Succession series finale: The fate of the Roy family's Waystar Royco company is ... trends now

The fate and future of the Roy family children and the company their late father Logan Roy (Brian Cox) created hangs in the balance in the highly-anticipated series finale of HBO's Succession.

The entire 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.

While Roman appeared poised to come into the final vote in a strong position, he broke down in tears at Logan's funeral and - as protests erupted in the New York City streets over ATN calling Jeryd Mencken (Justin Kirk) the new President of the United States - he went outside alone and antagonized the protesters until he was assaulted. 

Now Kendall has taken the reigns, revealing late in last week's episode to Roman that he has a plan to fend off Matsson and Shiv at the board meeting and keep the company that their father started. 

The 90-minute series finale is directed by Mark Mylod and written by series creator Jesse Armstrong. 

The series finale begins with Kendall listening to radio reports about the Waystar/GoJo merger as Kendall arrives at the office to get ready for the board presentation.

Kendall is told that they don't think they have Stewy (Arian Moayed) as he's told they don't think they have the shareholders to tank the deal with GoJo.

'Right now you have four and... is Roman even gonna show?' Kendall is told, as he admits he doesn't know if Roman will show up.

'I don't know where he is, and I don't know where he stands, but I got him,' an overly confident Kendall says as the title sequence begins. 

Shiv tells Matsson and their team that they think Kendall has lost Stewy, as she goes through the list of people they have.

'So, then we got Diane Liu, Sonya. And then we-- we have it. Then, if we peel off Dewi, Paul, and Ewan, then there's only, like... Is that... Ken and Rome in the against,' Shiv adds.

She also isn't sure if Roman will show up to the vote as well, as Shiv asks they contemplate what to do with Tom Wambsgnans (Matthew McFadyen).

'Well, he's very competent, but if he irks you, or it's complicated, it is okay. He is very plausible corporate matter, but he's also just a highly interchangeable modular part,' Shiv says, adding she would say that to his face.

'Okay, but if we wanted continuity because there's been a lot of changes... You know, ATN is going gangbusters, and he is well-liked. So if he were to stay on, that would also be okay with me,' she tells Matsson.

Shiv gets a call from her mother, asking if she could show up to the event that she invited all of them to, hinting that Roman is there.

She says she'll 'give it a think' as she tells Matsson that she got a line on Roman and she wants to go get him and bring him to their side.

'It would be... It would, just in an-- It would be nice, in an abundance of caution, just to... close nice,' she says.

Tom calls Shiv and wants 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 tells her as Shiv adds, '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.

Kendall tries to call Stewy but he doesn't answer, and he calls his mother, trying to get Roman on the phone.

Kendall decides to go up to his mother's place and try to secure Roman for the board, while Shiv is seen heading up there as well.  

Shiv gets there first and asks what happened to his face - referring to his bruises from the protest.

'Oh yeah, Iust had a discussion with some of your pals about the merits of liberal democracy,' Roman says.

Kendall is on his way to see Roman when he finally gets through to Stewy, who says he's still with him... but he says Vaulter's Lawrence Yee may be a problem.

Kendall arrives at his mother's place and starts aggressively going after Roman, saying DefCon 1.

Roman says he doesn't have it, adding he was in a 'very violent fight, that I won by the way,' which is a complete lie.

Their mother Caroline (Harriet Mary Walter) asks if they are staying for dinner, and while Shiv says she will stay, Kendall insists they have an 'important board meeting,' which Caroline jokes she's never heard that before.

Lukas is at an art show of sorts with Tom and Greg, as Tom is worried Matsson will just fire him when he takes over.

Tom tells Greg, 'He's gonna f***ing fire me. I know it. I need ears and eyes out. You know, like, on the assistant loop. Ebba. Like, is he planning to kill me? If he wins, if he gets in, you are f***ed. You're f***ed.'

Greg insists, 'Well, he likes me, so... You? You, 200k? The highest paid assistant in human history? It's new management, bro. You're gonna get busted down to 20, 30, 40k.'

The next morning, Kendall tells Shiv that he got Stewy back, but Shiv isn't, 'sweating it.' 

Kendall tells her that he's heard Matsson is talking to Lawrence Yee as Roman arrives, calling their meeting a 'scorpion party.'

Shiv adds, 'I would love for both of you to support me taking over the firm. All right, well, I don't know what to say. 'Cause you... You know, you f***ing grabbed the crown, the two of you. Dad died, and you f***ing... You grabbed the crown and pushed me out. So I don't know why I'm the cunt here?'

'And I'm sorry for winning. But I did. Sorry. I'm sorry. And you know what? I'm actually tired of saying fucking sorry. I played it better, so why don't you take it like a man and just eat it?' Shiv says.

Tom is at 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 of sorts.

Matsson goes to get shots and Greg asks if they are going to be OK but Tom says they will be OK.

Back at Caroline's house, she brings in her husband and his friend to pitch him a business opportunity, when Greg calls Kendall.

Greg says he will tell something 'incredible' if he gives him something amazing, and Kendall agrees.

The pitch continues without Kendall, as Kendall makes a call and learns Matsson is talking to other

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