Ben is sitting with his head on Chen's shoulder when Asher says, "You know, you're going to have to figure out something to do about the strikers eventually."

"I know, I just."

He wraps an arm around Ben's shoulders. 

"You know what you have to do. Send Aladdin to negotiate with the genies and then order the use of the anti-magic field to break the strike."

"But the strikers are right."

"It doesn't matter whether they're right. It matters what we can get away with."

...he doesn't say anything, but his mind catches on "negotiate with the genies," there's definitely something there — 

"If I'm king, I'm supposed to be taking care of all my citizens, not just the ones that are the most powerful."

"Yes. That's what I'm saying. Take care of all your citizens, not just the few thousand that have come to your attention right now."

"So, what, it's fine that the fairies and dwarves are slaves because there aren't that many of them?"

"Of course it's not fine! It's obviously not fine!"

"Then why don't you want me to do something about it?"

"Because if you want to get anything done in Auradon you have to appease a bunch of horrible evil people, and if we appease them on this we can work on industrializing agriculture or public health programs or legalizing magic or contraception or getting people off the Isle--"

"You say that every time. 'We can't do anything yet, Ben, we have to save our energy, we have to use this on something important.' This is important!"

"You're a king, Ben, everything you do is important! You have to learn to fucking prioritize--"

"Do you even care about nonhumans at all--"

"Of course I fucking do. I'm not the one who was thinking of strikebreaking because he didn't want to admit that his dad is a terrible fucking person--"

"Whatever gets done, does it have to get done officially." 

"...No."

"Because — this might be a stupid idea but — if someone, not necessarily even Ben, worded their wish carefully enough, I bet you could do this with magic, and you don't have to have your name tied to it at all." 

"We could wish the genies free."

"But they're dangerous."

"Not if you worded the wish carefully enough-- they can only do magic if everyone affected thinks it's an improvement on the status quo-- and then the most magically powerful beings in the world like you--"

"How does that help the fairies and dwarves?"

"Wish them free too? I've never heard of that not being possible but I might have just not heard of it —"