I Can't Stop Thinking About August After What We Learned About Him In Season Three

I can't stop thinking about August after what we learned about him in season three

I know a lot of people will disagree with this, but August made a difference. I've seen people say it doesn't matter because he didn't eliminate initiation completely, but I can't agree with that. We've seen through a wide variety of characters that almost no one even cared to make a difference. Generations of students at Hillerska simply turned a blind eye and accepted the status quo. And this is especially interesting in the context of Erik, August, and Wille.

From what we know about the hierarchy at Hillerska, Erik in his third year would have been the most powerful student in the school, much less in Forest Ridge. We know very little about Erik. We could say that he seemed like a pretty confident person, but we can't know for sure if that was the truth or just a facade. What we can say for sure, however, is that if he really wanted to, he could have changed his classmates' minds and removed THAT part in the initiation. He didn't. He didn't even refuse to take part himself, and as far as we know he didn't see a problem with Wille going through the initiation as well.

But August, who was somewhere near the bottom of the hierarchy in his first year, decided to gain power, and what was his goal? To make a difference. Which he did. His motives were mostly selfish, no doubt, but, you know, I genuinely don't care what people are motivated by if their contribution actually helps someone. Yes, he didn't cancel the initiation completely - he couldn't have. In season two, we saw how little it really took for his own friends to oust him as head boy and captain. If he had tried to insist on not doing the first-year initiation at all, he would have met exactly the same resistance from his fellow students because, again, most of them treated the situation as "if we suffered, they should too." In that case, August wouldn't have changed anything at all. But he was clearly able to convince the others that the video part could be left out, and it was accepted.

To be honest, I got the impression from season two that Wilhelm would also be the one to use his power to make changes. We've already seen him convince the Society to turn against Alexander instead of Simon. We've also seen his subtle (and not so subtle) manipulations in season two. Until the final season, I thought that in his third year, Wilhelm would also be the head boy and probably lead the Society, and for his part, do his best to reform their old traditions. Because that's the way these things usually happen: gradually.

I thought about all of this before the final episode and before the fandom discussion, before I found out that the series wasn't at all what I thought it was, so… I guess none of this makes sense.

I think the right answer would be: he does, but the show choose to ignore it for The Message. Let me explain.

Wille is a teenager from an extremely rich family. There is a million opportunities for him to find hobbies. It was literally brought to him on a silver platter. He also had much more freedom before Erik died, giving him a chance to find something for himself earlier. But the show want to play the "evil monarchy won't let him have personality" card, which... could've worked better if he had personality!

We don't know anything about his hobbies, we don't know anything exept, as OP said, "him hating his life". But if he had hobbies, and we knew about them, the conflict with the monarchy trying to change his image and erase his own personality would work so much better. Does Wille like horseback riding? No, let him join rowing team, like Erik (I know what you want to say, but no, it's not what actually happened. Wille shown zero interest in horseback riding, he quit it because he didn't like it. It's one of the most "royal" hobbies there is, Kristina would love him doing that, trust me. What happened is them actually forced him to do anything, because Wille has no interests on his own).

Wille likes, idk, comic books? No, he can't talk about it, it's not a good hobby for his status. Is he interested in sustainability? No, he can't talk about it either, it's 'too political'.

You see? It's the same problem as his non-existing opinions. The writers want us to feel bad for Wilhelm, because he's not allowed to have any of those things, hobbies or his own opinions, but they ended up with him simply not having any personality aside from... idk, I can't even say he hates his life, because, once again, he's pretty cool with all the privileges he has. He hates public attention what comes with his life, and of course he hates the situation with his family, but it's all more personal problems.

Here I just want to say that realistically he'd probably have the most richy-bichy hobbies possible, but it would be inconvenient for the narrative. We pretend here what he can't be spoiled and still evoke sympathy from the audience.

I don't know how to phrase this question better, but...

Does Wille have any personality, after all?

Well, I thought that being a prince was a pretty integral part of him. His status came as a great point of conflict in the entire story. It had the proper weight, it gave him a solid background and his decisions were obviously informed by that.

Now, we learned in s3 that all his characteristics were merely the result of him hating his life? That he basically has no interests or hobbies of his own? (other than Simon, which is... Listen, I kind of like cheesy when it's fanfiction. In this story I just cringed.)

