Warning: this article contains spoilers about the final episode of ‘Succession’. Don’t read if you haven’t seen it.
Welp, it’s all over. On Sunday, the finale episode of the dark comedy ‘Succession’ aired on HBO, leaving fans blown away by the finale. For the past four years, the show explored the conflict within the Roy family, as patriarch Logan Roy decides to step down, leaving siblings Kendall, Siobhan and Roman to decide who should control the entertainment giant.
After a conflicting season showing the death of the patriarch, more heartbreaking confessions, fights and plotting to grab control over the empire, in the end the winner was *drum roll*…
Tom Wambsgans and his wife, Siobhan Roy.
How did we come to this conclusion? The finale episode opens with the Roy siblings conflicted over the streaming giant GoJo’s aquisition of Waystar Royco, with Kendall (played by Jeremy Strong) wanting to kill the deal but Shiv (played by Sarah Snook) plotting with GoJo’s founder Luke Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard) to finalise the deal, in exchange for being made CEO.
Before the deal is finalised, a heartbreaking feud takes place between the siblings, with Kendall begging Roman and Shiv to make him the CEO, as was promised to him as the eldest son of the family. Roman Roy (played by Kieran Culkin) instead mocks Kendall for having adopted children, and says that their father would have wanted Shiv to take the CEO position because she is the one pregnant with her biological child. Shiv also threatens to reveal Kendall’s crime for murdering a waiter in Season One.
When the deal is finalised, Kendall walks to a river, looking horrified as he stares at the horizon. Roman visits a bar and orders a martini, while Shiv joins her husband in the backseat of the car, and both of them look incredibly tense which proves that they never loved each other.
Twitter users had mixed opinions about whether the finale provided a satisfying conclusion or a butchering of its iconic characters.
There were some users who felt that the show had effectively destroyed the relationship between the Roy siblings.
Some also grieved for Kendall, who had been fighting since the start of the show to take control of the company, but then was stripped away from everything because of Shiv.
Many felt that the show had destroyed Shiv by making her into a villain.
But for others, Shiv’s sacrifice ultimately made her the hero of the show, because her sacrifice prevented her brothers from following the same fate of their abusive father. Some users pointed out how Shiv sacrificed her power to help free her brothers from the hurt and abuse they endured, by resigning herself to the role of mother and wife to a man she did not love.
