‘Succession’ finale: Will Kendall, Shiv or Roman emerge as the leader?

The series finale of “Succession” Sunday at 6 p.m. PT on HBO and Max. Here’s what you need to know and questions the series has left to answer:

Read our coverage of “Succession” | Logan Roy dies | Sarah Snook on the final season

‘Succession’ comes to an end after four seasons

“Succession” heads, the end is near.

After four seasons, we may finally learn who will take control of Waystar Royco, the media conglomerate founded by Logan Roy (Brian Cox), whose untimely death left a gaping leadership hole just as he was about to finalize a deal to sell his empire (well, except his beloved news channel, ATN) to Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) and GoJo. While Logan’s death was the most dramatic moment this season, there have been numerous revelations that appear to be bread crumbs about where the characters and company are headed.

Throughout the series, his children — Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong), Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin) and Siobhan “Shiv” Roy (Sarah Snook) — jockeyed for control of the company. But so did numerous other players in the orbit of the organization, including: Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen), the chairman of broadcast news at ATN and Shiv’s husband; Gerri Kellman (J. Smith-Cameron), the general counsel of the company, who at one point served as interim CEO; Frank Vernon (Peter Friedman), the chief operating officer; Karl Muller (David Rasche), the chief financial officer; and Greg Hirsch (Nicholas Braun), Logan’s great-nephew and family whipping boy. And that’s just the short list.

Connor Roy (Alan Ruck), despite being the eldest son, showed, at best, passing interest in the company, and was instead focused on a long-shot presidential bid that ultimately went nowhere — except maybe for establishing Conheads, his legion of followers.

Just before his death, Logan, on the night before Connor’s wedding to Willa Ferreyra (Justine Lupe), tells his children he doesn’t think they are fit for the job and instead believes selling the company is the best outcome for all. Kendall, Roman and Shiv certainly don’t see it that way. So who will lead Waystar Royco? Will Matsson acquire the company after all, or will Jeryd Mencken (Justin Kirk) put a stop to it? And what effect will it all have on Tom and Shiv’s marriage?

Earlier this year, Jesse Armstrong, the creator of the series, revealed that Season 4 would be the last. “I’ve never thought this could go on forever. The end has always been kind of present in my mind,” he told the New Yorker. The series finale of the acclaimed HBO drama has begun and is also streaming on the newly rebranded Max.

— Maira Garcia

Who succeeds Logan Roy as the head of Waystar Royco?

Logan Roy took a modest family-run printing business and built it into Waystar Royco, one of the largest media and entertainment conglomerates in the world.

Logan’s death came at an inopportune moment for the Roys: The formidable chief executive collapsed while en route to Sweden to finalize the terms of a deal for tech giant GoJo to acquire Waystar Royco, and was estranged from his adult children at the time.

His demise left the company, already rocked by scandal and internal power struggles, without a clear successor.

An undated document found in Logan’s files appeared to name his son Kendall as CEO, but he and his brother Roman agreed to share the role until the GoJo sale was completed.

Driven, as ever, by a need to prove themselves worthy of their father’s legacy, the brothers have been secretly maneuvering to kill the deal so they can retain the Waystar empire themselves. They even push ATN to call the presidential election for fascist Republican candidate Jaryd Mencken, because he signals a willingness to block the sale.

Meanwhile Shiv, pushed out by her brothers, forms a covert alliance with Lukas Mattson, GoJo’s mercurial CEO, to achieve the opposite goal: pushing the deal through.

So who will claim the media-world equivalent of the Iron Throne?

After four seasons of humiliation and struggle, Kendall the prodigal son is now ascendant and probably in the best position of all the siblings to assume the throne. At Logan’s funeral, he stepped in, after Roman broke down, to deliver a stirring impromptu eulogy that championed his father’s rapacious business vision — exhibiting grace under fire in front of the very people who will determine Waystar’s future.

In the series’ home stretch, he has heartily embraced his inner Logan, asking Hugo to help plant stories saying the board is souring on the Gojo acquisition and telling Roman they need to team up against their sister — “The Roy Boys versus Shiv the Shiv.”

But there are still things that could hinder Kendall’s rise, like concern over what a Mencken presidency would mean for his daughter, who is not white. There’s also the small matter of that waiter he accidentally killed at Shiv’s wedding — a dark secret that Shiv, Roman and Colin (Scott Nicholson), Logan’s security guard, know about.

Roman, a.k.a. the Grim Weeper, is in a weaker position than ever, having committed the cardinal sin of appearing vulnerable in front of the wrong people when he totally lost it at Logan’s funeral.

Shiv may possess greater political acumen than her brothers, but she has little experience working on the inside of the company. She’s also a woman — and a pregnant one at that. Even as she jokes about taking a 36-hour maternity leave, it seems hard to believe a misogynist creep like Mattson would willingly hand her the reins.

Gerri Kellman, Waystar’s hyper-competent former general counsel, could certainly do the job and she briefly served as interim CEO. But ever since Roman fired her out of spite, it’s hard to imagine her returning to Waystar’s toxic waters.

That leaves one very strong candidate: Shiv’s estranged husband, Tom Wambsgans. (Sorry, Greg stans.) He’s the father of Logan’s unborn grandchild, so his ascent to CEO would keep the line of succession in the family.

He’s also run three divisions of the company — including ATN, the jewel in the Waystar crown — was one of Logan’s most trusted allies and displayed a willingness to do anything to get ahead, including betraying his own wife.

