HBO's Succession is an incredibly popular and critically acclaimed Emmy award-winning drama series, currently waiting for its third season. In Succession, Kendall Roy is the second son of Logan Roy and was initially portrayed as the heir apparent who would eventually take over Logan as the CEO of Waystar Royco.
Kendall is often depicted as a complex character with multiple shades and his trajectory through the two seasons of the show is itself a testimony to his complexity. He is constantly in an effort to prove his worth to Logan and despite doing a number of bad things, Kendall still holds a lot of sympathy from the audience of the show.
Divorce And A Failed Marriage
Kendall was married to Rava, and the couple has a son and a daughter. But Rava divorces him due to his inability to overcome his past with drugs and substance abuse. But he is in a constant effort to get back to her and win her trust over especially in the first season.
This troubled relationship with his ex-wife haunts him throughout and can be viewed as contributing to his vulnerabilities and his exacerbating need to seek acceptance.
Relationship With His Father
Kendall’s relationship with his father has seen many shades throughout the show. Except for the two instances when he was trying to pass a No-Confidence Motion against his father and the takeover attempts, Kendall was always driven by the need to make his father approve of him and his actions.
Logan, on the other hand, being a shrewd business tycoon as he is, tries to get the maximum out of using Kendall to his advantage. He even subtly blackmails Ken, after the latter gets into an accident which results in a person dying. All of these affect Ken mentally and make him very vulnerable to Logan’s actions.
His Transformation On The Show
Kendall himself has undergone a tremendous transformation through the show, from trying to forcibly take over his father’s business empire to completely towing Logan’s line to taking the blame for the company’s cruise ship sexual assault scandals.
This transformation itself speaks a lot about Ken, and what motivates his decisions. It points to the fact that he is not a very strong-willed character unlike Logan Roy or his sister Shiv, and that his decisions are in fact driven by the contexts in which he is placed, which adds to his insecurities.
Troubled Sibling Relationship And Rivalry
During the course of the show, Kendall is never really shown to have an emotional bond with his siblings: Connor, Shiv, and Roman. Although Roman and Ken were once on the same side during the No-Confidence bid, they never really had an attachment that stretched beyond the business side of things.
To simply put, he was in competition with them to win his father’s approval. After his failed takeover bid, he is constantly taunted by Shiv and Roman for putting his selfish interest ahead by attempting to jeopardize the family business
Substance Abuse
Another reason why Kendall has a strained lifestyle is because of his tenuous attempts at staying clean. Despite getting the wrath of his family and his estranged partner, Kendall is unable to stop consuming drugs, in fact, there are very few instances in which he actually tries to actively avoid consuming.
His struggle with substance abuse makes him a very emotionally unstable character, who has difficulty accepting the harsh realities of life.
Lack Of Self Confidence And His Indecisiveness
Kendall is depicted as someone who struggles to be confident and decisive. Throughout most of his life, he has been under the shadows of his father. To replace an astute personality like Logan is not an easy job. Having to shoulder these big expectations might have dented his self-confidence.
The way he stammers and pauses while presenting himself during critical junctures displays his indecisive nature. His loss in the No-Confidence motion despite delivering a strong and decisive speech has had a detrimental effect on his self-confidence and emotional well-being.
Longing To Be Accepted And Approved
All Kendall ever wanted was to be recognized by his father and his family as an eligible and able leader to carry on the work of Logan as the CEO of Waystar Royco. This persistent longing of his to be accepted and approved works against his favor on various occasions.
The complexity of Kendall is accentuated as he, during various points of time, works differently with his father, sometimes cooperating with him, while other times actively working against him.
Consistent Failures
There are very few occasions in the show when things go according to Kendall’s plans. He is continually faced with challenges and fails to secure successes to prove himself. In the initial parts of the first season, he is hoping to be named as the successor of Logan but is unfortunately not. He then tries to secure the No-Confidence bid, which fails and he gets fired from the company.
With the help of Stewy and Sandy, he then tries to take over Waystar, which too fails miserably. Finally, he is made a scapegoat to take the blame for the scandals. The fact that he is one of the lead characters and never really is able to succeed at anything proves the point that he is a complex troubled person.
Lonely Single Life
Ken perpetually struggles with a lack of belongingness in any circle. He doesn’t share a good relationship with the family members, doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends, and struggles to stay in the good books of his ex-wife.
This helplessness of his to fit in makes him lonely and vulnerable to his own wavering thoughts.
Strained Mental Health
All of the above-mentioned points work to perpetuate his strained mentality, which in many ways evokes a great amount of sympathy from the fans of the show. The audience roots for him and wishes for him to be a better and transformed person.
He is in no way an ideal character but viewers relate a lot to him and would like him to get what he wishes for despite him doing a lot of bad things time and again.