Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for the Season 4 premiere of Succession.Season 4 of Succession is finally here, and while it did satisfy our thirst for blood by showing the Roy siblings joining forces against their dad, it also devastated us with the final talk between Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) as a couple. We knew pretty well how much hurt there always was between them, and how things got worse after the amazing Season 3 finale. In some ways, many of us perhaps never really saw a future for them together. Still, that last scene in the Season 4 premiere, so appropriately titled "The Munsters," was nothing short of heartbreaking.

Throughout the episode, Shiv is in a relatively good place with herself, being brave and bold enough to cross Logan's (Brian Cox) acquisition of Pierce, and in tune with her brothers Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) to achieve that goal. Meanwhile, Tom consolidated his position by Logan's side and continued to have fun manipulating Greg (Nicholas Braun). When they both meet in their apartment in New York, though, things fall apart. Their conversation was a great acting display, and fleshed out all the pain and damage they've caused each other over the years, the ultimate testament to how love can't last when ego and money are in the way.

RELATED: Sarah Snook Talks 'Succession' Season 4, the Betrayal Shiv Has Experienced, and Her Reaction to the Series Finale

What That Last Scene Says About Shiv and Tom’s Relationship

Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen in Succession
Image via HBO

Relationships often look different to the people who are in them, and dynamics tend to shift over time. There's no problem in acknowledging these two things, but one has to assume the parts involved are aware of who they are to one another and be willing to put in the effort for it to work. Trust and effort are the basis for every functional relationship nowadays, and this last conversation between Shiv and Tom made clear they lack both of these traits.

One could even argue the scene consists of an "anti-conversation," as there's nothing they are willing to discuss, especially Shiv. For her, their relationship has always been about the power she held over Tom, and every attempt he made at trying to talk to her about their situation was dodged because it would directly influence the status quo of where they stand in their power dynamics. He even threw jabs at her to try and lure her out, but Roys can't be teased. For her, opening up is a sign of vulnerability, and that being the point of any relationship is something that completely passes her by. The only language Roys understand is competition, and Shiv would never willingly give up her dominant status for the sake of her husband.

Tom, on the other hand, is playing the only card he knows how to play with her, that of the wronged husband. He asks Shiv three times if she's willing to talk about them and what happened in Italy in the Season 3 finale, but he only does it because he knows she'll decline to do so. Shiv has always been his link to Logan, but after he betrays her, he doesn't need her anymore. Logan might be ready to dispose of him anytime, but, in his head, his position is secure (he was very "heartened" by Logan's remark that, if they're good, they're good, remember?). But Tom didn't take note of the fact that Logan only talked to him whenever the Roy patriarch wanted to know about his daughter, though.

Both sides are content in admitting defeat, because, in the context of a relationship, they can't see it as a defeat. Shiv suggests walking out with their "heads held high," but that's only so because they are too proud to understand their real positions. There's no actual victory to be had here, and neither of them is willing to be honest, so they settle for "we gave it a go." Sadly, that's also proof that, at some point, they did love each other, they were just too arrogant to understand it.

Was There Ever Any Hope for Shiv and Tom?

Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen in Succession Season 2 Episode 10
Image via HBO

"Do you really want to get into a full accounting of all the pain in our marriage?" Tom asks Shiv in that scene, but they would need much more than a single scene to provide such an account. Throughout the series, it's been clear that their marriage doesn't consist of an honest relationship between two functioning adults, but of a power struggle between them. Shiv is with Tom, so he could be her token in Waystar-Royco and a tool for her to get back at Logan. Even before she decided to join the family business, she saw herself above Tom, both morally and intellectually. For Tom, his interest in Shiv is directly connected to Logan, so he could be near the business and eventually take a more active part in it. Even though it may seem they hold power over one another, they were actually in a twisted kind of symbiosis, one benefiting from the other. When that happens, there is even the possibility of real feelings developing, and it happened to them.

None of them were ever mature enough to deal with feelings, though. At their wedding dinner, Shiv confesses that she likes "hanging out with him" and that "he's a good guy." Of course, she only thinks that because, as Logan would eventually put it, Tom never posed a threat to her, but, also, back then Shiv was still mostly an idealist, and wasn't interested in the family business. Tom was a way for her to stay connected to what happened there, while also being out. She loved him, but couldn't bring herself to accept it implied in her being openly vulnerable, leading her to risk everything by suggesting an open relationship with him. Her following decay is tragic, because it shows her losing her idealism and start seeing Tom not just as a tool anymore, but as a pawn.

In the Season 2 finale, "This Is Not For Tears," they have one of their few honest conversations about their marriage, and Tom confronts Shiv for supporting the idea of laying the blame for the Roys' crimes on him and for proposing an open relationship on their wedding night. That's when he realizes his practical function for Shiv, and when she understands there would be consequences in their marriage when he admits he was unhappy. Back then, they did love each other, but it became clear that the game would always be above their relationship status.

For Shiv and Tom, love was never a real option. For a brief moment, it was real, but they were never all in on it at the same time. That's sad by itself, but the game the Roys play got to their heads and twisted what could have been a real relationship. All they could ever do was "give it a go" and see what happened — and they gave it a go.

New episodes of Succession Season 4 premiere every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.