Succession finale: ALL the ways THAT shock ending was right under viewers’ noses

The fate of the Roy family children and the company their late father Logan Roy (Brian Cox) created was concluded during the series finale of HBO‘s Succession.

The series has been building up to the last few episodes, as all of Logan’s children – Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Connor (Alan Ruck) – get ready for the final Waystar Royco board vote on the merger with Lukas Matsson’s (Alexander Skarsgard) GoJo.

Monday’s 90-minute finale saw hapless Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) take over as Waystar CEO, under new owner Matsson in a shock conclusion.

This happened after pregnant Shiv voted against her brother Kendall and was seen climbing into Tom’s car where she congratulates him and places her hand in his – a woman who has helped ‘kill’ her siblings’ empire and will live in her husband’s shadow.

The final scenes show Kendall walking down to the edge of the Hudson River, a broken man… Here’s all the ways THAT shock ending was right under viewers’ noses all along.

King Lear parallels and ‘poor Tom’ 

Viewer, Whit Miller took to Twitter to claim that Succession is based on Shakespearean tragedy, King Lear. 

He wrote: ‘#Succession is based loosely on King Lear, which ends with all three children dying and the kingdom going to Albany, husband of Lear’s eldest child, who offers to share it with Edgar who’s outside the family.

‘Edgar spends most of the play disguised as a beggar named “Poor Tom.”’

In Succession, the series ends with Tom taking over the company – the man that everyone played for a fool – and all three children metaphorically being killed off.

Throughout all the series, Tom is the man who rose to the top of the company and he did it by having no vision and no discernible skills.

When he decides to keep Greg employed after he is made CEO, he tells him: ‘I got you,’ a little callback to the interaction they had in the very first episode, which is the first time viewers see Tom pick on Greg as the outsiders of the family.

He said: ‘I may look really fun, you know? But the thing about me is that I’m a terrible terrible p***k,’ Tom explained, before laughing, ‘I got you again. I just got you.’

In using these words, Tom is asserting dominance over his ‘pain sponge’ Greg. In the premiere, Greg’s bemused and in the finale, he’s content with his lot. 

Whit adds that ‘the titles for each season finale come from the John Berryman poem Dream Song 29 and the implications are interesting here too.’

‘In Dream Song 29, the protagonist is named Henry. Henry VII = a non-Roy. A new family bloodline. I’m not 100% saying Tom but it can’t be a single Roy incl Greg imo. #Succession.’

The secret meaning behind Tom’s unusual surname

Dana Herlihey wrote: ‘Four days ago this baby names TikTok account correctly predicted the end of succession based on the weird history of Tom’s last name “Wambsgans” #SuccessionHBO.’ 

The account explained: ‘The real reason he was given the last name Wambsgans is because of this guy. This is Bill Wamsganss, an MLB player during the early 20th century. 

‘He is remembered for one thing and that is completing the only unassisted triple play in World Series History.

‘He took out three players at once and what is essentially the finale of baseball. It’s no coincidence that Tom shares his surname with Wamsganss.

‘You have to wonder if Tom will complete an unassisted triple play and take out all three of the Roy siblings to become the leader of Waystar in the Succession finale.’ 

Shiv’s name literally means ‘to stab in the back’  

Siobhan ‘Shiv’ Roy  is quite cutting and calculating and has proven that she will cut her husband’s heart to pieces, just for the fun of it.

And in the end, she takes the empire from her brother Kendall, when she uses her deciding vote against him.  

A ‘shiv’ is prison vernacular for a sharp stabbing object, like a hand-crafted knife which would be used to stab someone in the back. 

Viewers will recall the awkward moment that Tom gifted Shiv a scorpion gift when they reconciled.

Opening a big red box, her confusion was clear to see in season four, episode seven, as she took out the insect which was encased in resin.

Tom insisted: ‘It’s just a joke, you know…’ leaving Shiv stumbling over her words.

He tells he he thinks the gift is funny because they both try to ‘kill’ each other, before heading off to work.

But fans realised the scorpion actually symbolises both the nature of their relationship and how, as a couple, we are being told they are ultimately doomed.

The parable of the Scorpion And The Frog is an animal fable which teaches that vicious people cannot resist hurting others even when it is not in their own interests.

This fable seems to have emerged in Russia in the early 20th century. According to Wikipedia: ‘A scorpion wants to cross a river but cannot swim, so it asks a frog to carry it across.

‘The frog hesitates, afraid that the scorpion might sting it, but the scorpion promises not to, pointing out that it would drown if it killed the frog in the middle of the river.

‘The frog considers this argument and agrees to transport the scorpion. Midway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog anyway, dooming them both.

‘The dying frog asks the scorpion why it stung despite knowing the consequence, to which the scorpion replies: “I am sorry, but I couldn’t resist the urge. It’s in my nature”.’

