Nothing like a broken heart to bleed ink

The truth of the matter is that Amalia's character has always been disrespected in some way. In seasons 1 and 2, it was played for laughs. Let's take the sheltered, spoiled princess down a peg or two kinda humour. I'd say sometimes it wasn't all that funny, but I can forgive that.

And from season 3 onwards (this including The Great Wave), the way she is continuously disrespected is played for drama, yet never fully resolved. It just keeps piling up, really.

Season 4's case is pretty egregious because she doesn't actually do anything deserving of mockery and derision. Writing issues and preferences aside, Amalia has a pretty good head on her shoulders throughout.

Despite having mended fences, Armand can still be a condescending jerk to her; she is disrespected by her fellow royals; freaking Qilby goes out of his way to insult her; Toross calls her a salad...

It's not just that Amalia can barely catch a break through it all. What's even worse is that the season actually built up to a perfectly curated moment where she could finally put her foot down and demand her due respect, and the narrative completely brushes her off.

I'm talking, of course, about the throne room scene from episode 10. Right after Armand explains to his father-in-law why his kingdom is always targeted.

I honestly expected that scene to result in a powerful speech or declaration from Amalia, only to be left completely disappointed when it amounted to nothing.

Because that is the perfect moment for Amalia to finally call everyone out and reassert her position as Princess of the Sadida Kingdom. It has all the elements that should lead to that kind of scene!

Even after admitting he should have listened to Yugo when he first tried to warn him, the moment Amalia makes her presence known, Armand's first instinct is to disparagely and snidely ask if she's come to defend Yugo. Which she thankfully shuts down by revealing the severity of the situation: Yugo has been captured by the Necros.

This is then followed by a brief speech with incresing fire and intensity as Amalia demands to be treated with respect because she is trying to fulfill her duties and inform him of something very serious.

The way it's structured, you'd think this speech will segue into a more climatic declaration that will help Amalia establish herself as a prominent political figure whose opinons and expertise must be taken into account.

Only for this to cut to the next scene, far away from Amalia and the Sadida Kingdom. Who we will not see again until halfway past episode 11.

And the worst part is that said episode doesn't even resume this conversation. No, instead, it immediately cuts to everyone on the balcony as they watch the giant portal tear a hole into their reality, allowing the Necro threat to advance.

With Amalia outright confirming that's what she wanted to talk about but was somehow too late to do so?

I mean, how?

Because the scene just cuts to them already on the balcony. They somehow figured out something was wrong even before Amalia had a chance to say anything and made their way outside to check it out.

They didn't even had the decency to end her previous scene from episode 10 by having Canar and Renate interrupt her and tell their king there's something he should see like back in episode 5.

That at least would explain this utter disservice to Amalia.

I mean...

Poor girl didn't even get to do the one thing she set out to do and warn Armand of the upcoming invasion.

So Amalia got her thunder stolen by... poor pacing?

And that's the thing!

The throne room scene should have led to Amalia asserting her position as Sadida Princess and proving her worth to, at the very least, Armand.

She should have been allowed to make a grand declaration explaining she's been to the Necroworld. She knows what the Necros plan to do to their world, and it is not pretty. She should have been allowed to talk some strategy with her brother and display her quick-thinking and crisis-solving abilities she's gained over the years from adventuring and saving the world!

I wholeheartedly believe Armand actually entrusted the kingdom to her and not Aurora. Damn it, add decisive scenes and character moments that make Armand realise his sister's much more capable than he ever gave her credit for and that the kingdom will be safe in her hands!

Add more value to that climatic scene!

For all Armand is the eldest, and the one raised to succeed their father and lead their people, it's clear to see that Amalia far surpasses him in other areas.

Have that play into his decision.

(Thanks @laneylunen for pointing it out back in the day!)

Now that we're on the topic of individual strengths and virtues, these two frames go back to back, and they are such a wonderful visual key as to each sibling's strengths.

Armand may have been raised to rule and be adept at diplomacy (allegedly; we've only ever seen him attend meetings, never mediating them), but even though he was trained from a very young age to be a powerful fighter and protect his kingdom, the truth of the matter is that he hasn't been in an actual battle since Nox's attack.

Almost a full decade prior.

So when faced with his first ever major scale crisis and armed conflict as king, he is petrified. Nearly shellshocked and unresponsive.

Meanwhile, Amalia's unorthodox upbringing adventuring and saving the world means she has plenty of experience facing crises and reacting to them in record time.

What she lacks in traditional princess values she more than makes up for in aptitude for fighting and problem-solving.

While Armand is too stunned to move, Amalia is focused and determined. She immediately turns to the Osamodas King to ask for his help, whereas Armand is too paralysed by anxiety to do anything but support her when his father-in-law tries to deny her request.

This is brilliant storytelling that really showcases where both Amalia and Armand converge and differ as people due to their different paths in life.

And it would be even more brilliant to have clearly and unambiguously incorporated this into Armand's decision to sacrifice himself and let Amalia succeed him because he knows their people are in good hands.

I'm just saying, for a season where these two finally bury the hatchet, they did very little to explore all those elements behind their relationship. Like Armand finally seeing that his little sister is all grown up, and Amalia mourning her brother and king who, despite everything, she loved dearly and loved her dealry in return.

This may be a bit of a tangent brought on by the fact that I'm thinking about this retroactively, but by having Amalia assert her position and her kingdom's importance, you also sort of explain some developments from the webtoon.

Like Aurora's claim in chapter 6 that Amalia is always boasting about Sadida traditions which is... demonstrably false. I genuinely cannot think of a single canon instance where Amalia has boasted about her traditions. Not once.

You could always say it might have happened offscreen, but then there's the fact that Aurora said in chapter 21 that she barely saw Amalia during her one year stay in the kingdom, which, judging by Amalia's words in chapter 22, we're supposed to believe is true? Which begs the question, if you two barely interacted, then when did she even have the time to boast about her people's traditions to you in the first place???

See? The timeline is too confusing and contradictory and convoluted.

At least if Amalia had managed to defend her kingdom, you could think that's what Aurora is referring to. Sure, that still doesn't count as "boasting", but the Osamodas are so self-important and condescending to the Sadida, it honestly wouldn't be far-fetched to believe they would simply misinterpret Amalia's words.

I mean, they didn't bat an eyelash even as Armand explained his kingdom's importance to them.

I just think that Amalia deserved a win beyond (briefly) reconciling with Armand and marrying Yugo after a full season of being insulted and condescended to by a good chunk of the cast.