Young Royals: step right up for a NO-SPOILER run down of season 2

The highly anticipated second season of Young Royals is set to be unleashed on the world through Netflix on November 1, 2022. The Swedish show is a queer teen production about two guys who meet at school and fall in love. Sounds like your average, run-of-the-mill queer teen drama right? Wrong. This show is anything but average, as folks quickly discovered after devouring season 1. The wait for season 2 has been agonizing, but it’s finally here. This is your friendly neighborhood no-spoiler run down of what to expect in the upcoming season. 

To recap season 1, after Prince Wilhlem (Edvin Ryding) and Simon (Omar Rudberg) meet at Hillerska boarding school, sparks quickly fly between the two young men. Despite the fact that the Prince tries to fight off his feelings for Simon at first, his efforts are ultimately all in vain and he finds himself powerless against Simon’s charms (we mean, same bestie!)

They keep everything on the DL at first and things get hot and heavy between the two relatively quickly. One of their classmates happens to catch them in the act one day, films it, and releases the video onto the internet. Even under normal circumstances, teen sex scandals are never received well, however, in this case, it’s even more problematic because Wilhelm is first in line to inherit the Crown to the whole darn country. A teen royal same-sex sex scandal is a whole other level of oof. 

A whole lot of drama ensues (understandably) and season 1 ends with the future of Wilhelm and Simon’s relationship completely up in the air. Q+ Magazine has watched season 2 and y’all, even though this is a no-spoiler run down, we can tell you that Young Royals season 2 is nothing like we expected. 

Plenty of theories were thrown around these offices in the lead-up to us getting our hands on season 2, and we gotta tell you, not a single prediction we had came to fruition. Wilhelm travels back to Hillerska after Christmas break and Simon does too. All the other characters that we met in season 1 return as well, but y’all, that’s where the correctness of our predictions ends. 

Our staffers went into season 2 with no trailer, no promotional content from Netflix, and no interviews with the cast, and oh boy, our heads exploded. From the second we pressed play, it became abundantly clear to us that Lisa Ambjörn is a storytelling mastermind that we definitely underestimated. We would give anything to go back and watch season 2 again for the first time because y’all – what a freaking experience. 

In this no-spoiler run down, we can tell you that both Wilhelm and Simon are in hell. A deep, dark well of misery encircles them both and each of them has to walk through an enormous amount of emotional mess before a light is shined down into their well of pain. They hurt each other, they hurt themselves, and bloody hell, they hurt us too. 

But as with everything, where there is darkness there is also light, and the light that each of these characters experiences this season comes from needed, unexpected places. They find answers and solace in people that we least expected them to – and wow. Just wow. 

Is Wilmon still Wilmon? We’ll never tell. 

But we can tell you that the angst factor runs high this season. If you thought Young Royals had nailed the angst thing in season 1, you’re in for a new level of hurt. It comes at you from every single direction at million-mile speeds. It’s relentless and all-encompassing, but fam, we wouldn’t want it any other way. 

In this no-spoiler run down, we can also tell you that Young Royals season 2 is an excellent tutorial on how to process and control oneself during intense emotional experiences because we can assure you that we went through the full spectrum of All The Feelings. 

We laughed (a lot).

We yelled (even more). 

We threw things at the television (Netflix, you owe us $500 bux)

We stared in shock and disbelief (like yooooo).

And we cried (intensely). 

We are still in disbelief that this is Omar Rudberg’s first acting gig. The talent of this human is next level. The flawless intensity of his performance is jaw-dropping from start to finish and it’s hard to believe that Simon Eriksson is not real, because Rudberg manages to make him shine so brightly. We were deeply affected by his performance. If this is just his beginning, we can’t wait to see what greatness he gifts audiences with in the future. 

Edvin Ryding may have been at this for a little longer than his costar, but what he does with Wilhelm in season 2 is nothing short of artistic beauty. The nuance he brings to this character, and the depths and complexity of his exploration of the human condition left us completely speechless (in the very best way possible). 

If you were impressed with Ryding and Rudberg at the end of season 1, by the end of season 2 you’ll be utterly spellbound. 

It’s also worth mentioning that the supporting cast clearly understood the season 2 assignment, and this show wouldn’t be what it is without them. Hats off to everyone because every single person played a role in the shattering of our emotional state over the course of the six episodes (we are not okay, fam). 

Fandom is not ready for what is coming. Grab your emotional support blankey/human/animal and settle in – it’s going to be a bumpy ride. Don’t miss out on our very spoilery reaction reviews for episodes 1 – 6, dropping on November 1. And our full interview with Edvin and Omar on November 2.

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Young Royals season 2 will be available globally on Netflix on November 1. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all queer stuff!