Technology

• Older Chromecast devices have been broken for days
• Google says a fix is now rolling out to users
• But new issues are now affecting the Chromecast with Google TV

It's been a pretty frustrating week for owners of a 2nd-gen Chromecast or Chromecast Audio, but a fix for the bug that's rendered these devices inoperable is now rolling out – just as new issues appear for the newer Chromecast with Google TV.

In a post on the official Nest Community forums (via The Verge), Google says: "We have started to roll out a fix for the problem with Chromecast (2nd gen) and Chromecast Audio devices, which will be completed over the next few days."

You don't need to do anything to get the patch: Google just says your device must be connected for the update to be applied. The problems first started appearing on Monday, so at least some users can resume their streaming in time for the weekend.

However, if you did a factory reset on your Chromecast to try to fix it – a perfectly sensible approach – you need to sit tight. Google says these devices won't get the automatic update, and that it'll provide further instructions "as soon as possible".

Chromecast with Google TV

Google no longer sells the Chromecast with Google TV (Image credit: Google)

With perfect timing, owners of the newer Chromecast with Google TV device – unaffected by the other issues – are now reporting problems of their own. These issues appear to be related to an Android 14 update that rolled out yesterday.

As per 9to5Google, there are numerous reports of bugs, including problems with external USB devices connected to the dongle, changes to the color profile, disappearing settings, and the unit not outputting any sound.

Check one of the Reddit threads about the update, and you'll see that these issues aren't affecting everyone – and some are resolved with a restart. However, it's not a good look for Google just as it's fixing the issues on its other Chromecast devices.

If you have an affected Chromecast with Google TV, see if a restart or a factory reset resolves the problems you're seeing. Google has yet to comment on the latest batch of problems, but we'll let you know if there's an official response.

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• Some iPhone 16e users are experiencing Bluetooth bugs
• Audio can sometimes stutter or cut out, according to the reports
• It’s unclear what exactly is causing this issue, Apple hasn't yet responded

Apple’s iPhone 16e is a complete revamp of the iPhone SE, improving Apple’s budget handset in almost every way. But there’s one area where the new device is apparently struggling for some, prompting widespread complaints from users.

The issue seems to be centered on the iPhone 16e’s Bluetooth audio capabilities. Specifically, many users have noticed that audio from the phone will occasionally stutter or cut out entirely when they are connected to a Bluetooth speaker or headphones. According to some reports, the bug appears when you hook up the phone to multiple Bluetooth devices at the same time.

The problem has been documented by a number of people on Reddit, X, and Apple’s official support forums. These complaints seem to go back a few weeks, suggesting that they might have been present when the iPhone 16e launched in mid-February. We've asked Apple for comment and will update this story if we hear back.

Similar problems don’t seem to be occurring in other devices in the iPhone 16 range in any great numbers, suggesting that the problem could be limited to Apple’s latest phone.

Cause unknown

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

When Apple launched the iPhone 16e, it became the first iPhone to come with Apple’s C1 chip, a cellular modem that handles 5G connectivity. But if you’re thinking that new chip might have something to do with the problem, that’s probably wide of the mark.

That’s because past rumors have claimed that Apple is working on its own in-house Bluetooth chip, but that this is still not ready for production. That means Bluetooth is still handled by other components, just as in other iPhones that are seemingly unaffected by this bug.

That means the cause is still something of a mystery. It’s unclear if the issue relates to iOS (and if so, how), although some users have claimed that updating to the latest iOS 18.3.2 patch does not resolve the problem.

Some users have contacted Apple’s support team, so hopefully the company is aware and working on a fix. With iOS 18.4 on the horizon, we’ve got our fingers crossed this widely reported bug gets swiftly squashed.

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The compact palm-sized travel shaver is elegant and waterproof, and it feels like a river-washed stone. But it won’t shave the unkempt.

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• Cyberark finds website promoting pirated software distributing malware
• One of the malware variants was a cryptojacker running more than 700,000 wallets
• One of the wallets had 600 SOL in it

Cybersecurity researchers have recently uncovered MassJacker, a new malware variant aiming to steal cryptocurrency by replacing cryptocurrency addresses in people’s clipboards.

The team from Cyberark said it recently found a website - pesktop[dot]com, which claims to offer all sorts of pirated software, but in reality, it is distributing different versions of malware, including MassJacker.

It wasn’t said what the malware was posing as, but when victims install MassJacker, it works in the background, keeping track of the computer’s clipboard. When a person copies a cryptocurrency address, it will take note, and replace it with an address belonging to the attacker. That way, when the victim pastes the address, it is pasting a different one from the one they copied, and it is sending money to the attackers instead of whoever they wanted to send it to.

