Succession - The Disloyal Case of Shiv Roy

foreign how do you know that I won't betray you well I guess I trust you over the course of four seasons has any other succession character proven themselves to be more disloyal than shiv Roy everyone has their moments and the writers help us to understand why these characters feel so cornered in their respective situations as we can see their options dwindling before our very eyes but with shiv she's someone that always keeps her options open whether it's in her romantic relationships her business dealings or her family bonds a promise from shiv Roy holds little to no value and despite starting off the fourth season as a strong sibling unit old habits die hard and we see shift prioritizing her own personal interests over everyone else yet again but why what has happened in her life that makes her so untrusting of others and therefore so untrustworthy herself let's take a deeper look at the character of shiv Roy over the course of succession to see if we can understand what makes her so predictably disloyal it's important to remember that each sibling enters the family landscape with a different set of obstacles ahead of them Conor never learned to compete and was just trying to survive therefore Paving the way for Kendall to feel like he was Superior and bred to lead as he was already prioritized over his older brother then Roman arrived and was put head to head against Kendall to see who would take over for their father and then shiv entered the race to last feeling like everyone else got her massive head start not to mention the added disadvantage of being a woman in a male dominated household and Industry a woman that that's a minus well of course it's a [ __ ] minus I didn't make the world from a young age becoming aware of all the pieces on the board ahead of her shiv was going to have to be more accounting and strategic than everyone else if she was going to stand a chance of winning she was never going to be able to compete if she was playing on the same field as if she just worked in her dad's company then she'd always be two steps behind her brothers as they'll always have served a longer tenure this creates a natural resentment in shiv thus despite her intelligence Logan is most likely going to hand the keys to Kendall as the eldest son of the game despite his shortcomings and how capable she is after feeding him this is why we consistently see shuf be the one to block Kendall from taking over time and time again whether it be at the start of the series when Logan is in hospital I mean we could probably take any appointment to court Jesus we're talking about court now or how better she feels when she suspects Logan has cut a deal with Kendall at the beginning of season two you keep Kendall on to kill the bed and then he he takes over when you step down in a year a squalid little [ __ ] backroom deal or had needlessly dismissive she is of Logan's only named successor after his death you know the underlying or the crossing out and the unknown age the document isn't essentially moot you know it's impossible to decipher just like she suspected from the moment she was born the world is always trying to just give the prize to Kendall by default so if she ever wanted a chance at winning and earning her father's approval she would have to carve her own path in politics this would make her stand out as it would validate that she's the only sibling that can succeed outside this nepotistic Empire and if she can play for the other political team then her father will feel the impact of her success more than anyone else as the more she becomes a thorn in his side the more he's incentivized to take her in and Elevate her above her otherwise predetermined stature this conflicting set of goals requires shiv to not be particularly loyal to either side as she has to be ready and willing to abandon or betray either of them at a moment's notice if a better offer comes along especially one that allows her to cut the line ahead of her older brothers but having a disloyal mindset is also a protective measure it provides her a ready-made excuse for why she can't have what she wants as she can always claim she was never that invested in the first place this attitude bleeds directly into her romantic relationships too where shiv also always keeps her options open scared to put all her eggs in one basket as real monogamy requires absolute trust something she's never learned to give anyone else as she's never seen an example of it play out in real life that didn't later backfire as over a long enough timeline anyone that's loyal to her father ends up getting burned Logan isn't faithful to anyone not in business not interpersonally not in Romance shiv has seen the countless women come and go from her father's life the cycle is always the same he develops a newfound enthusiasm for them that they think makes them special and before you know it they're forgotten or sent packing so it's natural that shiv's greatest fear is that this could happen to her that she could allow herself to get hurt used or emotionally abused by any man other than the one that started this cycle of trauma in the first place so shiv uses offense as her greatest form of defense and cheats before getting cheated on just like the line Ewing quotes that ultimately sums up the theme of the show life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim you're marrying a man fathoms beneath you because you don't want to risk being betrayed despite clearly being attracted to more conflict-seeking men that go Tit for Tat with her she chooses to marry Tom someone completely subservient as not only does this allow her to feel in complete control a feeling she lacked growing up as the youngest it also protects her from the possibility of ever being truly hurt or betrayed Shiva is ultimately an avoidant who doesn't know what real love is as her entire family mixes it together with power leverage and personal interests from her perspective love is a weakness that can be used against you as every