Cold Harbor - Theory

Potential spoilers ahead.

So I've been racking my brain trying to think of new ideas of what Cold Harbor could possibly be.

We don't have much to refer back to besides the few episodes and dialogue that over Lumon's past and how it came to be. What we do know is the story is centered around oMark's depression about his "deceased" wife Gemma, and iMark's journey to discovering the truth.

Gemma and Mark were not involved with Lumon until they met while giving blood at a Lumon blood center. I believe this is where Lumon started their Cold Harbor plan and effectively found the two targets that would make it a reality.

Lumon works under the guise of a company that cares about its employees and wants the best lives for everyone by giving them a fulfilling life without needing to think or worry about work/life balance. So what is Cold Harbor then?

I believe Cold Harbor could possibly be a severance of a large populace outside of the walls of Lumon headquarters. I believe this because of the duties of the workers, the location of the workplace, and the constant reminder of Kier. Kier is a religious figure to Lumon employees and those that grew up with Lumon.

Refining is the act of purging impurities from something. I believe these impurities could possibly be the resistance factors that many people have to reject the idea a new "Jesus" is about to emerge. If Cold Harbor is executed, my theory is that severance can be remotely activated to the patients of people that have had procedures done through Lumon, which is a lot considering Gemma and Mark come from from Ganz University, a school not directly related to Lumon but a partnered orginzation. If they are under the coverage of Lumon, this could mean that people that have had many procedures done through Lumon care, could have been having severance catalysts put into their body. Lumon wants control of people to believe in Kier and effectively create a new modern religion with the leaders effectively working as cult leaders. Cult leaders are not known to be great at rationalizing their beliefs, but they are great at manipulation. If they can get a large populace to believe in their beliefs, they forego any need for the absolute mountain of effort it would take to manipulate a large population.

This is obviously a theory and I don't really expect it to be the case, but it is fun to think about.