Succession Finale Theory Suggests The Biggest Betrayal Was Hiding In Plain Sight

This article contains spoilers for the series finale of "Succession."

There have been lots of fan theories flying around about the series finale of "Succession," but it looks like one of them might have been spot-on. TikTok user NameBerry posted a short video breaking down the theory that the show's ending has been in the cards all along, and it's all hidden in the surname of one character: Tom Wambsgans (Matthew MacFayden). In the TikTok, NameBerry explains the origin of the name Wambsgans, which has something to do with the belly of a goose, but then reveals that the show's writers might have picked the name for another reason. Tom shares a surname (with slightly different spelling) with a baseball player, Bill Wambsganss, who went by "Wamby." Ol' Wamby played for the Cleveland Indians in the 1920s and is remembered for one very special play he made during the 1920 World Series that could hint at Tom's winning the corporate game of thrones. 

In the finale, Tom ends up being picked by GoJo boss Lukas Mattsson (Alexander Skarsgård) to take over as CEO of Waystar-Royco after the buyout, effectively screwing over his wife Siobhan (Sarah Snook) and her brothers Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Kendall (Jeremy Strong). Tom has been playing the long game the whole time, slowly growing closer to those in power and making himself useful, and his baseball-related name might have told us that he was going to take them down from the very first episode.

So what was Wambsganss so famous for? During the fifth inning of the 1920 World Series, he pulled off the only unassisted triple play in World Series history. He had a decent career as a baseball player, playing in the major leagues for over a decade, but the only thing anyone ever remembers about him is the triple play. In the oral history "The Glory of Their Times" by Lawrence Ritter, Wambsganss revealed just how much that single event followed him:

"Funny thing, I played in the big leagues for 13 years, 1914 through 1926, and the only thing that anybody seems to remember is that once I made an unassisted triple play in a World Series. Many don't even remember the team I was on, or the position I played, or anything. Just Wambsganss-unassisted triple play! You'd think I was born on the day before and died on the day after."

Tom Wambsgans managed to pull his own unassisted triple play, taking down all three of the contending Roy siblings almost entirely on his own. Sure, you could argue that he had Greg (Nicholas Braun), but the gangly cousin has been more of a hazard than a help and would (and did) backstab him at any opportunity. Tom has pretty much always been on his own, yet he took down some of the most conniving power-players out there. Then again, he did learn from one of the best.

Tom learned almost everything he knew about navigating the business world of Waystar-Royco from his wife Shiv, who was one of the leading contenders for taking over the company until Mattsson picked Tom instead. The one thing that Tom had over Shiv, however, was his usefulness. He's proven himself to be great in a bad situation time and time again (remember his warm Midwestern calm during Logan's final phone call with his children?), he was willing to go to prison for Logan over the cruises trial, and he's gotten in good with Mencken (Justin Kirk), the fascist presidential hopeful who's one recount in Milwaukee away from being the leader of the free world. In the end, his victory is so great that he even gets the upper hand in his marriage for the first time. He betrayed Shiv at the end of season 3 by aligning with Logan and that betrayal nearly ended their marriage, but this time she's sticking around. He has the power, and how it will change their relationship dynamic is anyone's best guess. 

Like his baseball playing counterpart, Tom was alright with being a good team player who didn't get much in the way of recognition, but then he managed to pull off something completely unheard of at the most important moment. The Waystar-Royco takeover was the World Series of "Succession," and Tom performed a perfect triple play when it counted most. We all knew Shiv was prone to backstabs, Kendall was a bit of a Ken Doll, Roman shared some similarities with his ancient namesake, and the Roys were kings as their surname foretold ("roy" is Old French for king), but it turns out we should have been paying closer attention to Wambsgans (and his last name) all along.