It was May 28, 2023. That’s the short answer. If you’re just looking for a date to settle a trivia bet or refresh your memory before a rewatch, there it is. But honestly, asking when did Succession end feels like a trick question because the cultural fallout is still radioactive. We watched the Roy family tear each other apart for four seasons, and then, suddenly, the screen went black on the most depressing boardroom meeting in television history. Jesse Armstrong, the show’s creator, didn’t give us a hug. He gave us a cold, hard look at corporate inevitability.
The finale, titled "With Open Eyes," ran for eighty-eight minutes. It felt like ten hours. It was a feature-length panic attack. When the credits rolled on that Sunday night in May, it wasn't just the end of a show; it was the end of an era for HBO’s prestige Sunday night slot. You’ve probably felt that void since.
The Day the Roys Lost Everything
When we look back at when did Succession end, we have to talk about the sheer finality of that last episode. There was no "Succession: The Movie" teased. No spin-off about Greg moving to Tokyo. It was over. The series finale aired as the tenth episode of the fourth season. It’s rare for a show at the absolute peak of its powers—sweeping the Emmys, dominating the social media conversation, and defining the "quiet luxury" fashion trend—to just walk away.
But Armstrong was adamant. He told The New Yorker months before the finale that the story was "muscular" and had reached its natural conclusion. He didn't want to see the Roy children become caricatures of themselves.
The plot of that final hour was a Shakespearean tragedy wrapped in a fleece vest. Shiv, Kendall, and Roman finally, briefly, tentatively united. They ate "a meal fit for a king" in their mother's kitchen—a disgusting slurry of leftovers and spite. It was the only time they looked like siblings. Then, hours later, they were back to being monsters. Shiv’s last-minute betrayal of Kendall wasn’t just a plot twist; it was the only way the show could have ended. If Kendall had won, the show would have been a lie.
Why the Timing of the Series Finale Mattered
The timing was everything. By May 2023, the world was wrestling with the "Succession" of real-world media empires. People were constantly drawing parallels between Logan Roy and Rupert Murdoch. When the real-life News Corp shuffle started happening around the same time, the line between fiction and reality got incredibly blurry.
- The show premiered: June 3, 2018
- The show ended: May 28, 2023
- Total episodes: 40
It’s a tight legacy. Compare that to Game of Thrones or The Sopranos, which lingered a bit longer. Succession stayed lean. Because it ended when it did, it avoided the "late-season slump" that plagues so many modern dramas. It exited while we were still hungry for more, which is why your Google search brought you here today. We aren't done talking about it.
The Tom Wambsgans Era Begins
The moment the clock struck 10:30 PM ET on that final Sunday, Tom Wambsgans became the "winner." Sorta. If you can call being a "pain sponge" for a Swedish tech billionaire winning.
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The reaction was immediate. Twitter (or X, depending on who you ask) exploded. The consensus was a mix of "I’m devastated" and "Yeah, that makes sense." Jeremy Strong, who played Kendall Roy with a level of Method acting intensity that became legendary—reportedly actually trying to jump into the Hudson River during the final scene—gave us a performance that felt like a funeral for the American Dream.
Jesse Armstrong has since discussed the "aftermath" in various interviews. He’s been clear that Kendall, Shiv, and Roman don't just "bounce back." This was the end of their relevance. When the Waystar Royco sale to GoJo went through, the Roys didn't just lose a company; they lost their identity. That’s why the ending feels so heavy. It wasn't just a business deal. It was an ego-death for three people who never learned how to be people without a crown.
Behind the Scenes of the Final Days
The filming of the final season was a gauntlet. The cast knew it was the end, but the public didn't find out until a bombshell interview with Armstrong was published in February 2023.
Sarah Snook (Shiv) has mentioned in interviews that she didn't even know for sure it was the series finale until the table read for the final episode. Imagine that. You're playing one of the most complex women on TV, and you find out your job is over at the same time your character finds out her brother is a "tectonic" screw-up.
The production wrapped in early 2023, moving from the snowy landscapes of Norway to the glass towers of New York City. The final scene filmed wasn't the final scene of the show. Productions are weird like that. But the emotional weight was present throughout the entire fourth season. You can see it in the acting. Every line felt like it carried the weight of five years of history.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Ending
There’s a common misconception that the show ended because of ratings or behind-the-scenes drama. That’s just not true. Honestly, HBO probably would have paid Armstrong a billion dollars to make ten more seasons.
It ended because of artistic integrity.
We live in an age of "content" where shows are stretched out until they're transparent. Succession did the opposite. It condensed. By the time the credits rolled, there were no more moves to make. Logan was dead. The kids had exhausted every possible permutation of "I love you, but I hate you." If they had gone to a fifth season, it would have just been a legal drama. Nobody wanted that.
Life After Succession
Since May 2023, the cast has scattered. Kieran Culkin won his well-deserved Emmy. Jeremy Strong went back to Broadway. Sarah Snook is winning everything in sight.
But for the fans, the question of when did Succession end is often followed by "What do I watch now?" The answer is usually "Nothing is quite as good," but shows like The Bear or Industry try to scratch that itch of high-stress, fast-talking competence porn.
The legacy of the show is its refusal to blink. It didn't give Kendall a redemption arc. It didn't give Shiv a girlboss moment. It just ended with a man sitting on a park bench, looking at the water, realizing he’s a billionaire who has absolutely nothing.
How to Process the Finale Today
If you’re just finishing the series now or doing a deep dive into the archives, here is the best way to handle the "post-Succession" blues:
- Watch the "Controlling the Narrative" featurettes. HBO released these after every episode. They feature Jesse Armstrong explaining exactly why characters made the choices they did. It’s like getting a masterclass in writing.
- Listen to the soundtrack by Nicholas Britell. The music didn't end when the show did. The Season 4 soundtrack is a masterpiece of dread and beauty. "Long State" is a particular standout.
- Read the scripts. They’ve been published in book form. Seeing the "action lines" (the descriptions of what the characters are doing) reveals so much about the subtext you might have missed on screen.
- Accept the "Tom" of it all. It takes a second watch to realize that Tom was always the most competent person in the room because he was the only one who knew how to serve a master.
The Roys are gone. Waystar Royco is a subsidiary of a Swedish tech firm. The "ludicrously capacious bag" has been retired. But the impact of that May 2023 finale stays with us because it was one of the few times a TV show had the guts to tell us that, in the end, the bad guys don't always lose—they just get replaced by different bad guys.
Succession ended exactly when it needed to. Any more would have been a tragedy of a different, less interesting kind.