I think that season 8, since we know it is one of Archer’s coma dreams, is his way of dealing with the loss of Woodhouse.
Now just stick with me on this. Some comatose patients who wake have claimed to have heard their loved ones speaking to them during the time were comatose. There are plenty of people who believe that hearing is actually one of the last things to go, which why some nurses and healthcare professionals encourage family to talk to their loved ones. Okay so back now to Archer, taking this belief and applying it to Season 8, you could almost argue that it’s possible that Archer even while in a coma, could have heard that Woodhouse died and Dreamland is his own way of dealing with this information. Wether he overhead Mallory getting the news by phone or by someone physically telling her will most likely remain unknown. It still shows that Archer cared for Woodhouse despite the way he treated him. And Season 11 episode 1 shows that as well at first.
Okay, so I’m not sure what to say about the new season so far. Two episodes in and Isis is now what they had tried to become in seasons 1 through i don’t know 3 or 4… Professional, well sort of. Archer is at the bottom of the pecking order, he’s been beaten out by Cyril, yet he still manages to undermine the team!