Conrad Grayson

Evil-doer
Full Name	Conrad Grayson
Alias	No information
Origin	Revenge
Occupation	CEO of Grayson Global (former) Patriarch of the Grayson family (formerly) Member of the Americon Initiative (formerly) Governor of New York (former)
Powers / Skills	Intellect Self-preservation Influence Skilled Negotiator Pragmatism
Hobby	Making money Protecting and providing for his family Plotting with the Initiative
Goals	To successfully get away with all of his crimes (failed) To become Governor (succeeded)
Crimes	Embezzlement Money laundering Corruption Blackmail Terrorism Assault Murder Adultery Terrorism Framing
Type of Villain	Corrupt CEO

“	If I end up getting ruined for this, I'll see to it that everything you cherish so dearly is ripped from those greedy little claws of yours.	„
	~ Conrad Grayson to Victoria Grayson.

Conrad Grayson is the second main antagonist in the first three seasons of the TV show Revenge.

He is portrayed by Henry Czerny, who would go on to portray the villainous Toyman in an episode of Supergirl.

Storylines

Early life

Conrad grew up as the son of a powerful father, Edward. He took over as CEO of his father’s company, Grayson Global. Conrad married twice: He married Stevie Pruitt, and later Victoria Harper. He and Victoria had two children: Daniel and Charlotte. Before Charlotte’s birth, Conrad laundered money for a organization called the Americon Initiative. They were a terrorist organization that downed Flight 197, and Conrad knew the investigation would lead back to him, and send him to prison for good. Conrad framed David Clarke, an employee of his that was also having an affair with Victoria. With his power and influence, Conrad got David convicted and sent to prison where he later had him killed.

Divorce and conflict with Victoria

Three years prior to the start of the series, Conrad started an affair with Victoria’s best friend, Lydia Davis. The affair was exposed and Victoria filed for divorce. Conrad faced blackmail from Lydia, whose social status had taken a hit, and she wanted Conrad to fix it. Lydia ended up in a coma during a confrontation with Conrad’s year of security, Frank Stevens. Conrad realized Frank was showing more loyalty to Victoria than him, and fired Frank.

Conrad hires Daniel and his friend Tyler Barrol to work as interns at Grayson Global, but Tyler was a conman, who was exposed to Conrad and he was later arrested after holding everyone captive on Daniel’s birthday. Conrad and Victoria’s divorce got messy when he learned Charlotte wasn’t his daughter, and Victoria countered by bringing Edward into the divorce. Edward we fond of Victoria and still held power as Chairman of the board, so Conrad was forced to play nice until Jack Porter, the childhood friend of David’s daughter Amanda, furiously confronted Victoria about not helping Amanda when David went to prison. When Victoria attempted to dodge responsibility, Conrad promised Charlotte he would always be there for her and confessed he wasn’t her biological father. Edward was furious with Conrad and threatened to remove him as CEO.

When Tyler was murdered during Daniel’s engagement to Emily Thorne, Daniel was sent to prison for the crime. Conrad and Victoria arranged for one of their men to take the fall, and then Conrad had him murdered. Conrad felt the net closing on him and had Daniel pledge his loyalty to the family before confessing everything. Daniel stood by Conrad and Conrad let his son work directly under him, so he could take over for him one day. Lydia and Victoria went to testify against Conrad, so he had a bomb planted in the plane they were on. As a consequence, Conrad would later find Charlotte passed out after overdosing on pills.

Conrad’s New Path

Charlotte is institutionalized, and Conrad plots to steal her inheritance. Victoria is revealed to be alive, and she and Conrad reconcile and get married. Conrad is forced out as CEO after having a fallout with Daniel, and decides to run for governor of New York. Charlotte convinces Conrad to buy Jack’s bar since she is dating Jack’s younger brother Declan. Nate Ryan convinces Conrad to tear down the bar, so Jack’s fiancée Amanda Clarke threatens Conrad by showing him an incriminating video. Conrad sells the bar back to Jack, and implied to Nate that he was strong armed, which causes a chain of events that leads to both Nate and Amanda’s deaths.

