#simon eriksson analysis

[raincitygirl76]

I wonder how much of the Sargust fallout in 2.06 was due to August being an only child…

He clearly did not anticipate Sara reacting as badly as she did to finding out that her boyfriend had used her tipoff to blackmail her little brother. He probably figured she wouldn’t be happy. But her level of betrayal seemed to catch August off guard. But then, August doesn’t know what it’s like to be truly pissed off at your sibling, but they’re still your sibling.

I had a fight with my sister on the weekend, and we just made up via text. We’re both gone 40 and she’s married with 2 kids (who have their own sibling rivalry issues). But she’s still my little sister, and fighting with her is still not fun.

Sara in 1.06 was not happy with Simon, and I suspect that made it easier for her to cut that deal with August. Judging by 1.06, August could have assumed that Sara doesn’t like Simon very much, and won’t particularly care what August does to him. But again, August has no siblings.

Sara cut a deal with August in 1.06 when she felt betrayed by her brother and panic-stricken at the thought of her mother forcing her to return to the old school where she had been viciously bullied. But eventually Sara’s anger at her little brother cooled. And he remained her little brother.

A few months pass. Simon and Sara aren’t as close as they used to be, with Sara boarding at Hillerska this term. And Sara is preoccupied with both her secret romance and the pending sale of Rousseau. But Simon still tells her when he finds out it was August who leaked the video. And Sara tells August what Simon told her, expecting him to do the right thing. Is she naive for thinking that? Yes. But she’s also only 18 and in love.

Then August uses her information, not to confess his crime to the police “spontaneously” before Simon can turn him in. But instead to blackmail Simon with something or other (Sara doesn’t know the specifics) so Simon can’t turn him in. Sara must be doubting at this point whether she ever meant anything to August, or if he was just using her to keep her quiet about what she knew.

As it happens she’s wrong about that, but it’s not unreasonable for her to doubt August’s motives for pursuing her, given what she’s just found out about how he used the information she gave him. Note on the shooting range she says “Because I was in love with him.” Past tense. Not “Because I’m in love with him,” present tense.

Furthermore, when she tells the truth, partly because she fears Wilhelm will blow August’s head off, Simon is devastated. He trusted Sara, and she betrayed that trust. She betrayed it more than once, has had this information since December and got involved with August anyway. I don’t think it really hits Sara until this point just how badly she’s fucked up, or just how devastated Simon is.

He’s her little brother, he’s in pain, she wants to hurt the person who hurt him. But the person who hurt him is her. She did this to him. Sara is not a forgiving person, look at how she decisively cut Micke out of her life. She must be fearing that she’s ruined her relationship with her only sibling for the rest of her life, that he will never forgive her.

I personally think Simon will forgive Sara eventually. But Sara knows what it’s like to be betrayed by an immediate family member, and knows she will never forgive Micke. It’s not difficult to imagine Sara extrapolating from her own experience, and believing Simon will permanently cut her out of his life the way she has permanently cut their father out of her life.

So she’s hurt her only sibling very badly, and for what? For a guy who turned out to be a duplicitous asshole and used her tipoff to hurt her brother. Again.

And August thinks she’ll simmer down. Yeah, she walked away from him on the shooting range, but he approaches her the following morning confidently. He has an ace in the hole to get his girlfriend to stop flipping out: he’s bought Rousseau for her. August (again, an only child) assumes the gift of Rousseau will be sufficient recompense for deep-sixing Sara’s relationship with her brother.

It isn’t sufficient recompense, and August is taken aback when Sara refuses the magnificent gift. But August doesn’t understand the push-pull of sibling dynamics. That Sara is experiencing family loyalty at a very inconvenient time (from August’s point of view).

August’s father is dead, he’s clearly not close to his mother, and he hates his stepfather’s guts. And he has no siblings, nobody else who understands what it was like to grow up at Arnas with Carl Johan and Louise Horn as their parents.

He was pretty close to his second cousin Erik before Erik wrapped his Ferrrari around a tree. But it seems like that friendship didn’t really get close until a traumatized, recently bereaved 16 year old August showed up at Hillerska as a first year and Erik (then a third year) took August under his wing.

August and Erik knew each other all their lives, but they were only close for about 2 years. And given they first got close at 16 (August) and 18 (Erik), that’s not actually analogous to a sibling relationship. Erik was already old enough to drink and vote, and August only a few years off. That’s not spending your childhood together.

