*This article contains Succession spoilers*
The end of HBO's hit comedy drama Succession is nigh, in fact, it's coming out on 29 May. So it's time to indulge our curiosity, dissect every fan theory we cross paths with and prepare ourselves for the definitive end. And in doing so, fans have noticed a very interesting pattern that links the title of every final episode of the show so far.
It turns out each final episode is named after a line from 'Dreamsong 29', a poem written by John Berryman in 1964.
The poem reads:
'There sat down, once, a thing on Henry's heart
so heavy, if he had a hundred years
& more, & weeping, sleepless, in all them time
Henry could not make good.
Starts again always in Henry's ears
the little cough somewhere, an odour, a chime.
And there is another thing he has in mind
like a grave Sienese face a thousand years
would fail to blue the still profiled reproach of.
Ghastly, with open eyes, he attends, blind.
All the bells say: too late. This is not for tears;
thinking.
But never did Henry, as he thought he did,
end anyone and hacks her body up,
and hide the pieces, where they may be found.
He knows: he went over everyone, & nobody's missing.
Often he reckons, in the dawn, them up.
Nobody is ever missing.'
The final episode of season one is called 'Nobody is ever missing', the final episode of season two is called 'This is Not for Tears' and the final episode of season three is called 'All the Bells Say'. Coincidence? Definitely not.
A Reddit thread (where else?) has been set up dedicated to unpicking the links between the show and the poem. We've pulled together some of the threads findings to save you the trouble. If you're not a superfan of Succession or a literature buff, it might be time to close this tab.
So fans have even noticed that the titles for the final episodes have been selected in reverse order, and think 'If He Had a Hundred Years' might be chosen for the season four finale. They've also read into John Berryman being a confessional poet who often wrote in the first person – much of his work was driven by his experiences of grief, alcoholism, and depression. The poet later died by suicide in 1972.
'Dreamsong 29' is supposedly about a man who thinks he murdered someone but keeps forgetting whether his memory is real or not. The most obvious parallel with Succession, then, is Kendall, who killed a teenage waiter while drink driving at the end of season one. Kendall also struggles with alcoholism, depression and delusion – he fluctuates between feeling unbearable guilt about what happened and absolute denial that it ever did. Could this mean the past will return to haunt Kendall in the final episode?
Others believe the line references point towards the family's unending cycle of abuse. In the most recent episodes, we can already see Kendall and Roman attempt to emulate their father's behaviour in different ways. Each of the Roy siblings was desperate for their father's approval in one way or another, without ever really feeling it. We therefore see all of the siblings exhibit depressive behaviour throughout the show, as well as a willingness to turn a blind eye to various atrocities committed by the company, and a struggle to connect with other people in a sincere and meaningful way.
Just when you think you've read every hot take Succession has to offer, another deeper layer of analysis reveals itself. The 'Dreamsong 29' lines being woven through each series also makes sense given that the show's creator Jesse Armstrong has had the plot fleshed out since day one. 'I had the last scene pretty early,' Armstrong told Far Out magazine. 'We talked about how the show would end a lot, and I never wavered from that. I wavered on what were the best lines, the best way to express it — but that ending from the first draft is the one you'll see when the episode comes out.'
The 29 May can't come soon enough...