So the trailers say different things according to what language you watch it in, which is something we’ve seen before in the other seasons. And there’s something really interesting about a part of the French translated trailer:

In the Swedish version with English dub, Wille tells Simon (I assume?) "Everything you do now represents me and the royal house"

But in the French version, Wille tells Simon "What you post [online] represents me and the royal family too." Which could mean that Simon posted something about them maybe, without asking Wille, but I don’t see that happening. But you know what can have a lot of impact on the royal house’s image?? The Crown Prince’s boyfriend going to a Workers’ Rights event (Bjärstad Workers Association). Assuming that this is a for workers rights, and perhaps a protest.

This could potentially tie in Simon’s own values being very out of sorts wit Wille’s position as a Prince, and would bring back the social media aspect that was super important in s1.

things that stand out to me about the yr s3 poster

obviously the BROKEN CROWN ABOVE WILLE’S HEAD!!! can signify wille going for abdication and/or the end of conforming to antiquated traditions and standards, which is more or less what the monarchy represents

wille and simon both appear to be staring directly into the camera (hello fourth wall break ilysm), could potentially represent the public scrutiny they’re going to be facing this season

august is ignoring the camera, he’s looking at sara instead!!

sara is staring in felice’s direction, and felice staring in sara’s direction, but their eyes never meet. rather, both of them are staring out into the distance

interestingly enough, felice and wille are the only ones completely in focus. august is very much visible, but not as much as felice and wille are. simon is out of focus, but not so blurred that you can’t see his features or his expression. finally, sara is not only out of focus, but she’s also the most blurred.

+ felice’s face is still angled towards the camera. you can see her well! but sara is turned completely to the side on top of being out of focus

the purple light is hugely hitting the faces of simon, wille, and felice! it’s not as prominent on august, and it just barely skims the top of sara’s head.

To August anon 2

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply! I don't know if you'll even see this as I've decided not to risk the backlash of putting it on the main tag, but I hope you do.

[Earlier posts: August anon 1, August anon 2]

I want to curate the discussion a bit now that you've shifted part of the focus on Sara. I don't share your position of liking both her and August for being 'morally dark' people, and I fear it may be a bit jarring to any Sara fans reading this. So I've decided to screenshot your message and put it under the cut instead of replying directly.

We disagree on some fundamental things when it comes to August's and especially Sara's characterisation, and I doubt we're going to reach consensus. But that's okay! I'm just going to explain some parts of my POV below, and then we can agree to disagree. There are also a few areas where we seem to be getting our wires crossed (e.g. what we mean by 'understanding' the consequences) so I want to clear those up.

Most of this rambling essay was written before the S3 trailer came out, so I'm not focusing much on the glimpses we see of them in the trailer. But I am still using the spoiler tags just to be safe.

CW: negative take on Sara (but the anon actually likes her); couple of suicide mentions

Okay so... I'm going to start by clarifying a couple of things:

Understanding vs. understanding

Infantilising vs. taking young age into account

When I talk about August and the consequences, I'm not saying he lacks the intellect or analytical thinking to know/predict them. I'm saying he lacks the empathy and relevant frames of reference to understand them. I think we're just using the word 'understand' to mean different things - maybe internalise, empathise or relate would be a better choice for what I mean by it?

To revisit my previous example, August as an incredibly privileged member of the elite cannot understand i.e. relate to Simon's experience as someone whose ability to make his own reputation and get by on his own merit has been permanently affected by the video. As a very confidently straight man, he also cannot relate to Wille's experience as someone whose non-straight sexuality, a deeply personal and private thing that he wasn't even done figuring out, has suddenly been exposed to the world and potentially even some homophobic hate.

I'm not saying this to infantilise, defend, or excuse August. I'm saying it because to me, it partly explains why it's so easy for him to dismiss the harm to Simon and see his betrayal of Wille as just a matter of loyalty - the only moral code he knows - instead of something that would've been wrong no matter who the victim was. It's a thought pattern that stems from his upbringing and worldview, and it would have to be dismantled for him to feel proper remorse. Which I think would probably take professional help at this point.