Tom’s brand of technology proves he’s the TRUE villain

It’s a little known fact that villains don’t use Apple devices in TV and in movies. 

Howtogeek.com explains that ‘while Apple doesn’t pay for its devices to appear on TV and in movies, the company clearly wants them to. However, the free devices come with a couple of requests from Apple.

‘Apple doesn’t want bad guys to use iPhones. Director Rian Johnson revealed this when talking about his movie Knives Out. He talked about how you can sometimes use that information to figure out if a character is a villain or not.

He said: ‘Apple has never specifically said “bad guys can’t use iPhones,” but its official guidelines say an Apple product should be “shown only in the best light.” Interestingly, it also asks that references to Apple don’t create a sense of endorsement or sponsorship.’

Tom uses a Samsung phone all the way through while all the Roys use iPhones.

The ending was ‘revealed’ in the promotional poster  

Rebecca Hirsch spotted that the hidden meanings are not just in the series but also extend to the show’s promotional poster. 

She makes direct reference to the plane which flies about Logan – he died while on  a plane. 

Rebecca also notices an interesting fact about Kendall being impaled by the Empire State Building. 

She writes: ‘It was all in the poster. Upper right is the plane where Logan died. Logan is playing with a watch. 

‘(Time’s up, but also Tom gave him a watch in the 1st season) and both Tom and Logan have the same eyebrow raised.

‘And finally, Ken is impaled by Empire State Building. #Succession.’

The final scenes show him inconsolable as he looks out to the Hudson river with his bodyguard standing closely looking on. 

Shiv’s downfall was revealed in her character’s poster  

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Shiv had always appeared to be something of an independent power player, the woman who prevailed against her two brothers. 

But it turns out she, unbeknownst to anyone, was always in the shadow of her husband Tom, the person no one expected to come out on top. 

He stands as her shadow in her character poster – reflected in her back as the ‘biggest spoiler of the finale,’ ultimately giving her the unhappy life her mother had as her father had all the power in that relationship.  

While Matsson had promised to make Shiv his CEO when GoJo took over, she tried to make sure Tom was able to come on board but was clear that she would proceed with or without him. 

Likewise, when Matsson approached Tom about taking on the position, he was happy to leave Shiv in the dirt, without hesitation. 

Earlier, Tom called Shiv, wanting to know where his position is – if he will stay on as the head of ATN or not, as they ultimately talk about their relationship.

‘You don’t like to fail a test, do you, Siobhan?’ Tom told her as Shiv added, ‘I know that we’ve said the worst things. But I… I think I’ve always just been scared in relationships of, uh… You know, like… The underneaths. You know, what’s the worst thing a person thinks? 

‘But we know. But… Once you’ve said and done the worst things, you’re kind of free. Yeah, I guess– I guess my question is… Are you interested in a real relationship?’

Tom responds, ‘Honest to God, I don’t know… Shiv,’ as Shiv ends the call rather curtly.

Tom later has dinner with Matsson, who asks him to pitch himself as to his worth about sticking around at ATN. 

‘And on a hang level, who would you say you are?’ Matsson asks, and he says, ‘I’m a grinder. I grind ’cause I worry. I worry all night about everything. All the, uh, threats to… To me and to my division and my physical body.

He asks Tom if he can be discreet, adding that Shiv is smart but he doesn’t know if he needs ‘more ideas.’

Matsson reveals he wants to have sex with Shiv and he thinks she wants to have sex with him too, but Tom says he’s fine with it.

Lukas says, ‘I need an American ’cause I don’t wanna scare the horses. ATN being the– the profit center. Mencken likes you, if that happens, you know? You, um… You’re f***ing talented,’ as they seemingly strike a deal a tentative deal for Tom to be the new American CEO.

Kendall makes a call and learns Matsson is talking to other people for CEO… and not Shiv.

Kendall pulls Roman and Shiv aside and tells Shiv, telling her, ‘Call whoever, it checks out,’ Kendall tells her, adding she shouldn’t call Matsson, but she’s already dialing… though he doesn’t pick up.

An upset Shiv says he rarely doesn’t pick up and Kendall tells Shiv that they have removed her name as CEO from the new presentation draft.

She goes into her room and starts screaming, pulling up the presentation draft and sees her name isn’t there.

Kendall tells Roman they should just lay it out for her when she returns, telling them she hasn’t talked to Lukas. 

Roman says they might get some people on board, and Kendall says he’s ready to kill this, but Shiv thinks Matsson might already have it locked up.

They call Tellis (Kevin Changaris) and he tells them that Matsson doesn’t necessarily need Shiv’s name as the CEO. 

‘Matsson took me seriously,’ Shiv says, as Roman adds, ‘Or he played you like a big fiddle. Like a pregnant cello,’ though he immediately apologizes. 