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Hundreds of thousands of dollars

Cryptocurrency addresses are impossible to memorize by heart, as they are a string of 20+ seemingly random characters - which is why most people would keep them stored somewhere, and just copy and paste whenever they wanted to send funds. Cybercriminals see this as an opportunity to steal the money, and as far as MassJacker is concerned - it seems to be working.

Cyberark says MassJacker manages more than 770,000 unique crypto addresses. While most of them were empty, 423 had $95,300 in them, at the time the report had been written. “Adding the money that was previously held in those wallets but had already been transferred out brought the total up to around $336,700,” the researchers concluded.

However, that doesn’t mean that all of that money came from MassJacker. In fact, Cyberark believes that the opposite might actually be true, and that most funds came from “other malicious activities.” That being said, cryptocurrency worth about $87,000 (600 SOL) was found sitting in a single wallet that had 350 transactions.

Via The Hacker News

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• Epic Games has announced a partnership with Qualcomm
• It will see Easy Anti-Cheat become available for Windows on ARM
• As well as Fortnite, it means the potential for hundreds of games to be playable

Epic Games has announced a new partnership with Qualcomm to support Easy Anti-Cheat for its Arm-based Snapdragon processors. This means Fortnite will finally be available on Copilot+ PC laptops utilizing the likes of the Snapdragon X family for the first time (which are some of the best laptops we've recently tested).

In a press release, Epic Games explained that it is working with Qualcomm Technologies to bring Epic Online Service's Anti-Cheat over to Windows on Arm, which is used by laptops like the excellent Surface Laptop. This decision was due to how Windows 11 on Arm has "transformed the PC landscape" with the company's processors representing a "rapidly growing segment of the PC gaming market".

There are some distinct architectural differences between x64 (64-bit) and Arm, with the latter being far less compatible with the majority of software, especially gaming. Windows on Arm has come a long way in the past year, but there's still plenty to improve. "Due to the way anti-cheat software works with x64 features, additional tooling is required for compatibility with these devices".

Crucially, the testing and implementation of Easy Anti-Cheat on Arm could open the door for the many other games that utilize the software for online play, with compatibility spreading across the Epic Games Store (and beyond). "In addition to releasing Windows on Snapdragon anti-cheat support for Fortnite, we will bring this support to developers through an Epic Online Services SDK release".

You're unable to install Fortnite without Easy Anti-Cheat enabled, as the game will not launch until EAC is located in the install directory. Easy Anti-Cheat is also available in nearly 500 games, including Apex Legends, Rust, iRacing, and Fall Guys, as well as more recent releases like Elden Ring. No timeframe has been offered for when the Epic Online Services SDK will roll out, however, you may not be waiting long to finally experience the popular battle royale game on ultrabook AI-powered hardware.

A step forward for accessible gaming on Arm

It's been an exciting time for laptops with the widespread implementation of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X processors inside some of the best laptops over the last year or so.

We've praised many of the productivity machines powered by the likes of the Snapdragon X Elite SoC, including the excellent Dell XPS 13 9350 (2025) and the Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ just to name a few. While compatibility is still not on par with the traditional Windows x86 experience, the snappiness of performance (and leading battery lives) have made them a viable option for work.

Now, with the news that Epic Games is working on bringing Easy Anti-Cheat software to bring (arguably) the biggest game on the planet to Arm, we could see this as a breakthrough for gaming on ultrabooks.

Last year, we were blown away by the Snapdragon X Elite's gaming capabilities, which included running Baldur's Gate 3 in 4K. While the Qualcomm Adreno GPU baked onto the chip will not rival the discrete graphics found in some of the best gaming laptops, there's certainly potential for a playable future on the hardware, and it's especially exicting as modern MacBooks with M-series chips also use Arm-based architecture.

Some of the most popular PC games use Easy Anti-Cheat as standard, so Epic Games could be taking a massive step forward for accessibility, especially if the titles can be optimized for Qualcomm's hardware.

As we've seen with the rise of the Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally X, and other handheld gaming PCs, developers have started catering towards integrated graphics solutions through the likes of the AMD Z1 and Z2 chips. While these are x86 devices, we could see future handhelds using Arm with a wider availability of games if more software can be adopted over time.

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• A Garmin Epix user has revealed how one setting completely ruined months of their training
• They spent months "feeling like a failure" and not making any progress or improvements
• Turns out their max heart rate setting was wrong the whole time

The best Garmins on the market are all formidable training tools for running and fitness, but if you've got your max heart rate setting wrong, you might be wasting your time, as one very unfortunate Redditor found out recently.

u/Lurking_Geek took to the r/Garmin subreddit with a public service announcement, after finding out a critical setting on their Garmin Epix had been wrong for nine months.

