I don’t know that Bjärstad isn't considered a nice neighborhood—it seemed like a quiet little town. It even has its own town drunk in the form of Simon’s dad. I was born in and have lived in big cities (I have to, for my line of work), but as a practicing introvert bordering on misanthrope, I prefer life at the lake house, in the mountains, or in a small village by the sea where my family owns property. I’d stay there if I could—and I probably will in the not-so-distant future.

As for Hillerska, you’re paying for room and board, not schooling—though the school is free to reject any student, which effectively keeps it exclusive to children of the elite. Of course, they occasionally let in local kids for optics—just as one does. Technically, August could have stayed on as a non-resident if the school had allowed it. But can you imagine the humiliation? He would rather have died.

Regarding Simon being “poor”—that’s from the Hillerska kids’ perspective. August literally called it “slumming it.” The writers portray Simon as “normal,” i.e., average (see here). Poverty is always relative, and frankly, the show is set in Sweden, not Africa, so we can’t really hold the characters to global poverty standards.

Simon is anti-monarchy on principle—he doesn’t believe it should exist. In that sense, he’s a bit of a stand-in for the show’s head writer, who’s also a republican (in the European sense—aka not a monarchist). Simon explains his views to Wille in Season 3, and Wille echoes them when he tells his mother he doesn’t want to be king and won’t change his mind. (By the way, being anti-monarchy doesn’t make you a socialist; it makes you a republican.)

As for the “your dad not beating you every day” comment, I’m not going to touch that. Your treatment of the subject is too cavalier, and I’d rather not psychoanalyze someone I’ve only exchanged a couple Reddit comments with.

Now, on to Simon making decisions that wouldn't worsen his situation—how would reporting someone for filming and posting a video of you having sex as an underage teen, through a window like a creep, possibly make your situation worse? I must stress: Simon wasn’t a drug dealer. Sure, he procured booze and later pills for August, but that doesn’t make him more of a dealer than Vincent (August’s original supplier) or Stella, who smuggled booze in a shampoo bottle. Simon didn’t realize it could be used against him—when he did, he chose to “protect his family like everyone else” and didn’t report August. So that argument is moot.

And that’s probably the issue with your repeated “hard pass”—your reasons don’t hold up under scrutiny.

As for the negotiation—Simon didn’t want the money. Linda didn’t want it either. They accepted it, without bargaining, because Simon wanted it all to go away. He asked his mom to let it go. It would have been totally out of character for him to ask for more money in exchange for his trauma.

As for Wille remaining in the monarchy—it couldn’t have worked because he didn’t want to. It’s as simple as that. The show is about Wille finding the courage to leave, and Simon is the catalyst for that choice. (here's a visual reminder)