Kendall Roy spent his entire life fighting for the chair of CEO at Waystar.
Ever since his formative years, Kendall’s media mogul beast of a father, Logan Roy, has conditioned the eldest boy into believing that nothing else matters in life other than his career aspirations. Perhaps this is why Kendall in adulthood is so willing to sabotage his marriage to Rava, as well as the distant relationship he has with his children, whom he admits to feeling wholly unable to connect with.
Kendall has sacrificed his own sanity and humanity in order to fulfill the promised position as ruler of the corporate kingdom. One of Kendall’s earliest memories is of his father telling him that the position is his. “He promised it to me. Promised,” Kendall pleads to his siblings in the series finale. “When I was seven. He sat me down at the Candy Kitchen in Bridgehampton, and he … promised it to me. Seven years old.”
When one dedicates their entire life to a role, what happens when that dream is snatched away from them? All hope vanishes like smoke for Kendall, following the news that the position of CEO now belongs to the corn-fed, ladder-climbing, non-Roy, Tom Wamsgans. This news is more than just a slap in the face for Kendall. It’s a death sentence. The idea of this fate being “just business” simply doesn’t compute for Kendall Roy, whose blood, sweat, and tears are dedicated to his father’s empire.
So now that his dreams have been burst like a bubble, where does this leave Kendall? Fans of the HBO drama are desperate to uncover what becomes of the eldest boy following the final shot in Succession, as he gazes out hopelessly at the Statue of Liberty in Battery Park. While some more hopeful fans of Jesse Armstrong’s series think Kendall can start anew elsewhere as far away from his toxic family as he can get, others, including Strong himself, have a far more bleak outlook on Kendall’s fate.
Jeremy Strong Describes Kendall Roy’s Fate as Tragic Regardless
Jeremy Strong interprets his character as having a miserable destiny regardless of whether he were to achieve his dreams as CEO or not. Either way, he sacrifices way too much in order to fulfill an ultimately empty end goal.
“I knew it would be a tragic ending,” Strong told THR of Kendall’s fate in the finale. “Whether that tragedy was getting what he wants or not what he wants… they’re both tragic. To get what he wants, he has mortgaged off every last ounce of what was good in him. He’s mortgaged off his integrity, his moral center. He’s lost his children, he’s lost love, his siblings, his father. He made a devil’s bargain to elect Jeryd Mencken as president. He has to get this thing, otherwise, none of it made any sense, and his life has been in vain, and his life is just an abortive misfire. Which is what happens in the end.”
Kendall Roy Nearly Jumps Into The Hudson River In Succession Finale
While the final cut of Succession ends with Kendall Roy gazing out into the Hudson River, Jeremy Strong instinctually believed Kendall wanted to die- leading the actor to nearly jump the rail into the freezing water. “I tried to go into the water after we cut,” Strong told Vanity Fair. “I got up from that bench and went as fast as I could over the barrier and onto the pilings, and the actor playing Colin raced over.”
He continued, revealing, “I didn’t know I was gonna do that, and he didn’t know, but he raced over and stopped me,” the actor spilled to the magazine. “I don’t know whether in that moment I felt that Kendall just wanted to die – I think he did – or if he wanted to be saved by essentially a proxy of his father.”
What do you think happens to Kendall Roy after the Succession finale? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Simone Torn is a pop culture writer with 10 years of experience. She has written for several entertainment magazines such as Nicki Swift, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Dexerto, and more.
Source:https://themusicessentials.com/entertainment/does-kendall-roy-take-his-own-life-in-succession-finale-jeremy-strong-thinks-so/