A Succession Mystery, Examined: Did They Really Just Kill Off [Spoiler]?

Succession wraps up its third season this Sunday… but it was last night’s penultimate episode that left us dangling on a huge cliffhanger.

The episode — read our full recap here — ended with a severely depressed Kendall lying face down on a pool float and clutching a beer bottle, saying goodbye to his kids as they wandered away. Kendall dropped the beer bottle, and we watched it bob up and down in the water from below as Kendall’s face slowly sank into the water, sending air bubbles to the surface. Uh-oh, is the Roy family’s former golden boy doomed? Did we just watch Kendall… die?

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It’d be a shocking twist to kill off what amounts to the show’s main character ahead of the season finale in such anticlimactic fashion. But Kendall has hit rock bottom in recent weeks: His battle to oust his father Logan as Waystar’s CEO has come up empty so far, he had a disastrous birthday party last week and ended up sobbing in his girlfriend’s arms — and this week, when he tried to leave the company with a rich payout and let his father win, Logan wouldn’t even let him do that. Kendall is a former drug addict as well; it’s entirely possible that he’s using again, after all the stress this season has put him through.

Let’s also take a close look at the preview for this Sunday’s season finale (HBO, 9/8c): Kendall is nowhere to be found, and the other Roys look shocked and despondent, with Logan comforting Kendall’s son Iverson. If Kendall is still alive and well, HBO is certainly working hard to make us think otherwise.

But we want to know what you think: Vote in our poll, and hit the comments below to share your thoughts and finale predictions.

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