The 52-year-old described how they'd spent months "feeling like a failure, a loser, not pushing hard enough, always told I was 'maintaining', never improving, never productive, no movement on my VO2MAX, not able to run fast enough for the daily suggested workout," and even having to switch to pace training from heart rate, despite feeling "like I was running faster and further than I had in years."

Clearly aware that something was amiss after months of making no progress, they turned to their Garmin's settings, and found a horrifying mistake.

"I found my watch's max heart rate was set to 221. I got a new EPIX last summer but never realized it. Facepalm."

After switching it to 168bpm to reflect their age, they now report that "V02Max is up, running is productive, endurance score is up...all is well again."

Fix your Garmin's max heart rate

Your maximum heart rate is generally considered the highest number your heart can beat safely during exercise, and is usually defined as a value of 220 minus your age.

As such, it decreases yearly to reflect your age, a crucial factor in determining the efficacy of your training. Understanding your heart rate, BPM, and training zones is vital to exercising effectively and hitting your target goals. The change with age is why heart rate zones are always expressed as a percentage rather than a specific BPM.

Generally, zone one is 50-60% of your max heart rate, and is where you'd find your heart rate during a warm up, or a brisk walk. Zone two is 60-70%, a popular training zone for building endurance, zone three (70-80%) is for aerobic fitness and endurance, while zones four and five are for much more intense training that can't be sustained for nearly as long.

That's why fixing your Garmin's max heart rate setting could be the key to unlocking the true value of your training. This unfortunate user only needed to clock 101-118 bpm to enter zone two and start making progress towards endurance gains, but their Garmin would have barely registered this as zone one.

So if you've bought a new Garmin recently or you've never double checked your max HR, head to the Garmin Connect app, enter user settings, and select Heart Rate Zones. You can also do this on your Garmin Watch by selecting User Profile > Heart Rate & Power Zones > Max Heart Rate.

While Garmin recommends the average measurement – the aforementioned 220 minus your age formula – you could also put yourself through some very high intensity interval training to figure out your true max HR, which might be slightly different.

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• OpenAI has proposed banning DeepSeek in critical areas
• Calls DeepSeek "state-subsidized" and "state-controlled"
• OpenAI would like to see the removal of "overly burdensome state laws"

OpenAI has sent a proposal to the Office of Science and Technology Policy that calls on the US government to ban the use of DeepSeek in governments, military, and intelligence services. Mentioning the Chinese AI by name, the proposal calls DeepSeek “state-subsidized” and “state-controlled”.

The letter, available on its website and signed by Chris Lehane, the Vice President of, Global Affairs at OpenAI, also proposes “banning the use of PRC-produced equipment (e.g., Huawei Ascend chips) and models that violate user privacy and create security risks such as the risk of IP theft” among what it called Tier 1 countries.

The letter says “As America’s world-leading AI sector approaches artificial general intelligence (AGI), with a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) determined to overtake us by 2030, the Trump Administration’s new AI Action Plan can ensure that American-led AI built on democratic principles continues to prevail over CCP-built autocratic, authoritarian AI.”

Identity crisis

DeepSeek recently caused a shockwave in the AI industry by providing similar results to the ChatGPT o1 reasoning model with its DeepSeek-R1 model, but at a much lower price for developers and free for web browser use. Stock prices for companies heavily invested in AI saw an immediate drop, although the market has since returned to previous levels.

Many have questioned whether DeekSeek's rapid progress was truly down to an innovative new training methodology or whether it had “distilled” some training data from OpenAI against its terms and conditions. In fact, as we noticed on TechRadar, DeepSeek would sometimes mistake itself for ChatGPT when asked who it was.

(Image credit: Adobe Stock) The race for AGI

The letter from OpenAI states:

“As with Huawei, there is significant risk in building on top of DeepSeek models in critical infrastructure and other high-risk use cases given the potential that DeepSeek could be compelled by the CCP to manipulate its models to cause harm.”

There is no direct evidence to suggest that DeepSeek, which is owned and controlled by the Chinese hedge fund High-Flyer, is controlled by the Chinese government, however it's been noted that you cannot get the DeepSeek-R1 chatbot to answer questions about political topics sensitive to the PRC like the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.

OpenAI clearly sees humanity as being on the doorstep to artificial general intelligence (AGI), which describes systems that possess human-like general intelligence. AGI is something that OpenAI has been working towards since its creation as a company, and the proposal also attacks the “overly burdensome state laws” that are holding it back.

