The ‘Succession’ Season 4 Time Jump, Explained

Spoiler Alert: This article may contain spoilers Succession Season 4, Episode 1.

Season 4 of Succession is actually here, which means we’ll finally know what the future holds for Waystar Royco. But based on the Season 3 finale, it could be a complex and winding path to Waystar’s fate, especially for the Roy children. Based on Season 3’s ending, there is still much to do to finish the Roy story. So, in order to get there, there’s a time jump ahead of Season 4.

At the end of Season 3, Logan Roy (Brian Cox) is ready to sell Waystar to Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård), which cuts his children out of the line of succession. As Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook), and Roman (Kieran Culkin) finally align, Logan’s only priority is winning. After Tom (Matthew Macfayden) betrays the Roy siblings, they’re left high and dry. What time does it take between Season 3’s finale and Season 4?

While all our characters are still in the rolling hills of Tuscany for Caroline’s wedding at the end of Season 3, Season 4 kicks off in New York City with Logan Roy’s birthday party. Although Connor (Alan Ruck) is there with his fiancée Willa (Justine Lupe), the other three Roy siblings are working together to launch their own media conglomerate called “The Hundred.”

How much time have passed since the Season 3 finale? As the Roy siblings discuss going up against their father to acquire Pierce Global Media (PGM) rather than work on The Hundred, Roman reminds Kendall, “You spent the last three months hunting down contributors, backers, right? Working your f–king a– off.”

It has been three months, if not longer since Season 3. The only clue that we have that it hasn’t been much longer than three months is the fact that the sale of WayStar to GoJo isn’t complete yet. And if Shiv is pregnant, it’s still early enough that she wouldn’t be showing.

It seems that all deals between Waystar and PGM will close within 48 hours. And if there’s anything we know about Succession, it’s that there will definitely be complications.

Because Season 4 kicks off with Logan’s first birthday party since the series premiere, it’s possible that the timeline of the past three seasons of Succession It has only been one year. It began with Logan turning 80 years old and was completed by Thanksgiving Episode 5. Season 2 will begin in March due to Shiv and Tom getting married in March. The Season 2 Episode 9 mentions that Gil has been using ATN for four month, which puts them in July.

Season 3’s Episode 5 contains the shareholder meeting. It is stated that it takes place 2 and 1/2 weeks after Season 2’s episode. Season 3 will conclude by the end of the summer.

Perfect full-circle poetry has it that Season 4 starts the same as Season 1’s Logan’s birthday. But perhaps this time, the Roy siblings’ coup will actually work… and Logan will actually die.

Watch new episodes Succession’s fourth season air every Sunday at 9 p.m. EST on HBO.