I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how far Wille and Simon have come during these two seasons of Young Royals. It makes you want to re-watch all those little moments that began it all between them, right? Especially since Wille had to work so hard to break through Simon’s guard in the battleground of their school and earn his trust that he wasn’t just another one of the a-holes about to humiliate him at any second.
One of my most treasured, subtle moments that I always look forward to seeing in S1 is when you see the process of Wille actually becoming a sanctuary for Simon at school despite the walls Simon built around himself.
That feeling is shown so cleverly and heartwarmingly in the scene where Wille joins the rowing ream for their early morning fitness sessions (albeit late XD) and Simon’s whole demeanour visibly brightens the moment he sees Wille has joined them. IT GETS ME EMOSH EVERY TIME.
Before Wille joins them, we get to watch with him out his window at the team gathering, and it is there that we witness the perfect snapshot of the utter hell Simon goes through every day at that school. You see all the boys collectively ignoring Simon and ostracising him (from first years to seniors). And what rankles is that you can see it isn’t from Simon’s lack of trying – he actively tries to engage with them and join the circle of bodies but they treat him like he is invisible.
It would be so humiliating and so deeply lonely to be put in that situation time and time again – and this is just one morning of many! At the end of this new humiliation, you can see the resigned look on Simon’s face as he has to once again choke it all down and bring his armour out to emotionally survive another day of his school peers signalling to him that he is worthless – not worth saying hello to, not worth talking to, not worth even acknowledging.
And here is the awful truth – that shit is traumatising, no matter how strong you think you are being in the face of it! Simon is an incredibly strong, grounded, independent boy with a good support network at home, but he has to endure this bullying every day alone amongst the boys. He may be able to scoff at their behaviour in his head because he is far more emotionally intelligent, but the fact of the matter is that when you have to endure constant slights every day like that, it can absolutely erode your self-confidence and slowly condition your subconscious into reconsidering that maybe there is something fundamentally unlikable about you after all. Repetition is a powerful force.
Simon has only been in that environment at Hillerska for a month or two, but it would still be affecting him on some level because how could it not? The only real safe space for him at school is with his sister (and probably choir and the music room).
Until he meets Wille.
And this is why I love this scene so much! Because you truly get to witness how much Wille’s presence starts to give Simon peace even at this early stage of their friendship. Because there Simon is, jogging in a group that doesn’t want him there, exerting mental energy into keeping his armour up so he doesn’t have to feel how shit it makes him feel, when out of nowhere he hears a cheerful “Hi!” from beside him and it is Wille.
The way Simon’s whole face lights up when he realises he is no longer alone in the group because Wille is there (insert all the crush feelings), gets me evvvvvvvery time. Simon’s face is actual sunshine!
(^ Apologies to Prince Wilhelm for these unflattering screenshots of him, but the smile he brings out of Simon is the real flattering thing here, sir!)
You can totally understand why Simon’s face turns into sunshine at the sight and sound of Wille being there though – Wille is the first person that morning to acknowledge his existence, and above that, sound genuinely happy for the chance to hang out with him during training. Talk about suddenly feeling like a human being again! And feeling much safer in the presence of a known ally. (And then of course add in that Simon is already crushing on Wille by this point). No wonder Simon can’t stop smiling.
Then of course, the training continues on and we get to see all of Simon’s surreptitious stares at Wille who no doubt looks so cute to him in Struggletown (coz even princes can’t do planking exercises without sweating and groaning like a muppet). You can see how much Simon is enjoying just being around Wille during training. He looks like he is actually having fun at school for one of the very rare occasions outside of choir practice. And since Wille is right there opposite him in the grind, you can tell that Wille has spent every chance he had to claim his space beside Simon, and gosh that must feel so awesome for Simon considering he started the morning with no one acknowledging his existence or wanting him there.
We are witnessing such pure friendship here, and it hurts from how good it feeeeeeels.
Having this new friendship/sanctuary at school for the times when he is away from his sister must have made getting off the bus at school so much more bearable for Simon, you know? It’s no wonder Simon was crushing on Wille so hard by episode two. And I reallllllly, really love that about their dynamic – how from the beginning they found a bit of peace in each other in a school that they struggle emotionally to be at. And it just keeps on growing from there. T_T <3
Okay, my emotions have been satisfactorily spilled. Thank you for the indulgence. XD
