Winx Club S2 E3

## Plot

Layla wakes up, and sees Piff sleep-flying outside. She runs out of the infirmary to find her and briefly meets Faragonda. Outside, Piff wakes up right before she falls, and flies into an open window. She flies into Professor Wizgiz's classroom. Layla catches her right before she falls. She tells Faragonda about what happened to her. She fell into an underground river, and it carried her outside. Faragonda organizes a rescue mission. Layla will be their guide, because she's been there before. Faragonda tells the Winx that not everyone will be participating in the mission. This is because their magic is best suited for different purposes. Tecna, Flora, and Musa will stay at Alfea while Bloom and Stella will go with Layla. This is because Bloom possesses the powerful Dragon Flame, and Stella's sun powers will come in handy against the shadow monsters. To prove this, Faragonda creates an illusion of the cave to test them. Tecna can't even transform. Flora can't use her powers because there are no living plants down there. Musa's sound powers are amplified, but the vibrations cause a cave-in. Musa is upset, but she's cheered up by Flora and Faragonda. Faragonda gives Layla seeds of light, which will drive off any shadow monsters, but only once. They'll be going with the Specialists. Timmy and Riven will take them to the cave, and Sky and Brandon will accompany the girls on the mission. Layla reveals that she can ride a motorbike just as well as the guys can, showing her passion for sports. The boys brought all sorts of gear and gadgets with them. They even brought a demoleculizer, which will allow them to pass through walls. They're dropped off at some caves. Stella transforms when she gets annoyed at Sky for using a poor flashlight. They run into a locked gate that absorbs magic. The boys work on blowing it open while the girls fight the shadow monsters. I love Layla's fairy outfit. She blocks the door with her special power, Morphix. It's pink, and she explains that it's like magic glue. She can create just about anything with it. Unfortunately, the use of her powers drains her magic quickly and she's forced to change back. Soon after, the same thing happens to Stella and Bloom. It'll be a while before they can use their magic again. Layla is from Andros. Darkar is watching them. They're separated, and monsters attack Brandon. Layla transforms again to help him, but gets stuck to a wall. Brandon falls down the cliff, and Stella jumps down after him, even though she can't transform yet, so she can't fly. Bloom is devastated.

## Review

This was a good episode. I really like Layla (Aisha). She just makes everything she does look so awesome! She's also the one with the most emotional baggage. **Major Spoilers below! Read at your own risk!** In season 2, she has PTSD and loses the pixies, her closest friends. She also had a… different childhood than many others. In season 3, her planet was overtaken by an evil madman, and he caused her to go blind (for only one episode, but still). Then her parents tried to force her into an arranged marriage with a total stranger. *Then,* in season 4, she sees the love of her life, her fiancée, die right in front of her. Then she briefly turns on her friends. ***And then,*** she discovers that the enemy in season 5 is her cousin, and he's turned her extended family into monsters. Then he tries to turn her into one, but Musa, her best friend, takes the hit for her and turns into an evil monster. I think the writers/the Winx universe really have it out for her. This finally died down in season 6, but she ended up with Nex, a new character, who to me is basically Thoren, another new character. Why should I care about all these new characters with zero personality and characterization that have been shoved down my throat? In season 6 though, Flora and Musa didn't have it easy. Flora had brief problems with Helia in two episodes, and that was just because the writers wanted it. That wasn't even a real conflict! Not to mention that at least Flora was written out of character, and possibly Helia too. Musa lost her voice, and she broke up with Riven again, and Riven was written off the show, and then the Trix were supposedly written off the show, only to come back again during the next season, and the season after that, **and** **I just hate season 6 so much!!!!** I apologize for the rant, but I had to get that out at some point. The eventual good news? Riven came back in season 8! The bad news? Everything looks and sounds different, and even though I adjusted to the new character designs for the girls surprisingly fast, I don't always handle extreme change very well. I mostly blame Nickelodeon for producing the extremely kiddie seasons 5 and 6, although the writers for season 7 are also to blame for making that flaming hot pile of garbage they call a television season.