Roman's Jab About Kendall's Kids In The Succession Series Finale Solidifies His Evil
Contains spoilers for "Succession" Season 4 Episode 10 — "With Eyes Open"
"Succession" has played a tricky game with its characters throughout its four-season run where, if you squint, it's almost possible to feel bad for the adult Roy children. Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook), and Roman (Kieran Culkin) are all completely odious, especially to each other — and in the series finale, Roman says one of his most awful things yet, which is really saying something.
After stealing a election for his own gain in the season's eighth episode, "America Decides," Roman lobs a particularly horrible insult at his brother Kendall in the series finale, "With Open Eyes." After Shiv thwarts Kendall's attempts to stop the impending sale of the family company, Waystar Royco, to GoJo, Roman remarks that Shiv is "the bloodline," referring not just to her pregnancy, but apparently, the parentage of Kendall's two children.
Roman says that Logan Roy (Brian Cox) never viewed Kendall's kids as "real," calling them a "pair of randos" and insinuating that while one child was adopted, the other is the product of infidelity on the part of Kendall's estranged wife Rava (Natalie Gold). Roman has done a lot of despicable things throughout the series, but this might actually take the cake, considering he's bringing two actual children into this vicious scenario and attacking them just to piss off his brother.
Fans were shocked at what Roman said about Kendall's kids
To say fans were shocked by what Roman said was an understatement... particularly because this revelation introduced a brand new piece of information during the show's very last episode. Are Kendall's children really not his, biologically? His daughter Sophie, as the final season makes clear, is biracial, which is important in that she and her mother feel frightened and threatened by the far-right fascist President-elect Jeryd Mencken (Justin Kirk). Fans were definitely shocked by this reveal, though.
"Can we talk about what they said about Kendall's kids though? That was the most gasp-inducing moment for me," @ismat wrote on Twitter. @carolinerenard_ agreed: "Roman had that one in the chamber about Kendall's kids not being blood. He was ready to call them what Logan actually called them behind their backs. Nasty work." Similarly, @ohhhhherewego introduced a theory about why Kendall was never really the heir apparent, writing, "roman saying that kendall kids aren't even his is f**king low even for him, that's why logan was thinking there was something wrong with him...he was infertile and couldn't keep bloodline going."
Perhaps @youdoingtoomuch put it best when it came to fans' feelings about this scene: "Roman is so nasty for the adoption and infidelity jokes he made about Kendall's kids like he really need to just be taken out back and put down like the animal he is. It's not funny anymore."
"Succession" is available to stream in its entirety on Max.