“As our CEO Sam Altman has written, we are at the doorstep of the next leap in prosperity: the Intelligence Age. But we must ensure that people have freedom of intelligence, by which we mean the freedom to access and benefit from AGI, protected from both autocratic powers that would take people’s freedoms away, and layers of laws and bureaucracy that would prevent our realizing them.”

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• Development of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3 has begun
• The news follows the success of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
• Space Marine 2 will continue to receive new content updates

It's official: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3 has started development.

As confirmed by Focus Entertainment Publishing, Games Workshop, and Saber Interactive, work on the next instalment in the Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine has begun.

The publisher promises it to be an "even more immersive experience" that will continue "staying true to the Warhammer 40,000 universe, with intense, brutal, and spectacular gameplay."

The news follows the huge success of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 which, according to market research firm Circana, debuted as the third most popular game on massive PC platform Steam in September 2024.

"We have been honored by the incredible response from fans following the launch of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2," said John Bert, deputy CEO of Focus Entertainment Publishing. He then confirmed that the team "will continue to support the game with exciting content and regular updates in the coming years."

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has already received a barrage of free post-launch updates and paid DLC (downloadable content). This has thus far included new modes, features, cosmetics, PvP content, and more.

"Today, we are thrilled to announce that the adventure will continue with Space Marine 3. Players can look forward to an immersive campaign, a multiplayer mode, and innovations that will redefine the standards of third-person action games," Bert continued.

"Developed in close collaboration with Games Workshop, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3 will take the genre to new heights by introducing large-scale battles that are even more spectacular."

Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch described Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 as "a transformative game" for the studio and "the culmination of everything we have learned about game development in our 25 years in the business."

"While we will continue to support and grow the Space Marine 2 universe over the coming years, we will take all our learnings and apply them to an even bigger and more spectacular game for the third instalment," he continued. "We view this as an opportunity to create a true love letter to the Warhammer 40.000 universe."

More information on Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3 is set to be revealed at a later date. Given the lengthy timeframes of many game development cycles, however, I wouldn't expect much in the near future.

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• AMD's Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT GPU prices have been inflated at some retailers
• This stems from board partners increasing prices after suggested 'limited-time MSRP'
• It comes after AMD 'encouraged' board partners to stick to MSRP

While AMD's Radeon RX 9070 series GPU launch has certainly fared much better than Nvidia's RTX 5000 series, that doesn't mean it's completely avoided any problems - and in Team Red's case, it's not missing ROPs or scalpers.

As reported by Wccftech, AMD's board partners have quietly increased the prices of Radeon RX 9070 series GPUs, reportedly up to $130 higher than MSRP. This is the kind of behavior we’d expect from scalpers - and it's similar to what we see with Nvidia's GPUs, which always seem to have inflated retailer prices even when there's a good amount of stock.

It comes after AMD stated it would 'encourage’ AIB partners to stick to MSRP for the RDNA 4 GPUs, but that hasn't exactly happened. Retailers implied that MSRP would be timed, meaning prices for the GPUs after the first batch of sales would hike—and that has unfortunately come to pass, as Wccftech highlights the Sapphire Pulse 9070 XT selling for an egregious $729.99, which is indeed $130.99 above the $599 retail price.

While the price shifts may not be coming from Team Red directly, they could still impact the goodwill AMD has built amongst PC gamers during this new GPU lineup - it may now end up short-lived, especially if current inflated prices remain for the foreseeable future. Its fierce rival Nvidia, may still have bigger issues with stock and other hardware problems, but that doesn't mean price issues with RDNA 4 GPUs should be ignored.

(Image credit: Andrew Derr / Shutterstock) This is probably the worst GPU market situation I've ever seen

I've lived through a fair amount of GPU generations where prices were reasonable across the board, and without issues as significant as the one’s we’re seeing at the moment. So, I can say without a doubt, this is the worst GPU market I've seen.

It's already difficult enough to convince console gamers to move over to PC due to pricing, but the price inflation of Team Green and Team Red's GPUs has taken this to a ridiculous level. While the price hike on the Radeon RX 9070 series is still absurd, the inflation on RTX 5000 series GPUs is the worst I've come across.

If you even manage to find an RTX 5090 or RTX 5080 at MSRP (let alone one available at all), then you'd need to be ready to dig deep into your pockets - and the same goes for the RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti cards.

