"Succession"'s Season 4 Time Jump, Explained

The latest season of "Succession" has gone where no season of "Succession" has gone before: significantly into the future. Unlike many TV shows that employ big time jumps between seasons to move the story forward, "Succession" typically foregoes fast-forwarding, with each season taking place just about right after the events of the season before it.

Season four, which premiered on 27 March, diverged from this precedent, however. Ahead, check out the timeline of events on "Succession" up until this point, and how the latest jump forward in the premiere plays into it all.

"Succession" Season 1-3 Timeline

"Succession" season one kicks off on the eve of Logan's 80th birthday when he has a stroke, which means it's mid-October. The season ends on Shiv and Tom's wedding night the following March, as Kendall is launching a hostile takeover of Waystar Royco. However, his efforts are derailed when he gets into a car crash on his way to get drugs with a young server from the wedding, who winds up dying in the crash, forcing Logan to step in and cover up his oldest son's misdeeds.

Season two picks up shortly after that, with Kendall pulling out of the hostile takeover he'd just launched, now utterly beholden to his father because of the crimes he covered up for him. By the end of the season, however, Waystar Royco is being grilled by the government because of the major cruise scandal, and Kendall turns on his father when he's asked to take the fall for him.

Season three picks up directly thereafter, with the children negotiating who should be the new head honcho if the siblings take over the company (they can't agree on anyone, of course). Fast forward to the season's end: Logan is attempting to sell Waystar Royco out from under his kids amid Caroline's summer wedding festivities. The kids try to stop him by using the veto power they got in their mom's divorce settlement — a plan that's ultimately foiled because Logan renegotiated his divorce settlement (all thanks to Tom tipping him off in an epic betrayal of Shiv).

"Succession" Season 4's Time Jump

Unlike the previous seasons, where events picked up immediately after the events of the last season's finale, season four fast forwards to the night of Logan's next birthday, meaning it's October once again. That means months have passed since Caroline's summer wedding. Later in the episode, when Kendall and Shiv begin to express interest in acquiring Pierce Global Media out from under Logan instead of launching their exciting new joint venture, The Hundred, Roman tries to convince his siblings to stay on course, telling Kendall, "You spent the last three months hunting down contributors, backers, right?"

While three months isn't the most significant time jump that's ever happened on television (who can forget "House of the Dragon" casually blowing past 10 years in the middle of its first season), but it is a lot when it comes to "Succession." The question now is how long of a period will the fourth and final season cover, and which character will end up on top? Only time will tell.