And we’ve seen how superficial August’s friendships with his two best friends at Hillerska are. In S1, August and Vincent trash talk Nils behind his back for being nouveau riche. In S2, given an opportunity, Vincent sells August out, and Nils helps Vincent do so. August does not have any siblings, nor any sibling-like relationships where mutual loyalty is crucial.

So August sees Sara sell Simon out in 1.06 and takes that at face value. He doesn’t realize that Sara is angry with Simon at that point, but will get over it. Because August doesn’t understand the messiness of sibling relationships. Or their importance.

I know adults who have cut siblings out of their lives because that sibling had hurt them so grievously they said enough. But I don’t know anyone who has cut a sibling out of their life without giving it serious thought beforehand. Even if they’re better off without that sibling in their life, it’s still a huge decision. Sometimes it’s a bigger decision than cutting a parent out of their life.

Matters are complicated somewhat by divorce, remarriage, half-siblings, step-siblings, etc. obviously. But generally speaking, if you spent a significant chunk of your childhood living in the same house as someone, the decision to cut them out of your life is a very serious one.

My best friend has two older half siblings she is not close to and has never been close to. But one is 20 years her senior and the other 18 years her senior. She is the only child of her father’s second marriage, and she acts like an only child. The combination of her father’s divorce from his first wife and the massive age gap means she has very few shared experiences with her half-siblings. Now, part of that is on her dad. But part of it is simply that both her half siblings are old enough they could be her parents themselves.

So yeah, August was raised as an only child. Even if it turns out Carl Johan fathered another child out of wedlock at some point, that hypothetical half-sibling didn’t grow up with Carl Johan. There might be curiosity, it might even lead to a bond eventually, but there won’t be the shared childhood experiences.

Whereas Sara and Simon are full siblings close in age. Furthermore, they grew up together, in a traumatic family situation with a father who was an addict (and possibly abusive to boot) and a mother who meant well but was struggling to cope. Even if Simon and Sara never reconnect, they will still always have those shared experiences of growing up as Micke and Linda Eriksson’s children.

So I really don’t think August saw Sara’s total disillusionment with him in 2.06 coming. Because August isn’t anyone’s brother and doesn’t really get it.

[raincitygirl76]

Yes. Exactly! If you call it "eldest daughter syndrome" it doesn't catch the parentified children who AREN'T eldest daughters. Like Simon Eriksson, who has a neurodivergent older sister, an addict father, and has been "the man of the house" for his fairly passive mother probably since long before her divorce. If you look only at birth order and gender, this one would pass you by. It would also pass you by that Sara Eriksson, as an eldest daughter, could be infantilized by her family.

The more I see the phrase “eldest daughter syndrome” the higher it raises my hackles. It’s just parentification. It’s parentification and if you call it parentification it’s a lot easier to explain, and it’s a lot easier for the younger siblings or only children and children of any gender to identify it happening to them too.

Like I get that oldest sibs are more likely to be treated as accessory parents of their youngers, and I get that in a lot of families girls are pushed into caregiver roles, but fucking hell man parentification can and does happen to any kid regardless of birth order and gender, and while situations vary from family to family, there isn’t really anything the parentified oldest daughters are experiencing that the other parentified kids aren’t.

[raincitygirl76]

https://x.com/jagalskardigsss/status/1790877785973514631?s=46&t=OipN1GuDN-JMNVL-ABY-5A

Great Simoncentric video on Twitter. Please give it a like over there if you enjoyed.

[raincitygirl76]

Excellent, thoughtful review, but chock full of spoilers for all of Season 3 of YR.

[raincitygirl76]

A terrific review of Young Royals Season 2 in The Sophian.

The Sophian is the student newspaper of Smith College in Northampton, MA, USA. I don't know how long college newspapers keep their archives up, so just in case, I copy-pasted the article below. But assuming the link above works (and it worked just fine right now), please go to the link, don't read my copy-paste.

All Things Real: a Review of “Young Royals” Season Two

BY CATE CHRISTINIDIS ON NOVEMBER 15, 2022 | 

ARTS AND CULTURE, POP CULTURE, REVIEWS AND TV

Photo by Robert Eldrim via Netflix.

