‘Succession’ Ending Explained: Who Controls Waystar RoyCo? (2024)

The Succession series finale finished the saga of the Roys with all the shock, awe, and darkly hilarious one-liners that have come to define the HBO and Max hit. The 90-minute-long Succession Season 4 Episode 10 “With Open Eyes” finally saw Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Shiv (Sarah Snook) go to blows in the fight to control Waystar RoyCo amid the turbulence of the GoJo deal. While the siblings kicked off the season as a successful team, managing to outmaneuver their father Logan (Brian Cox), in the pursuit of Pierce’s news network, that alliance fell apart in the aftermath of Logan’s death. Kendall immediately made moves for the top position behind Roman’s back, while Shiv secretly cozied up to Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard) in the hopes she could be his “puppet” CEO of Waystar. Only problem? The press realized that she was making him look like her puppet.

So whose master plan paid off? Which Roy sibling managed to assert themselves as their father’s true heir? And how catastrophic was the final episode of Succession for all of our favorite characters from Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) to Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun)?

Here’s how HBO’s Succession ended…

Succession Ending Explained: Who Won Control of Waystar RoyCo?

As it happens, Tom Wambsgans winds up CEO of Waystar RoyCo after a tense boardroom vote where the Roy siblings truly shatter and the GoJo deal goes through. In the post-episode breakdown, showrunner Jesse Armstrong revealed he had been thinking of Tom being the ultimate successor for a while. But how did it all shake out?

The series finale takes place a few weeks after the events of Logan’s funeral. Roman has been hiding out with his mother Lady Caroline (Harriet Walter) in the Caribbean, which is important because he could provide a key vote to either Kendall or Shiv’s plans. The siblings fly to Barbados — which Kendall calls “Bim” — to woo the battered up Rome. At about 20 minutes in Shiv crows to Kendall that she’s already won, which means she hasn’t.

Back in NYC, Matsson literally reveals to Tom that he doesn’t want Shiv to be CEO and is circling around Tom as his “front man” for the bloodbath to come. Tom reveals nothing to Greg, but he figures out that Matsson is canning Shiv by using a translation AI program. He decides not to tell Tom, but to go to Kendall with this info. When Kendall reveals this to Shiv, she goes apoplectic. But she also agrees to team up with her siblings.

The problem confronting the newly reunited Roy siblings is that in order to sell the board on killing the GoJo deal, they have to not only be united, but have one leader in mind. After an emotional meeting on the beach, Shiv and Roman agree to anoint Kendall (after deciding it would be too much work to kill him). Kendall, Roman, and Shiv proceed to have a horrifically heartwarming bonding moment where they make Ken a disgusting concoction “fit for a king.”

When the siblings make a stopover back at Logan’s old house, Shiv is horrified to learn from Tom that Matsson was going to make her estranged husband the CEO behind her back. When Tom realizes that Greg tipped them off, he confronts his long-time punching bag, but Greg fights back for once. Tom tips Matsson off, accelerating the big board meeting.

After the siblings win Stewy (Arian Moayed) over to their side, Roman is spooked seeing Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron). Kendall embraces him so hard that his stitches rip open. It seems that the kids are united. The votes go around the table and it’s down to Shiv. She leaves the room.

When Kendall and Roman follow, Shiv reveals she doesn’t want to vote for Kendall. As he presses her why, it first seems to be a matter of ego. Then she says, “You can’t [be CEO] because you killed someone.” Kendall then tells them that he false-memoried it, pleading to Shiv to vote for him. Roman and Shiv are stunned and confused. However, Shiv still says, “No.”

Kendall unravels. “I’m the eldest boy,” Kendall screams, trying to assert some old view of inheritance. Roman counters, “Well, I mean, she’s the bloodline.” He reveals that Logan never considered Kendall’s children — one adopted, one born from a sperm donor— as part of the family. Kendall goes ballistic and violently attacks Roman. Shiv barely gets away to vote.

Roman tells Kendall that, “We are bullsh*t. We are nothing.” When Kendall comes in the boardroom, he’s told that it’s done. Shiv voted no.

As soon as a dejected Kendall leaves via elevator, Tom comes in…the new CEO apparent. After he tells Greg that he f*cked up and Matsson hates him, Tom places a sticker on Cousin Greg’s head claiming him as a remnant of Logan Roy’s household he wants. Roman reluctantly signs the paperwork and heads to a bar for a drink. Tom joins Shiv in a car, where she offers congratulations. He then offers his hand and she limply takes it.

We then cut to a deflated Kendall walking through a park, Logan’s old bodyguard following him. He sits on a park bench, observing the churning river waters alone. And that’s it. That’s Succession.

Why did Shiv Betray Kendall in the Succession Finale?

Why did Shiv do what she did? Well, her name is “Shiv,” and as the hella accurate Nameberry theory bore out, names mean something in Succession! (The baby name website predicted that Tom would pull an “unassisted triple play” blowing all three Roy kids out of the water to win it all based on sharing a last name with a baseball legend who did the same.) So Shiv’s got to shiv!

No, but really: why did Shiv betray Kendall? Did the knowledge that Tom, the father of her baby, would be CEO lure her back to the GoJo side of the deal? Is Shiv’s eternal love of proximity to power to blame? Or was Shiv’s reasoning way more emotionally-driven?

In the Inside the Episode featurette, director Mark Mylod said that Season 4 was working towards Shiv sabotaging herself and the GoJo deal in the finale. How does she do that? Well, to me — and this is one person’s opinion —Shiv really was torn when her name came up. The pressure of knowing it all came down to her understandably freaked Shiv out. Of course, she would balk. After all, up until this episode, she had mostly been working to crown herself as her father’s primary successor. How dare Kendall eke out the win?

However, you’ll note that both Shiv and Roman balk when Kendall denies having killed the cater waiter back in Season 1. It’s not that Kendall is a killer that horrifies the siblings. It’s that he walks back his confession — the very thing that bonded them in the Season 3 finale — that upsets them. Logan Roy’s children can only hope to succeed their father if they are united. By claiming he was lying about his confession, Kendall is showing his siblings that he will reject their bond if it means a way to the crown.

The wild thing is that with the GoJo deal going through, these super rich people are all even richer! Remember the Pierce deal? That was contingent on the siblings having the money from the Waystar sale! They’re going to be fine. Miserable, but fine.

Even weirder? This isn’t the first time an HBO show has had a sister “crown” her brother with disgusting goop only to betray him. At least Kendall’s crown was made of a gross milkshake and not molten gold.

Who Died in the Succession Series Finale?

No one! Even if Kendall tried to jump into stormy blue, Colin was there to pull him back.

Will There Be a Succession Season 5?

No, there will not! Tonight’s episode of Succession was the very last one that will ever air on HBO or Max. Bid adieu to the Roy family, Cousin Greg, and all of wild bon mots that fueled the watercooler discourse on Monday morning.