Tom approaches Shiv, who asks if he thinks he’s going to get canned, as Shiv tells Tom that she’s not with Matsson anymore, which stuns Tom.

‘Are you sure? Is that even true?’ Tom asks, as Shiv says it came from Greg, saying it is ‘terrible.’

He asks who it might be, as Shiv says maybe Lawrence from Vaulter, though Tom adds she should just vote it through… as she realizes it’s Tom who Matsson’s eyeing.

‘Yeah, Shiv, you should probably know, it’s me,’ Tom tells her, as Shiv tells him to f**k off and she tells Kendall and Roman that the American CEO is Tom as they all leave and get their plan together.

Shiv’s baby is the only biological line of Succession? 

Myles McHale writes: ‘It also kinda hit me that, w/ everything going to s**t for him at once, this was all part of a “Kendall is impotent / unfit” metaphor that the series set up that I hadn’t connected with his kids before.

‘Very Shakespeare to be like “he has not sired children!!”‘

This comes into play when Kendall tells Shiv they have the votes, and Shiv says she needs a moment to think, but Kendall wants to know what she needs to think about.

‘I might have changed my mind,’ Shiv says, ‘as Kendall says, ‘What the f**k? I’m good for this company. I’m good for us. You know, we all vote, we keep control. We don’t, then everything’s over, forever.’ 

‘Here’s the thing. I am like a cog built to fit only one machine. Like, if you don’t let me do this– I mean, it– it’s the one thing I know how to do,’ Kendall says, but Shiv simply says, ‘I don’t think you would be good at it.’

Back in the board room, Frank says it’s 6 to 6 and they need Shiv’s vote, but Shiv brings up that he can’t be CEO because he killed someone – bringing up the story of the kid being killed… but now he insists it did not happen.

‘F***ing vote for me. Just vote for me, Shiv,’ Kendall says, but Shiv says she won’t.

‘I love you but I cannot f***ing stomach you,’ she says, as Kendall starts screaming, ‘I am the eldest boy!’ 

Kendall insists, ‘And, you know, it– this– it mattered to him. He wanted this to go on,’ but Roman says, ‘Well, I mean, she’s the bloodline, though.’

Roman says, ‘Dad’s view was yours weren’t real,’ as Kendall becomes furious, adding, ‘What the f**k did you just say?’

Roman says, ‘Well, just not “Real” real. Well, that’s just what Dad said. I’m just saying what Dad said. They are a pair of randos. One is a buy-in. The other is half Rava, half some filing-cabinet guy, right?’

Kendall grabs Roman by the face and a struggle ensues as all of the siblings start struggling with each other. 

As cooler heads start to prevail… Kendall tries to spin some more, asking they could offer Frank as CEO but Roman and Shiv realize it’s over.

‘Hey, we are bulls**t. We are bulls**t. You are bulls**t. You’re fucking bulls**t, man. I’m fucking bulls**t. She’s bulls**t,’ Roman says.

Kendall tries to adjourn the meeting but Frank tells him it’s over – the board has voted to sell to Gojo.

The papers are signed by Lukas and Roman in front of photographers as Tom is announced as the new CEO, as Matsson says it’s like Jesus and his disciples, pointing to Greg and says even Judas is there.

Tom tells Shiv that he has a car coming in 20 minutes if she wants to join, as she nods and Tom goes back to the celebration. 

Roman goes to a bar and orders a drink, while Shiv heads to the car, as Tom gets in after her. She congratulates him, but Tom says, ‘Oh no, no no.’

He holds out his hand, which she gently touches as they ride home together in utter silence.

Kendall is seen walking through a park by himself, with his security man following him. 

Succession creator Jesse Armstrong first confirmed that Season 4 will be the end of the show in a wide-ranging interview with The New Yorker, where he was asked why he decided to confirm the final season before it debuted.

‘One, we could have said it as soon as I sort of decided, almost when we were writing it, which I think would be weird and perverse,’ Armstrong began.

‘We could have said it at the end of the season. I quite like that idea, creatively, because then the audience is just able to enjoy everything as it comes, without trying to figure things out, or perceiving things in a certain way once they know it’s the final season,’ he added.

‘But, also, the countervailing thought is that we don’t hide the ball very much on the show. I feel a responsibility to the viewership, and I personally wouldn’t like the feeling of, “Oh, that’s it, guys. That was the end.” I wouldn’t like that in a show. I think I would like to know it is coming to an end,’ he clarified.

He added, ‘And, also, there’s a bunch of prosaic things, like it might be weird for me and the cast as we do interviews. It’s pretty definitively the end, so then it just might be uncomfortable having to sort of dissemble like a politician for ages about it. Hopefully, the show is against bulls**t, and I wouldn’t like to be bulls****ing anyone when I was talking about it.’