5 times Simon runs from himself and 1 time he doesn’t

If you’ve watched Young Royals season 2, we’re sure you’ll agree that the entire six episodes are full of angst and pain. Sweden’s Crown Prince Wilhelm (Edvin Ryding) returns to Hillerska after Christmas break determined to take down August (Malte Gardinger) and win back Simon (Omar Rudberg). However, despite how he feels about the Prince, Simon is not having it. Instead of facing Wilhelm and confronting his pain, Simon runs from the Prince and the complicated situation that they both find themselves in. 

Does Simon still have feelings for Wilhelm? That much is abundantly clear, however as someone who has already been through so much in his life, Simon Eriksson seems to have adopted a ‘just keep moving forward’ strategy for coping with hardship. And he seems to have applied this same strategy to his situation with Wilhelm. So, he pushes his crippling pain aside and tries to just move on in any way he can. 

Simon puts up a protective shield around himself and pushes Wilhelm far, far away. Simon runs from Wilhelm and his feelings for the boy, and Simon runs from himself all the way through season 2. Season 2 is a masterpiece and we’ve nailed the young man’s journey down to 5 pivotal times when Simon runs from himself and 1 life-changing moment that he doesn’t. Let’s go!

The Wilmon reunion

Upon Wilhelm’s immediate return to Hillerska after Christmas break, Felice (Nikita Uggla) calls the Prince and tells him that if he wants to mess with August (and he does) that Wilhelm should show up to the senior party. Wilhelm seems down with this idea and sets about recruiting others to go with him. However, when he hears that Sara (Frida Argento) is at the party causing mayhem, his interest piques even further. Where there is Sara, there is usually Simon not too far behind. 

And Wilhelm is right. Simon is at the party. Upon laying his eyes on Wilhelm, Simon swallows hard and the two boys naturally gravitate toward each other. This whole scene is filled with emotional tension. Clearly happy to see Simon, Wilhelm tries desperately to keep it cool, but Simon seems bamboozled by the moment and everything that he’s subsequently feeling.  

Wilhelm tries to keep Simon’s attention (“I got a haircut” – smooth Wilhelm) but the look on Simon’s face shows just how overwhelmed he is by everything. Standing in front of Wilhelm, looking into his eyes, being this close – it’s a lot after everything they’ve been through and Simon is clearly having All The Feelings. So what does he do? He flees at the first opportunity he gets and puts some distance between himself and the Prince. 

Simon runs from himself (and his feelings for Wilhelm) and scuttles off to Marcus (Tommy Wättring), which is something he does a lot in season 2. Clearly this becomes a method for coping with all the things that Wilhelm, and their situation, make Simon feel this season. 

I need space

In episode 1, Wilhlem seems to understand that Simon is going through it, but he doesn’t exactly leave the kid alone to work it out. His pursuit of Simon is cautious, but he definitely makes it known that he still wants Simon in his life. 

Wilhelm manages to score some semi-alone moments with Simon in the library where he tries to tap into the intimacy they shared previously, but Simon shuts it down pretty fast. 

He tells Wilhelm that he wants space and that they shouldn’t talk unless they have to. Simon does share with Wilhelm here that the Prince hurt him, which is a good thing, but Simon doesn’t stick around to talk about the intricacies of that little piece of information. 

He drops the bomb on Wilhelm (who looks like this is brand new information to him – excuse us sir, but how) and just bolts. This is the second time in this episode, within just a handful of minutes, that we see Simon retreating when his emotions get the better of him. 

However, the complexities of Simon’s feelings are revealed in more detail in this scene. The longing on his face when he looks at Wilhelm is clear, so it’s obvious that Simon still wants the boy. Yet the intensity with which he delivered those words to Wilhelm also shows the pain that he is currently wading through. Simon runs from himself here, from his feelings, from his pain, but it’s completely understandable as to why. 

Those are some very grown-up and complex warring emotions that are surging around inside of him, and at 16 years old, figuring out what to do with all that isn’t the easiest thing to do. 

“Moving on” to Marcus

In episode 2, Simon is in full retreat mode. Wilhelm shares with Simon that his mother has agreed to “work something out” regarding Wilhelm’s queer awakening when the Prince turns 18 and informs Simon that if they want to be together, they only have to keep their relationship a secret for two years. 

Simon does not take this news well and tells Wilhelm that he isn’t going to wait for him for two years (also implying that he doesn’t want to be part of a secret relationship for the duration of that time either). 

Simon walks away from Wilhelm, clearly angered, but as the episode moves on, it’s also obvious that Simon is having a lot of feelings about the whole thing. He’s still hung up on the Prince and in the privacy of his own bedroom, Simon wallows in his own pain by shoving his face into Wilhelm’s jumper that he still has. The love he feels for Wilhelm juxtaposed with the hurt he’s also enduring at this moment clearly becomes too much, and he leans into the one coping strategy he’s using to work through this time: Simon runs from himself and his heavy feelings right into Marcus’ arms. 

