Europe's democracies will be judged not by how they withstand these protests, but how they address the distinct grievances behind them and restore confidence in the future, as governments should neither romanticise protest nor use violence as a pretext to dismiss legitimate grievances.
For some observers, the flames announced a pan-European youth revolt, offering proof that a single movement was sweeping the continent while seeking voices to validate the idea of a teen revolt driven by the same grievances and violence.
The misleading narrative of a pan-European revolt has concrete consequences, allowing images of unrest to be taken out of their national contexts and presented as proof that a chaotic Europe is ungovernable.
For those on the radical left who celebrate every burning building as the dawn of a continental uprising, the flames are viewed as proof that liberal democratic institutions are beyond repair.
By the time of a huge demonstration on Saturday, public-sector workers had joined the movement, and the grievances had widened to encompass the broader cost of living.
Rejecting the idea of a single European youth revolt does not mean denying the existence of a shared generational anxiety.
In Belgium, students have challenged tuition-fee increases in the country's French-speaking region and demanded additional teaching hours.
Rather, 24-hour news coverage can turn separate protests into a single story of youth rebellion, creating, deliberately or not, the illusion of a common movement and programme where neither exists.
One study of French firms found a sharper decline in permanent hiring among workers aged 21–29 in occupations exposed to artificial intelligence.