Succession star Brian Cox has spoken about a major plot development in the shocking latest episode, comparing it to the end of Game of Thrones.
*Major spoilers for Succession season four, episode three below*
The latest episode of HBO’s critically acclaimed drama saw Waystar Royco patriarch Logan Roy (Cox) skip his son Connor’s (Alan Ruck) wedding in an attempt to do a business deal.
However, during the flight, Logan collapses in the plane bathroom. Despite air stewards attempting to do CPR, he dies on the plane, with his children attempting to say their last words to him over the phone.
You can read The Independent’s review of episode three here.
Speaking to The New York Times, Cox said he had been surprised when showrunner Jesse Armstrong told him Logan would die so early in the season, but felt it was for the best.
“He called me, and he said, ‘Logan’s going to die,’” Cox said. “And I thought, ‘Oh, that’s fine.’ I thought he would die in about episode seven or eight, but episode three, I thought … ‘Well that’s a bit early.” Not that I was bothered.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, the problem with a lot of television, particularly American television, is it goes past its sell-by date,” he explained.
“And the great thing about Jesse and the writers is they wouldn’t do that… Always leave the party when it’s at its height, not when it’s going down.”
Cox then compared the episode’s events to the final season of Game of Thrones, which many fans claimed “ruined” the show.
“You think about Game of Thrones, when they didn’t know what they were doing at the end, and they had an ending which was not really satisfactory. And the audience was furious,” he continued.
“The [Succession] audience might be furious; they might miss Logan and say, ‘Oh, what are you doing killing off one of the most interesting characters?’ But it’s fine by me. I’m doing a lot of other stuff.”
Succession airs Sundays at 9pm EST on HBO Max in the US and Mondays on Sky Atlantic and Now in the UK.