Sweden, known by outsiders for their production of ABBA, their famous Ice Hotel, their gorgeous land, and their Swedish royalty, is also known by some Americans by their Netflix original series, Young Royals.
Young Royals is a three season show following the story of fictional prince of Sweden, Prince Wilhelm, and how he navigates attending a new boarding school after a fight got him kicked out of his old school.
Throughout the series we watch his relationship with Simon Eriksson and the struggles and obstacles that it entails. This show is a great example of queer representation in media due to the openly gay characters including Simon and Marcus, and the queer/unlabeled characters including the main character Wilhelm.
We get to meet so many characters and we follow all of their stories as they also try to navigate their last few years of school, they struggle with relationships, familial hardships, and friendships and what those struggles mean for those characters’ lives.
Recently the third season of the show was released with the final episode being released a week later. Many people had dozens of theories for how the series would end and I think everyone was thrilled that it had a happy ending.
When exploring the Young Royals side of TikTok, I saw many people thrilled about the ending of the show with all of the characters finally at peace and with the main couple ending up together.
The director and crew working on the show ended the fifth episode of season three on a sad and unwelcome note to those watching, but was redeemed with the end of the sixth and final episode where everything was resolved and we finally saw some smiles from our main characters.
While the series is spoken in Swedish, the cast of the show actually did their own English dubbing which is what I use since I don’t know any Swedish. While I have seen many Americans use the English dubbing as well, there are also plenty of people who just used the English subtitles while keeping the Swedish dialogue so it was more authentic for them, and also many of them do it to help them learn Swedish easier.
I asked Alexis Blair, a former Tahoma High School student, if she used the English dubbing and she said, “I use the original Swedish with English subtitiles because the English dubbing was bothering me and they would lag and not match the English subtitiles.”
Throughout the third season, there are many call backs to certain iconic things in the first two seasons such as the iconic quote, “all the people are fake, they’re made out of metal, but I like you and that is not fake,” or the song Revolution by Elias which are both referenced in a song created by Simon in season three for Wilhelm that will make have any fan of the show excited for such an important reference.
When I first found out about this show, I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into, but I kept hearing about it through TikTok so I decided to check it out. I’ve never been a fan of shows originally in other languages dubbed in English, but there was something about the characters and the emotions of the show that kept me in my seat.
When asking about Alexis’ experience with the show, she said, “my experience with the show was an emotional rollercoaster,” and I could not agree more.
When I watch a show, I end up getting attached not just to the characters, but to the way that they tell a story that makes you want to keep watching, and rewatch when it’s over, and this show in particular is one of the few that keeps me on my toes and keeps me wanting more everytime I watch it.
This show is one of the many that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys LGBTQ+ stories and the ups and downs of teenage experiences. Even if you aren’t a fan of dubbed English I can guarantee that you will enjoy this show and everyone and everything that comes along with it.
