Succession power rankings: Welcome to the "coronation demolition derby"

Previous ranking: 9 (down one spot)Greg couldn’t be less subtle in his clumsy attempts to insinuate himself to the remaining members of the Roy family. Despite being name-checked on the infamous “piece of paper”—question mark or doodle, who can tell?—he’s in an awkward spot, and just keeps making it worse. If he had any self-awareness he’d keep a low profile, but poor Greg inherited the Roy family deficiency in that particular area. That may be the only legacy he can claim, though we aren’t ready to count out his fake-it-til-you-make-it energy yet. He can be pretty cutthroat when he needs to be.

Previous ranking: 7 (down two spots)Oh, Tightrope Tommy. Tiptoe Tommy. Lip balm Tom Wam. Pick your favorite Roman insult, they’re all pretty accurate. Tom is only slightly more nuanced than Greg in his approach to holding on to whatever power he has left. Karl’s assessment of him as a “clumsy interloper” who no one trusts is harsh, but he’s not wrong. Tom’s only recourse is to remind Shiv of what they once had. She’s said before that she was in a bad place when they met and he put her back together, so it wouldn’t be the first time. His motives have always been mixed, but his love for Shiv does seem genuine. It’s also true that getting back into her good graces might be the only path he has back into the inner circle. At least, that he’s currently aware of.

Previous ranking: NoneWhen Frank dryly suggests that Karl is “speculating in a comic mode” when he wonders whether the piece of paper with Kendall’s name on it could somehow get lost in the breeze or flushed down a toilet (which he apparently has a penchant for clogging), we have to agree, though probably not in the way he meant it. For an episode that takes place at a wake, there were a surprising number of funny bits, and a lot of them involved Karl. The slippery bastard halfheartedly tried to advocate for himself to take over the top spot, but deep down he knew he wasn’t getting past Gerri. He also gets points for his shrewd takedown of Tom. All he really wants is a cushy severance package so he can close on that Greek Island with his brother-in-law. And he may be the one person with the best chance of achieving his goals, as long as those “little princes” don’t screw everything up.

Previous ranking: NoneFrank’s power lies in his integrity and being the closest thing to a decent person in the Roys’ circle of influence. He often found himself on the wrong side of Logan because of it, though they were on relatively good terms by the end. Would it have been cleaner to dispose of the piece of paper before anyone else saw it? Sure, no one would have ever known. Could he have lied to Kendall and said that his father loved him unconditionally and always wanted him to take over? Of course, but that’s not how Frank rolls. Though it probably wasn’t by design (or maybe it was), in being brutally honest with Kendall, Frank has secured his continuation as vice chairman and confidant to the new executive team. They’re going to need him.

Previous ranking: 2 (down four spots)Connor’s streak continues, though he slipped a bit this week due to being out of contention for the top spot. He has a new bride and a likely boost in his polls thanks to the sympathy vote. He’s not even that affected by the death of his father, who never liked him anyway. Now he’s going to be living in his house. We have to wonder, though, how the son of Logan Roy could be so bad at dealmaking. When someone says they’re looking for a price between $60 and $70 million, you start by offering less. That’s negotiation 101. Not that money means anything to Connor, who will soon be flush with an inheritance from his father. A cool $63 million is but a drop in the proverbial golden bucket to him.

Previous ranking: 6 (up one spot)While all the siblings are reeling after their father’s death, Shiv has been dealing with a lot more than we realized. In a very low-key reveal, we found out at the beginning of the episode that she’s somewhere between four and five months pregnant. She hasn’t shared the news with anyone, so she’s been coping with it all on her own. The feelings of guilt she does share with Tom are devastating enough, but we also have to consider what else is going through her head during that conversation. Later on, she’s forced to take her brothers at their word that they’ll share power with her once they take over, a vow they conveniently forget once the crowns come out. Maybe Kendall and Roman will eventually come around and loop her in, but as of the end of this episode, she’s left sidelined and literally stumbling.

Previous ranking: NoneIt was wonderful to see Marcia (Hiam Abbass), the “belle of the ball,” back in the world of Succession. She maintains her tight grasp on Logan’s personal affairs. None of the kids believe her claims of having daily, intimate conversations with their father, but they’re not going to push her on it. Roman’s comment that Kerry is “inside Marcia’s trunk, inside an anaconda, inside a sarcophagus” shows that they’re all still a little bit afraid of her. As they should be. When Kerry shows up and makes a scene, Marcia’s coldness confirms it. She’s still a master of the subtle, cutting remark, like when she congratulates Willa on the wedding and condescendingly adds, “Look how far you’ve come.” The newly wedded Mrs. Connor Roy, not missing the reference to her past, responds, “Well, look at us both.” That’s not an insult, it’s game recognizing game.

Previous ranking: 3 (no change)When Lukas Matsson calls, you’d better pick up the phone. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck relaying messages via some lackey in the middle of a corporate retreat. With the acquisition deal still pending, the tech mogul knows he’s holding all the cards. Even in the midst of a Roy family crisis—“a bad one,” as Matsson’s guy calls it—and even considering that the death happened en route to Sweden the last time they attempted to meet with him, he refuses to make the trip to New York to meet with them. He can’t just abandon the GoJo annual retreat, after all. Through the go-between, Matsson demands that they send someone to meet with him within 24 hours. The kids have no choice but to comply with his wishes. Now that’s a power play.

Previous ranking: 5 (up three spots)To hear Roman tell it, he’s doing great. He “pre-grieved” his dad, so he’s all good now that Logan is actually dead. Somehow he doesn’t seem to be familiar with the famous “stages of grief” concept, the first of which is denial. At least he acknowledges that it may still hit him hard at some point: “freight train a-comin’.” For now, he’s sitting pretty as co-CEO, but we wonder how long it will be before he realizes that Kendall is really in charge and he’s just window-dressing. We have to give him credit for showing some compassion for Kerry when she arrived unannounced at the apartment in hysterics. He wasn’t trying to win points with anyone, he just saw a grieving person having a meltdown and stepped in to help while everyone else stood around watching. It’s almost as if there’s a human being underneath that cynical, hardened shell.