(I agree with you that August would be extremely prejudiced against Boris. A glimpse of him googling therapy providers or booking an appointment for after graduation might feel more realistic to me - but I guess it depends on what the writers want to do with him. We already saw very quick progress with Wille in S2 so it's safe to say they can take some liberties.)

I still believe that August will lose his social status in S3, likely towards the end. But it's fair that you don't, and the trailer is certainly edited to support your position. If he retains his status, then you may be right about him remaining the same old asshole! If he does lose it, then my original point about him likely not being resilient enough to cope with the consequences still stands. He is very much the kind of person to whom suicide is the "proud" way out compared to the shame of losing everything.

Now, the age thing.

Respectfully, I think you may be ascribing too much meaning to August and Sara being of age in S2 (note that Sara was still 17 when she made the deal with August in S1). Eighteen is the age of legal adulthood, yes, but it doesn't make them fully grown and mature adults in the (neuro)biological, psychological or social sense.

[This feels like a good point to say that I am not going to try to account for Sara's neurodivergence here. I definitely don't have the insight, so if anything I've written below is in any way inaccurate or offensive to persons with AuDHD, please let me know!!]

Firstly, it's important to note that that the human brain matures gradually and unevenly. The prefrontal cortex i.e. the 'reasoning centre' only matures in the mid-to-late 20s, while parts that handle things like right/wrong, risk/reward, and emotional responses (e.g. the amygdala) mature earlier. This can cause teens and young adults to struggle with things like impulse control, assessing the long-term consequences of their actions, understanding others' emotions, and rational decision-making in situations that trigger a strong emotional response. Reason can get overtaken by emotion on a chemical level; sometimes the young person can't even fully explain afterwards why they did something they rationally knew was wrong all along.

[I don't think August was in a particularly analytical state of mind when he decided to post the video. He was an intelligent but emotionally unstable and empathically challenged 18-year-old who felt like he had nothing left to lose and the only moral code he knew (i.e. loyalty) was obsolete. He was also still stewing in the emotional turmoil of his humiliation and likely stuck in a negative feedback loop. It feels very plausible to me that he could be in a very bad place for a pretty long time and still function enough to plan his revenge (more on the revenge part below).]

Secondly, both August and Sara have also had some pretty traumatic experiences (Sara's bullying, August's dad's suicide, the influence of both their dads while they were still in their lives). These may have impacted their emotional and psychological development in various ways and created some thought patterns. Not to play arm-chair psychologist, but I don't think it's a coincidence August's decision to post the video is related to his family estate and legacy, while Sara's decision to make a deal with August is related to the threat of being sent back to Marieberg.

[This feels particularly relevant for Sara, whose bullying was brutal and long-term enough for her to have to repeat a year. The negative attention on Simon after the video probably seemed less severe in comparison, and also like a 'first incident' (in fact, she might have even felt like Linda was applying a different standard to Simon's ordeal compared to hers by immediately wanting to take them both out of Hillerska).]

[I vehemently disagree with Sara's idea that the damage to Simon was already done and it wouldn't have made a difference whether he knew who was responsible, but I think it matters to some extent that she didn't know the history between Simon and August. To her, the video probably seemed like something that was mostly between August and Wille. That idea was likely reinforced by August consistently dismissing Simon's side of it - and also by Simon seemingly moving on with Marcus and no longer being the talk of the school after Christmas. This kind of rationalisation may have even made Sara feel better about pursuing a relationship with August in S2.]

[I also think Sara probably felt like she had the right to be selfish after everything she'd been through. Simon's support during her bullying wasn't conditional; she didn't feel like she "owed him" any sacrifices. It was clearly Simon's idea to follow Sara to Hillerska, and she may have even felt like he was hovering a bit (I doubt S1E1 was her first time saying she was fine now and he didn't have to be there). Then, Simon started to keep secrets and even see Micke for reasons Sara didn't know, altering the terms of their relationship, while Sara was finally daring to dream of things she'd been denied for so long. Friends, a better future, even romance. To her, it felt extremely unfair to have to give all that up and go back to a school that was a nightmare to her but not to Simon. Especially when her and Simon's lives weren't as intertwined anymore and she finally felt like she was gaining some agency in her own.]