He goes to Marcus’ place and quite literally throws himself at the dude. This scene is sad and hard to watch because Simon’s discomfort with the whole thing bleeds through the screen. Marcus doesn’t seem to pick up on it – or if he does, he does a remarkable job of ignoring it – but we did. Simon is hurting and desperately clutching at the nearest thing that he can use to band-aid the whole mess building inside of him. 

This is what heartbreak looks like, fam, and everything about this just hurts. 

The music room of doom

Simon just can’t catch a break in this season. Every time it looks like he is going to have a chance to put all this behind him and move forward, something happens that rips that opportunity right out from underneath him. In episode 5, rrrriiiiggghhhhhtttt after Simon and Wilhelm share their secret kiss at the ball, things come crashing down around Simon yet again. 

The crown decides that Simon can’t sing his new version of the Hillerska song (because it’s obviously a love song for Wilhelm, duh). Felice tells him that it’s because the Crown probably doesn’t want to draw any more attention to Simon and Wilhelm as a “thing” and Simon just doesn’t know how to process this information. A new wave of anger and hurt surges through him, and although it’s not Wilhelm’s fault, Simon lashes out at Wilhelm and pins everything on him. 

We really think they should just stay out of this darn music room. Nothing good ever happens between them in there. 

This is also when Simon finds out that August is responsible for uploading the video to the internet, and boy does Simon not take this news well. Although Simon clearly runs from himself, from Wilhelm, from everything here, we’re not going to fault the kid. He could have stuck around and talked the situation through with Wilhelm, talked about his feelings, and they could have come up with a plan together, but yeesh, his behavior here is understandable. In this scene, Simon runs from himself, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing at this very moment. 

It’s a lot, you know?

Wilhelm kisses someone else

During meal time in episode 4, it’s revealed that Wilhelm did, in fact, have Felice in his room the previous night, and that something definitely transpired between them while she was there. While all the Hillerska boys are celebrating this revelation, the object of Wilhelm’s affections does anything but celebrate. Simon runs from the entire situation. 

He gets up from the table and storms out, and on his way out the door, he texts Marcus and asks if they can hang out. 

This is Simon’s go-to response when it comes to processing his feelings about Wilhelm all throughout season 2. Simon runs to Marcus whenever things with Wilhelm become way too hard for him to deal with. 

Obviously, this is not healthy behavior, and his repeated decision to do this does land Simon in the middle of a complex situation. The way Simon uses Marcus as a band-aid in season 2, instead of facing himself and trying to really work through the difficult things he is feeling certainly blurs the lines of morality for Simon throughout these six episodes. However, given his life experience, his age, and what seems like an entirely impossible situation in front of him, some empathy can be applied here. 

Throughout season 2, Simon runs from himself, runs from Wilhelm, and runs from anything that basically feels too hard (Alexa, cue ‘Running Up That Hill’ by Kate Bush – Placebo version) but understanding Simon and why he does this isn’t a difficult ask. 

“I love you”

By the end of episode 6, Simon stops running from himself. He knows everything about August and Sara, he knows about Sara’s betrayal, Wilhelm has successfully communicated the extent of his feelings and his situation and Simon finally takes the time to sit with all of these hard and difficult things to process. He talks to Ayub (Inti Zamora Sobrado) about everything, and most importantly, he spends some time talking with himself. 

And he makes a very clear decision.

This time, instead of running from himself and running from the Prince, Simon runs to Wilhelm to share this new decision with him. 

He loves Wilhelm, he wants to be with Wilhelm, even if that means he has to be a secret. 

This is a huge moment and shows an enormous amount of growth for Simon. It shows that he finally worked through everything that was stirring inside of himself. He faced up to his part in the breakdown of his relationship with Wilhelm, and he allowed himself to move past the mistakes that Wilhelm made. Because he does this, he is able to really step back and take in the bigger picture and see things for what they really are. This is something that Simon was completely unable to do for almost the entirety of the season. 

It’s clear that this moment of clarity for Simon is also a moment of peace and as he approaches Wilhelm to share his new position on everything, his face holds the full weight of his feelings. 

By the end of season 2, Simon feels like a much more mature character that is ready for everything that comes with loving the Crown Prince of Sweden. 

A season 3? We say yes! We need to see these boys enjoy each other, at least just a little. We need to see that their struggles were all worth it. They deserve a little space just to love each other before the entire world (and the monarchy) bares down on them from above. Netflix, please renew our beloved queer show. Young Royals has become a religious experience that we are not ready to part with just yet. 

---

Young Royals Season 2 is available to stream on Netflix globally now. If you missed it, you can check our analysis on Wilhelm here. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all queer stuff!