Duty and Independence Clash in Season Two of "Young Royals"

In the relatively unoriginal expositionheavy first season the rebellious prince adjusts to a new life at boarding school where he is bombarded with superficial attention from his classmates and ushered into a cadre of elites by his cousin August Malte Gamp229rdinger Wilhelmamp8217s life is turned upside down when he discovers unfamiliar feelings for his friend Simon Omar Rudberg pictured top right a middleclass commuter student from the nearby town who understands him like nobody else but their forbidden relationship gains new significance when a family tragedy unexpectedly places Wilhelm next in line for the throne While the first season dwelled on glitzy boarding school parties and secret crushes and did not go much further than establishing the central premise amp8220what if the prince of Sweden was queeramp8221 the second season delivers an emotional intimate portrait of a small group of intertwined teens all ready to explode with the weight of a nation on their shoulders and in their heartsEdvin Ryding gives a remarkable performance as the troubled young prince filled with an unimaginable amount of teen angst as he yearns for Simon in lingering glances fragile conversations and breakfast sandwiches made in secret Fighting for revenge against his selfobsessed cousin Wilhelm is quickly lost in a sea of secrets and illdevised conspiracies and he spirals out of control as the queen threatens to demote him if he doesnamp8217t prove himself to be capable of sitting on the throne Wilhelmamp8217s story is gutwrenching to watch every attempt that he makes to reconcile with Simon just makes things worse and as Simon develops new feelings for a less complicated boy it becomes difficult to look away until Wilhelm has found some reliefDespite the stakes the crown the fate of the nation etc Wilhelmamp8217s problems feel remarkably normal heightened of course but no different than the stuff that plagues an average teen wracked with anxiety responsibility and first love Much like the everpresent team of personal bodyguards the centuries of royal obligation and tradition and expectation are in the background just as much as they are in the foreground Young Royals is about the weight of the nation on one young boy but it is also about the weight of any responsibility of growing up of falling in love of finding oneself As Wilhelm tries therapy for the first time on his motheramp8217s command it becomes clear that at heart he is just a teen trying to make his own path in the world In this way amp8220Young Royalsamp8221 encapsulates what it means to grow up to decide for ourselves and not for others who we will beWilhelmamp8217s journey of inner turmoil is paralleled by a similar spotlight on his cousin August a volatile social leader whose villain arc is complicated by a developing friendship with Simonamp8217s sister Sara Frida Argento who has Asperger syndrome More successfully than in the first season season two of Young Royals gives every character a chance to tell their side of the story and by the end of these six episodes what is right and what is wrong become much more complicated than black and white Simon too asserts new ambitions and new feelings as he establishes an identity independent from Wilhelm and the prince faces uncertain ground with every stepWhile season two of Young Royals is difficult to watch in many ways a foil to Heartstopper Netflixamp8217s hit gay teen romance from earlier this year based on Alice Osemanamp8217s comics of the same name which was lauded for its sunny accepting account of queer teenhood it is clear that it is one of the most engrossing most meaningful examples of its genre Wilhelmamp8217s fraught personal negotiation of familial duty and independence traces a universal path of choosing how to define oneself in relation to those who have come before and while he faces extraordinary pressures the fact that he doesnamp8217t give up could be a lesson that maybe just maybe everything will someday be alrightClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Duty and Independence Clash in Season Two of "Young Royals"

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Ben Kramer

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Duty and Independence Clash in Season Two of "Young Royals"

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