Thirdly (circling back to the point about maturity), it's good to keep in mind that both August and Sara are still in the high-school phase of life. A phase when most people are a bit selfish, and their past and current dramas and dreams for the future are everything to them. They haven't really acquired much experience or long-term perspective yet. So I really don't think we can call them that much more mature in the social sense than, say, Wilhelm and Simon. They are still messy teens living their messy teen lives, shaped by their upbringing and limited life experience, all the while thinking they are basically grown adults.

So am I saying all this to infantilise August and Sara and excuse their actions? I'm sure it sounds that way; hence, not putting this on the main tag.

But the way I see it, to infantilise them would be to say they weren't responsible for their actions or didn't know what they're doing. They are responsible, and they do know. All the factors laid out above (and also in my previous August posts) explain their reasoning and actions to some extent, but they do not excuse them. The fact still remains that they both applied their best judgment and deliberately chose to do the thing that they knew was wrong.

You're right that they took time to consider their decisions in S1, although I don't think we can know for sure exactly how long August takes. The timeline is a mess at that point; he is still at the Palace wearing the same outfit when the others make their statement, and I doubt he could've been there overnight. But he does take several hours in any case, and although he isn't thinking rationally at that point, he still knows what he's doing is wrong. In fact, he does it with the sole intention of hurting others, which makes it all the more reprehensible.

I just want to caution against labelling him as some evil, fundamentally unfeeling mastermind. He's just a very selfish and immature young man with a very warped view of the world, who needs to see some consequences for his own sake as much as his victims'. I think part of the reason we saw him turn so soft with Sara in S2 was to underline that he is capable of empathy and caring; it's just a matter of unlocking those emotions. They haven't exactly been nurtured growing up, so he is only applying them to the people he deems "worthy", instead of all his fellow human beings. That selective empathy is another thing he seriously needs to work on, alongside the lack of accountability.

As for Sara, she takes several days to consider what to do about the video, which makes her betrayal of Simon more severe. But as explained above, it's so much more nuanced than her not caring about him. (Or indeed her being some poor victim who didn't know what she was doing and fell in love with The Devil! Don't get me wrong, August definitely let her believe she was guiding him in a better direction, which may have even pushed some Micke buttons in her subconscious and/or memories of Simon's insistence that everyone deserves a second chance... But she still made her own decisions and is responsible for them.)

It's easy to forget that we do in fact see Sara aware that her actions are wrong even before the end of S2. She looks conflicted/unsure when she and August make out in S1E6, cries when Simon earnestly proclaims "I like you when you are you" and "I'm trying to be your friend again because I need you" after she has just betrayed him, and again looks conflicted when the siblings talk about loving the "wrong person" in S2E5. She did some very selfish things and hid them for much too long, yes, but I believe her regret is genuine. It will take some skilful writing to make her and Simon reconcile in a way that makes sense, doesn't feel rushed or reduce her to an archetype, and doesn't just magic away her leftover feelings for August (as those will probably take some time to clear out). But I do have faith it can be done.

So I think that just about covers what I wanted to say. This isn't a comprehensive essay by any means, and I'm sure it won't go down well with everyone. I also don't expect it to change your mind about these characters, anon, and that's okay!

I mostly just wanted to push back on the notion that Sara and August being 18 means all their bad decisions are now on par with bad decisions taken by fully grown adults and their character development is now set in stone. I highly doubt the show will end with them both proudly standing behind their poor choices - I can certainly see August doing that if he doesn't see any repercussions, but not Sara.

In any case, thank you for taking the time to explain your point of view on these characters, and sorry again for taking so long to respond!

Just thinking out loud about Young Royals and potential futures:

I'm not fully convinced that Wilhelm has a strong preference to become king or not become king. I think what he hates is how the monarchy has affected his family relationships. Whether he continues as crown prince or abdicates, his relationship with his parents is not going to be what he wants. They just aren't (emotionally) available to parent the way that Linda is for her kids.

