Succession Season 4 Episode 9 Ending Explained: Is Shiv Back in the Ring?

HBO’s beloved comedy-drama Succession is finally coming to a close, with Succession season 4, episode 10 being the series finale. Season 4 has already been a wild ride, featuring massive changes in the GoJo deal, turmoil between Shiv and Tom, and even the death of Succession’s antagonist Logan Roy.

Succession Season 4, episode 9, continues this storyline at Logan’s funeral. Logan’s funeral would never go well for a family as conflicted as the Roys. Still, Succession Season 4, episode 9 made the event more shocking than anyone could have imagined.

After the funeral, the Roy family and their guests gather with each person striving to advance their agenda.

In this week’s Succession season 4-episode 9 recap, we see the fallout of ATN’s decision to call for Jeryd Mencken as the president-elect. While Roman rehearses his speech for Logan’s funeral at home, Kendall calls and asks him to tell Mencken to tone down his political rhetoric.

Meanwhile, at Shiv’s place, Logan’s daughter speaks to Lukas Matsson, assuring him there’s still a chance to get the deal done. She is back in the ring.

After speaking to his brother, Kendall receives a call from Rava and learns that she’ll take their children upstate to escape the chaos after Mencken’s victory. He confronts Rava on the street about not bringing his children to Logan’s funeral.

As this happens, Tom speaks to Greg about his role in ATN’s decision to call for Mencken as the latter leaves for the funeral.

1. Romans’ Speech Breakdown: A Nail in his coffin?

Roman Roy was supposed to deliver a eulogy at Logan Roy’s funeral in Succession season 4, episode 9, but this didn’t happen. Once he got on stage, Roman immediately broke down, with his brother taking his place.

It’s understandable to be emotional at your father’s funeral. However, in the patriarchal world of business tycoons and fascist presidential nominees, crying is a sign of weakness. Roman breaking down was taken as his inability to complete the required tasks.

It’s completely unfair to expect a son to not cry at his father’s funeral, let alone any man in any situation. However, this is Succession’s world, and it’s notoriously ruthless and gendered. In the cutthroat world of Succession, this moment could ruin Roman’s chances of success at Waystar Royco.

The video of Roman’s eulogy is leaked after the funeral, and not only are Waystar employees laughing, but President Mencken is too. To them, Roman came off as weak, seriously hurting his perception.

2. What do Kendall and Shiv’s Funeral Speeches mean?

Kendall and Shiv give speeches about their father at the funeral, which are also immensely revealing. Both of the Roy siblings despised their father, with them having plenty of unkind words to say about him.

While their distaste for Logan seeped into their speeches, it was overpowered by a much bigger motivator: money. Kendall and Shiv’s speeches are dishonest PR stunts for Waystar Royco, falsely hailing Logan Roy as a hero and titan of the industry.

3. Does Shiv’s Plan Work?

Toward the episode’s end, the Roys and their guests gather for a post-funeral meet and greet, where everyone tries to further their agenda. Even Cousin Greg wants to ensure that Mencken knows his role in calling the elections in his favor.

Connor wants to discuss his ambassadorial role, while Kendall wants to know what actions Mencken will take to stop GoJo from taking over Waystar RoyCo. However, Shiv manages to get Mencken away from those hounding him and introduces him to Matsson.

According to Shiv’s plan, she wants Mattsson to propose installing a US-based CEO after taking over the company.

Matsson tries to convince Mencken to side with him, but when he fails to convince him, he suggests Shiv’s name for the position of CEO to bypass the regulatory processes and ensure that GoJo buys Waystar. However, Mencken is concerned about Shiv’s dislike for him and his political ideologies.

Shiv assures Mencken that she is flexible, and the former leaves before promising to consider their offer. Kendall learns of their plan from Hugo and speaks with Roman to devise a countermove.

However, Roman is convinced that Mencken will support them and leaves just as his video of sobbing at the funeral goes viral on the internet. Matsson calls Shiv and informs her that Mencken has accepted their proposal.

Thus, the episode ends with Shiv returning to the forefront of the game and turning the table on her brothers. As a result, the conflict between Roys and Matsson reaches its peak ahead of the impending series finale.

4. Connor’s Tomb Reveal is the Saddest Thing You Will See

At Logan’s burial, Connor reveals that he knew about Logan’s 5-million-dollar tomb, with him being surprised that Logan didn’t tell the other Roy siblings about it. Connor wanted to give a speech at the funeral, but Shiv cut it, and the burial detail makes this even sadder.

Logan only talked about his death with Connor, showing they may have had a stronger relationship than the other Roy siblings.

5. Succession Season 4 Episode 9 Final Moments Suggest the Worst is Yet To Come

Episode 9 is set against the backdrop of political unrest in the wake of Mencken’s presidential election, with protestors constantly filling the streets of New York City. The final episode scene sees Roman Roy infiltrate a crowd of protestors, verbally abusing and even physically assaulting some demonstrators.

This is just a sign that the worst is yet to come, as the growing political instability and increased likelihood of the Roys making unhinged moves means that scary things will happen in the Succession finale.

6. Succession Cleverly Sets Up Its Kendal & Roman Vs. Shiv Ending

While they have constantly been joining and breaking alliances with one another, episode 9 finally sets up the finale’s Kendall and Roman vs. Shiv ending. Kendall and Roman have been firmly against the GoJo deal, but the two brothers must fight her now that Shiv has seemingly kept the value going.

Kendall and Roman decide to go to the board to take action directly against Shiv, and this exciting face-off will be a massive part of the Succession series finale.

7. About Succession

Succession is a satirical comedy-drama TV series created by Jesse Armstrong for HBO. The American TV series first aired on HBO on June 3, 2018 and has four seasons. 

It follows the Roy family who are owners of the conglomerate media house WayStar RoyCo. With patriarch Logan Roy’s (Brian Cox) health on a steady decline, the heirs of the family business rival against each other for their rightful succession.

Part of the ensemble cast as Logan Roy’s children are Jeremy Strong playing Kendall, Kieran Culkin playing Roman, and Sarah Snook playing Siobhan.