Here is the context: Season 7 ends with a bombshell. After years of fighting, Patrick J. Adams (Mike Ross) and Meghan Markle (Rachel Zane) leave the show. But more importantly for the firm’s structure,

In that same conversation, Robert looks at Harvey and says, effectively: "It’s yours."

At the end of Season 7, Robert Zane (Mike’s father-in-law and a titan of the industry) merges his firm with Specter Litt. However, the merger agreement has a catch: Robert Zane becomes Managing Partner.

Here is the definitive timeline of how Harvey Specter climbed the final rung of the ladder. We almost got there early. In Season 4, after a brutal civil war against his former mentor, Jessica Pearson offers Harvey the position of Managing Partner. It was a test, a reward, and a trap all at once.

For nine seasons, Suits fans watched Harvey Specter strut through the halls of Pearson Hardman (and its many reincarnations) with the swagger of a man who was born to run the place. He was the closer, the best lawyer in New York, and the undisputed king of the corner office. But there’s a vast difference between being the best fighter in the army and being the general.