Young Royals S3 Ep4: The Most Jaw-dropping Moments of Episode Four

It’s March 18, aka Young Royals Day, and while we all eagerly wait for the final episode to drop on Netflix, we decided to bring you the most jaw-dropping moments from Young Royals S3 Ep4 to entertain you while the time comes. Now, when we say jaw-dropping, we mean that this episode is the definition of intense. There’s a lot going on and emotions are HIGH, so hold on tight.

Simon (Omar Rudberg) and Linda (Carmen Gloria Pérez) are dealing with the aftermath of the attack on their home. They’re worried and scared, but Wille (Edvin Ryding) manages to strike a deal with the Royal Court to guarantee their safety. And while that helps ease the tension a bit, like everything in life, it comes with a price both Wille and Simon end up paying.

At Hillerska, students are fed up with the restrictions that continue to strip them of their privileges, so inspired by an unfunny joke about Simon’s socialist stance, they decide to go on strike.

And speaking of Simon, it is precisely the differences in his ideals that put him in constant conflict with Wille. In fact, those differences in their respective points of view become a major topic of conflict between them in Young Royals S3 Ep4. But we’ll talk about that later.

Sara’s emotional evolution continues to show that positive steps are being taken in the right direction. And August, being August, drops a major bombshell at the end of the episode that left us all shaken. So, like we said, emotions truly are running high in this episode. 

Are you ready for some of the most jaw-dropping moments in Young Royals S3 Ep4? Let’s go!

Hillerska on Strike

As we said when we started this article, in Young Royals S3 Ep4 there seems to be a joke at Simon’s expense going through the halls of Hillerska where they make fun of his socialist stance. All this following the photo that he took with the little boy and that he shared on Instagram during the Valborg celebration.

Vincent (Nils Wetterholm) takes this joke a bit further when he calls Simon a communist, and, in front of him and Wille, declares that their relationship is a conflict of interest because the Crown Prince represents everything Simon opposes. Simon clarifies that wanting a democratically elected head of state doesn’t make you a communist, but Vincent doesn’t seem to want to stop pestering him anytime soon.

However, his hurtful comments towards Simon make him come up with a plan so that the students can regain the privileges they were stripped of and hopefully even save the graduation dinner: a strike. We know, the irony, but we will leave that topic for another time.

The students organize and peacefully decide to go on a sit-in strike, refusing to attend any of their classes or events until they are heard. The acting director, Vanessa Hamilton (Marie Robertson), does not take them very seriously at first, and on the contrary, she decides to restrict their access to food and even their dorms to force them to desist. 

But the students remain steadfast in their fight and after spending a night crammed in the school’s big hall, they reach an agreement with the principal so that their phones are returned, the curfew is lifted, and the third years can have their graduation dinner.

That the idea came from Vincent and that it came at the expense of a constant mockery of Simon’s ideas doesn’t sit well with us, but we did like seeing the students using their voices to fight for their rights. So job well done folks, you managed to even the score.

Wille and Simon clashing on everything

This may be an unpopular opinion, but we love seeing Wille and Simon clashing on many of the social and political issues presented in Young Royals S3 Ep4. Call us crazy, but in fact, we think it’s good for them because it forces them to question each other, build bridges, and try to understand one another.

And yes, we are aware that differences of opinion, especially on social and political issues, can cause a huge rift between two people. But in this case, we believe it can be formative. They’re two teenagers who come from two different worlds, grew up with different experiences, and are learning, through their relationship, to see beyond what is considered right for each of them.

As Simon put it, “I can both like you and be against the system.” The same would be true for Wille. As Wille says near the end of the episode, being different helps them complement and learn from each other. And although we would like them to never clash on anything and always agree on everything, that’s completely impossible. We all have different points of view. There is a saying in Spanish that goes, “Cada cabeza es un mundo,” (each head is a world [in itself]), and in this case, it’s literal.

Wilhelm Not Wanting to be the Role Model for all Queers  

Since we watched Young Royals S3 Ep4 we knew that the scene in which Wille says that he doesn’t want to become the role model for all queers just because he is in love with Simon was going to spark controversy.

Although it hurt us to hear those words come out of Wille’s mouth and we agree with Simon on the fact that if he’s already being forced to launch a foundation just because he is the Crown Prince, he might as well make it align with his interests. We also understand why for Wille, right now, that would be a burden.

We don’t want to go on too long, so we will summarize it in three important points. The first, his age. Wille is only sixteen about to turn seventeen, and he is two seconds away from becoming King—he has a lot on his plate. The last thing he wants is yet another responsibility. 

And although we could call his response ‘selfish’ for refusing to use his power for something good. It is normal for a teenager his age to want to enjoy life without turning everything he does into a crusade. His mere existence already is.

Which brings us to our second point. He grew up following the rules and protocols of the system he is part of. Wille was born a prince, everything he has done since then has been for the benefit of the Crown. He was taught from a very young age to repress opinions, emotions, and statements regarding social, religious, and political issues. Launching an LGBTQ+ foundation would be seen as an open statement for or against all of the aforementioned.

But let’s consider for a moment the idea that he does: he launches an LGBTQ+ foundation. If he did, he would be surrendering the last part of himself to the Crown. His identity and his relationship with Simon are the only aspects of his life that are completely his. We don’t think he’s willing to sacrifice them just so the Crown can get a pat on the back for being progressive. 

And third, and perhaps most importantly, Wille is still on a journey of self-discovery. We’ve waited years between seasons, but in the show’s timeline, it’s been months since he found out he liked Simon. And in fact, since then, he has never used a label to refer to himself.

He only knows that he fell in love with a person who turned out to be a boy. He needs to walk his walk to fully know who he is and whether a label would work for him or not. Everything he’s been learning about himself since he met Simon is new. He still needs time to completely deconstruct himself and decide who he wants to be — a trailblazer or just Wille. 

August’s bombshell on Erik

We are not going to deny that the bomb that August (Malte Myrenberg Gårdinger) drops at the end of Young Royals S3 Ep4 when he tells Wille about Erik’s (Ivar Forsling) involvement in those homophobic initiations shook us to the core. And it wasn’t just because of the revelation itself,  but because of the trauma August inflicted on Wille with that confession.

In an instant, August shattered Wille’s image of his brother. With a single confession, August took away the only family member Wille had ever associated with love and understanding, sending him into an endless spiral of unanswered questions.

We know that the trauma August went through is also valid, but nothing justifies how and why he revealed that information. He could have waited, he could have talked to Boris (Claes Hartelius) about the best way to share it as part of his own healing journey, but he didn’t. Instead, he spat it out as a counterattack to Wille for telling him that Erik was everything August could never be.

Despicable. 

And there you have it folks—the most jaw-dropping moments from Young Royals S3 Ep4. Stick around for our Young Royals S3 Ep5 highlights coming in just a moment. You can read all about S3 Ep3 here.

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The first 5 episodes of Young Royals are available to stream on Netflix. The final episode will drop in less than two hours. Follow us on X and Instagram for all queer stuff!

Featured image: Image Courtesy of Netflix