The Four Tempers are emotional categories in Severance: Woe (WO), Frolic (FC), Dread (DR), and Malice (MA). These tempers form the foundation of Kier Eagan's philosophy and determine how MDR employees sort the "scary numbers" in their data files.
Understanding the tempers is key to understanding what Lumon believes—and what MDR is actually doing.
The Four Tempers Defined
WO - Woe: Sadness, grief, melancholy, despair. The weight of loss and sorrow. In MDR, Woe numbers feel heavy and slow.
FC - Frolic: Joy, playfulness, freedom, happiness. The lightness of pleasure. Frolic numbers feel bright and quick.
DR - Dread: Fear, anxiety, anticipation of harm, terror. The cold grip of what's coming. Dread numbers feel sharp and cold.
MA - Malice: Anger, hatred, desire to hurt, rage. The heat of destruction. Malice numbers feel hot and aggressive.
How They're Used: MDR workers "feel" which numbers are scary and sort them into the appropriate temper bin. The process is intuitive rather than logical—which is why it seems to require human (or human-like) perception.
Sort the Tempers Yourself
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Kier Eagan's Philosophy
The Four Tempers Come from Kier: Lumon's founder, Kier Eagan, believed all human emotion could be categorized into these four tempers. His quasi-religious philosophy treated emotion as something to be sorted, controlled, and mastered.
- Each temper has a purpose
- Balance between tempers is key
- Extreme expressions of any temper are dangerous
- Work purifies the tempers
Cult-Like Belief: Lumon treats Kier's temper theory as absolute truth. The waffle party, break room, and other rituals all connect to managing tempers. It's corporate psychology mixed with religious fervor.
What the Tempers Reveal About Lumon
Control Through Categorization: By reducing all emotion to four categories, Lumon simplifies human experience into something manageable—and controllable.
The Missing Temper: Notably absent: love, compassion, connection. Kier's system has no category for positive bonds between people. This absence reveals Lumon's worldview: humans are islands of emotion to be managed, not connected beings.
Season 2 Revelation: When we learn MDR is processing emotional data from test subjects, the tempers take on darker meaning. They're not just philosophical categories—they're measurement tools for human suffering.
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