#in favor of pretending sky has always been some oblivivious pretentious asshole who really likes cheating

[floralovebot]

Something that I think is so interesting about Sky that a lot of people tend to miss is that he doesn't like being royal. He despises it! Almost all of his actions and opinions in the first three seasons can be brought down to this too. And this attitude against the throne, specifically the Erakylon throne, is why he ends up having such an intense class difference with the others (mostly Riven).

Sky spends a lot of time pretending he's not royalty. First, there's the obvious switch, but even when that gets revealed he continues on acting like he's normal. Most of Sky's actions can be brought down to "he wants to act like a normal dude but also feels an intense obligation to his parents and the kingdom that it falls flat a lot". But again, this whole wanting to be normal thing directly sets him up for conflict between other characters. Sky recognizes his privilege. I know that sounds like a crazy thing, but he does. He's not that oblivious, doesn't even know what poor person is kind of royal. The problem is that Sky is hyper-aware of his privilege and specifically what people think because of it. Brandon thinks he can't protect himself. Riven thinks he got everything handed to him and doesn't have to train as hard. Even Timmy and Helia remind him all the time of his royal duties and underestimate how much he can handle.

Sky is reminded by everyone around him that he's royalty and that they all base their opinions of him on that. And Sky absolutely hates it. It's why he goes on Earth dates with Bloom, it's why he tries to relate to Riven on a common level, it's why he drastically keeps all his friends away from his royal life. It's not that Sky is oblivious and doesn't see his privilege. Sky knows the privilege he has and he tries his hardest to try and get rid of it. But that's not how privilege works and it's why everyone in a lower class tends to hate him. They see his aversion as ignorance and obliviousness, which obviously makes them even more aware of just how privileged he is. The other royal characters are just as privileged but they don't have the same fights with other characters because they don't try to hide their privilege.

Sky hates being royal but has been so manipulated by his parents that the loyalty he feels to Eraklyon outweighs his own needs and especially his friends. Sky will always end up choosing Eraklyon because while he's trying to get away from the royal life, he's reminded every day that he can't. No other royal character has that much aversion to the throne (not even Aisha). Sky can't simply drop being a prince and run away because part of his loyalty is to the kingdom itself. Actually, I'd say most of his loyalty is to the kingdom. His parents constantly tell him that he has to do what's right for the kingdom, that he can't be selfish, that he needs to understand and follow his duties. The entire Diaspro situation was literally a political marriage brought on by his parents wanting Eraklyon to be more powerful. Choosing to run away from the throne wouldn't just be running away from his parents. It would be running away from the kingdom, from the normal people, from the lower classes that can't deal with a royal uprising.

His rivalry with other characters (again, mostly Riven) is due to him rejecting royalty and his privilege but still having an intense loyalty to the kingdom. Sky ends up looking wishy-washy and like he doesn't actually understand his privilege. But he does, and that's why he gets so mad about people underestimating him. Sky recognizes his privilege, he's just not ready to get away from it. And quite honestly, I don't think he ever will be because his privilege is directly tied to his loyalty, the one thing his parents haven't broken down yet.