Let's Break Down Shiv's Devastating Decision In The Succession Finale

This article contains spoilers for the "Succession" finale.

Shiv might seem like the smartest Roy sibling on "Succession," and she probably is, but that bar is pretty low. Unfortunately, the only daughter of the Murdoch-like media empire has a tendency to have massive outbursts. She did it at Tern Haven in season 2 when she melted down and blurted out that Logan had offered her the top job, and she may have done it twice in the show's final episode. The first time was when she counted her chickens and announced that she "won" to her brothers, just as Matsson was shopping her job around town and offering it to her estranged husband, Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen).

The second time was when she blew the vote and decided to sell her father's empire to Gojo, although whether or not this was a self-destructive move is definitely up for debate. Rather than potentially end up as a high-powered exec, Shiv doomed herself to live out her mother's fate and hitched herself to a right-wing news titan, raising kids she never wanted. However, the Lady Macbeth route might have been the wisest decision she could have possibly made.

Even though she hasn't managed to pull Tom's strings effectively since he upended their power imbalance at the end of season 3, Shiv still has a better shot at manipulating Tom than she does at getting Kendall to do her bidding. Kendall is prone to backstabbing and even admitted to her that he had been cutting her out of the company as recently as that same week, whereas Tom has always been loyal to Shiv — except for that one time. It was a bit of a Catch-22 for Shiv, but choosing Tom might have been the best way for her to maintain access to the company.

Let's say Kendall had uncharacteristically kept his word. In that case, Shiv would have had to answer for her brothers' terrible leadership. If the series of nervous breakdowns that was Living+ was any indication, a coke-addicted Kendall would have run Waystar into the ground. Shiv was right to recall his reckless past, and he immediately proved her right. There was no shape where Kendall wearing the crown ended well for Shiv, even if his coronation ritual was a tender moment. But it might not have been measured judgment that brought Shiv to that final fateful vote. In fact, it might not have been a reason at all that guided her hand.

The yummy-dummy dem of the Roy family confessed that she simply found Kendall "unbearable," admitting that she "can not f***ing stomach [him]." Maybe she just wanted to use her final piece of leverage after having the rug ripped out from under her and being cornered into backing her brother. Maybe she just couldn't bear the thought of seeing another Roy take the crown. Whatever her reason, her last-minute switch-up totally changed her family's fates.

"As with Tom's betrayal at the end of season 3, everything was always working towards this idea of Sarah [Snook]'s character, of Shiv, ultimately sabotaging herself and sabotaging the deal," director Mark Mylod explained in a Max behind-the-scenes featurette.

In the finale, every character ends up exactly where they started in the pilot episode, but this time without a glimmer of hope in the succession question. Kendall has the company ripped from under him again, Roman is back to being a deviant playboy, and Shiv is once again outside of the company, pulling for Tom as CEO. She always said she wanted Tom to take over in season 1, and she finally got her wish — just as soon as she thought the top job was hers.

If it was self-sabotage that did Shiv in, then it was in the cards for her very early on. She and Tom often reference some dark time in her past, a nasty breakup that resulted in a mental breakdown. Just like Kendall and Roman, sudden self-destruction is in Shiv's nature as well. She comes off as the least impulsive sibling at first, but it's always been there — I mean, look at her affair with Nate! But the real moment that set the scene for Shiv's self-sabotaging tendencies was at Tern Haven in season 2.

When Logan finally handed her the keys to the kingdom, Shiv just couldn't keep it a secret. She totally blew their cover and blurted it out at a dinner party with their arch-nemeses. It might have put their liberal hosts at ease to see a left-leaning woman at the head of the conservative news table, but Shiv knew immediately that she'd made a mistake by showing her father's cards too soon. It revealed this impulse in Shiv to lay her naked ambition and selfish desires bear, like when she confesses her affair to Tom on her wedding night.

Shiv has a strange exhibitionist compulsion that overrides her otherwise superior judgment. It seems almost alternative to her nature, and yet it reveals itself subtly as a behavioral pattern over the course of the series. Even Brian Cox, who plays her father, was shocked when Shiv blew the succession announcement at Tern Haven. "It was a funny scene, that scene, because it's so naked," he said in an interview with Variety. Addressing Snook, he added, "It's like you take all your clothes off suddenly. I almost found it shocking that you did what you did. I thought, is it in character? Is this what she does, is this who she is?"

It's always been who Shiv is to self-sabotage. She might seem like the most calculated Roy sibling, but she's prone to the changing tide just as much as the next nepo baby. She shares the same destructive quality that her siblings do, she just does a better job at hiding it. It's only when the audience least expects it that Shiv decides to detonate the vest — when it really seems like she's got the situation under control, and all she has to do is keep her head down.

But even if Shiv's knee-jerk decision to sell Waystar came from an impulsive place, it was still probably the best move for her in the long run. Tom might be the punchline of many an office joke, between his laughable public speaking skills and his questionable leadership tactics (see "foot-stooling"), but he's far less likely to tank the company than a far-right eccentric like Roman or a struggling, occasionally violent addict like Kendall. Shiv knew her husband was more capable of running her father's empire than either of her brothers and, what's more, she had a better shot at pulling his strings again than she ever did of controlling her siblings.

In a twisted way, Shiv ended up getting what she'd always said she wanted — for Tom to be CEO — she just didn't want it anymore. However, she also got what she least wanted — ending up exactly like her mother. Whether it was self-destructive or self-preservative, she's facing a bit of a "non-victory, non-defeat," as Mylod described it to Max, and is the only one of the Roy siblings whose days of playing power games at Waystar might not be over just yet. 

Shiv might not have won, but she's still in the game, which is more than Roman or Ken can say.