‘Succession’ Season 4 Finally Reveals What Happened to Logan’s Sister

Who is Rose Roy?

As you may recall, Rose Roy was mentioned in the second season of Dundee, the episode in which Roy returns to Logan’s childhood home. Seeking to cause a rift between future Waystar CEO Rhea Jarrell (Holly Hunter) and Logan, Kendall (Jeremy Strong) tells Rhea to pay tribute to Rose, which immediately upsets Logan.

Until now, little was known about Rose. We know that she died under circumstances that are still unknown, and that Logan blames himself for her death. Given Logan’s short temper and his tendency to abuse his children and grandchildren in fits of rage, you might think that Rose’s death was because of this, but Ewen reveals a much sadder truth during the eulogy he gives to his late brother.

What happened to Rose?

As Yuen explains, during World War II, he and Logan were expelled from Dundee in Scotland for their safety. But when the engine of their ship stopped working, they were left in the ocean without a convoy. As Evan describes it: “They told us kids that if we talked, coughed, or moved even an inch, the submarines would pick up the vibrations through the hull and we would die drunk in the hold. Three nights. and for two days we were silent, a four-year-old and a five-year-old child speaking with his eyes.

After the two were transferred to Quebec, Canada, the boys’ uncle, Noah, raised them. We learned early succession that Noah was abusive and demanding, personality traits that Logan likely inherited from him, as well as visible scars on Logan’s back that clearly indicate that his uncle’s abuse was also physical. But Ewan reveals in his eulogy that Logan was sent to school because their uncle and aunt had money and could afford to send him to a better school. Logan hated the experience and soon contracted polio; as Yuen recounts, he complained until he was finally sent home “on his own”.

By this point, Rose, their younger sister, was also in Quebec, but as Yuen details, Logan was convinced that he had brought his illness with him and that he was ultimately responsible for Rose’s murder: “He always believed that brought home polio with him, who took her away. I don’t even know if this is true, but our aunt and uncle certainly didn’t do anything to dissuade him from this notion,” Yuen tells the stunned church. “They left it lying with him.”

What does this mean for Logan?

Filling in this final missing piece of Logan’s puzzle gives us a more complete picture of the man. He was not conniving or abusive to his sister, and Rose did not die due to some accident at his hands. She died because she was sick, and he blamed himself for this all his life. His aunt and uncle told him that he was the cause of her death and it stayed with him after that, making the subject of his sister painful for anyone who mentions Rose by name in the future.

Logan Roy was a complex figure and there is no doubt that he physically abused Roman (Kieran Culkin) - who even mentions it in passing in one of this week’s episodes when he says his father “made him breathe funny” - and possibly his other kids. He definitely emotionally abused them and turned them against each other. It’s worth considering how different Roy’s patriarch would have been if he hadn’t gone to Quebec at all, or if he’d stayed in school. It’s a what-if game with no clear answers, but at least we now have a few more answers regarding Logan himself, who is gearing up for the show’s final episode next week.

The final succession Season 4 premieres next Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.