You might be thinking about opting for an RTX 4000 series GPU instead, but the same issue is present there. Most of the Ada Lovelace GPUs are either out of stock since they've been discontinued, but the remaining ones in stock are selling for above MSRP as well. Ultimately, gamers have no choice but to pay up, especially as we seem to be seeing an increasing number of poorly optimized PC games that require high-end GPUs for an acceptable level of performance.

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Last year more than £11.4 billion was stolen from people in the UK by cybercriminals. As technology becomes more sophisticated, so do the methods cybercriminals can use to commit their crimes. Our ever-growing reliance on technology in day-to-day life is constantly exposing new vulnerabilities cybercriminals can exploit, while at the same time, AI has lowered the skill barrier making it easier for even non-sophisticated criminals to launch advanced attacks.

But it’s not just weaknesses in our technology that can put us at risk of being scammed. In a world where AI tools can clone voices in minutes to generate convincing deepfakes, create fake websites or write thousands of seemingly legitimate reviews in an instant, social engineering tactics are evolving at a terrifying rate, putting even the most cautious individuals and businesses at risk. 

Scammers’ psychological playbook 

In our busy lives, we are reliant on our implicit trust in the systems, people and brands that surround us to oil the wheels of society. As we implement AI systems, we’re encouraging those patterns further. Moving fast on the daily commute or under pressure in a stressful workplace, we often go with the quickest, rather than the safest, choice. For example, we might not double-check the email address of a sender or spot a bogus link, relying on this implicit trust to help us make decisions fast.

When we see a trusted and well-known brand or business, we automatically deem it safe because it appears legitimate and familiar. Scammers can capitalize on the implicit trust we place in our day-to-day technology systems and exploit attentional bias, a cognitive bias wherein we find it more difficult to identify non-obvious threats when under stress and trying to do several things at once, which has become the norm for our working lives.

This means in order for a threat to cut through the noise of day-to-day work and cognitive stress, it has to be very attention grabbing, making it likely that threats designed to imitate or impersonate our well-known systems will be deemed safe because it appears legitimate and familiar. Scammers can tap into this cognitive bias and disadvantage to carry out their attacks, knowing it means people are less likely to question potential scams or threats. They also use impersonation, urgency and fear to manipulate victims into trusting them or acting quickly without verification. 

This technique, known as social engineering, is the deliberate manipulation of people into giving away confidential information or performing actions that compromise security. It’s most commonly seen in personalized scams. By tapping into these cognitive shortcuts, scammers increase the chances of their attacks succeeding because when something feels familiar, we’re far less likely to question it.

Employees under pressure

Employees in the workplace can be particularly vulnerable to this kind of psychological scam. While companies often invest significant resources in cybersecurity systems to keep their infrastructure and revenue safe, the human risks their team pose are too often overlooked in terms of investment. In the midst of a hectic workday, an employer facing decision fatigue might approve a suspicious transaction without proper verification or not question an email that appears to be from a senior colleague asking to click a link or send an urgent bank transfer.

This is not simply a case of 'users are the problem'. Even with rigorous awareness training, overloaded employees will still face this issue. When faced with the fast-paced demands of modern business and stress, especially when workloads are heavy and we have numerous tasks to attend to, we become cognitively impaired at decision-making, which literally gets worse as the day goes on.

Research tells us that we make worse decisions at 6pm than we do at 10am, for this reason. Even with user awareness training that is rigorous, high stress-high workload fields will always suffer the effects of decision fatigue making them more likely to be exploited in this kind of social engineering attack. Busy employees can easily overlook red flags, with potentially huge and damaging consequences for their organization.

AI generates highly convincing personalized messages that mirror the tone and style of a company or individual, allowing hackers to craft the perfect phishing email that often bypasses traditional email filters. Over 30.4 million phishing emails detected across Darktrace’s customer fleet between December 2023 and December 2024 and 70% successfully passed the widely used DMARC authentication approach. With the volume of attacks continuously increasing, and with AI-powered threats leading to enhanced sophistication, human teams need support and augmentation to hope to defend themselves.

How to protect your organization

The business impact of cybercrime goes further than financial losses and can lead to reputational damage that often takes years to build up. But there are steps to take to make sure your organization isn’t the next victim. Education and enhancing digital literacy are key in protecting employers and organizations from the fast-evolving ways cybercriminals operate.

This includes comprehensive employee training programs focused on recognizing and responding to social engineering attempts. Additionally, organizations should implement robust systems of control and guardrails around their employees, including multifactor authentication and using domain-based message authenticators on emails. When online, this could include ensuring employees don’t skip the simple steps of verifying senders, double-checking URLs and always keeping a proactive mindset and healthy dose of skepticism. 

