Nicholas just didn't have the personality to be tsar, and then he married someone who dominated him in the wrong way. Everyone wanted to give Nicholas advice from his wife, to his uncles to his mother. But it is likely that Marie's advice wasn't as self interested as the advice of his uncles (especially Vladimir and his family, not pleased that the throne had passed them by), and Marie's advice was defintely better than Alexandra's. Alexandra didn't have very good judgement, to say the least and always believed she was right, and would never admit she was in error.
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