I'm not convinced Simon cares, either. He thinks the monarchy is stupid, but it's the system, not the people. He knows that Wilhelm cannot overthrow the monarchy on his own, and he doesn't expect him to. And he hates what the monarchy has done to Wilhelm. But Wilhelm being crown prince, on its own, doesn't doom their relationship from Simon's POV. If Wilhelm can find a healthy way to operate within the monarchy and not lose his sense of self, I feel like Simon would be okay with that even if it's not his preference. He'd also be okay with Wilhelm not being the king.

I ship Sara x August hard, but if August becomes king it's over. Sara would absolutely hate court life. Like, she'd appreciate the money and luxury but not all the small talk and diplomacy and protocols.

And August loves those things. Controversial statement, but he probably be good at being king. I don't see Sara letting him give that future up for her sake. If he goes down that path, I could see them possibly dating for a long time and less publicly than Wilhelm and Simon, but not forever (but that probably won't happen in the TV show because it's a TV show and things need to partially resolve before it's over).

Love is good even when relationships don't last forever.

i’d like to talk a little about felice’s hair in both season one and season two (yes, including the comment from the housemistress).

we’ve talked this one to death but i’ve gone through every episode and there’s a lot. (i also may have gotten carried away and lost the plot a little)

for starters, in season one, no one says anything regarding hair or a dress code and i looked into lundsberg skola (people have said this is roughly the real life equivalent? i think?) and i couldn’t find a dress code on their website but in all of their photos, the girls have their hair down. i would assume this applies to non-white students as well, although i couldn’t find any pictures.

(taken from lundsberg skola website, skogshult dorm)

and in season one, the hillerska girls do too! maddie is the one who most often wears her hair up, and stella does half-up/half-down styles, but fredrika and sara typically wear their hair down, as do many of the other girls in the background.

even on parent’s day, arguably the most important school event in season one, felice’s hair is down, albeit pulled back.

during the formal dinner at the manor house, too, all the girls have their hair down except for maddie.

and, of course, everyone’s hair is down for lucia.

it’s interesting to me that when we see all of these influential parents, the majority of them wear their hair up, and yet the girls don’t follow suit. i don’t know if it’s a cultural thing, maybe a work dress code, or just different standards as girls/women age, but it does seem a little odd. hillerska is meant to prepare students for their futures as rich and influential individuals, so obviously there’s a higher standard for keeping appearance.

for felice, part of keeping appearance is straightening her hair, at least in season one. considering how her style changes in season two, i wonder if part of having her hair down all the time is showing off how much like everyone else she is (even if it isn’t true). she’s trying so hard to fit in and do what is expected of her in season one, and she’s almost hiding behind her hair a little bit. it might not be physically in her face, but straightening her hair is putting on armor that doesn’t quite fit.

in all of season one, the only time felice has her hair up is during riding, when all the girls have their hair up to keep it out of their faces and under their helmets. there is not a single moment outside of riding or coming back from riding that felice has her hair up. and the only difference between season one and season two is that felice is embracing her natural hair.

i do agree that it would have been nice to get more of felice’s individual storyline in season two, but i’m still holding out hope for season three. in any case, the very first time we see felice in season two, she’s at a salon (with other black women - i saw someone say black-owned as well, which would make sense) getting her hair done.

in season two, though, felice actually wears her hair up far more than in season one. in fact, her hair is up almost all the time. i’m not sure whether this is her choice or not. now that she isn’t hiding behind her hair, there’s no reason to keep it down all the time, but the change still makes me wonder if maybe she's been called out for it more than just the one time we see, since her hair is down for the choir performance/first day of class-

-and not much after that-

-until episode four (and the fact that she wears her natural hair for the ball? so much to say about that that i just don’t have the words for).

and then in episodes five and six-

-her hair is mostly down again. with all the drama in the last two episodes with sara, i wouldn’t be surprised if she’s hiding a little bit and (even if she isn’t straightening her hair) going back to old coping mechanisms by trying to treat her hair like she did before. of course, it could also just be that having her hair up is more comfortable now, or that it gets in her face more if it’s down. there might not be some big explanation. anyway, i can’t imagine that the staff are being more lenient about rules, with the jubilee coming up, so maybe there isn’t a rule at all? we’ll come back to that.

