Succession Season 4 Has Set Up Shiv's Endgame, And No One Is Safe

This post contains spoilers for "Succession" season 4, episode 8 "America Decides."

The final season of "Succession" is coming to a close, and we're finally starting to get a sense of where these characters will end up once the series ends. After an explosive election night, lines have been drawn deep in the sand, and our favorite double agent has been forced to show her cards. Shiv (Sarah Snook) has been playing both sides of the fence for the past few episodes, but now that her family has learned about her "business alliance agreement," she is forced to wear her loyalty for Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) like a scarlet letter on her chest. Even though Shiv squandered her upper hand, she clearly doesn't plan to take this lying down — and Team KenRo better watch their back.

Shiv has always struggled with commitment, whether it be to Tom (Matthew Macfadyen), to Waystar, or to her family. Her affair with Matsson betrays her loyalty to all three, and it doesn't seem like she can come back from this one. The loose-lipped tech mogul was foolish enough to trust old Gregory-Pegory (Nicholas Braun) with their secret, and now his girl on the inside is on the outs. It seems like a huge mistake on Matsson's part, to trust Greg simply because he has an unsuspecting air, but maybe it wasn't a mistake at all. Perhaps Matsson wanted to force Shiv to show her cards and pick a side all along — and revealed her true allegiance on purpose in a covert power move à la Logan.

Whether he meant to or not, Matsson backed Shiv into a corner and forced her to fight for his team. The only trouble is that he's lost any potential sway over the co-CE-bros that Shiv might have wielded. Then again, maybe it was time that Matsson learned just how little power Shiv had at Waystar.

Team KenRo has been on a rampage during their interim rule of their father's empire. Roman (Kieran Culkin) has fired half of the women executives and compromised a presidential election, while Kendall (Jeremy Strong) has pulled a full-on Elizabeth Holmes and converted Waystar's version of Disney apartments into a promise of eternal life.

Matsson has tried to get Shiv to put a spoke in the wheel every time her brothers take a big swing — and each time she has failed to put a stop to it. He trusted Shiv not to let them break his toy ship, and she totally blew it. Maybe Matsson was starting to realize that Shiv couldn't do him any good from the inside and that it was better to have the optics of her support than to have the support itself.

It's unclear how long Shiv planned to keep this secret from Tom or her brothers, though. She'd been sloppy by selling Matsson up to half the country's political leaders and pulling her old fling in on a deal — not to mention her and Matsson's heavily implied sexual affair. Now that she's alienated everyone, she has no one to turn to but Matsson.

Even though Shiv is out of options, she's still going to find a secret third way to throw herself into the mix. If Kendall's early attempts to push Shiv out of the company taught us anything, it's that hell hath no fury like Shivy scorned.

Shiv doesn't like it when she's not in control, and she'll do anything to grab power back from her brothers. But now she's been forced to show her cards, what can she do to tip the scales? With Logan's only daughter and sometimes-chosen-successor pulling for Matsson publicly, shareholders might be happier about the deal. It could also undermine Kendall and Roman's authority, even if Shiv doesn't speak out against them. If she does, she definitely has a lot to say.

Kendall and Roman better pray that their sister doesn't issue another statement about them. Not only does Shiv have the power to completely destroy their reputations, but she has also proven that she won't hesitate to tear her brothers apart in the press — for reference, see her open letter for Kendall in season 3 that labeled him a delusional drug addict. 

Given ATN's right-wing base, Roman may be able to skate past any serious consequences for his unsolicited d*** pics and failed rocket launches. Kendall, on the other hand, will probably not be so lucky — vehicular manslaughter is tough to live down on either side of the aisle.

The only trouble with exposing Kendall and Roman is that they have some bombshells of their own, from Matsson's funky subscriber numbers to his bricks of blood. Even still, since the Roy brothers have messed up so publicly, it'll be easier to lead a tirade against them than it will be for them to pull the public focus onto Matsson. Moreover, Shiv is getting one step ahead of them by encouraging Matsson to publicize his own skeletons while the election scandal dominates the news.

Matsson might be Shiv's only ally left, but she is still going to fight tooth and nail for a seat at the table. Kendall and Roman should know by now — nobody puts Shivy in a corner.