The point is that Frederic is (was lmfao) a sheep, he’s a pushover, he’s cowardly, he’s insecure, he’s not even close to be being assertive. Arianna is a humming bird, she longs to be on constant movement, she’s adventurous, she’s much more open, she’s extremely curious and sees the world with wonder, she’s brave.
Or at the least they were all that, and here comes a questioning: exactly how traditional is Corona? Because it’s already been established by the canon (iirc) that Arianna and Willow (?) were. Y’know, Corona by blood, which makes it so that Frederic was married into the family, and considering that Arianna has a much more passive role in what would be her home and given that she seems to be older twin… I mean, it’s not that far off to assume that Frederic only took the throne because Arianna couldn’t rule by herself, because Corona is. I mean, it’s strange because it seems like Rapunzel would have a lot more power than Eugene once she became queen, but at least for Arianna and Frederic we can assume that the situation was much more patriarchy-driven or whatever. That at least for them (and possibly the generations before them), the higher power was always in the hand of the King.
Okay, I’m getting sick of this but essentially I think the reason Frederic is the way he is both because he was never even fit for the amount of power being king would’ve given him and. Y’know. The whole getting your daughter kidnapped thing. Maybe he hoped he would be able to rely more on Arianna? Again, how traditional is Corona!! Not even close to being prepared for the amount of responsibility he’d need to take on, maybe he— IS EQUIS FRANCE???? Okay, sorry, I’m watching the episode. Maybe he was overcompensating with all his controlling tendencies, but I believe that it only truly came crashing down after Rapunzel was kidnapped. Because I’m pretty that’s what was implied in the show, that Corona only got insane over criminals post-kidnapping due to. Y’know.
Essentially: insecure sheepish man + ridiculous amounts of power + pressure to take up on a role buddy was not fit for + depression and high levels of paranoia after his daughter was kidnapped = one single scene used to demonize Varian is not the paralleling you think it is, writer team. I needed a full season of much more nuance for that entire conflict and also the cop out of EVERYTHING that Frederic did in first season via memory wiping was insane. But also Frederic is not nearly as bad as some people portray him to be. Happens.
Also Arianna barely even has a character because misogyny, I’m guessing. What is agency, I don’t know her