Succession’s final season begins this Sunday (26); know what to expect

The final season of HBO’s “Succession” begins this Sunday (26), once again tackling a complicated family dynamic about wealth and power.

It stars Brian Cox as Logan Roy, the patriarch of the multibillion-dollar Roy family, which owns the Waystar Royco media conglomerate.

His children, played by Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin and Alan Ruck, are vying not just for control of the company, but perhaps his love and admiration as well.

A CNN caught up with the actors earlier this week in New York City, where they answered our questions about the new season.

Tom and Shiv broke up for good?

Matthew Macfadyen, who plays Tom Wambsgans, spoke about his character’s decision to warn Logan about his sons’ uprising.

“I kind of didn’t really defect. I kind of made a calculating decision to side with my father-in-law, the scariest of them all, I suppose. I took a lot, you know, from everybody, so it was kind of a betrayal a thousand times over,” Macfadyen mused.

However, he declined to comment on Tom and Shiv’s future, saying the couple are “in a bit of a dark[place]… it’s sad.”

What will Greg do?

Nicholas Braun, who plays Greg Hirsch, the “outsider” in the series’ relationships, ended last season finally learning the rules of the Roy family game. But what does this mean for his future?

“You’re going to piss some people off,” joked Braun. “Greg would like to never piss anyone off, but he plays the wrong way sometimes. I think by the end of season three he’s going to be on the right side of things. I already know the answer, but I’m not saying it to you.”

Braun added that “the dynamic has changed” and believes Greg is “in a good position” going into the season, as is his ally Tom.

“You know, things have changed with (Tom) and Shiv, and he’s kind of free. He’s bringing me along; we’re on that great side now that it feels like ‘we can never lose,’” he said.

“And being aligned with Logan is a winning game, you know? I think we are all feeling really good and of course this is going to give me a**,” she added.

A reconciliation for Logan Roy and his children?

The man at the center of the drama, Cox, said that while it appears that Logan has complete disdain for his children, that is not the case.

“He won’t throw them on the ground. You know, he’s beyond that. There was a point where he could have done that. I think he’s really sad because he lost them, in a way, and they’re his children, and he’s always loved them. That’s the question,” he said.

Cox also stated that, early in the series, he asked creator Jesse Armstrong if he thought Logan loved his children.

“He said, ‘Oh yeah, he does. He really loves his kids’. So that’s always been the best thing for me.”

“But it’s also Logan’s Achilles heel. The fact that his children love him in a way that he cannot express… Love is complicated”, he pondered.

The future of Lukas Matsson and Waystar Royco?

Alexander Skarsgård, the controversial tech CEO, is back. The season 3 finale left a merger of his company, GoJo, and Waystar Royco “on the table”, but Matsson has offered to buy the company.

“I will make sure I can do the impossible,” Skarsgård said of his character. “I think it became a personal challenge to see if (he) can do this – more than acquiring another company and just more wealth… it’s like thinking ‘this must be impossible for a small programmer from Stockholm, Sweden to do this’. And that’s why he wants it,” he noted.

Spin-offs in progress?

Those hoping for more from the world of “Succession” after the series concludes, prepare to have your dreams dashed.

Asked about a potential new series featuring familiar faces from “Succession,” Armstrong said, “I don’t think there would ever be a spin-off.”

“I think I’m interested in something that can occupy the same show tone that I’ve found very receptive to me and the way I like to write,” he explained.

“Maybe there’s something intertwined that has the same world tone… I’m going to take some time off and it’s been a great beast to fight. So I’m going to take a while.”