the egg-bar social, she’s like, “Oh, these are pretty good.”

Whereas Helena is not about hard-boiled eggs. Do you see the way that she eats those? She’s like, I’m going to eat as little of this as possible. I don’t know. [Laughs] One of them likes eggs and one of them doesn’t. It’s also referring back to this Eagan tradition that Kier ate his breakfast as, like, raw eggs. It’s a thing that Milchick mentions to Helena in episode two of season one.

What Helly/Helena's Differing Appetities Means For Severance

The Eagan Legacy Behind Helly/Helena's Split Personality

Severance season 2, episode 9 opens with one of the show’s most uncomfortable moments to date: Jame Eagan silently watching Helena eat hard-boiled eggs before eerily muttering, “I wish you’d take them raw.” It's a disturbing exchange, but when paired with Severance season 1 lore, it becomes a window into the Eagan family. In season 1, Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman) casually tells Helly that raw eggs and milk were the favored breakfast of Mr. Eagan—likely a reference to Lumon's founder, Kier Eagan.

In contrast, Helly actually enjoyed eating eggs during an MDR social in Severance season 1. The difference in Helly/Helena's food palette takes on a much larger implication as Jame prepares Helena to lead the company while Helly ultimately earns his interest. In season 2’s finale, Jame Eagan visits the severed floor and tells Helly that he does not love his daughter. Instead, he sees something far more valuable in the rebellious innie: the same “fire” that once lived inside Kier. This chilling declaration cements Helly, not Helena, as the Eagan Jame deems worthy of the family's legacy.

Why Helly Has Kier's "Fire" But Helena Doesn't

It's More Than Just Hard-Boiled Eggs

In Jame Eagan's conversation with Helly in the season 2 finale, he mentioned that Helena once showed signs of Kier's "fire," but it faded as she grew older. What Severance suggests is that Helly and Helena aren’t just different because of the severance procedure; they are different because of Helena's upbringing.

In many ways, Helly possesses the very qualities the company claims Kier Eagan embodied: charisma, determination, and an ability to inspire.

Helena is rather cold, calculated, and manipulative. She callously refused Helly's resignation requests at the beginning of the series, and when mascarading as her Innie at ORTBO, she slept with Mark. Yet, the young heiress has been shaped by a lifetime of isolation and unreasonable expectations under Jame's watchful eye — she cannot eat her breakfast without Kier's legacy hanging over her. In Severance season 2, episode 5, it's also revealed that Lumon regulates Helena's Four Tempers to meet Kier's ideal scale. Ironically, all this meticulous preparation may have extinguished Helena's own "fire."

Helly is confident and rebellious, but this may have once been Helena, too, if not for her unaffectionate father. Without Kier's legacy following her, Helly is unshaped by the pressures of family and status. She’s ionate, outspoken, and unwilling to submit to Lumon’s control. This has been clear throughout the entire series, since Helly tried to end her own life rather than live under corporate subjugation in season 1, and rallied her fellow Innies against Milchick and the greater Lumon system in season 2’s finale.

In many ways, Helly possesses the very qualities the company claims Kier Eagan embodied: charisma, determination, and an ability to inspire. But while Kier used those traits for his cult-like empire, Helly channels them in resistance. This may be the true tragedy of the Eagan family line: Helly may be the closest thing to Kier the company has seen in generations, but she wants nothing to do with them. As Severance moves into season 3, the question becomes whether Helly's fire will burn Lumon down, or be repurposed for its future.

Our Take On Helly/Helena In Severance

Season 3 Is Poised For A Helly v. Helena Showdown

Only Severance could take something as harmless as a hard-boiled egg and turn it into a deeply unsettling metaphor. Nonetheless, Jame’s growing obsession with Helly suggests that the Lumon CEO has begun to see innies as whole individuals, capable of embodying Kier’s spirit in ways their outies cannot. As Mark chooses to remain on the severed floor with Helly at the end of season 2, Severance season 3 is poised to further explore how Jame’s fixation on Helly evolves—setting the stage for a volatile power struggle between Helly and Helena that could redefine who actually holds the future of Lumon.

Source: VF