Conrad is eventually revealed to joined the Initiative and plants a bomb in the Grayson Global offices to kill Jack, but ends up killing Declan instead. Conrad tells Victoria the truth, and she is horrified by his actions, but he demands her support or else he’ll leave her destitute. Conrad assures Daniel the ruined office will be rebuilt, but Daniel tells Conrad he and Emily are leaving the Hamptons. Conrad wants Daniel by his side and says the only reason he is alive is because he is his son and he wasn’t going to get the Initiative kill him. Daniel realizes Conrad is involved and they get into a huge argument. Victoria and Daniel reluctantly stand by Conrad’s side as he is elected governor.

Post Governor life

Conrad’s time as governor is short lived when he collapses, and is diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. Faced with the prospect of dying, Conrad was encouraged to repent of his sins by an old associate of his, who was now a priest. Victoria’s first born, Patrick Osbourne, arrived in the Hamptons. The stress caused Conrad to have an incident where he cut himself on broken glass. Charlotte was there for Conrad until she learned that he had planted the bomb that had killed Declan. She denounced Conrad and let him heartbroken after telling him he deserved to die alone and miserable. Conrad finally decided to repent and come clean about his crimes. Victoria accuses Conrad of leaving their family holding the bag while he gets redemption. Conrad leaves with the priest to go to the police, but the car crashes. Conrad survives and is rushed to the hospital.

Soon after, Conrad learned he didn’t have Huntington’s disease, and reclaimed his position as head of the Grayson family. He learned that Patrick had sabotaged the car in an attempt to kill him, and subtly threatened Patrick’s life, so Victoria got him to leave town. Daniel and Emily were set to get married, and Conrad brought Patrick back to town as a peace offering for Victoria. Lydia also returned, much to Conrad’s surprise. Conrad and Lydia reconciled, but then Emily was shot and suffered amnesia.

Conrad protected his family and Lydia by saying they were in the same cabin, but Victoria received proof that that wasn’t case. She confronted Conrad about his lies and told him that. Daniel was the one who shot Emily, but she was going to blame it on Lydia. Conrad was forced to go along with it to protect his son, but sent Lydia away, vowing to always protect her. Conrad then lashed out at Daniel for what he was forced to sacrifice to protect him and was annoyed by Daniel’s response to the point where Conrad disowned Daniel, causing a huge fight to break out and threats to be exchanged.

Conrad requested that when Emily regain her memory, she come to him, but Emily double crossed Conrad when lied and said Lydia was the one who shot her. Annoyed, Conrad packed up his stuff and moved out, divorcing Victoria for the second time. He told Emily to go find him when Daniel inevitably betrayed her. Conrad then set about exacting his revenge on Daniel. He paid off Margaux LeMachal’s assistant to write that Lydia shot Emily, then sued for libel. Conrad forced Margaux to fire Daniel in exchange for dropping the suit. Conrad met Emily at the Southforks Inn where he was staying. He let her recuperate in his suite and left her alone. When he returned, she had woken up and he told Emily that she was marvelous last night.

Dealings with Pascal LeMarchal

As it turns out, Emily had gone to Conrad for help with Daniel. Conrad got her in touch with Stevie, but of course he had his own reasons for dong so. Conrad gave Stevie some papers that proved she was the legal owner of Grayson manor since it was built before Conrad got with Victoria. Conrad also openly challenged Margaux, hoping she would bring her father, Pascal, to town. Conrad wanted to form a partnership with Pascal, who was hesitant giving their history, but Conrad agreed to help him win over Victoria, so Pascal agreed to Conrad’s proposition. Conrad learned about how Stevie was Jack’s biological mother and confronted her about it. He expressed the pain he felt finding out that Stevie had had an affair while they were married. When Victoria went after Stevie, Conrad expresses regret on dragging her into his war with Victoria. Stevie decided to give Conrad the deed, and he gave it to Pascal to give to Victoria, finally winning her over.