Hillerska: a private boarding school tucked away in Sweden; horseback riding, rowing, rowdy parties and, most notably, 16-year-old Crown Prince Wilhelm. Still, “Young Royals” (2022) is no fairytale. A simmering pot of angst, romance, betrayal and battles of the conscience, “Young Royals” displays unadulterated teenage reality. Season One ended with Hillerska’s most scandalous term to date, and Wilhelm, played by Edvin Ryding, reluctantly left it behind to the promising tune of Elias’ “Revolution.” In the rubble of Season One, audiences couldn’t help but wonder: would Season Two be that revolution? 

The short answer is yes. The romance that blossoms between openly gay Simon Eriksson (Omar Rudberg) and closeted Crown Prince Wilhelm enters uncharted territory. Wilhelm’s self-discovery is thwarted by the looming sense of duty pressed upon him by Sweden’s royal court, who deem queerness as a threat to the monarchy. Yet, the essence of the story does not lie in Wilhelm’s royal title, but in the title of the show itself: “Young Royals.” It is easy to forget, and equally important to remember, that the students of Hillerska are just kids. Their mistakes are children’s mistakes, and their resilience and bravery are monumental. 

This also means that every catastrophe is that much more devastating. Both seasons deal with a case of child pornography –– a cellphone video of Simon and Wilhelm, recorded through Wilhelm’s dormroom window. Regardless of social power, money or fame, the problems that overwhelm Wilhelm and Simon’s relationship are unmistakably larger than they are. 

“Young Royals” is all things real –– the bodies and situations portrayed on screen all reflect some semblance of teenage existence; simultaneous chaos, uncertainty, imperfection and beauty. The series doesn’t shy away from the ugly side of teenage life: where partying and stress meet drug use and where jealousy leads to impulsive, criminalizing mistakes. “Young Royals” is both dark and refreshing, unusual in its ability to look life right in the face. 

The American media tends to place a beauty filter over the formative years. Audiences lapse into patterns of falsified viewing, scarcely aware enough to ask themselves: Hey, aren’t teenagers supposed to have acne? “Young Royals” doesn’t blink twice at these “blemishes” –– acne, crooked teeth, etc. In fact, they are clearly embraced, normalized and desirable –– clear skin and perfect teeth are not deal-breakers for being the most popular girl in school or the Crown Prince. 

“Young Royals” likewise considers the psychological realities faced in the war between authenticity and duty. Season one introduced Wilhelm’s struggle with anxiety, but Season Two pursues the extent to which anxiety and panic consume Wilhelm after Season One’s events. It may sound cliché –– the prince who can’t handle the pressure of the crown –– but Wilhelm doesn’t ask the audience to feel sorry for him, and neither does “Young Royals.” Wilhelm is much messier in Season Two. He explodes with emotion –– fear, pain, anger, guilt and sadness –– and, without Simon, there is nowhere for it to go. He is selfish, rude, depressed, spoiled and makes bad choices. But Wilhelm’s reasons for not wanting to be Crown Prince are rightfully selfish; at 16, he is resigning himself to an empty and dishonest life. Forced by his mother, the Queen, Wilhelm begrudgingly sees a therapist, and while he resents the need for it, Season Two’s “revolution” finds Wilhelm overcoming his personal barriers to enact change.  

Wilhelm and Simon are separated by class more than anything. Wilhelm, as a member of the royal family, is an elite, while Simon, a non-boarder, can’t afford to live at the school. While Wilhelm tries to understand Simon (and vice versa), there are times when their differences speak louder than they do. Simon’s inability to understand why Wilhelm, as Crown Prince, can’t disregard the crown and take a stand, clashes with Wilhelm’s inability to see how Simon’s social status caused him to receive the brunt of the backlash for the sextape. Season Two is a testament to revisions and the rightings of wrongs; as Wilhelm works through his own emotions, he learns to use his power and status for progress.

Season Two of “Young Royals” is all about decisions; specifically, revising and listening to one’s conscience to make the right one. Which decision will start a revolution, which will fuel it, which will kill it? Despite the tumultuous path to togetherness, Simon and Wilhelm have an incredibly realistic and healthy relationship. They show love through communication; their need to be seen, heard and understood by each other is unshakable. It makes the moments when they do touch –– which are surprisingly few and far between –– feel all the more worth fighting for. Wilhelm certainly agrees; each season begins and ends with his eyes locked on the camera. This is his story, and he’ll go to war for it.  

