With all the earth-shattering revelations taking place in the fourth and final season of Succession, there’s been one notable absence throughout it all: Ewan Roy.
You'll know that Ewan, played by the Oscar-nominated actor James Cromwell, is the older brother to the departed Logan (Brian Cox). It's fair to say they weren’t on the best of terms before his death. While Logan lived for piling up mountains of cash and thriving on power grabs, Ewan was ethically opposed to his “morally bankrupt” little bro, who he dubbed as “more responsible for the death of this planet than any other single human being.”
Still, he wasn’t so opposed that he ever stepped down from the board of Waystar Royco, and in the interim amassed himself a $250 million stash that he later offered Greg on the condition he left the company (he didn’t, so Ewan gave it to Greenpeace). As Vox described the conflicted character of Ewan: “he is the closest thing to a moral conscience the show has — albeit one who is using his vast resources to completely destroy another man as thoroughly as he can.”
Ewan and Logan have clashed numerous times both over the years and over the series. When Logan accuses Ewan of only joining to fight in the Vietnam War to impress a girl, he sees red. When Ewan turns up to Logan’s party for 50 years of Waystar Royco, he tells him: “Mother would have hated all this… I know she never would have approved of what you would become.” Even with Logan’s “empire of shit” dealings… ouch, Ewan, that’s got to hurt.
Cromwell told The Guardian back in 2021 that he believed Ewan “was the brother who got shafted… and got probably millions of dollars, but a lot less than his brother got.” As for Ewan’s behaviour, he explained it as: “He was a spoiled curmudgeon filled with anger and bitterness and jealousy over his brother’s success.” Yep, there’s that old sibling rivalry again.
Childhood tragedies and secrets
The brothers lived to torment each other, which may or may not have had something to do with their abusive upbringing and all the hardships that came with it. The pair were sent away from their mother from Dundee to Canada aged 4 and 5 to live with their Uncle Ned, who we know used to brutally beat Logan. While Logan became an expert in covering his mental and physical scars of this horrific shared history, Ewan seemed to revel in showing his disgust in Logan and all he had built. Although harsh, he was probably one of the only people who ever confronted Logan about his abhorrent behaviour in building his cursed empire. “Which is more toxic,” he taunted him. “Your news outlets or your cruise division?”
However, despite the warring brothers being at each other's throats for years, Ewan’s compassion for Logan does occasionally shine through. Such as when he tells Logan in series two that that he’s not responsible for the death of their little sister, Rose (we’ve never found out exactly what happened in that tragedy) or when he tells Kendall in series one that his loyalty lies with his brother, which is why he won’t vote against in in a vote of no confidence.
So it’s been a surprise not to have seen the elder Roy in this series so far. Of course, his eco anti-airplanes stance means he was probably unable to make a swift arrival to the wake-of-sorts at Logan’s house the day after his death. And the action moving over to Norway in episode five also excludes the return of Ewan. But with the funeral of Logan still to take place, fans are hoping for an appearance from the only Roy family member to truly hold him accountable.
Will he step up to the pulpit to give a speech about his brother? As we know from screen-shotting Logan’s will in episode five, he asked to be buried with a picture of his late sister, Rose, a surprisingly heartfelt request from perhaps the planet’s least sentimental man. And there’s every chance that the person who knew Logan better than anyone may reveal even more secrets about the enigmatic media mogul he, and everyone else around him, loved to hate.
