Irving
There's really no way to say what will happen with Irving.
Again I've seen some hand wringing on whether this is the end of Irving's character or role in the story. I'm of two minds. On one hand Irving's innie died. He makes a sacrifice and scores a hit against Lumon with revealing Helena. He plays foil to innie Marks position in the finale in that he does step out of the exit hallway in chase of who he loves in the outside world, fulfilling his initial desire to non-exist together with Burt. (Versus Dylan who chooses a more symbiotic coexistence and Mark choosing to go full innie)
I also kind of love that death has real stakes here. Some people may see this as Irving getting put on a bus but it speaks to the fact that there are real consequences to defying Lumon, and that fundamentally if Irving B "died" as an Innie he can't come back. He is lost to the MDR, and to his friends because he quite literally "died." It's just as traumatic and consequential as if his outtie were to die.
It would be quite different I think for the show to make the argument of the equivalency of severed and un-severed existence if they bring Irving B. back. it means there are less narrative stakes for the innies when they're being threatened.
Also like with Gemma I'm fundamentally rooting for the Innies to be free or to "escape" Lumon and the severed floor. Maybe that is disrespecting their autonomy but to me it's a poor argument that their existence as Lumon intends it and whatever agenda their work serves for Lumon is something we should be championing.
Like with Gemma freedom from Lumon and the ability to choose what comes next is a win for Irving. Like with Gemma it comes at the cost of his "love" but (for the last time) like with Gemma it may not be the end of Irving's story. As I wonder what or where they might take the character if they decide to bring him back I'm more hopeful for the possibilities than angry with the choices they made.
Irving was in some ways the best of them, his experience, his compassion for his fellow severed selves and his laser focus on the goal echoes a lot great qualities that we see emulated in the remaining members. Narratively he's the Obi-wan, you strike him down and he could become more powerful than ever before. He also as the old wise mentor figure needs to be removed so that Dylan, Mark, and Helly can make mistakes or decisions without his guidance and wisdom. He's the Gandalf and he is too much of a stabilizing voice of reason with the ability to suss out what the problems are to be left alive. His absence hurts because he's a great character that we do want to see come back which is why I'm glad he's gone. It meant something that he lived, and it means something that he's "dead."
Time will tell if like the mentor figures mentioned he can come back in glory in a time of great need. I could certainly see Devon, Gemma, and Harmony tracking him down to link up with whatever organization or individual he was plotting with to get the scoop on Lumon.
For now Irving gets my favorite track on the original score for season 2. A sendoff that hints at better things, and someone who is more whole for having lived a severed life. Someone who's ready now for whatever comes next.
*Pure speculation time:
Like with Burt there is room I think to make Irving antagonistic in the next season. For one the nuance of him wanting to wreck Burt's marriage and not fundamentally caring if Fields gets hurt puts him neatly alongside the rest of the crew in terms of chasing love for good or bad regardless of who they "hurt".
If Irving is trying to take down Lumon or get to the testing floor there is a good chance that the served floor as we know it will end or the people in it removed. That once again puts him at odds with the innies who desire to stay alive.
If I were to speculate at Irving's backstory two roads that I think would be interesting to go down would be to follow the millitary angle: the government's role and thoughts on Lumon and severance as a technology are nebulous. I think many of us can imagine some fairly nefarious use cases for a perfected or imperfect severed technology e.g. agents for black ops or spying as gimmies. Or to flip it there was an incident with a severed spy/agent that they're trying to track down and prove now.
Irving being some kind of terrorist cell or deep cover agent trying to investigate in service of a government? would be a fairly reasonable path. It would bring higher stakes but would move a little away from the work/life corpo angle by bringing in the military-industrial complex. That being said big pharma and big tech in bed with the gov/millitary is almost sci fi show 101. It feels almost redundant to say Lumon must have gov/military contracts already.
I feel like if anything it's more likely he serves as a private contractor type with his ex navy/military background and discipline on a long sting operation and he's one of many attempts to get a handle on Lumon by a rival corp. That would make him similar to Burt as a hatchet man or enforcer type.
Irving as a kind of deep plant of a company that we saw Lumon fencing with like in the Lexington Letter. It would give Irving less of a squeaky clean motivation and reveal that he like Burt may have a fair few skeletons in his closet.
What was his goal? It seems that it's tied to whatever floors lie below the severed floor. We've seen testing now and with the rate of turnover I suspect it's not a specific person like with Mark and Gemma that Irving was trying to find. He's certainly been with Lumon for too long for me to think that's the case.
The end product of the testing, and the Manchurian candidate Lexington Letter innie bots though, however those are shipped (be it the chip or the person) I could see being of interest. If I had to guess that's what I'd put money on.