[raincitygirl76]

When Simon Eriksson decides to fuck with the monarchy, he brings his A game. You can’t criticize his commitment to the cause.

simon thoroughly fucking this boy up like 5 minutes before he has to give his speech. thanks pal!

[raincitygirl76]

@caramelpenguin has written a short fic, “Ember in the Shadow”, about the colourism and prejudice wee Simon faced due to his curly hair and skin colour. And it’s not sad, it’s actually really sweet. And features wee Ayub and wee Simon becoming friends with wee Rosh.

The fic is actually loosely based on photos of Omar Rudberg aged about 12, with his curly hair carefully straightened in hopes of fitting in better.

[bigalockwood]

I think it’s worth mentioning that after the break-up in season three, we see what Wille has learned from the break-up in season two.

He approaches Simon in the library but keeps his distance, trying to hold the balance between telling him the truth (he feels empty) but clearly also struggling to find words that don’t inflict further pain on Simon. He’s trying to be honest but not manipulative.

At the party he doesn’t even approach Simon, even though he sees him. Simon has to go to him first, until Wille, clearly in pain, says yes to forgetting everything for the night. If Simon hasn’t gone up to him, I don’t think Wille would’ve approached him all night.

And then at the graduation, Wille only goes to Simon to say thank you for the song and let him go, repeating what he intended to do at the Valentines ball. He would’ve let Simon go, then and there, if he hadn’t realized that Simon doesn’t actually want to be let go off and that he doesn’t need to be the Crown Prince and can just… be Wille.

No one dare say Wille hasn’t grown or learned.

[raincitygirl76]

And we’re back up to 500 posts to reblog in the queue. You people talk too much! And say too much good stuff!

Okay but the scene where Wille sees Simon for the first time is cinematic excellence and in this essay I will discuss why

My cousin pointed this out to me that when Wilhelm arrives at the church, all our attention is taken up by the arrival of Felice, as she and Wilhelm greet each other.

We barely notice Simon entering the scene as it is Wilhelm's POV, and he doesn't notice Simon, so neither do we. Plus, they purposely placed him behing Felice so he never stands out.

Simon starts singing but he isn't giving his best. Wilhelm's attention is everywhere but not on Simon. In this scene, Simon is continuously going in and out of the camera's focus, sometimes even blurred. The lightening doesn't help either, Simon is clearly not the main subject.

But when the bloke interrupts the choir, that's when Simon starts giving his best and sings out loud in defiance. And that's when magic happens.

Wilhelm notices him properly for the very first time- he's the main subject of the camera and the lightening, he's the main lead now. Wilhelm actually ✨SEES✨ him, and so do we.

And for him Simon is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen at that moment, because just look at this- the angle, the light, his smile- everything just makes him look ethereal.

At that moment, he's the most beautiful thing we've seen too, all because Wille finds him to be. Combined with Omar's otherworldly singing, it's just *chef's kiss*

The cinematography of that whole montage is out of the world, it's so well thought out.

Stuck in my brain, it kept me sane ~

[omarcitoloves]

simon has lost everything that made wille fall in love with him and wille doesn't even notice.

it's a heartbreaking story to watch but in a brilliant way i'm fixated on it. and not in a simon deserves better than wille way but in a they both need to find themselves again in order to be happy.

simon is proud of his morals and who he is as a person, he's never been apologetic of it and wants people to know because it is deeply important to him to have a strong self identity in a world where he comes from a broken home, where he's gay, where he's lower socioeconomic class, where he's poc in a hugely white community, and where he has leftist ideals in a monarchist country. when wille tells him he can't post on socials because it reflects on something the crown can't have a position on, he feels he's losing his voice. and all wille can see is trying to minimize a headache.

singing has been simon's lifeline throughout the show, and something thats important to him because it is one of the good memories he has with his dad. when wille sees he posted himself singing all he can see is simon drawing more attention, it needs to be deleted. he doesn't even comment on simon's singing or let alone the lyrics which they make it seem he clocks what simon is saying this season as apposed to last but he's too focused on himself.

and then when simon admits to wille outside he feels he's losing his voice and confidence, everything has become too much. he can't enjoy singing, he's not pursuing a solo this season for the first time and he can hardly string together his song. but it goes over wille's head, he can't even notice the gravity of what simon is trying to say to him

at the sit in simon initially stands his ground and calls out all of their hypocrisy and rightfully points out wille only takes a stand when its low risk for him, but he caves lated because he doesn't want to disappoint wille and doesnt want wille to be mad at him. and despite wille saying he likes that they learn from the other's perspective, he doesn't make a move to understand any of simon's pov.