There’s no doubt he’d do it again if it meant becoming CEO.

— Meredith Blake

Does Tom and Shiv’s marriage survive?

Over the course of the series, the relationship between Siobhan Roy and Tom Wambsgans has taken several turns: We see them get married, dabble with an open marriage — Shiv’s idea, not Tom’s — and then fracture. Sick of being constantly humiliated, Tom betrays Shiv at the end of Season 3, tipping off Logan about the Roy siblings’ plan to unite and stop the GoJo deal. “He does the one thing she believes he could never do, because he would never have the guts or courage,” Snook told The Times.

Their uniquely twisted relationship has become a focal point of the show’s final season. Tom and Shiv were separated and bracing for a cutthroat, “War of the Roses”-style divorce. Then Logan died. Tom, who was with Logan aboard the plane when he collapsed, called her and relayed the news to her lovingly (even calling her “honey”).

The tenderness of the moment seemed to rekindle their connection, as did a round of a kinky game called “bitey” at a Hollywood house party. (So romantic!) The couple briefly reconciled, enjoyed lots of make-up sex and even had an illuminating conversation about last season’s Great Betrayal, but Shiv continued to conceal the fact that she was pregnant. And Tom, the master of passive-aggression, gave Shiv a glass-encased scorpion as a gift (again: so romantic!).

Tensions between the couple exploded into a blistering argument during an election eve party at their apartment. Tom, once again humiliated publicly by his wife, tells Shiv she is incapable of love and is “not a good person to have children.” Perhaps worst of all, he implies she is responsible for Logan’s death (ouch). Shiv fires back by calling him servile and suggesting he only wanted her for her DNA.

On election night, Shiv attempts to apologize and finally tells Tom she is pregnant. He wonders if she’s even telling the truth — or just deploying another tactic.

As nasty as these two have been to each other, a long-term reconciliation isn’t out of the question; at Logan’s funeral, Shiv tells a sleep-deprived Tom he can stay at their apartment for the night. It’s a faint gesture of kindness that suggests she’s open to making things work, somehow.

That is, unless Tom betrays her yet again in order to score the CEO job.

In the finale, “WIth Open Eyes,” the role-reversal in their relationship is complete. En route to the Caribbean to chase down Roman on the eve of the board vote on the GoJo deal, Shiv calls Tom and makes an awkward sales pitch to save their marriage. “Once you’ve said and done the worst things, you’re kind of free,” she says. “Are you interested in a real relationship?” Tom replies, “I just don’t know.” While Shiv and Tom seemed aligned on business — she’s committed to helping him keep his job at ATN — their relationship remains more complicated.

— Meredith Blake

What Jeryd Mencken’s election means for the Roys (and everyone else)

In the final scenes of Episode 9, we see Roman Roy leaving the reception for his father’s funeral at a Manhattan hotel. He enters the streets, which are full of protesters who are angry about the election being called for Jeryd Mencken (Justin Kirk), the conservative presidential candidate (and alleged white supremacist). Roman screams at the protesters as they march past him and as the police begins kettling the crowd. He’s punched a few times and we see him on the ground until he gets up and walks away.

To say that things are tense is an understatement. Since ATN, the Fox News-like network owned by the Roys, called the election for Mencken, the atmosphere outside of the immediate Waystar-Roy circle has been dark. Rava (Natalie Gold), Kendall’s ex-wife, is fleeing the city with their children. Tom hasn’t slept in days, working away at ATN as the election news cycle continues its grueling grind. But for the Roy siblings, it’s been a series of not-so-casual check-ins and chats with the presumed future president about the GoJo deal. Even Shiv, the progressive among the group, is willing to make a deal with the devil if it means she and Matsson can prevail over Kendall and Roman.

Mencken remains a wild card and this episode should reveal his intentions for the company and the country.

— Maira Garcia

Matsson and GoJo have problems that could go public

Most viewers may not always understand the business speak on “Succession,” but the current deal in play between Waystar Royco and the tech streaming giant GoJo has been a crucial driver of the tension this season. To recap: In Season 3, Logan Roy was set on buying the booming tech company as a way to bring his legacy media company more fully into the modern age and to help it get a hold in the streaming market by revamping its lackluster streaming service, StarGo. But the deal shifts, and Logan agrees to sell Waystar to GoJo head Lukas Matsson, except for ATN. It means the Roy family would receive a hefty cash settlement. When the Roy siblings attempt to rally the board to vote against the deal because they feel the money isn’t enough, Logan gets on a plane to see Matsson and dies en route.

Heading into the finale, Matsson is now set on buying Waystar, its subsidiaries and ATN and is already configuring his takeover with the help of Shiv, who has been on a solo mission to help Matsson succeed in hopes of becoming U.S. CEO. Meanwhile, Kendall and Roman are scrambling to get the deal tanked and save a semblance of their father’s legacy.

Adding to the stress of the deal is Matsson himself. He is a mercurial character with an approach to leadership and business that makes him a walking HR case. He confessed to Shiv that he’d been sending pints of blood (half a liter of frozen blood bricks, to be exact) to an ex, Ebba (Eili Harboe), who is the head of communications for his company. That same ex is how Kendall and Roman found out that Matsson inflated his subscriber numbers in India. If the numbers become public knowledge, it will tank GoJo’s value and threaten the deal.

— Yvonne Villarreal

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.