time she's loved or trusted her own father he's betrayed her we see evidence of this when she reveals the harsh words that she Associates with love fear and jealousy Revenge the central conflict of their relationship is that Tom's needs and desires are somewhat incompatible with shivs as deep down he just wants a traditional wife to support his career and have his children which she could never do unless she sacrificed her Ambitions put all her eggs in his basket and took herself out of the game completely but having grown up in a house of man sure has too much to prove to Simply exist in Tom's Shadow she didn't choose him because he's ambitious she chose him because unlike the type of man Logan thinks she should be with Tom does what he's told and due to the fact he has no real leverage she could always look down on him from a safe distance like her little pet yeah my meat puppet has stopped working so in order to keep herself emotionally safe and her Ambitions on track on their wedding night the one day they should be at their most committed to one another shiv forces Tom into an open marriage this makes Tom feel Expendable to her just like a toy she could get bored of playing with any day now she expects loyalty from him while never providing any in return never factoring him into future plans never giving him any real assurances never letting him feel like he's safe because that's how she's used to being treated as just another Pawn in Logan's game she knows no other way it's only when Tom threatens to break up because he's unhappy when he's with her that she becomes emotionally vulnerable enough to fight for him as the very idea of him abandoning her triggers the exact fear she's been running from her whole life not being worthy not being enough not being in control but even this as her greatest act of loyalty still ended up strategically working in her favor as by pleading with Logan to save Tom it ends up throwing her greatest rival Kendall under the bus in his place you could wonder what would happen if the alternative plan was for Logan to go to jail and Kendall to take over the company would she still protect Tom over her father over her own career ambitions unlike Roman and Connor Kendall and shiv were always willing to challenge their father and even betray him to prove they deserve the top spot both siblings convince themselves they're good people not because of what they do or how they do it but because of what they say they'll do or could do if they were in charge Kendall hides his lust for power behind a moral Crusade while shiv hides behind her political posturing so it was inevitable these two would Clash in season 4 as they both wanted more than anyone else From shiv's perspective she was betrayed first they were meant to be United as a family but when push came to shove Kendall and Roman cut her out of the executive position as she has no experience and to his company Three's a Crowd this triggers the exact outcome she's always feared the two older boys get preference due to their age and gender making her completely powerless unless she does something to stop them and because she's the only one with real experience working outside the family she naturally leans towards that strength it makes strategic sense if the company is going to be sold to Matson that he becomes the only person worth impressing anymore the ultimate father figure that has the power to decide who wins so shiv transfers her loyalty over to him as he's making her feel valued and Promises her a top position whereas her own brothers are increasingly cutting her out of key decisions without even realizing it so in classic shiv style she uses offense as defense she protects and prioritizes herself above everyone else as that's what she sees everyone around her doing anyway even if they don't acknowledge it frankly I want what's best for me you need to think about what's best for you huh she always has to keep her options open because as the youngest sibling those were the only cards she was dealt so now she simultaneously pretending she wants to crash the deal so she's still in with her brothers while secretly working with Madsen to ensure the deal goes through faking phone calls tugging on heartstrings doing whatever it takes to undermine her family until inevitably all of her lies catch up with her and she's exposed before her strategy pays off leaving her with no moral leg to stand on except for her political assertions which fall on deaf ears as she's revealed herself to be just as corrupt the Roy children were bred to compete and do whatever it takes to win but by working in the same company all these years Kendall and Roman have been trained to work together towards a common cause whereas shiv's external work experience has only ever taught her to spice the family for her own long-term gain and although these habits were all formed as a strategy to protect yourself and help her to compete from a handicapped position all it does is further isolate her as by never being loyal to anyone in her life she makes all of her relationships fleeting and transactional playing one option against the other until eventually they all run out [Music] well if you've made it this far firstly thank you for watching but if you could now give the video a like possibly even leave a comment and click on that subscribe button it will encourage that mysterious algorithm to do its thing and if you want to support the channel personally you can check out my patreon

Channel: Just an Observation

Views: 237,807

Keywords: succession shiv roy disloyal, succession shiv analysis, succession shiv video essay, succession shiv psychology, succession shiv explained, succession season 4 explained, succession explained, shiv roy, sarah snook, just an observation, why shiv can never be trusted, shiv betrayal succession, shiv disloyal, shiv trust, succession season 4 analysis, succession shiv childhood, succession psychology, succession kendall shiv

Id: NCdr4yGQNB4

Length: 12min 32sec (752 seconds)

Published: Mon May 22 2023