Equally, if not more important, is making sure cybersecurity measures are up to scratch, working in tandem with employees. With cybercriminals employing AI to advance their crimes, our defenses must be doing the same. It’s inevitable that humans won’t be able to spot or prevent all malicious activity so it's critical that cybersecurity systems are adequately plugging the gaps.

Security leaders should leverage AI to stay on the front foot of attacks, using advanced technology to identify threats that may appear harmless in other environments and evade traditional security tools. AI-driven cybersecurity systems, that learn the behaviors and traits of an organization, are an essential piece of the defense puzzle for businesses today. 

A smarter defense

As AI develops, cybercrimes will only become more sophisticated, more affordable and more scalable. We’ve already seen the impact of the likes of ransomware-as-a-service crime groups, as well as wider social engineering methods, and these are only set to grow. Educating teams now about how to be more alert and digitally aware, while also investing in the likes of AI as a defense tool, is critical to staying secure in the complex cyber threat landscape we face today. The best defense is the strong partnership between human awareness and AI-enabled security.

We've compiled a list of the best firewall software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

Full spoilers follow for Severance season 2 episode 9.

We're on the home stretch now, fellow Severance fans. With the penultimate episode of the hugely popular Apple TV Original's second season out now, there's only one more episode left before we bid farewell to this amazing show once more. Boo and hiss.

Before the 76-minute-long Severance season 2 finale arrives next week (March 21), though, there's the small matter of dissecting this week's entry, and speculating on what'll happen in this season's 10th and final chapter. So, make sure you've watched season 2 episode 9, aka 'The After Hours' before reading on because full spoilers immediately follow.

1. Mark's 'outie' will interact with his 'innie' at Lumon's birthing cabin retreat

Apparently Harmony just wants to talk to Mark's 'innie' (Image credit: Apple TV+)

There are a lot of moving parts in 'The After Hours' as the sci-fi mystery-thriller show positions its characters for next week's finale. Three individuals end up in the same place by the end of episode 9, too, with Mark, Devon, and Harmony taking a trip to the Damona Birthing Retreat – i.e., a secret Lumon-owned location where severed women go to give birth.

The reason for this is simple: each birthing cabin has a severed barrier installed in its front door. Essentially, that means that, when a pregnant woman's 'outie' crosses the doorway threshold, their 'innie' persona takes over. That means their 'outie' doesn't actually have to go through the potentially arduous, traumatic, and/or life-threatening experience of giving birth.

It really seems like Harmony is on Mark's side now (Image credit: Apple TV+)

Neither Devon or Harmony are pregnant, though. So, why has the latter, who's allied herself to Mark and Devon following the events depicted in Severance season 2 episode 8, taken Mark and Devon to this remote retreat? Because they can use one of the cabin's severed barriers to talk to Mark's 'innie' – or, rather, Mark's 'outie' can talk to his 'innie'.

Currently, the only way for an individual's two personalities to converse is through video recordings. We've seen that a few times in Severance; most notably when Helly or Helena has recorded a video message to their other half. It stands to reason, then, that Mark's 'outie' and 'innie' could film themselves sending messages to each other to agree on a plan to finally rescue Gemma from Lumon's testing floor.

Remember, Severance season 2 episode 7 revealed she's been trapped down there for over two years and, considering 'outie' Mark has no way of getting to her, it's up to his 'innie' to be the hero of the day and save his other half's wife. I wouldn't be shocked, then, if Mark's two personas don't record messages to their other half using the camera app on his mobile phone or, if there's one to *ahem* hand, a hand-held camcorder within the facility.

2. We'll see Mr. Bailiff – aka Irving – and Burt Goodman again in Severance

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when... (Image credit: Apple TV+)

In an episode full of emotionally devastating moments, the potentially final appearance of John Turturro's Irving Bailiff is a bitter pill to swallow.

To say Irving has been put through the wringer in the popular Apple TV Plus series is an understatement. In the real world, he's a loner whose sole company is his dog. Before he was fired by Lumon in this season's fourth episode (read my Severance season 2 episode 4 ending explained piece for more), his 'innie' had a surrogate family in the form of the Macrodata Refining (MDR) team. He'd also seemingly found love for the first time in the form of Christopher Walken's Burt Goodman.

Following his dismissal, he's been in Lumon's crosshairs. Remember, the intimidating Mister Drummond broke into Irving's home and found his secret stash of investigation files into Lumon's working practices. The cruel biotech corporation won't want any of this confidential information being leaked to the press, so it seems they hatch a plan to get rid of Irving. Indeed, Helena tells her father Jame that Lumon is "seeing to Mister Bailiff" in this episode's opening scene, which is her way of saying they've sent someone to dispose of him.

