Winx Club S8 E2

## Plot

Good news! I actually did watch this season as it came out! The bad news is that it was in Italian in 2019, which at the time of me writing this was almost two years ago, and I don't understand Italian, so I can't tell you what's a filler episode and what's not. I don't think I'll be skipping or summarizing episodes like I did in seasons 6 and 7 though. Bloom tells Sky that they're going on a new mission through emoji animations. I want to scream. We get a rare look at Tecna and Musa's room while they pack. We barely see Aisha's. Have we ever actually seen her dorm before? Most Winx Club meetings take place in Bloom and Flora's room, so it's the one that's the most recognizable and iconic. Stella wants to see the guys before they leave. Bloom tells her that they don't have time, but she relents when Sky tells her that they have a surprise for them at Red Fountain. It shocks everyone, but especially Musa. Yeah, Riven rejoined the specialists after he saved the guys on their last mission. In contrast to how the other girls and Musa treated him when he left near the end of season 6, they don't take his sudden appearance here very well at all. It's actually understandable, since he hasn't been in touch with them at all, and he didn't tell Musa that he was back. Although I disagree with her assessment of him as an egomaniac. The guys try to tell them that he's changed, but Musa says he hasn't proved it to her yet. Surprisingly, he agrees, and seems to regret that he didn't keep in touch. Stella tells Tecna that he looks different. I'd like to think that's a meta joke about the new art style and voice, especially since Stella and Tecna's VAs weren't changed, like how the first lines of the previous episode were from the girls whose VAs *did* change, as if telling the audience, "Okay, here's what they sound like now, get used to it ASAP." The guys offer their help on the Winx's new mission, but Aisha refuses, telling them that they've done enough for today. When Sky tries to argue, Riven tells him to let them go. Twinkly points out that the important question isn't *where* they're heading, but *how* they'll get there, since, you know, space. She covers them in stardust and gives them 1960s space themed outfits that will let them travel through space. Oh god, Tecna's hair. They fly through space, and it turns out that they didn't need to pack anything. They arrive in Lumenia and meet Queen Dorana. The cores of many stars throughout the magic universe have been weakening, and Dorana is worried that theirs will be next. The Lumens feed the core with light thanks to their magic dust. A yellow river of light can't reach Dorana's palace anymore. Something in the forest is holding back its course and weakening her powers. The Winx transform, and Twinkly guides them through the forest. Someone dug a hole in the ground to divert the course of the river, and they can't just close it, since it's protected by a dark magic forcefield. Stella gets rid of it in one hit. See what I mean about how this season's space/star based powers should've made her more powerful, since she's the only one with Butterflix powers that can do stuff like that. It turns out that the specialists followed the girls, because of course they did. And yes, this means that they have a spaceship. So giving them a submarine, a boat, or scuba gear to contribute during at least the parts of season 5 that didn't take place in the Infinite Ocean was too hard, but this was fine? Anyways, the Winx see that the tunnel leads into an underground cavern. A machine is collecting the river water and pouring it into rock creatures with crystals on their backs. They're officially called Golem Monsters. They attack the girls, and absorb their magic attacks with the crystals. One of them grabs Musa, and then the specialists reveal themselves. They can somehow fly now with mechanical jet packs or wings on their backs, which also hold their new weapons. Sky has dual swords, Brandon has a bo staff, Helia has a whip, Riven has nunchucks, Timmy has a bow, and Nex has tonfas or sais. This is starting to sound like a crossover between Ninjago, *Star Wars*, and *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* with these weapons of light. Riven attacks the monster, which lets go of Musa. I hate how physical violence is portrayed now, i.e., it's basically not. It's just a close up of someone attacking, a black screen with the arc of an attack shown, and then we cut to the opponent being pushed backwards by said attacks. That's so boring! Show me badass fight choreography! Sure, it's not *always* shown like that, as the following fight shows us, but it still doesn't feel satisfying. Maybe it's because they all attack one at a time. Maybe it's because I can't believe their new tiny stick figure bodies can kick a giant golem monster made of rock, even if its insides are likely hollow and filled with magic river water. I can't believe I just said that. Cue *The Owl House* joke. Sky tells the girls to distract the monsters while they attack them. Also, I don't know who's animating this now, but they fail at whip animation, which I didn't even have to pause, slow down, or go frame by frame to notice. That's how bad it is! Watch an *Indiana Jones* movie