It’s a Roy-eat-Roy world out there, and the twist-filled Season 3 finale of Succession proved it with some of its biggest betrayals ever. But even more surprising than the backstabbing was the newfound camaraderie between the Roy siblings, even if it didn’t end up serving them well. After the huge bombshell that dropped in the final moments of Season 3, every Succession fan is wondering what will happen next, and these Succession season 4 theories are a good place to start your speculations.
Spoiler alert: This post contains spoilers from the Succession Season 3 finale. All season long, Succession had been building up to something massive. Most fans thought that the big finale reveal would be Kendall passing away, after the penultimate episode ended with him seemingly drowning in a pool. Instead, the Roy family’s tortured mope lived on, although he wasn’t exactly celebrating his survival. His siblings caught him in an intense breakdown, in which he finally revealed his involvement in the drowning of the waiter at Shiv’s wedding. Surprisingly, Shiv and Roman helped cheer up the brother they’d been at odds with all season, and then formed an alliance with him to take down their father after learning Logan was planning to sell Waystar Royco to streaming giant GoJo.
For the first time in... well, maybe forever, Kendall, Shiv, and Roman were all truly on the same team, and they had a plan to remove Logan as CEO. But they didn’t count on Shiv’s seemingly ever-loyal husband Tom ratting them out. Before the siblings could use a super-majority clause granted to them in Logan’s divorce from Caroline, Tom tipped Logan off, and the CEO speedily had the clause altered to remove his children’s power.
Yeah, it was a lot of legalese, but the gist of it was: Tom backstabbed Shiv, Logan is selling Waystar Royco, and Kendall, Shiv, and Roman finally finding the courage to stand up to their dad was all for nothing. It also means all the Roys will likely be out of the family business in Season 4, which is a wild new concept for the show. Since it’ll be a bit of a wait for the next season, here are some of the predominant theories about what might happen next.
1. Tom and Greg will rise to power.
It hasn’t been an easy journey for Succession’s resident bumbling duo, but after the Season 3 finale, Tom and Greg are in the best position of anyone. Tom clearly made a deal with Logan to secure his place in the company after its sale, and he let his No. 1 in on the action. No, not Shiv — Greg. Tom and Greg have been largely comic relief not just for fans of the show, but also for the other main characters who incessantly mock them, but Season 4 will likely see them tkae on some real power.
2. The Roy siblings will form their own company.
Kendall, Shiv, and Roman’s days are numbered at Waystar Royco, but they are all seeing eye-to-eye for the first time ever. While it’d be funny to see them try other jobs, it’s clear the Roys can only do one thing well: scheme. They all have high-powered contacts and a thirst for revenge against the company that wronged them, which seems like a perfect storm for the three to team up and try to build their own media conglomerate to compete with Waystar Royco. Kendall may have wanted out of that world, but his siblings reactivated his business brain in that Season 3 finale, and it seems he’s accepted the darkness in him that thrives in big business.
3. Logan will father a new heir.
One of the weirdest moments in the Season 3 finale was Connor discovering his father has been eating maca root, a plant best known for increasing the sexual potency in men. It didn’t take long for Connor, Shiv, and Roman to deduce that their dad was trying to impregnate his executive assistant, Kerry, most likely to have a new child to pass his empire on to. This is a pretty wild development, considering Logan is in poor health and a child conceived now wouldn’t even be in a position to run a media conglomerate for at least a couple decades, but Logan is just twisted enough to go for it, even as just another slap in the face to his kids.
4. Connor will become president.
OK, maybe this theory is a bit far-fetched, but it’s something the show has been toying with since the beginning, and at the end of Season 3, it feels like everything’s coming up Connor. His “I’m the eldest son!” outburst at his exclusionary siblings suggests he may be finally ready to fight for some respect. Plus, Willa actually agreed to marry him. Earlier in the season, Connor was able to rally a bit of support at a political convention, and a key part of his election plan was to marry Willa, which is now, apparently going to happen. (“How bad could it be,” right?) Now, with Logan no longer controlling Waystar Royco and its influence in the presidential election, Connor may actually stand a real chance at getting the nomination.
5. Shiv and Tom will get a divorce.
It’s clear the power dynamic between Shiv and Tom is going to undergo a total shift in Season 4, given that Tom will likely be climbing the ranks at Waystar Royco, while Shiv is probably going to be kicked out of the company. This could bring the two closer, as Shiv could turn up the charm around Tom now that she actually needs him for his power, but now Tom has shown he can actually have a backbone and turn against his wife if need be. Their marriage was already on shaky ground before Tom’s betrayal, so it really doesn’t seem like it could survive much more.
6. Logan will pass away.
Logan’s time may be up in Season 4. After all, he’s selling his company, and probably won’t have much to do anymore aside from sit around and count his billions. Season 3 leaned heavily into his poor health, and if he’s no longer Waystar Royco’s CEO, the show might not have much use for him. Could Season 4 finally reveal who Logan’s true successor will be?
