LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The ultimate shakedown of HBO series ‘Succession’ is bound to end with a bloody fight for the throne of Waystar Royco. Kendall and Roman are on one side of the ring and Shiv alongside Matsson eyeing their every move, trying to bust one blow that delivers the final knockout. No one is backing down and the ball seems to be in both the courts. Kendall wanted to go ‘Reverse Viking’ on Matsson, but that is somewhat lost in translation somewhere. Shiv has now moved up the pecking order with the end of the penultimate episode showing her as a favorite to become the CEO of Matsson’s American Waystar operations after a productive chat with new President Jeryd Mencken.

There’s a shift in the winners' narrative as Matsson has gained an upper hand and Shiv is the likely candidate to reap its benefits. But anyone who saw the episode would have noticed Roman’s inability to confront his emotions and living in denial, and Kendall’s hot charge to become the new leader of Waystar Royco. Matsson loves an experienced fighter, someone who has been to the streets of corporate America and returned with bruises if not victorious. Shiv, as Matsson knows, is inexperienced but has been a loyal soldier so far; but Kendall is making the real moves, getting all the cavalry of senior management behind him. Can Matsson ditch Shiv for Kendall?

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The devil-may-care attitude is not Shiv’s persona

During the funeral, Shiv walks up to Matsson and explains her new plan of courting Mencken for the GoJo deal. But she mentions an American CEO for Matsson’s US operations. She wants the boss’ seat for herself. Matsson is impressed with her idea but his skepticism comes into play and he lets Shiv be aware of her apparent inexperience in managing a company. He even knows that Shiv is pregnant. That only adds to Matsson’s apprehensions about her.

However, Shiv turns it around by stating that she doesn’t care about it all. She’ll be available at all times, she will allow Matsson to pull all the strings and her maternity leave would be non-existent. She is all about the business. Shiv even drinks champagne before Tom showcasing her disregard for Tom’s unborn child. She badly wants to win but Shiv is known to mess things up that eventually leads her back to her family. Her actions show that she may not care but Shiv will fold at the first sight of big trouble if her back is against the wall.

Kendall is the new Logan

Matsson respected Logan. He called him a legend when they first met. Kendall is far from his father’s legendary status but his small strides have started to make an impression, like telling Roman straight up that he messed up or installing Hugo as his puppet, or reaching out to Logan’s bodyguard, inducing him to work for him, all these qualities have upped the ante of Kendall’s name. Matsson may be the enemy for Kendall but if Kendall reaches out to Matsson with a reasonable plan that satisfies both their interest with Jeryd Mencken at the center, Shiv will be cornered once again.

Matsson is a man of reasonable action. If Kendall appeals to his reason and offers something invaluable to Matsson that allows Kendall to have the controlling share of Waystar, Shiv will be cornered once again and will be defeated. It will be extremely interesting to see whether Kendall decides to keep his family secure, or take the empire solo as he told Hugo.