the exception, of course, is breakfast in 205, when the housemistress reminds felice to put her hair up.

i originally assumed that stella put her hair up as well even though she didn't get in trouble because she was, as established by fredrika, still drunk from the night before and also not entirely paying attention. however, considering everyone else has their hair up as well (except for maddie? why? idk) i'm pretty sure i assumed wrong.

now (backing up a bit), interestingly, in the formal dining scene in 202 (and all the other meals in season two), all the girls have their hair up, including felice. this is a direct contrast to season one, where they all have their hair down, as mentioned above. granted, this dinner looks less like a performance than the dinner in season one, but sara is still wearing her gifted dress, so i assume it’s more formal than a standard meal.

with all those things put together, i would almost wonder if hillerska changed their dress code. i can't imagine they would do that halfway through the year (and the fact that many girls still have their hair down in various situations, like the choir performances and during classes makes it seem unlikely), but they might have. lending credence to this is both sara and fredrika putting their hair up at breakfast, and then felice and stella later, but i'm still not entirely sure.

and, of course, whatever restrictions hillerska may or may not have regarding the girls’ hair, it clearly doesn’t include dye, considering stella’s purple bangs (and an extra in season one, i think?)

it definitely seems like there’s a double standard or changing expectation here, especially from season one to season two. if hillerska (or just the manor house) changed their dress code, especially in the middle of the year, there would have to be a reason. and as much as i hate to say it, felice is the only one who gets in trouble and the only one whose hair changes drastically. and given the way felice and alexander are treated in the show, it wouldn’t be entirely out of the realm of possibility that they would change the dress code because they don’t like her hair. i hope it isn’t that, but again, i don’t know. i would love more information on all of this in season three, but even if felice’s storyline gets more time, i don’t know that this specific bit will.

if there is a requirement for the girls' hair at all, changed or not, my best guess would be that it is specific to the manor house and most likely is only in effect during meals/house gatherings and that different activities and the school as a whole have their own uniforms and preferences that are not necessarily the same.

JUST LOOK AT HIM

SIMON'S SWEETNESS IS EVERYTHING WE NEED. LOOK AT FUCKING HIM AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

HIS FUCKING VOICE AND THE LITTLE ''NEJ'' IS EVERYTHING AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Season 1 Episode 5 Wille leaves and Simon stays behind in bed

Season 2 Episode 6 Simon leaves and Wille stays behind in bed

Season 3 Episode (?) they'll get to stay together in bed and neither will have to leave the bed

So hear me out...

With regards to this s3 promo still:

I think this might be the filming of some material for 'The Year With the Royal Family'.

Since Wilhelm's speech has changed the narrative, the Royal Court has no choice now. They have to show the Queen and the family in general as being welcoming to Simon. How better to do this than an official scene of Simon being formally introduced to Kristina and Ludvig?

That would explain the suits, the welcoming smile on Kristina's face and the positive expression on Ludvig's, the presence of the maids and other staff, and even the blocking tape on the floor (although I know there's a version with tape and a version without).

They might even frame it as if this was shot before the Jubilee, to try and take back control of the narrative and make it seem as if the Royal Court and family were always in favour of Wilhelm coming out in his own way. Of course the candid footage taken by the students and the news cameras still exists, but let's face it, they're going to try to spin it no matter what.

The thing about Hillerska shutting down though, is that it will only really hurt Simon and Sara. Everyone else attending can and will be transferred to equally privileged schools. Sure it would be disruptive to the third years about to graduate, but chances are (realistically) a shut down wouldn’t happen until after the school year was finished.

Simon and Sara don’t have those resources, Hillerska shutting down means that they go back to their local high school, where Sara was so severely bullied she fell behind a year in school.

I understand the symbolism behind it in the show, Hillerska is privilege epitomised, and if they are going the tear it all down shutting down the school is a clear symbol of that in the narrative.

But Hillerska isn’t the class system, it’s just an outgrowth of it. Shutting down the school would just be another act that disproportionally impacts it’s poorest students.

