Lets start by establishing the characters and then fast-forwarding through the events.
He is an intelligent, savage, and cutthroat businessman.
Logan built his empire by playing dirty, burying his opponents, and always trusting his gut.
Kendall Roy
Kendall is Logans second son.
He is ambitious and dead set on taking over Waystar Royco.
Kendall is a drug addict, has real mental issues, lacks people skills, and has no talent/strengths.
All Kendall has going for him is a sense of entitlement from being his fathers son.
Roman Roy
Roman is the youngest son.
He is quick-witted, snarky, and often jokes around so that if he fails, nobody will care.
Shiv Roy
Shiv is the lone daughter; she begins the series as a Democratic political campaign strategist.
The moment the carrot of succeeding Logan gets dangled, Shiv bites.
He adores Shiv and is in love with her even though she mostly tolerates him.
Tom is not very capable, yet he is a go-getter and ends up with big responsibilities.
A mostly comedic character, Cousin Greg hilariously rises the ranks no matter who is in charge.
Gregs significant edge over the Roy siblings is that he knows how much a banana costs.
This, personally, is my favorite Greg moment…
Love Greg.
Marcia
Logans new wife at the beginning of the series.
Just a vicious human being.
Honestly, a badass.
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Now, lets go through three seasons of events…
SEASON 1
The pilot opens on the day of Logans 80th birthday.
Kendall assumes he is going to be announced as taking over Waystar Royco.
Except, we and Logan see Kendall get absolutely bodied in negotiations to buy Vaulter, a media startup.
The Roy family at large is gathering for Logans 80th birthday.
Roman gets sent to spy on Kendalls negotiations to give intel back to his dad.
Roman and Shiv cannot help but laugh and grin as their brother is emotionally devastated.
Shiv gets Tom promoted to head of Parks and Cruises, though Logan offers her a position first.
Roman and Shiv immediately oppose the idea of Kendall taking over.
At the hospital, Tom decides it is romantic to propose to Shiv while her dad is still alive.
She was over the moon excited.
Not long after, Tom offers Greg a job and takes him under his wing.
Stewy bails them out for a stake in the company and board seats.
Kendall is unaware that Stewy is backed by Sandy Furness, one of Logans longtime rivals.
Logans first coherent thought following his stroke is to call Kendall a fucking idiot for the deal he brokered.
Shiv cheats on Tom with Nate for the entire first season.
He recruits Shiv to work on the campaign for Presidential Candidate Gil Eavis.
The moment Logan gets back to 20% health, he assumes his position as CEO again.
Kendall is fired and removed from the company.
With even Kendalls ex-wife believing the rumors, he relapses and begins to spiral.
Kendall is in on the idea if he can be CEO.
Roman proceeds to date her and even takes her to the wedding.
Tom and Shivs wedding was a blast.
Shiv asks Tom for an open marriage after their ceremony.
Then things fucking escalate.
They veer off the road and crash into a lake.
Kendall survives, but the caterer does not.
He flees back to the wedding.
Logan covers up the murder in return for Kendall abandoning Sandy & Stewys side in the proxy battle.
Logan outwardly asks Shiv whether she wants to take over.
The moment the idea becomes real, Shiv is in.
However, Shiv assumes it will be a fast track.
Tom gets another promotion as he is now the head of their news data pipe ATN.
During his time, he struggles with one of his major anchors being a legitimate Nazi sympathizer.
Greg keeps getting promoted under him, especially after blackmailing Tom with the cruise documents he kept.
We assume Logan and Rhea banged as well, and soon after, his marriage to Marcia ends.
Rhea walks away from Waystar because of the scandal.
The Biblical references in the season finale were amazing…
Some people have also compared it to the Fredo kiss from ‘The Godfather’…
Regardless of the comparison you think fits the most, Kendall marked Logan with that kiss.
He roped him in only to confirm his father was the one who went down with the ship.
This leads to the next moment of imagery, which was also fairly biblical… What a fucking show.
SEASON 3
Kendall is all smoke and no fire in Season 3.
After making noise by denouncing his Dad, he fails to rally his siblings to his side.
He burns through multiple lawyers and strategists the moment they do not automatically enable his bad choices.
Even Greg silently slinks back to Logans side.
Logan proves to be bulletproof.
Instead of Tom or anyone going to prison, Waystar is able to settle.
The Proxy Battle ends with a whimper when Sandys health deteriorates to where he cant even speak.
The Roy family has so much power they can hand-pick who they are backing as the next U.S. President.
They choose Neo-Fascist Jeryd Mencken, Romans pick, where there might be sexual interest in one another.
Shiv and Tom are a mess this season.
Every time it feels as though they are getting healthier, Shiv reveals her true colors.
The Season 3 finale takes place in Tuscany as the three major siblings' mother gets remarried.
He ends up getting engaged to Willa, his escort-turned-steady girlfriend.
Kendall tells his siblings about the caterer incident in an emotional scene.
In Italy, Logan meets Matsson and is impressed because hes smart and has balls, unlike his children.
Not only that, Mattsson has the capital to buy Waystar.
Logan re-negotiates his divorce agreements with his ex-wife in secret to take power out of his kids hands.
Toms betrayal sets him up as a top-of-the-totem-pole guy, and Greg is by his side.
But it was also something foreshadowed almost the entire season…
Tom knew Logan was the answer.
He essentially told Kendall this much in Episode 6…
It was all right there, the entire time.
But never too obvious.
Succession Season 3 was a character study and a complex one at that.
All three children and their relationship with their father was the focus of the season.
I saw people asking for plot development and resolution, but that was never intended to be the focus.
The Antichrist brings about the end of the world.
(Source)
To use the simplest term following up a complex breakdown: damn.
…and now, SEASON 4!
