Young Royals – Season 3 Episode 5 Recap & Review

Loving You is a Losing Game

Episode 5 of Young Royals Season  starts with Wilhelm having trouble concentrating in class as he thinks about August’s bombshell about Eric. Simon notices and asks what is wrong, but Wilhelm says he is tired. Simon asks about Wilhelm’s upcoming birthday and starts questioning whether Wilhelm wants him there since he seems distracted.

Meanwhile, August informs Vincent and the rest that he won’t be able to make it to the graduation ceremony as he has to attend Wilhelm’s birthday at the palace. After checking the class nominations, he also questions if Vincent is being insensitive. He figures it shouldn’t be an issue as he won’t be there. Later that night, August drops his future letter in Sara’s locker.

Elsewhere, the housemistress informs the first-year students that they will be in charge of the graduation dinner. She puts Felice and Sara on the same team. Fredrika offers to switch with Felice, but the latter says it will be okay.

At home, Sara’s suspicions about her father’s drinking get stronger, but he says his doctor switched his medication. He promises to let her drive to the driving test to help her calm her nerves.

Night crawls by, and Wilhelm calls his dad. He is worried about his mom. His dad says the Queen is doing fairly well and is trying not to show any weakness. The topic of Erik crops up, and his dad says that Erik was perfect in every way. Wilhelm tries to talk about what he recently found out, but his dad is summoned elsewhere. He promises to talk about it when Wilhelm visits for his birthday dinner. Later, Simon calls him, but he ignores the call.

The following morning at school, Wilhelm informs Simon that he is quitting the choir as he doesn’t like singing in front of people. Also, with the restrictions gone, they can meet up outside of choir practice. Simon wonders if he did something wrong since Wilhelm has been distant lately. Wilhelm finally tells him about Erik. He then lashes out at Simon before the poor lad can say his piece. Simon clarifies that he doesn’t think less of Erik; if anything, the situation with Sara has taught him that siblings make mistakes, too.

Wilhelm accuses Simon of unfairly comparing Sara to Erik. It seems Wilhelm is struggling and thinks Erik wouldn’t have approved of his relationship with Simon. He is triggered when Simon says that maybe he should realise no one is perfect, not even Erik. Wilhelm angrily leaves before they can finish their fight. He confides in Felice as she paints his nails. Wilhelm can’t fathom Erik not being what he thought he was.

On the other hand, Simon runs into Sara but refuses to tell her what’s wrong. Sara carries on with her day and finds August’s letter but doesn’t open it. She calls her dad to pick her up as promised, but he is unreachable. She runs to her driving test and nearly fails the test after spotting her dad drinking with his friends.

After the lessons, Sara heads to her dad’s place and packs her stuff. She goes back to her mom, broken and crying her heart out. Simon welcomes her back and says he forgives her. He is also proud that she got her driver’s license.

At the same time, Simon worries that he won’t be able to attend Wilhelm’s birthday. He tries on his new suit and talks to his mom about his latest fight with Wilhelm. He feels that he always falls short, even when trying to be there for Wilhelm. His mom says love shouldn’t be this complicated, especially at their age. Simon later gets a message from Wilhelm apologising for his outburst and asking if Simon will still attend the birthday party.

The next morning, Wilhelm is woken up by Simon singing him a birthday song and holding a cupcake with candles. They have a minor birthday celebration and decide they are okay. Simon asks for more time to finish Wilhelm’s birthday present.

They attend the inauguration of his charity, and Simon watches from the sidelines. August does a better job socialising with people, forcing Wilhelm to ask Farima to send him back to school after the charity event. He threatens not to attend his birthday celebrations at the palace if August will be there. In turn, Farima sends August back to school.

Of course, August is hurt but decides to attend the graduation party. The party doesn’t live up to his expectations after he wins the title of the class bad boy. This is different from how he wanted to be remembered especially since he has been working on himself. He spots Sara as she is taking out the trash from the kitchen. She and Felice worked well together and even talked about the latter’s old dream to be a chef.

August asks if she got his letter, and she explains she doesn’t want to read it and returns it. August reads it for her and in the letter, he had expressed his desire to be a strong man. He was bullied when he first joined the school, and he wanted to prove and protect himself. He hoped to make friends and stop being the sad, lonely boy everyone walked all over.

Unfortunately, he didn’t go about it the right way and hurt many people in his ruthless journey to get to the top. He deeply regrets it now and wants Sara to understand where he is coming from. Being a lonely girl, too, Sara understands what he went through. She embraces him, and they kiss. As this goes down, one of Felice’s friends sees them and quickly snitches to Felice.

At the palace, Simon and Wilhelm are welcomed by a singing band. The Queen seems to be struggling to hold it together; even during dinner, she can barely make any conversation. She only talks about how great and perfect Erik was. This annoys Wilhelm, who takes a break. Simon follows him, and they fight since the latter wants to leave. Wilhelm accuses him of being inconsiderate because he worries about his mom. Wilhelm didn’t think the situation was as bad as it is. He insists he needs Simon by his side to help him deal with what is happening. They are interrupted by a servant, who informs them it is time to cut the cake.

The Queen moves to retire to bed even before Wilhelm cuts his cake and makes a wish. This triggers Wilhelm, and all hell breaks when he finally confronts his parents. He calls out the Queen for caring more about the monarchy and less about him as a person. He calls her out for her lies and the fact that they never allowed him to mourn his brother. He also accuses her of breaking down and abandoning him when he didn’t want to lie about his relationship with Simon.

He calls out his dad for always going along with the Queen’s plans and ignoring him completely. The Queen responds by explaining it is not easy being his mom and boss simultaneously. Wilhelm loses it and says she is useless in both positions. The crying Queen and saddened King walk out, and Simon sits in shock, trying to process what he just witnessed.

Later, he finds Wilhelm crying in his room. The latter apologises for causing a scene. Simon says it is good that Wilhelm is honest with his parents, but he sees how everything hurts his boyfriend. Simon feels like Wilhelm has changed and is unrecognisable. He says love shouldn’t be this hard. Wilhelm turns to face him and asks what he means. And in that moment, Simon says the words we have all feared he would! He says it is not working and can’t do this anymore. The episode ends with both of them crying.

The Episode Review

Well, our Wilmon Ship has hit the iceberg, and it is as devasting as we thought it would be! We knew this was coming, but we hoped for a different ending. The music selection in this show deserves an award, especially in that ending scene. If Simon’s words weren’t enough to break your heart, Duncan Laurance’s singing, Loving You is a Losing Game, will do it.

We must commend Ryding’s acting skills in that intense scene where he confronts his parent. He perfectly conveyed all these raging emotions and had us at the edge of our seats. Omar also holds his own when the camera pans to him, and you can see the shock, confusion, and pain on his face.

We will have to wait until next week to see how this series wraps up all the storylines. It looks like there is hope for August and Sara, but they will need to talk to Felice and Simon before getting back together. Unfortunately, things look bleak for Wilhelm and Simon. It is unclear if they will magically be able to find a fix for all the problems in their relationship. What will the break up mean? Will there be a time jump?

After fighting so hard to be with each other, is this where the story ends? Tune in on March 18th to have all these questions and more answered!