My thoughts on E6 and what is endgame

Lisa has always been writing an anti-fairy tale. Falling in love with a handsome prince isn't a happily-ever-after.

So, does that mean no happily-ever-after for Wilmon?

Happily-ever-after implies that the couple is together at the end of the story and forever after that.

Endgame means different things to different people. For some that means happily-ever-after, and some that means 'happy-for-right-now.'

Right now, tbh, storywise, it could go either way and make logical sense for me. However, I believe that Wilmon will be endgame in the happy-for-right-now category - We have problems, and we might not make it in the long run, but I feel you're worth trying to overcome them.

Because I don't think Lisa put these two beautiful queer boys and their love out into the world to crush them in the end. She knows how queers have been screwed over in what little representation the community received.

I think if YR was posted on Ao3 the tag would be 'angst with a happy ending'.

What a clever way of directing and showing us where we are probably hopefully headed in season 3. Either they will remove the plaque or it will be completely obscured from view. It’s no longer about his legacy it’s about Simon and their future together.

Wilmon endgame.

Just pitching in since I see so much discourse about will they or won’t they that I think we kind of lost the essence of the story: I mean yes, Netflix is promoting the whole are they going to be endgame or not, tune in to find out but I think that’s just a generic marketing tactic.I’ve honestly been ignoring it.

Also, Lisa doesn’t strike me as the type of writer that would push only her own personal agenda or politics to a tv show, especially one that has critical acclaim as yr. That’s not what true storytelling is about. Please bear with me (apologies in advance for the long response !) but here’s my v long winded reasoning:

The theme has always been love v. duty & the monarchy is the enemy. Wille is on a Hero’s Journey - he is ultimately the Main Character; the Young Royal. What’s great about The Hero’s Journey is that it’s easy to follow and makes for great storytelling despite its predictability. I think some people here may have touched upon this so I am simply expanding:

As a viewer, we follow Wille and get to know him. He’s a likable character and we easily root for him and feel for him when we learn about the power dynamics in play; specifically how he feels caged as a prince. Then we enter into a Call for Adventure: him falling for Simon and the high stakes he enters when his brother passes and he is now Crown Prince.

This, then, propels the story forward, given the stakes are stacked up and it’s not looking good for Wille, especially after he/we find out August was the offender for sex tape leak.

After that, we enter into The Refuse to Call for Adventure; i.e, the hero (Wille) realizes he must face the challenge. We also step into the Meeting the Mentor, which is Boris, who helps Wille learn how to stand up and ultimately fight for himself (and Simon). While I see others thinking that W might push everyone away, including skipping his appts with Boris, I do not think that’s the case. Boris was set up to be the Mentor that W needs to realize the challenge he’s been facing and we may continue seeing him open up to Boris.

This will then allow W to “Cross the Threshold” and reinforce the central theme and conflict of the story - if W continues to stay with the monarchy and his obligations as Crown Prince, he cannot choose Simon. Love or Duty? Which will prevail?

S3 crosses that threshold and produces tests and obstacles that would make the fight for his relationship w S so much more complicated (basically everything we saw in the trailer). This stage in the Hero’s Journey is meant for the audience to doubt the Hero - Wille. It’s already a testament as we are debating if W is going to denounce his title or not just from the 2 mins of what we saw from the trailer. It’s intentional. We need to doubt in order for the central theme to drive home and also portrays the monarchy to be the overarching enemy of this story, without Lisa forfeiting her own political statement.

We enter the next stage of the Journey - which is the Cave - meaning the Hero and protagonists need to regroup and prepare for a counter attack (generally speaking) because the tension is continuing to rise and there are outside forces that wish to disturb the Journey (in this case, public opinion? paparazzi? Hillerska shutting down?).

Next, we enter the Ordeal - which makes the Hero break down bc he enters a mental barrier and is pushed to a corner. However, the Hero, typically comes out stronger after this stage in storytelling.

Ultimately, we reach the end: The Reward. The Hero makes the “attack” or choice and defeats the enemy/antagonist.