I don't think this is the last we've seen of Burt (Image credit: Apple TV+)

That would be the case, anyway, if Irving didn't have an ally in the form of Burt. In my Severance season 2 episode 6 theories article, I suggested Burt was a bad guy and was working for Lumon. It seemed, then, that fans' hopes of a happy ending for 'Burtving' would be a distant dream.

Well, 'Burtving' doesn't like it'll happen, but at least I was wrong about Burt being evil. Sure, he similarly breaks into Irving's home and, in the two sinister-laced scenes between the pair that follow, it's insinuated that Burt is driving Irving to a secluded area for a Lumon employee to bump him off.

As it turns out, Burt, who's been seeking redemption for past indiscretions – he used to drive people to remote locations to be executed by whoever he was previously employed by – decides to drive Irving and his dog to a nearby train station. Not only that, he buys Irving a one-way, non-transferable train ticket to a destination that Lumon can't track Irving down to. As long as Irving doesn't return to his home or Lumon, he should be safe.

It's a heart-wrenching and potentially final farewell to Irving as we watch him ride off into the sunset. That scene pretty much confirms we won't see him in the season 2 finale, but I'd be amazed if Turturro doesn't reprise his role down the road. Severance season 3 is already in the works, so we know another installment is on the way, and it simply wouldn't be the same without MDR's 'dad' throwing himself back into the fight to bring down the clandestine organization.

I'm also convinced this isn't the last we'll see of Burt. Sure, Lumon will likely come for him after he defied their orders with Irving, but I've got a feeling that Burt's role in Severance's wider story isn't over yet. I hope that's the case anyway because 'Burtving' needs to live happily ever after. Make it so, Apple!

3. Jame Eagen will kidnap Helly and force Mark to choose between her and Gemma

Jame is an absolute creep, isn't he? (Image credit: Apple TV+)

Jame Eagen, Lumon's current CEO, has always come across as an incredibly creepy guy, but 'The After Hours' episode just ratcheted things up a few notches in that regard.

For one, instead of joining her for breakfast like any normal dad would, he wants to watch his daughter and heir to Lumon Industries Helena eat her hard-boiled egg in episode 9's opening scene. Then, when Harmony and company roll up at Damona Birthing Retreat, Harmony tells the on-duty guard a little white lite. Indeed, she says Devon is 'pregnant' and that "it's one of Jame's".

Hold the phone, Harmony – are you telling us that Helena isn't Jame's only child? If that's true, how many children has he sired? Did he have kids with the same woman or different ones? And did he have non-consensual sex with her or them to have more offspring? Whatever way you slice it, Jame is an extremely unpleasant person. Heck, if the answer to the last of those questions isn't a good one, he's a criminal in every sense of the word.

Well, this isn't unsettling... (Image credit: Apple TV+)

Clearly, Jame has no problem with doing terrible things – and that makes me extremely worried for Helly. In the final few minutes of episode 9, we see Jame creepily appear from nowhere on the Severed Floor. He watches Helly from afar from a few seconds as, while seated at her MDR desk, she pores over Irving's note, aka the one with directions on how to get to the testing floor.

Finally, Jame says "you tricked me", which obviously startles Helly, who responds with one of her classic "...the f***?" lines. That's the last we see of the pair before episode 9's end credits roll.

Jame's not exactly been the warmest, most loving father to Helena, so my theory is that he'll kidnap her 'innie' (i.e., Helly) in a bid to force Mark's hand. We know Mark is going to return to Lumon in one of the best Apple TV Plus shows' next episode because he wants to rescue Gemma. What'll happen, though, if Mark's 'innie' finds out that Jame is holding Helly captive? He's in love with Helly, so he'll want to save her over the wife of his 'outie', who Marks 'innie' has no affection for. I hope I'm wrong, but I can't shake the feeling that Mark will be forced to choose between Helly or Gemma in season 2 episode 10.

4. Jame is personally connected to Cold Harbor

Mark still hasn't completed Project Cold Harbor (Image credit: Apple TV+)

As Lumon CEO, it's not unreasonable to believe that Jame has a vested interest in Project Cold Harbor. Clearly, there's a lot riding on whatever this experiment is because it's all anyone's talked about since season 2 began (read my Severance season 2 episode 1 theories piece for more on that).

