Warning: the following article contains spoilers for season 4 of Succession.
Jeremy Strong shared profound insight into how Kendall Roy has adapted to the suspenseful ebb and flow of power in “Church and State,” the second-to-last episode of Succession.
After the episode aired, the Golden Globe Award winner appeared on the official Succession podcast to share his analysis of the events that unfolded with Kara Swisher, as Kendall rose to the occasion to pick up the pieces after disastrous speeches by his uncle Ewan (James Cromwell) and brother Roman (Kieran Culkin).
“The hinge of the episode, really, is Roman kind of shitting the bed in his speech and Kendall taking the mantle, and it’s another triumph. He’s moving from strength to strength, in a sense, and the room feels it.”
In a room full of the biggest power-holders on earth, Kendall rises like a phoenix from the ashes of Roman’s collapse, demonstrating agile leadership in the heat of the moment. As he channels his father’s ability to command a room and defines Logan’s complicated legacy, he also affirms himself as the heir apparent to Waystar Royco.
“It is his father’s funeral and simultaneously Kendall’s coronation […] There’s been a profound transformation from the way I walked into that church to the way I leave that church […] I think more and more we see that he is Logan Roy’s son and that Logan is his middle name.”
“Church and State” sees the battle to succeed the Roy patriarch narrow down to the last siblings standing: Kendall and Shiv (Sarah Snook), who remains committed to advancing her agenda through her alliance with the perpetually smirking GoJo boss Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård).
After the shocking turn of events in the last chapter “America Decides,” Kendall and Roman have become the kingmakers of President-elect Jeryd Mencken (Justin Kirk), and have the power to kill Matsson’s combative acquisition of Waystar Royco.
However, Strong points out that Kendall may not realize his hope of assuming his father’s throne, and draws an eerie parallel to the controversial ending of Game of Thrones.
“It’s kind of like a Dracarys moment for Kendall […] A lot of things happen in the ninth episode. [His] feeling blamed for the election and his culpability in making this kind of Faustian bargain, really, he’s compromised himself utterly, and he knows it. I think he’s in turmoil.”
The final episode of Succession will air on May 28 on HBO and Max.