Imo, with how everything is set up, I do think it’s set up for W and S to be together in the end at least the end of the show (everything else after is obviously left for the audience member to interpret).

I have no doubt that W & S are going to come up on top and still be together in the end bc like some people mentioned - what would be the point? It was never a question whether they would end up together. The question is if Wille, our Hero in this story, would make the final choice and choose between love or duty. I think Wille would choose love. What better way of making history, especially with everything that’s been happening in real events, then choosing love? That would make for a strong ending.

e6 predictions (they get more unhinged the further you go)

lake scene is NOT the final scene or a breakup scene

the wilmon car scene is the last scene

elias song!!

wille won’t abdicate (just because you can’t abdicate before you’re even on the throne)

BUT he does tell his mother that he’s leaning towards not wanting to be king

felice and sara will start to be friends again (during the neon party?)

hillerska closes down

fredrika and stella are temporarily pissed at felice for the closure

wilmon will get a “let’s stay together, we love each other and we can try to make it work” endgame

saraugust won’t be endgame

we get to actually see one of august and wille’s mediation therapy sessions and what they talk about

vincent and august are on not-so-great terms at the end of the show

the first year’s letters to their future selves come back into play

as per usual ludvig does nothing significant or useful to help wille or the plot

wille looks into a mirror and gives himself a tiny smile

music room redemption scene

simon writes/sings a song for wille for his real birthday present

wille learns the truth about where his orange sweater really went

by some miracle there is enough time in the episode for simon to go see boris himself

someone actually remembers that rousseau exists (even better, we actually SEE rousseau)

someone accidentally starts a fire during the neon party

august and vincent try to throw punches at each other during the table scene

marcus shows up at graduation for whatever reason and malin kicks him out

simon jumps vincent while everyone else politely applauds

felice gets to yell at the headmistress for her casual microaggressions

linda delivers a bitch slap to august’s stepdad

someone says “i’m proud of you” to wille

Regarding your August and justice reply, I don't think you take in consideration what August wants when you say you hope he gets helps and realises he's been damaging others. Especially because he is well aware of the long lasting damages he has caused and other than being scared of being found and facing consequences, he hasn't shown to regret or be sorry for the pain and suffering he's responsible of. He's sorry his wrongdoings could cause him problems if found out.

I don't think he'll get any kind of judicial nor poetic justice. I think he'll be shown to kept in his way for the rest of his life, maybe not protected by the crown, but he won't let go of his habits not because he can't be rehabilitated. But because he doesn't want rehabilitatio. And you cannot help someone who doesn't want to be helped.

That's my favourite thing about August, actually: he is conscious of who he is and I don't believe anything can change his ways. Not even love. Opposite to Wille's journey where love changed it all.

About sullying wilmon's eventual happy ending? I think they deserve to be happy away from August's perceived toxicity but also, being away from him would be the only justice they could get.

TL;DR: I think August represents traditions and the nobility and that cannot be changed. Because they don't want to be changed. Just as August who enjoys his 'bad ways' and which make him such a compelling character to other too good characters like Simon or Wille.

I assume you're the original anon - thank you for getting back to me! EDIT: I stand corrected! Thanks for chiming in, August anon 2!

I understand your position, and I agree with parts of it. I'm going to put a cut here in case someone sees this who doesn't want to read any speculation on S3 - I wouldn't say there are any spoilers below, but I don't want to ruin anything for anyone.

