Succession season 4 trailer sets up the chess game for the final season

(L to R) Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy, Sarah Snook as Shiv Roy and Kieran Culkinin as Roman Roy in Succession season 4

(Image credit: Claudette Barius/HBO)

The boars are more than on the floor in Succession season 4's trailer, they're in the final chess game for power in the Roy family. This new clip sets up a huge climax for the power-struggle series, as newfound alliances are already being tested by dear old dad.

Kendall (Jeremy Strong), in a voice-over spot, reveals that he, Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) will partner up with Sandi Furness (Hope Davis), Stewy Hosseini (Arian Moayed) and Nan Pierce (Cherry Jones) to take down Logan (Brian Cox).

As for dad? Well, he's going to try and break this newfound alliance by picking off Roman, who's still not exactly loving Kendall's metaphor-rich dialogue. Logan offers Roman a spot by way of saying he needs help with the upcoming deal with Lukas Mattson (Alexander Skarsgård).

Elsewhere in the trailer, Connor's still ambitious about public office, Tom and Shiv are in dire straits, and Logan is getting violent in his discourse. Speaking of cutting throats, the elder Roy gets the ATN News team to chant his name.

Succession, easily one of the best HBO Max shows, returns to HBO and HBO Max on March 26. It's the next big show to hold down HBO's 9 p.m. ET slot, following The Last of Us, which has its season finale on the 12th.

Analysis: What else to expect from Succession season 4

New cast members for the season include Annabeth Gish (Midnight Mass), Adam Godley (The Great), Eili Harboe (Thelma) and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Vikings: Valhalla).

The big swings in the alliances don't end with a possible Roman betrayal. Tom was seen in the teaser trailer wondering how safe his spot in Logan's side is were he and Shiv to split.

At this point, it seems like Kendall and Shiv are positioned as least-likely to side with Logan, but we could see a situation where the aging patriarch realizes that breaking one of them away is the solution to his succession problem. After all, Kendall and Shiv were always seen as the most likely to win it all.

Now? Well, all we know is that it doesn't seem like Tom has much of a chance of surviving the incoming bloodbath. That's what happens when you betray your wife to her father.

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Henry was a managing editor at Tom’s Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the past seven years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He's also covered the wild world of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.