Succession Finale - What It All Meant

The video of the dinner with Connor and the old board kind of cemented the ending for me. It made it clear that the siblings were never really a part of it, they were never taken seriously as options. They were always just kids playing outside their dad's office.

Kendall lying that he made up the waiter situation made me so sad dude it was so humiliating

I dare to say that Connor was even taken a bit more seriously than the other siblings simply because he “knew his place”

In the end, being CEO of Waystar Royco really seemed like one of Kendal's addictions. His desperate "please" then shift to violence when it was clear it was a no was perfectly acted but also looked like someone desperate to get the hit of the thing he literally feels he needs to survive. The fact his father 'promised' it to him at 7 years old was so heartbreaking. The tragedy was inevitable, as many, including the showrunners, have pointed out.

Of the three, somehow i feel Roman had the happiest ending. His smile in his last scene was pure relief. He was finally free. Free from his father, from the games and battles with his siblings. Free from everything. He was the first of them to realize they were bullshit and that Waystar was nothing to them. Just a bunch of bad tv shows they didn't even wanted.

Kendall is a character straight out of a Shakespeare story. Just went you begin empathic towards him, he shows his evil side and is much darker than you can imagine...

That's such an amazing analogy. Those born at the finish line can never know what it takes to get there.

If Kendall only turned it down a bit after being anointed, by not sitting in Logan’s chair and not putting his feet up on the desk so demonstratively as he did, Shiv might have been able to stomach him being the winner. Truly pride came before the fall.

Tom really was the one that was going to get it the whole time. He never overplayed his hand, and was also willing to do everything it takes to get CEO (as hollow as his position might end up being). In hindsight, that one shot of Logan's scars worked as a great bit of foreshadowing - you don't get to be at the top by going unscathed. Tom was underestimated throughout the show, and I love that this was what the writers decided to go with. Truly Shakespearean in the end.

Tom was the most subservient and thus became the puppet ceo. Mattson told him he wanted to sleep with Shiv to his face and Shiv would probably be down and Tom didn’t bat an eye. That’s when Mattson knew he had his dog (or Greg).

Great analysis as always, though I would like to add that Shiv's decision to betray Kendall wasn't purely strategic, but highly personal because she couldn't bear to see her sibling get what she's always wanted. I don't believe Shiv actually gives a shit that Kendall killed someone (or that a killer can't run a company), but that she brought that up more as a justification. But obviously Kendall's meltdown reinforced how unqualified he was to lead, and cemented Shiv's decision.

That scene of them playing around in their moms kitchen was both touching and tragic. Touching in that it felt like they were just being kids again and getting along and messing around the way siblings do (and they probably didn’t get to growing up). And tragic because you get the feeling watching it that this will be the last pleasant memory that they’ll have of each other. Even before things went to hell with the vote, it felt like that last pleasant memory you have of a loved one you lost and how it will come to feel like a gift looking back on it years from now. They’ve stabbed each other in the back and said horrible things to each other they can’t take back but they also have that last night in moms kitchen

I believe that Tom truly loves Shiv, but it's undeniable that he's played the game well.

Roman wasn't fully convinced either, but Kendall physically hurt him to put him in his place. Just like Logan did

One interesting thing about Succession is that virtually no characters had any development throughout the story. Kendall would make bold moves only to collapse. Shiv would get played and was petty and Roman was insecure and lacked confidence. Tom was servile, Connor was aloof and Greg was a weasel. It had the most static characters of any show.

People seem to be forgetting as well that the original plan was to seek to matson and do their own thing…it was Kendall who changed that and started working against it unilaterally before bringing the other siblings into it and not telling shiv for a while

The ending felt true to the nature of these characters. They are horrible, backstabbing people. Sometimes people don't change.

Tom also did something none of the others could bring themselves to do. When Matsen met with him face to face and asked him about how he was as a "hang" he didn't feed him bullshit. Even though his compatibility was the top thing Tom stressed about he kept it honest and it won him the prize. His instant forgiveness of Greg was the cherry on top.

I love how they portrayed Tom’s character. He was essentially two characters in one. The first side of him was the submissive servant, lusting for approval from the family and the second character is how he was also a master manipulative bully, which you’d see in his interactions with Greg. Him understanding that he had no monetary gain from being associated with Greg allowed him to be his true self and that he was perhaps a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Loved the foreshadowing when rome and shiv playfully discuss about murdering ken. They actually do kill him