The start of your text actually aligns with what I mean when I say August doesn't fully understand the gravity of his actions or regret the harm he caused to Simon. I just don't believe he understands the long-lasting damage he caused. I think August's demeanour when the damage to Simon comes up and sometimes even when talking to Wille suggests that he doesn't truly get why people are making such a big deal out of the video. He wanted to hurt Wille and Simon, he understands that he succeeded, and he understands that he betrayed Wille. However, I think there are many aspects to it that he, as an incredibly privileged and emotionally immature straight man, simply cannot understand. Such as the fact that the video will come up for the rest of Simon's life when applying to jobs and such, or that outing Wille to the world and subjecting him to homophobic hate etc. was nowhere near proportionate to Wille's humiliation of him in front of their peers. We agree that August hasn't shown much remorse. I do think it's possible he feels some genuine regret for the pain he caused Wille, who is a member of his family and someone he was meant to be loyal to, because that's the kind of damage he's been taught to consider. But he doesn't feel as much regret on a more general human decency level, especially for Simon. You are right that most of his regret is purely based on his fear of punishment, and that isn't the kind of regret that can lead to emotional growth. As to your points about August not wanting to change his ways... It's true that he hasn't wanted to so far, but I reject the idea that he couldn't still realise he needs to. The fact is that August already voiced to Sara in S2 that he felt like there was "something wrong inside his head" and that he felt like "the worst person in the world", and he clearly wasn't doing well in between Lucia and the start of their relationship. If he ends up back in that headspace in S3, after the experience of having been expected to take responsibility for the first time in his life and without the miracle solution of the crown being dangled in front of him... I do think it's still possible for him to reach a point where he finally chooses differently. Whether that's him hitting rock bottom, being forced to talk to a counsellor as part of a legal punishment, realising that the breathing exercise Sara taught him and potentially having to care for Rousseau helps him, or something else. On that note, I would also like to push back just a tiny bit on what you said about love changing everything for Wille and nothing for August. Simon's love acted as the catalyst for Wille's change, but the change only happened when the internal processes sparked by that love and his own betrayal of it had run their course. He also needed counselling to get there.

We don't know yet if Sara's love or August's betrayal of that love ends up catalysing anything in him. Not in terms of winning her back, but in terms of highlighting the contrast between her kindness and desire to hold him accountable for his failings vs. his own and his family's unkindness and lack of accountability. That remains to be seen in S3.

As you said, the alternative is for August to stick to his bad ways for the rest of his life - and as I tried to say without saying it directly, I fear his life may not be very long if he does. We've already seen him physically punishing himself for his failings, both with overexertion and not eating, so we know he is prone to self-harm. He's also addicted to the ADHD meds, just like his father was addicted to whatever it was. We know Carl Johan chose to take his own life in the face of ruin, and that August idolises him and must've been brought up with the same kind of worldview.

So, August is displaying some serious warning signs of going down the same path as his father, and unless we get at least some signs to the contrary before the credits roll on the finale, I don't think I personally can find any joy in his defeat/fall from grace. Again, I don't mean we need to see his growth in the show or that I want to see him forgiven by his victims in S3. They certainly deserve to be rid of his toxicity, and even if he does decide to change his ways, he's got a very long road ahead.

But I understand that you feel differently and place more weight on August not wanting to change! It's a very good point that he represents harmful traditions and the nobility, and any change he undergoes would also represent some kind of change to those institutions. Liking his character as the toxic relic that he's been thus far is extremely valid.

Personally, I think August realising that he needs to break free of the toxicity would be a way of 'breaking the wheel.' Either showing that these institutions can be changed after all, similar to how Wille started enacting change at Hillerska in S2 when he encouraged the first-years to rebel...or simply showing again that these institutions hurt even the people who seemingly benefit from them, and when freed, even they can grow and heal.

Please know I don't mean to invalidate your stance in any way! I think it just comes down to the types of conclusions that the show wants to leave us with.

[As a final sidebar, I have to say that I respectfully disagree about Simon and Wille being "too good characters" as you put it. I think they have some morally grey sides as well, the same as most other characters in the show, which is what makes them so very human. But that's a whole other discussion!]

Phew, this got really long... I'm not even going to attempt to summarise it but I hope it made sense. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

This is from the exam, but we have August standing behind with the brown sweater (look at the ring on the pinky finger) and (probably) Nils shaving some guy’s head, like one of the casting calls asked for. It’s interesting to note that so far, Nils and August are seen together a lot in the trailer. Does he take August’s side?

This is probably for their graduation. Is that why the school might close down? Things are taken too far during the prep for graduation??

Here is August’s hand from the trailer, with the same ring on his pinky:

FUN FACT THAT KILLED ME COMPLETELY: USE HEADPHONES

If you use headphones you can hear Simon sniffing Wilhelm's neck. I cried okay?