Can Logan still win the "estate"? You better believe it

[Editor's Note: The following article contains spoilers for "Succession" Season 4, Episode 3, "Connor's Wedding".]

Just a week ago, Logan Roy was alive and screaming - more specifically, he was yelling at the ATN bullpen to kill their enemies to build a "faster, lighter, meaner, wilder" future. But now it's Santa the Hitman (Santassassin?) Who's nothing more than a "smear of jam on the highway". Usually when a TV character dies, that's it. They're out. Ned Stark didn't win the Game of Thrones. Richie Aprile never became a boss on 'The Sopranos'. Mr. Heckles didn't marry Rachel in "Friends." (That's how you won "Friends," right? Get married?) For some, death may be another start, but for anyone who plays to win on TV, it's a fairly definitive defeat.

This is not the case for Logan Roy. The business titan might not have preferred his death to take place while traveling (much less in an airplane lavatory), and he's certainly pissed off dropping dead before he could close the deal with GoJo. (I like to imagine Logan outside the gates of hell, standing in a long line - the first line in 40 years that he's not allowed to cut - and demanding his immediate return to Earth, just to one more day, as a careless demon ignores him.) But Logan can still "win" when it comes to "Succession," and there's reason to believe his odds are now better than ever.

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The most immediate victory would be to see his final plans come to fruition. Logan wanted the GoJo deal done. He wanted it enough to let GoJo absorb Waystar, rather than the other way around. He wanted it enough to let Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) take over as top dog. He wanted it bad enough to pay Caroline (Harriet Walter) a richer divorce payment. He wanted it enough to fuck his three kids – OK, OK, that wasn't really a problem, but he wanted it enough to skip his eldest son's wedding to make sure the deal was done. I'm joking. Sorry. He doesn't care about Connor either.

What matters to Logan are serious people: working with them, training with them, and knowing that they respect him. Back in the Season 3 finale, when explaining to Kendall, Shiv, and Roman why he has to do the deal with Matsson, Logan says, “Now is the best time to sell. If I don't get the best deal at some point, what's the point of anything? I'm not going out, I'm leaving $5 billion on the table. When asked to explain what $5 billion even means to such a wealthy man, Logan admits it's just to add to his "stack"; to prove that he is a shrewd businessman and a shrewd negotiator; to make sure he's still seen as a man of vision, who knows where the market is going and how to make sure he's on top. "Why is it important?" he says. “Because it fucking works. Damn, I win."

Logan wouldn't give up that victory, that perception, even in death. Sure, the history books may note that his kids canceled the GoJo deal (if they do), or otherwise absolve him of blame, but it's much cleaner if the society Logan built lives when he can't. So if the GoJo deal goes through, it's a win for Logan. Professionally, his legacy would probably be secure. But that may not be enough.

One way or another, deciding his successor was always about choosing who Logan could trust to act for him, do what he would do in any situation, and act not only in the interest of the company, but in Logan's interest. This is why his children have always failed. They may be as close to their dad's clones as modern technology allows (although I wouldn't say Logan invested in a top-secret lab somewhere), but each Roy brother regularly reminded his old dad that they weren't exactly like him.