The key to Succession<\/em> has been staring you in the face for four seasons and has been played off as comic relief. It is the neglected son Connor Roy, played impeccably by Alan Ruck.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Connor is often ignored by the rest of the family. His half-siblings and father seem to view him as irretrievably goofy. But the main theme of Succession<\/em> is highlighted by his character: he is the oldest son, and he is irrelevant. He even has to remind his half-siblings that he \u2014 <\/em>not Kendall \u2014 is the oldest son in the season 3 finale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Still, Connor\u2019s not in the race to replace his father, Logan Roy. He\u2019s not even tasked with anything important. His mother got shipped off to \u201cthe funny farm,\u201d and Logan remarried. In the first season, when the siblings gather at the boathouse before Shiv\u2019s wedding, he isn\u2019t invited. In the most recent episode \u2014 his wedding \u2014 his father skips the celebration, only to die on an airplane. His half-siblings don\u2019t think to get him to say goodbye to his father until after Logan is already most likely dead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n They don\u2019t think of him at all for 15 minutes<\/a>. At his wedding.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cOh man,\u201d Connor says. \u201cHe never even liked me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n When Connor does get the news, Ruck\u2019s portrayal is heart-wrenching. He is in the middle of having a meltdown about his wedding cake because it is made of the same kind of sponge cake he ate for a week after his mother was institutionalized. In the first season\u2019s \u201cSad Sack Wasp Trap,\u201d Connor freaks out about the butter being wrong during the charity gala for the Roy Endowment Creative New York. The call back to Connor\u2019s micromanaging an event suggests something about his past, something horrible.<\/a> He learned that management style from someone, and it wasn\u2019t Logan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When Shiv and Kendall get Connor to forget about the cake for a few minutes, Shiv says, \u201cThey think he\u2019s dead.\u201d And Connor stares straight at her, seemingly unemotional: \u201cWell, is he?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Kendall says they don\u2019t know, but Logan is undergoing heart compressions. \u201cOh man,\u201d Connor says. \u201cHe never even liked me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Then he immediately begins to comfort his distraught younger siblings, swallowing his own feelings. \u201cYou know what, I\u2019m sorry,\u201d he says to Kendall. \u201cHe did. He did.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Of all the children, Connor seems to be the one who\u2019s most aware that remaining in his father\u2019s orbit is a trap. But Connor is also what all the rest of the Roys fear becoming. He is a warning sign to his younger half-siblings: if they step out of Logan\u2019s orbit, they\u2019ll be just as irrelevant and unloved. After all, if Connor hadn\u2019t been cast aside, they wouldn\u2019t be competing for Logan\u2019s attention at all. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe good thing about having a family that doesn\u2019t love you is that you learn to live without it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nSpoilers for Succession<\/em> season 4 below<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n