The Waystar Royco board vote on the GoJo sale comes down to Shiv Roy as the deciding ballot. Lukas Matsson has already cut Shiv out, quietly offering the American CEO role to Tom Wambsgans — her estranged husband — who accepts without telling her. A tip from Greg Hirsch briefly unites all three Roy siblings for the first time all season: they fly to Barbados, back Kendall as their candidate, and return to New York as a coalition. That coalition collapses in a hallway outside the boardroom, where Kendall denies a drowning confession both siblings witnessed, then physically attacks Roman when the birthright argument fails. Shiv watches and casts the deciding vote for the deal. Tom becomes CEO. The company passes out of Roy hands entirely.

The finale settles the show's central argument: the succession contest was never a real transfer of power. Matsson wanted a compliant instrument, not a partner, and Logan's children were always competing for something their father never intended to give them. Roman arrives at this conclusion openly and without bitterness; Kendall ends alone at Battery Park; Shiv and Tom reach across a car seat in silence with nothing resolved. The episode is the key to reading the entire series — understanding it clarifies why none of the siblings' strategies were ever going to work.

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Part of the Explained Podcasts network. More shows: https://explainedpodcasts.com

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/succession-s04e10-with-open-eyes/id1874406661?i=1000766401627

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Logan Roy's funeral takes place the morning after Mencken claims the presidency, with New York in protest and the city gridlocked. Roman volunteers to deliver the eulogy but collapses at the podium; Kendall improvises in his place, defending Logan's ambition as a civilizing force. Shiv speaks last. Ewan Roy, Logan's estranged brother, precedes them all with a speech that reveals Logan spent his life believing he caused his baby sister's death from polio. At the reception, Shiv and Matsson pitch Mencken on an American CEO to neutralize the regulatory threat, and Mencken accepts. Kendall, watching, immediately recruits Roman to oppose Shiv at the board vote. Roman, told flatly he failed both at the funeral and with Mencken, walks into the protest crowd outside and is beaten.

The episode uses the funeral to crystallize what each Roy child wants from the inheritance — Kendall's eulogy is as much a declaration of intent as a tribute, Shiv's deal-making runs parallel to her grief, and Roman's breakdown exposes how little he has left to stand on. Ewan's testimony reframes Logan's entire character: a man warped by uncorrected childhood guilt, whose cruelty and drive share a common root. The three eulogies function as three competing theories of who Logan was and who gets to claim his legacy.

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Part of the Explained Podcasts network. More shows: https://explainedpodcasts.com

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/succession-s04e09-church-and-state/id1874406661?i=1000766401654

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TMDB: https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/76331

On election night, Tom Wambsgans runs ATN's first presidential call since Logan's death — sleep-deprived, chemically sustained, and sitting on the knowledge that Shiv has been secretly allied with Matsson all season. A Milwaukee voting center burns down, destroying ballots almost certain to favor Jimenez, and Roman pushes Tom to call Wisconsin for Mencken before the count is complete. When the one safeguard — poll analyst Darwin — is sidelined by a freak accident, Tom lets the premature call go through. Shiv tells Tom she is pregnant; he doesn't believe her. Kendall, caught between his siblings' opposing business interests, asks Shiv to verify a deal with the Jimenez campaign. She fakes the call. He finds out. He tells Tom to call the election for Mencken — and Mencken wins.

This episode is where the season's central betrayal becomes undeniable: Shiv's alliance with Matsson has been running beneath every family negotiation since the spring. The Wisconsin call also reframes Tom's arc — he has spent the season accumulating leverage and information, and here he uses both, absorbing the political and professional consequences of a decision that was never really his alone. Kendall's final choice, made out of anger rather than strategy, collapses the moral frame he built around his hesitation and leaves him with a Mencken presidency and no access to his children.

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Part of the Explained Podcasts network. More shows: https://explainedpodcasts.com

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/succession-s04e08-america-decides/id1874406661?i=1000766401605

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/16Ln3yuRjuinI28X3l3lmk

IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7660850/

TVDB: https://thetvdb.com/dereferrer/series/338186

TMDB: https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/76331