I wished that Young Royals would develop the characters this season. Instead, I felt like it destroyed all the parts I liked about them.

(And no, I am not interested in what the show's agenda was. I'm very critical of that. That's the point.)

"You would get more votes than him."

↳ Prince Wilhelm in 2.02

This scene right here is my favorite part of s3 I swear.

YOUNG ROYALS 3.03

August's Ending Was NOT "Justice"

I am astonished and frankly appalled when I see people extolling how August's storyline was concluded, lauding it as the best and most appropriate fate for him, and going on and on about how beautiful the poetic justice of it was.

And then those exact same people pat themselves on the back for being in favor of social justice, talk about how the system must be burned down, and preach about how even though it is hard to destroy institutions it is so important to keep trying.

And they do not see or understand how these two positions conflict with one another.

First, those who believe that August becoming the new Crown Prince is a fitting punishment must also be in favor of the monarchy continuing. They have to be pro-Monarchy because how else can August's "punishment" take effect? And they have to want the monarchy to reign on exactly as-is with no change or advancement because, again, August must face the exact same system that Wille did as his "punishment."

And since they want the monarchy to continue unchanged, they also are in favor of giving an unrepentant sex offender money, power, and influence. They want August to be given more money, power, and influence than Wilhelm because August will now outrank Wille. But that is "punishment" for August apparently.

They want August to be looked up to, admired, and set up as a role model, catered to, bowed down to, extolled as a leader, and have his ego continually stroked. Because that is "punishment" for him. They want August to represent (fictional) Sweden on the world stage. That's his "punishment."

"But it's "punishment" because August will be sad!" they cry! "He has lost Sara and won't be able to do anything he wants! The show told us so", they exclaim!

What the show actually depicted was that what August wants is to have authority, admiration, class privilege, and a system that will coverup his wrongs. Guess what he gets as Crown Prince: Check, all of the above.

August's desires are completely in synch with what the Crown wants *and* August is good at the slick, surface level glad handing and PR required. The Court can with utmost discretion make sure he gets treatment for any addiction or disorders he may have; the military service can offer the structure and chain-or-command he adores; the Palace, which he can control more completely than he ever controlled Hillerska because he is the only option, will be his new home; no more need to make up lies to appease others, Royal PR will do that for him. And now Vincent has a direct line of access to and influence over the Monarchy. But August is the one being "punished" here.

"But he's lost Sara!!!" Sara was right, his feelings for her will pass because they weren't about her, they were about the way she made him feel. There will be lots and lots of women who will be more than happy to make him feel good about himself.

Those who are happy with how August's storyline ended are happy that the cis het rich white male got away with every crime he committed without even being subjected to public shaming or ridicule, or any loss of status and instead was given his heart's desire. Because he may regret it one day. And that is sufficient "punishment" for him. Right.

Guess I was wrong for wanting to see Prince Andrew prosecuted and made to account for his actions. He's been punished enough apparently, is continually being punished in fact, because he is a royal and must resign himself to all the indignities that come with being the 1% of the 1%. Good on King Charles to make sure he is oh so "punished."

August's ending was perfect poetic justice! Just once, it would be nice to get actual justice served on the person that represented classism, racism, sexism, all the "isms" and more. But no, not even in a work of fiction. The rich white man wins again.

Maybe Young Royals is a realistic drama after all.

Honestly... I think he also doesn't realize how it affected Simon. He posted that video to harm Wille, and he knows for sure how it turned out for him. All his attention in this situation and its aftermath has been directed at Wilhelm. But Simon? Even Wille is hardly aware of all the shit he's been up against since the video leak. Even if someone were to tell August that he ruined Simon's life, I doubt he'd realize how it actually manifests.

Plus, yeah, he doesn't give a single fuck about Simon.

I’ve seen a lot of complaints that August only apologizes to Wille for the video and not to Simon, but I actually think this is intentional. Like Sara tells him, August didn’t love her for her, he loved who he was when he was with her - she was always just an extension of him. This is how he seems Simon too - as an extension of Wille rather than a person in his own right, with his own hopes and dreams and feelings. The thought of apologizing to Simon (or Sara for that matter) has never even crossed his mind.