There's a lot of discussion about Simon's character arc in season 2 floating around in the tag over the last few days, so I thought I would add my 2 cents.
I actually love Simon's arc in season 2, because to me it is a journey towards radical acceptance. Radical acceptance is something I think about a lot as someone with chronic pain. It means "ability to accept situations that are outside of your control without judging them, which in turn reduces the suffering that is caused by them." Simon starts the beginning of season 2 doing everything he can to deny his own feelings. And by the end he has admits that he is in love, that he cannot control the fact that he is in love, and that being in love might lead to him getting hurt. The fact that he radically accepts his emotions, regardless of the possible consequences, is an act of incredible vulnerability and bravery.
In the beginning of the season, Simon tries so hard to move on from Wilhelm. In my mind, Simon's season 1 arc was largely about him learning to establish boundaries. He learned to stick up for himself, and of course I was cheering him on as a viewer. So he starts season 2 with these firmly established boundaries, and he's trying to figure out how to live with them. He tries so hard to move on with Marcus. He listens to his friend's advice and agrees that he needs a rebound. He tries to pursue a physical angle with Marcus (hooking up with him at his house), and then a more romantic angle (relying on him for emotional support, inviting him to the dance), but it never quite works. Meanwhile, during this early part of the season, Wilhelm is constantly testing his boundaries and Simon is constantly defending them. Simon has to tell Wilhelm that he doesn't want to talk in episode 1, that he can't continue to be his confidant. He relents a little in episode 2, when the royal family tries to remove Wilhelm and Simon tries to come to his defense. But Wilhelm immediately tries to leverage this slight crack in Simon's armor and asks him, once again, to be his secret boyfriend until he turns 18, when his family has assured him he will be allowed to come out. (I love Wilhelm to bits, but this is not his brightest hour). Simon, rightfully reacts negatively to this.
So Simon doesn't have a chance to consider how he really feels because Wilhelm doesn't give him space to do so until late episode 3/early episode 4, when Wilhelm decides he has to let Simon go. And that little bit of breathing room allows Simon to gain some startling clarity.
The other thing I love about Simon's arc this season is how imperfect it is. I think a lot of times as audience members we want our heroes' journeys to always leave them wiser and more mature than where they began. But Simon is a teenager, and the way he learns about himself in this season is messy and immature. At first I was a little disappointed that he let his boundaries drop so quickly and kissed Wilhelm at the dance. If I had a friend who kissed someone who had treated them the way Wilhelm had, I probably would say something like, "girl (in a gender neutral way) WHAT are you doing?". But here's the thing: Simon figures out something about himself in that moment, and that self discovery is valid. He's not ready to move on. Wilhelm tells him earlier in the evening that he's figured it out; he has to let Simon go. I can practically see the cogs turning in Simon's brain, the thoughts "how DARE he tell me that I want him to move on. I don't want that!" sparking behind his eyes. The irony, of course, is that Simon wouldn't have admitted to himself that he's still in love with Wilhelm if Wilhelm hadn't made an effort to move on.
Simon has always had little sparks of impulsivity and ferociousness that make this move feel totally in character, so it's one of my favorite writing choices of the season. The Simon that will call the royal family out for tax evasion in class is the same Simon that will kiss Wilhelm half out of desperate desire and half out of spite, and I love that about him. It's also the Simon who feels the need to hold the system that wronged him-- the Hillerska class system and August in particular-- to account.
So after the dance, Simon is left with two irreconcilable facts. He is in love with Wilhelm, and being in love with Wilhelm isn't going to lead to a healthy relationship (at least as far as he knows at that time). Wilhelm might be willing to give up the crown for him, but is unwilling to sacrifice his family and the royal system as a whole for Simon. Dating Wilhelm would mean allowing August to go unreported and sacrificing some of Simon's moral code. So Simon is torn, unsure of what matters more to him.
So much of Young Royals is about the struggle to live authentically. It's about the battle between what you feel in your heart and what other people are telling you is the correct way to live. It's also about the systems that keep us in our place, and whether we choose to defy them or not. I think other marginalized people can relate to the fact that sometimes you just can't fight all the battles. You can advocate and protest as much as you can, but sometimes you have to walk away in order to keep your heart intact. (I feel this way a lot with disability advocacy, especially in the time of covid as an immunocompromised person.)
At the end of the season, Simon's attempts to defy the system have been defeated. August has trapped him, eliminating his ability to report August's crime to the police (or so Simon thinks, until Sara does it for him). Everything has been taken away from Simon except for his heart. And he knows what his heart is telling him. His heart is telling him that he's in love with Wilhelm. There's defeat there, but there's also victory in realizing that his emotions are still real and strong and undeniable even after everything he's been through. So he radically accepts his emotions and gives in to them. He tells Wilhelm he'll be with him. Forget about August. They'll cope with the secrecy. None of it is ideal. But Simon is prepared to deal with the unideal if it lets him live truthfully. Even though this decision is about his relationship with Wilhelm, the journey he took to this decision is about his relationship with himself. So I don't agree with people who say that Simon's season 2 arc is only about his love life.
To me Simon's final decision is like taking a step off a cliff with your heart exposed, and hoping the new wings you just bought will allow you to fly instead of letting you crash to your death. It's so brave. It's so vulnerable.
And then Wilhelm returns that bravery and vulnerability, and Simon's wings are working after all. They're flying, and I can't wait to see where season 3 takes them..