What does the Macrodata Refinement team actually DO? It's Severance's central mystery, and the show deliberately keeps us as confused as the innies themselves. But between visual clues, dialogue hints, and Season 2 revelations, we can piece together some possibilities.
What We See On Screen
MDR employees sit at retro computer terminals, staring at grids of numbers. Some numbers "feel scary"—and when they do, employees select them and drag them into bins labeled with emotions: Woe, Frolic, Dread, Malice, and Bliss.
When enough numbers are refined, the computer celebrates and the department gets rewarded—with waffle parties, finger traps, or "melon bars."
The process is intentionally vague. The numbers have no obvious meaning. The emotions seem arbitrary. And yet the work apparently matters enough that Lumon severances people to do it.
The Five Tempers Explained
The emotional bins aren't random—they're called "tempers" and relate to Lumon founder Kier Eagan's philosophy:
- Woe: Sadness, grief, despair
- Frolic: Joy, playfulness, freedom
- Dread: Fear, anxiety, anticipation of harm
- Malice: Anger, hatred, desire to hurt
- Bliss: Peace, contentment, satisfaction
Kier believed these five emotions drove human behavior. MDR's job seems to be sorting data by emotional "charge"—but whose emotions, and to what end?
Major Fan Theories
Theory 1: Emotional Data from Severed Employees The numbers represent emotional data extracted from innies. By sorting them, employees are essentially processing their own feelings, creating a feedback loop that keeps them docile.
Theory 2: Weapons Targeting More sinister: the data relates to weapons systems. "Scary" numbers might correspond to targets, and the emotional bins determine how targets are prioritized or classified.
Theory 3: Something Supernatural Kier Eagan's writings have a religious quality. Perhaps MDR is sorting something metaphysical—souls, sins, or something beyond current understanding.
Theory 4: It's Meaningless The cruelest possibility: the work has no purpose. It exists only to give severed employees something to do, keeping them trapped in an eternal present of manufactured productivity.
What Season 2 Revealed
[Season 2 spoilers]
Without giving away everything, Season 2 expanded our understanding of MDR's work and its connection to Lumon's larger goals. The department's output connects to other floors in ways that suggest the "data" isn't just numbers—it might be something far more personal.
Try It Yourself
Experience the disorienting tedium of MDR with our Macrodata Refinement game. Sort numbers by feeling, meet your quota, and see if you can figure out what it all means. (Hint: You probably can't. Welcome to Lumon.)
Play Macrodata Refinement
Experience this game yourself - can you survive?