The Nine Principles in Severance are more than a list of values. In practice, they work like sacred commandments within Lumon Industries — supposedly uplifting virtues that actually shape employee behavior and support the cult of Kier Eagan, the company’s founder.
On the surface, they seem harmless. “Humility,” “Cheer,” “Benevolence.” However, in Severance, nothing is what it seems. These principles function as a form of moral engineering disguised as corporate wisdom.
In this post, we’ll explore the true role of the Nine Principles in the series, decode their symbolic meanings, and understand why this internal Lumon doctrine continues to provoke so many interpretations among fans and critics.
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What Are the Nine Principles?
Created by Kier Eagan, the Nine Principles are presented as essential virtues for every Lumon employee. They appear on cards, murals, and ceremonial speeches. In this way, they serve as an internal moral code, defining the expected behavior of employees — both within Lumon’s halls and in the external lives of the Eagan family.
The series refers to them often, but never presents them as an explicit set of legal rules. Instead, they are delivered in an almost liturgical tone, as elements of a doctrine. Accordingly, they underpin the company culture, and key characters like Helena Eagan and Harmony Cobel treat them with reverence.
Interestingly, the first season has nine episodes, which many fans interpret as symbolic: each episode would represent a narrative embodiment of one of these principles.
The Nine Principles in Severance
Scene from episode 1×04, where Ms. Cobel recites the Nine Principles in a near-religious tone, illustrating the corporate culture as cult.
1. Vision
Meaning: Clarity of purpose and faith in Kier’s path.
Function: Suppresses questions and keeps employees bound to an unquestionable mission.
2. Verve
Meaning: Constant energy and enthusiasm at work.
Function: Forces employees to appear permanently upbeat and committed, even under pressure.
3. Wit
Meaning: Practical intelligence in service of the company.
Function: Values quick thinking — but only when aligned with Lumon’s interests.
4. Cheer
Meaning: Happiness as default behavior.
Function: Enforces mandatory positivity, creating a facade of well-being.
5. Humility
Meaning: Submission before Kier’s leadership.
Function: Turns pride into obedience, encouraging self-erasure among workers.
6. Benevolence
Meaning: Courtesy and kindness among colleagues.
Function: Masks conflict and preserves superficial harmony, even in abusive settings.
7. Nimbleness
Meaning: Flexibility and resistance-free adaptation.
Function: Rewards swift obedience to corporate-imposed changes.
8. Probity
Meaning: Moral integrity understood as total compliance.
Function: Treats any disagreement as a character flaw.
9. Wiles
Meaning: Strategy and cunning to achieve goals.
Function: Justifies manipulation and questionable actions in the name of Lumon’s mission.
During the Waffle Party, Dylan wields a ceremonial nine-tailed whip — each tail representing one of Kier’s Nine Principles. This act symbolizes the doctrine’s control over human impulses, reinforcing the ritual’s goal of suppressing the Four Tempers.
The Four Tempers and Emotional Control
Besides the Nine Principles, Kier Eagan’s doctrine includes the Four Tempers: Frolic, Woe, Dread, and Malice. Unlike classical temperaments, these emotional states are seen as weaknesses to be tamed.
Thus, Lumon suggests that adherence to the principles corrects these inner impulses, promoting a personality more useful to the company. Not by chance, each temper seems linked to a specific color in Lumon’s halls, indicating that the company classifies employees by emotional traits.
Consequently, the Nine Principles in Severance work as emotional reprogramming tools, replacing human reactions with behaviors molded to corporate logic.
Read more:
Lumon Mythology: symbols, doctrine, and the rituals of corporate cult
The Principles as a Mechanism of Erasure
After her traumatic experience in the Break Room, Helly appears visibly exhausted — a portrait of the emotional strain imposed by Lumon’s disciplinary system.
Despite their elevated language, the Nine Principles function more as behavior-shaping mechanisms than ethical values. After all, Lumon doesn’t care who you are — only who you can become under its rules.
The doctrine turns virtues into self-censorship tools. Lumon treats “negative” emotions as character flaws. As a result, questioning corporate orders becomes a moral deviation. The philosophy is clear: if you feel conflicted, it’s because you’re not yet properly aligned.
A Critique of Corporate Transhumanism
The Severance device is revealed moments before being implanted in Helly.
Severance doesn’t explicitly mention transhumanism, but it evokes its dilemmas. Through the Nine Principles and the mental split between the “innie” and the “outie,” Lumon creates an experiment in self-reengineering.
Series creator Dan Erickson explained that Severance explores what happens when a person gives up their own free will for the sake of a company. Lumon doesn’t just seek productivity — it seeks control over who you are, erasing pain, inner conflict, and with them, autonomy.
In this context, the principles cease to be moral guidelines and become lines of code in a programmable behavioral architecture. It’s a dark twist on the transhumanist promise: improving human conditions through technology — but only if it serves capital.
Learn more:
Lumon and Transhumanism: the true goal in Severance
Conclusion
The Nine Principles in Severance reveal how seemingly virtuous values can be transformed into tools of psychological and doctrinal control. What starts as a promise of purpose becomes a system of consciousness domestication.
In Lumon’s world, identity is an obstacle. And suffering is seen as a technical glitch to be eliminated — not through healing, but through compartmentalization.
Faced with that, one question remains:
Would you accept the Nine Principles if they promised to erase your pain?
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