The end of succession It was a collection of iconic moments that summed up the spirit of the series in a bitter chapter, with a brilliant script full of references to its universe. The portrayal of the Roys’ downfall, which spanned four seasons, is also a ruthless look at power.
But in his closing episode, he has also managed to delve into the serious emotional wounds that separate the children of the patriarch. Logan (Brian Cox) and turn them into enemies. Shiv (Sarah Cook) ends up making a baffling decision that removes her from the leadership of Waystar Royco to his brothers. One that also ensures him a share of power in a historic transaction in which he got the worst of it.
The end of succession imposes a bitter sense of collective defeat that ravages the Roy empire to its foundations. Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) are ousted from the board of directors in an unexpected move.
One that also benefits lukas matsson (Lukas Matsson), making him the owner of the consortium. While Tom (Matthew Macfadyen), and even Greg (Nicholas Braun), achieve partial victory by retaining a share of power. All surrounded by constant references to the hard legacy of the series that turn the last confrontation between the heirs into arid ground.
But screenwriter Jesse Armstrong also achieves a revision of several of the fundamental elements of the production in a symbolic farewell to all that it has represented for the world of entertainment. With a plot full of fallible, corrupted and petty characters, succession has broken schemes. Something that has been evident in its end. Here are some of the things you may have missed in the shocking conclusion to a pivotal story in contemporary television.
Shiv and Tom, together at the end of succession
Although it seems that the conclusion was an unexpected move on the part of the daughter of Logan RoyActually, the first scene of the chapter had already announced the possibility. He not only showed Shiv trying to tepidly defend her husband in front of lukas. Also making it clear how much he knows his way of maneuvering through complicated corporate waters.
Something that inevitably recalls the message that always accompanied the singular marriage. Throughout the series and, especially, in the final season of succession, the script has made it clear that the couple complement each other. Not because of love—or because of an essentially romantic bond—but because of his perspective on money and power.
Together, Shiv and Tom they are a powerful duo, capable of understanding corporate manipulations in detail and fighting against them. Something that the first scene of the end of succession makes it clear, prophesying the unlikely probability that the outcome would be different.
Roman, the man who just wanted to run away
in the end of succession can be seen to Roman defeated while having a drink. He seems depressed, on the verge of mental and physical collapse, but not particularly worried about losing the family business. A point that coincides with the first scenes, in which Kendall and Shiv they desperately try to find him to complete the vote count that would tip the board of directors in their favor. But Roman He is hiding in his mother’s house.
Something that leads him to be absent for most of the first section of the chapter. A direct indication that, after suffering a nervous breakdown during his father’s funeral in the previous chapter, the character’s priorities have changed. In the end, the image of him being the first to sign the document that culminates the merger with GoJo seems to cap off his impending emotional debacle.
A family moment at the end of succession
Despite developing in the financial world, succession he based his plot on the emotional relationships of a dysfunctional family. As the fight between the heirs of the consortium became more fierce, it became evident that the confrontations on the board of directors were a reflection of the domestic sphere. Especially in the fourth season after the death of Loganwhen Kendall He tried to take his father’s place. Which led him to confront his brothers and become a threatening figure that had to be defeated or reduced to achieve fusion with GoJo.
In the final chapter of succession, the previous feature of the production is evident in the scene in which the three brothers meet in the kitchen of the family home. By then, the trio had reached a precarious agreement, which would allow them to keep the company. For once, they all seemed to have put their differences behind them by laughing together, like the kids Logan referenced from time to time. A family group seemingly willing to fight on a united front for their valuable heritage. A brief look at the idea of succession like the narration of a painful domestic rupture caused by ambition.
Kendall and Roman’s injury
In one of the most disturbing scenes in the final chapter of succession, Kendall hugs Roman, who again suffers an emotional breakdown. The latter has a wound on his temple, caused by a fall he suffered in the midst of the disturbances of the presidential election. Holding him in her arms, his older brother rubs against the surgical stitches that close the lesion. Which makes that Roman bleed again
It is not a random event. After the emotional crisis during the funeral ceremony of his father, Roman he became a figure cataloged as fragile by his brothers. At least, that’s how he refers to him Shiv finding him at the mother’s house.
Kendall he also points it out soon after, in the tense conversation about his options to be the next leader of Waystar Royco. So prove that Roman is in the midst of a severe psychiatric situation – which includes physical weakness – is the way in which Kendall decides to shore up his own position.
Logan, a shadow over his children
After Shiv refuses to give Kendall her vote, the brothers meet to try to convince their sister to reconsider her position. It is then that Kendall seems to embody the worst traits of her father in the final chapter of succession.
In a scene reminiscent of several of the most iconic scenes starring Brian Cox, he insults, yells, and points at his brothers. Finally, he insults them and even hits on Roman. Which makes it clear that the suggested alliance, as Logan predicted for years, is impossible between the heirs.
The end of succession returns to the hard points of the series by showing that the Roys are incapable of straying from their own interests. Which shows that the opinion of his father, who never trusted any of them to lead the company, was justified.
The loneliness of the defeated at the end of succession
After losing his estate, Kendall goes off on his own, with only his father’s bodyguard Colin (Scott Nicholson) for company. An image reminiscent of one of the scenes from the first chapter of the final season of succession. In it, Logan talks with his employee and tells her that he knows that he is alone in power and that he will never have anyone to leave his possessions to.
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The sequence seems to find an echo in that of his son, broken, defeated and without a future to fight for. In the end, the Roys are destined—as their father predicted—to the loneliness of a very specific type of moral defeat.