simon had to throw up a white flag in ep 5 becuase not only had simon shriveled into a shell of himself and wille not noticed, this change of simon was enabling the way the monarchy breaks wille. previously, and in glimpses this season we have seen simon show wille where the monarchy goes wrong and tries to pull wille into safety a bit but wille can not see past the status quo this season. he got simon so why should he worry right? but this is not the simon he loves, there is no point to this simon. if this is the guy you wanted to love you could've found anyone who was ok with a private relationship why go after the proud boy who is the antithesis to you?

this gives me hope for ep 6. i think wille needed a rude awakening desperately because he was depriving simon of the oxygen he needs to flourish and letting himself drown at the same time. wille needs to see why he fought so hard for simon, why simon was so important to them. they are so special, wille needs to get past the weight of the crown

[dusty-daydreams]

A lot of the things that Wille found attractive in Simon in season 1 became obstacles in when they were finally allowed to be in a relationship.

Simon’s principles - attractive in season 1 but a reason to pull away for fear of judgement in season 3

Simon’s willingness to stand up to bullies - attractive when it’s against Vincent the first time Wille ever saw him but a problem when Simon should be ignoring the online and physical harassment in season 3

Simon’s singing - attractive in season 1 but a problem because Simon is drawing attention to himself in season 3

Wille wanted what he couldn’t have and then he got it and didn’t change anything about his circumstances so that he could have him

[raincitygirl76]

I think it’s entirely possible for someone to be both scared OF their partner and also scared FOR their partner. Especially during or shortly after their partner has had a temper tantrum. People are complicated.

Either way, what Simon witnessed at the birthday party was enough for him to decide to cut Wilhelm loose. What Simon’s precise motivations were beyond what he said out loud at the time, we don’t know for sure. But we know he wanted out.

I think people got Simon's reaction to Wille's outburst wrong. People have speculated about Micke's violent tendancy ever since we saw him, but it was never confirmed in the show (except that time in season 1 when he grabs Simon, but it might have been a one time occurance, we don't know that. I also think it's important to say that it was confirmed in season 3 that Simon only stopped seeing his dad because of Sara, not because he didn't want to), and I think that's why people think that Simon is scared of Wille in that scene.

But hear me out. Would you go into bed with someone who just scared you? Would you?

Also, in that heartbreaking scene, Simon says that he sees how the situation his hurting Wille and that seeing him hurt hurts him too. I think with that outburst, Simon was shocked to see how deep Wille's trauma is, how deeply he is hurt by his familly. And that hurst Simon too because he loves Wille and he hates seeing him like this.

And someone pointed out that Simon is fully aware of Wille's temper. He saw that video of him getting in a fight in that club. He saw Wille treatening August with a gun. And he never said anything about it.

So I really believe that Simon wasn't scared of Wille in that scene. I think he was scared for Wille. And that's another thing.

However we can all have different opinions so please don't come at me for that as I totally respect other opinions.

[omartinyosef]

JUST LOOK AT HIM

SIMON'S SWEETNESS IS EVERYTHING WE NEED. LOOK AT FUCKING HIM AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

HIS FUCKING VOICE AND THE LITTLE ''NEJ'' IS EVERYTHING AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[omartinyosef]

FUN FACT THAT KILLED ME COMPLETELY: USE HEADPHONES

If you use headphones you can hear Simon sniffing Wilhelm's neck. I cried okay?

[raincitygirl76]

Reblogging to add stellar tags by @retrieve-the-kraken

Being silly together is my favorite type of intimacy.

[omrarchive]

i was looking at episode 2 for my simon gif series and i came across this small moment:

and i just had to make a separate post to talk about it because simon is so painfully endearing here. he just told his friends that he has bigger dreams than staying in his bjärstad forever, and you can tell he feels out of place when the awkward silence follows and his friends react in a way he wasn't really expecting. simon has a very selfless, kind and pure heart, and it's clear that he really values the opinion of the people he loves - seeing him feel down or inadequate when he believes he's "disappointing" them is just like a kick in the guts because my son my baby you're perfect and good and good enough. and it's okay to have your own dreams and be your own person, you don't have to explain yourself to anyone. it's such a small moment but i think it really shows a lot of who simon is