Entertainment

Willow Is One Step Closer To The Crown On 'The Royals'

by Caitlin Gallagher
FX

Spoilers for The Royals episode "There's Daggers in Men's Smiles" follow. Robert has been courting Willow since the Season 3 finale, but it is still surprising that Robert proposes to Willow on The Royals. The pair share their first kiss during the April 8 episode and apparently, the British king thinks that warrants an engagement. While Willow has been a great addition as an aide to the royal family in her role as social media consultant, Robert's fascination with making Willow his bride feels a little too calculated — not to mention, a little too quick. She doesn't respond to his proposal during "There's Daggers in Men's Smiles," so she must think that Robert is moving a little too fast as well. However, Willow could become queen on The Royals before Season 4 ends, even though it might not lead to the happily ever after that she has imagined.

When Wilhelmina decided she should be removed from Robert's potential bride list, she helped bring in a number of other contenders for queen. The only one who truly impressed Robert was Cassandra as she didn't flinch under the pressure of the fake press. But in "There's Daggers in Men's Smiles," he only has eyes for Willow. And while Robert's motives are always a bit of a mystery, he has successfully convinced Willow (and perhaps viewers) that he has genuine feelings for her. So although she doesn't answer his proposal with a resounding "yes," she does seem a bit cautiously pleased.

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Willow would make a great queen and Robert's mother Helena approves of her, which is saying something since Willow would be her replacement. But does Robert really love her as he says he does? After the Season 3 finale, the creator of The Royals (the since-fired Mark Schwahn) insinuated that Robert pursuing Willow was an act of revenge against Liam. But Liam really doesn't appear to have any feelings for Willow, so that being Robert's motivation now wouldn't make sense. And Robert even gave Liam his blessing to try to win back Kathryn during "There's Daggers in Men's Smiles," so maybe the competition between these brothers in their love lives is over.

But, not so fast. Before you get conned into thinking that everything is hunky dory in the palace, don't forget that King Robert planned a citywide blackout. And he uses this power outage as an excuse to give himself complete power since he shuts down Parliament during the April 8 episode. It's also revealed that the bullet that Jasper took for Robert wasn't ever meant for the king. With all of this in mind, it seems like Willow accepting Robert's proposal may end up putting her in danger. Unfortunately, Willow doesn't seem to have any clue about that since she gives a press conference about how trustworthy the king is. So perhaps the reason Robert proposes to her is because he thinks that Willow is gullible and will let him go along with his dastardly deeds without interruption.

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Even if you're not inclined to believe that Robert has nefarious plans when it comes to Willow, an undeniable problem for her will be the aforementioned Cassandra. At the end of "There's Daggers in Men's Smiles," she glares at Willow on her TV screen during the press conference. So while Robert may be finished with Cassandra, she doesn't appear to be finished with him — and that might mean she will take out her rejection on Willow.

Willow is a wonderful character who doesn't deserve to be tricked by Robert. But she's also very intelligent, so if he is lying to her, she may be able to figure it out before it's too late. Previews showed that a wedding might occur in Season 4, but the stars of The Royals also teased a cliffhangery conclusion. So even if Willow ends up walking down the aisle before this season is over, it doesn't mean that she'll end up being queen. And if Robert is as evil as it appears he may be, that's a very good thing.