or something! That looks like a child drew it! Sky destroys one of the monsters. Riven saves Musa from getting hit by the other one when she celebrates prematurely and doesn't have situational awareness. Probably because she started this episode by blasting music through her headphones, and it was loud enough for Tecna to hear it very clearly and mess up her luggage from the other side of the room. Bloom uses her Butterflix powers indirectly again to drop a stalactite on the monster. See? Now that's proper whip/rope animation. Also, Bloom and Sky have been strategic thinkers during the fights in the last two episodes, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm kind of digging it. Fight smarter, not harder. Helia ties up the monster's feet, Timmy shoots it with an arrow of light, and Brandon destroys it. And while Timmy's arrows don't need to be picked up or replenished because they're made of light or lasers or nanites or something, they are sadly nothing like Pit's arrows of light from *Kid Icarus*, or Zelda or Link's light arrows. And then everyone sees Valtor's mark appear. The girls are initially shocked, but other than that, they take his return from the dead surprisingly well. If anything, I'd expect the guys to take it worse, since he kidnapped most of them at the end of season 3, and it was his fault that Sky was controlled by Diaspro and Brandon was thrown in an Eraklyon prison for part of the season 3. The machine that was collecting magical river water shoots *missiles* at them. Tecna just blocks them all with a smile on her face… and also a giant shield. The Winx block more missiles with their individual shields and shoot magic at it, which disables it. Now that I think about it, have the girls ever done a Butterflix convergence before? And then they hear laughing coming from the machine. It turns out that Obscurum was piloting it. He claims that was just a small sample of his power and that they haven't heard the last of him, before he vanishes through a portal. Aisha covers the hole with Morphix, and the river resumes its normal course. They head back to where the specialists parked their ship. Musa is mad at them for following them, and says they thought they couldn't handle it on their own. I mean, you really couldn't though. Bloom even points that out for once. This really is season 4 all over again. In that case, bring Nabu back already and write Nex off! Riven says it's his fault, because he convinced the others to follow the girls. He tells Musa that he'll always be there when she needs him. Was that a season 6 callback? Bloom tells him that they were a big help, and thanks them. Musa doesn't even watch them leave. Aisha tells her that she was pretty scary. Riven was being really nice. Musa once again says that he still has a lot to prove to her. Back at her palace, Dorana thanks the Winx. They tell her who Valtor is and that he might be back. He could be connected to Obscurum. Sure enough, Obscurum is still on Lumenia, and Valtor contacts him. He tells him that the plan worked. The whole thing with the river was a diversion to draw the Winx away from the star core. I miss Cedric Kühle and Josh Keaton, but for only having a few lines so far, I guess Henry F. Benjamin does an okay job. Back at the palace, Dorana feels that someone is attacking Lumenia's core. Now that her powers have been restored, she gives the Winx Cosmix to save Lumenia and bring light back to all the stars that have gone dark. Well, that's… an incredibly underwhelming way to "earn" a new transformation. I do like that it only took them two episodes to get it though. The less I see or hear of Butterflix, the better. I really like the song. The outfits… meh. They look like the girls are going to a space themed costume party, not saving the universe in space. Their skirts look like they're plaid or flannel, which I have always personally despised for its pattern and texture. They get new highlights and sparkly star details in their hair. The wings are the same except for color. Or rather, Bloom, Stella, and Musa have one set of wings, and Flora, Tecna, and Aisha have the other. It just feels like the only *major* differences in their outfits now are the colors. I guess *Power Rangers* rules apply and that makes them look more like a team to children, but still. The actual transformation sequence seems good, or at least okay. It's better than Butterflix and Tynix, although that's not hard to do. *Let's go, we're Cosmix Winx We can light up a star The power (The power) It's Cosmix, yeah! Oh, we're Cosmix Winx When the night becomes dark You'll see our spark Get up and shine, let's go! We're Cosmix Winx We can light up a star The power (The power) It's Cosmix, yeah! Oh, we're Cosmix Winx When the night becomes dark You'll see our spark We are the Cosmix We're Cosmix Winx We can light up a star It's the power of Cosmix in our hearts (We're Cosmix) We're Cosmix We're Cosmix Winx! Let's go! We're Cosmix Winx We can light up a star The power (The power) It's Cosmix, yeah! Oh, we're Cosmix Winx When the night becomes dark You'll see our spark We are the Cosmix Winx!* Dark portals appear in the sky, and Staryummies fall out of them. Obscurum appears and orders them to absorb all the light of Lumenia's core.