I believe that Jame is much more involved in Cold Harbor than any of us realize, however, and there's a growing sense that it has something to do with rebirth or overcoming death (immortality, essentially) completely. There are countless fan theories that Lumon is trying to find a way to transfer a person's consciousness into another vessel, host, or even a clone of the person's own body. Indeed, plenty of viewers have speculated that this is the case and that Lumon is experimenting with such a procedure with the aim of bringing Kier Eagan – Lumon's founder and cult-like deity – back from the dead.

It's not out of the question, then, that Jame would have a personal hand in that. After all, Kier is one of his distant relatives and the man who created Lumon Industries. It's in Jame's best interests to oversee the seemingly impossible act of resurrecting Kier, with the added caveat that he'd go down in Lumon history as being the CEO who succeeded in that endeavor.

With Cold Harbor stuck at 96% until Mark returns to work, it's an ambition that's so close to being achieved, too. Going back to my previous point, I wouldn't be shocked if Mark is forced to complete Cold Harbor before he can see Helly. Once he has, Jame will personally oversee the final stages of this experiment, regardless of whether it's a success or not.

5. Seth Milchick won't betray Lumon

Milchick isn't going to follow in Harmony's footsteps and betray Lumon (Image credit: Apple TV_+)

Now this is an interesting one. 'The After Hours' episode implies that Seth Milchick is readying himself to follow in Harmony's footsteps and rebel against his employers. Whether it's telling Drummond to "devour feculence" (i.e., eat s**t) or his visibly emotional reaction to his phone call with Mark in episode 9's latter stages, it appears that Milchick will be the latest Lumon higher-up to turn his back on the organization.

I don't think he will, though. Milchick is more of a company man than Harmony is or any of the MDR team are. Sure, he's cracking under the pressure of how things have panned out this season, but I think he simply lashed out at Drummond to prove he has the authority and strength to lead the severed floor, and ensure the mysterious and important work is completed. We'll see if I'm right when season 2 episode 10 airs on one of the world's best streaming services.

6. Dylan's 'innie' won't be allowed to quit

Dylan's 'innie' is left heartbroken by Gretchen's rejection (Image credit: Apple TV+)

In more emotionally devastating news, Dylan's 'innie' is alone once more. Indeed, after Gretchen, aka the wife of his 'outie', tells the latter that she kissed his 'innie', Gretchen realizes she can't see Dylan's 'innie' anymore because it has the potential to destroy her real-world family. Cue Dylan's 'innie' trying to propose to Gretchen, her turning him down, and leaving Dylan's disconsolate 'innie' to fall into a state of depression.

Angry about everything that's happened this season, Dylan's 'innie' makes the possibly dangerous decision to quit Lumon. He fills out an employee resignation form and, after being instructed to head to the severed floor's elevator, he does so. One of episode 9's final shots shows his 'innie' enter the elevator before the doors shut. The fate of Dylan's 'innie', then, is left up in the air.

You're not going anywhere, Dylan G... (Image credit: Apple TV+)

Unfortunately, we already know he won't be allowed to leave. We've seen time and again that Lumon doesn't allow its severed employees to quit. The only way an 'innie' can stop working at Lumon is if the company 'fires' (read: kills off) a worker's 'innie'. That's what happened to Burt and Irving's Lumon personas when they were left go. So, if you're worried that we'll never see Dylan's 'innie' again, don't be. He'll be sent right back to the severed floor like any other employee would be.

I do wonder, though, if he'll become Mark's ace in the hole next episode. If Mark can convince Dylan to help him save Helly and Gemma, Dylan could have a vital role to play in another Severance season finale.

7. Sarah Bock's Ms Huang has been sent to Svalbard so she can't interfere at Lumon anymore

Happy graduation, Ms Huang (Image credit: Apple TV+)

Amid all the goings-on in 'The After Hours', it's easy to overlook the fact that Ms Huang has not only completed her Wintertide Fellowship program, but is also leaving Lumon's severed floor altogether.

Early on in episode 9, Milchick informs her that she's graduated and that she'll be sent to the Gunnel Eagan Empathy Center in Svalbard, Norway, to continue her Lumon training. If any further proof was needed about how far-reaching Lumon is, the fact that it has an outpost in a remote part of a European nation is that extra piece of evidence.

But why is Ms Huang, whose first name is revealed to be Eustice in 'The After Hours', being sent halfway around the world? I think Milchick's fast-tracked her graduation so she can't snitch on Milchick or potentially help MDR. In season 2 episode 5, it was insinuated that she's the anonymous informant behind the negative comments made about Milchick during his first quarterly performance review. She's also expressed sympathy for the MDR team throughout season 2, too – an obvious example being when she apologizes to Dylan's 'innie' in episode 9. It's in Milchick's best interests, then, to get rid of her so she can no longer interfere.

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