Pascal was forced out of Voulez and reneged on his real with Conrad. Conrad retaliated by starting up Grayson media and trying to steal potential clients from Pascal. He attempted to interfere in Victoria and Pascal’s relationship by telling her that Pascal was involved in the Conspiracy against Davis Clarke. Pascal responded by revealing he had recorded all of the conversations that implicated Conrad, and could ensure that only he would be exposed if he continued to go against him.

Conrad manipulated Pascal by telling him of the whereabouts of Oscar Chapman, who has dirt on Pascal. Pascal murdered Oscar as Conrad figured he would, and Conrad showed Aiden Mathis the crime scene photo of Oscar’s murder. He told Aiden that he is next and offered to run interference for him. Aiden told Conrad to go to Hell, and Conrad warned him not to make an enemy of him. Conrad continued to put pressure on Aiden into dealing with Pascal. He also told Victoria that Pascal had murdered Oscar. At the MyClone launch party, Pascal approached Conrad and offered to talk, saying he would make it worth Conrad’s while.

Conrad went to fly back to the Hamptons and asked Pascal if he would like to join him. Pascal suggested they talk on the pad. Pascal started talking to Conrad about David Clarke and Trevor Mathis, which he denied having involvement in him. Pascal said he wanted to move on, and Conrad said he wanted to win at any cost and said sometimes you have to do the unexpected. He then told Pascal to watch out as he pushed him into the path of the spinning blades, which killed him by shredding his head. Victoria arrived to see Conrad covered in blood by Pascal’s headless corpse. She believed Conrad had murdered Pascal, but both he and the pilot claimed Pascal had stepped back into the path of the spinning blade.

Downfall

Charlotte is kidnapped and Conrad and Victoria are told to hold a press conference and confess their crimes. Charlotte is returned safely, but Charlotte was forced to face Conrad’s crimes while captive and she was determined to turn him into the police. Conrad was furious and hurt that Charlotte would turn on him and threatened her while arrogantly admitting to all of his crimes and how he had escaped justice. Unfortunately for him, Conrad realized too late that Charlotte had a camera planted on her jacket, and his crimes had been aired on TV publicly. Conrad and Victoria share one last conversation before the feds arrive and arrest him. He vows to bring her down with him, and puts on a brave face as Victoria gleefully watches him get arrested.

Death

Alone in his prison cell, Conrad is visited by Emily Thorne, and he realizes she is responsible for his arrest. Emily confirms it and says she did it for David and Amanda Clarke. Conrad wonders about Victoria, and is delighted when Emily says she is not finished it. However, Conrad has no hope of escape: he was abandoned by his family, denied bail, and his only option was to accept a plea deal or face life in prison. A guard that assaulted Conrad later approached him while he was praying, and helped Conrad escape from prison in exchange for a payment. Conrad headed down the road to where he was told transportation awaited him. Conrad was surprised that the driver was David Clarke, who then stabbed Conrad to death and left his body in a pool of blood in the middle of the road.

Post Mortem

Conrad’s arrest had tarnished the Grayson family’s reputation. Daniel and Charlotte struggled to make ends meet, and Charlotte became addicted to drugs. When Daniel was set to become a father, he feared he would be like Conrad and recalled how his father had convinced him not to testify against someone accused of assault because of how it could alienate him from his wealthy peers. In the end, Daniel proved to be a better man than his father was when he died by taking a bullet for Emily, the woman whom he realized had been responsible for all of his family’s misery.

Natalie Waters was a woman that Conrad had also had an affair with, and made her a promise that she would be the next Mrs. Grayson, but never fulfilled that promise. The greedy Natalie sent her sights on his ailing father, and got him to marry her before he died, so she could claim the Grayson fortune. The Grayson legacy permanently ended when Margaux LeMarchal miscarried his grandchild. With his only son and grandchild dead, Conrad’s legacy was reduced to the Grayson family plot where all members who carried the name were laid to rest. The only known survivor to carry the name was Conrad’s ex-wife Stevie.

Gallery

Conrad argues with his father, Edward Grayson

Conrad lying dead on the road after being stabbed.

See also

• Victoria Harper - Conrad’s second ex-wife and the main antagonist of all four seasons
• Grayson Global