Winx Club 3x06: Layla's Choice
Nov. 14th, 2007 12:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spiderbraidsHow behind am I? Just this past weekend, I saw Enchantix Stella fix the Cassandra/Chimera problem, and it was anticlimactic. A choice quote from Stella on defeating Chimera: "That was too easy." Indeed.
Previously on Winx Club: Faragonda introduced the 3rd year students to final transformation, and Valtor made Layla blind on Andros, while Stella, concerned about the situation on Solaria, stayed behind at Alfea... and that's where we begin, with a nice sweeping night shot to the dorm, where Stella is pacing around in her room.
"I'm so worried about everyone. I should never have let them go to Andros alone." Stella, do you even know what the word "alone" means? And Amore is thinking the same thing. "They're not 'alone' Stella, they have each other. And they're very powerful. If I were you I wouldn't worry." Stella: "I'm just so tense, what with everything that's happening on Solaria, it's making me crazy. Cassandra has my father under her spell, and is doing all she can to become queen."
With that, we get another flashback to Stella getting spelled into a monster, and Radius spelled into banishing the monster. We get to relive the steppies-to-be being smug with themselves.
Stella: "It's like everyone I care about is in danger, and I feel so useless." Piff consoles her.
Then some kooky music starts up. Here comes the Griz. Kiko freaks out and jumps on to the shelf. Griz: "I want to know what's going on. You all missed class again today, and none of you reported to the nurse's office."
In the dorm, Stella orders the pixies and Kiko to transform. Once again, Amore becomes Layla, Kiko becomes Flora (who's cramped up on that little shelf :-D ), and the other three pixies become their bonded fairies. (I should note that both Piff and Chatta were just shown earlier as well, so I'm wondering why she didn't just use them for Layla and Flora?)
Griz: "I was starting to get worried."
Stella: "Um... their fever broke, but they still have some of those pox-thingies."
Stella opens the door ajar to talk to the Griz: "And those pox-thingies are highly contagious. They say it's a short virus, though, so we should all be back in class in a couple of days."
Griz: "Well I sure hope so."
Flora's shelf crashes down :-D
Stella: "Okay, good night! :-)"
She closes the door, and slumps down, as everyone changes back to their original forms. It's not easy maintaining a masquerade is it Stella?
Andros, and Stella isn't the only one who feels useless. Bloom: "I'm so sorry Layla. I wish we could break the spell that Valtor put on your eyes but it's just too strong!" We get a quick flashback to this.
Layla seems resigned: "So I'll be blind for the rest of my life." Flora: "Don't say that. We're going to look for a cure and we won't stop until we've found one." Bloom takes Layla's hands: "Well said Flora." Flora: "In the meantime, we'll be your eyes." Flora, Bloom and Tecna put their hands on top of Layla's. Tecna: "You have our word." Layla: "Thanks guys."
Musa sees something coming from the sea. The girls all take up ready-to-fight poses, except for Layla, whose hands are in some neutral position.
Musa: "It's a mermaid, but it's not like the one who attacked us before. She doesn't have the mark of Valtor."
We see get a close-up of blind Layla, before showing the mermaid emerging from the water. She has long red hair with a shark-tooth necklace and mostly red wings (with some orange and green). Wings on a mermaid. HUH. Mermaid: "I've come in peace, fairies of Alfea." Hey, how does she know who they are?
Cut to Layla, and the symbol on her shirt is backwards:
Anyways, Layla recognizes that voice, and we get a name for the mermaid: "Is that you, Tressa?"
The first thing Tressa notices is Layla's blind eyes. Layla seems a bit angry as she mentions Valtor's magic, and also adds that she isn't giving up. Tressa is quite sad at the mention of Val: "Valtor has wrecked havoc on the underwater world. His evil spells have transformed most of my family and friends into monsters. The city of mermaids is ruined, and my mother is imprisoned."
We then get a flashback to the first episode, when the gate to Andros was opened, and Valtor took the mermaid guards' powers and turned them into his minions. Good times, good times.
Tressa continues: "I was hoping you could help me, but now I realize it's not possible." Ugh, way to be defeatist, Tressa.
Layla: "Valtor is holding Queen Ligea (li-ZHEE-a) hostage? My eyes may not see but that doesn't mean I can't help you Tressa."
Bloom: "Alright guys, are you ready for another swim?"
Musa: "I think you know the answer to that :-) Lead the way!"
But Tressa is still upset despite the Winx's enthusiasm to help.
Bloom: "What's the matter Tressa? You look upset."
Tressa: "I think you should know that I didn't survive the fight against Valtor. I escaped instead. I failed as a warrior and as a daughter. My friends were fighting to protect the queen. And I froze with fear! ;_;"
Layla: "Well, fear is a part of courage."
Bloom: "Let's go Tressa. Take us to the city of mermaids."
Tressa swims off, and let me interrupt the action for a little Good Thing, Bad Thing. Good Thing: the original writers are acknowledging, if minimally, that Tressa's fear is why she survived. Bad Thing: they still need a little grammar school, because I understand that, most of the time at least, saying that someone "didn't survive" a battle is a "kid-friendly" way of saying that someone got killed in it. And 4K passed this grammar "mistake" straight to the American viewers, too. HUH.
Back to the action.
Musa: "You don't expect us to hold our breath all the way to the bottom of the ocean I hope?"
Layla: "My Morphix magic will take care of that. Give me your hands."
Everyone piles their hands on top of Layla's, as a light blue-grey glow forms around everyone.
Layla: "This shield will not only transform water into oxygen, but it will also protect us from the cold."
And then... GAH! Transformations, don't sneak up on us like that ever again! We see Bloom and Tecna in their Winx outfits, and then we see the Winx girls holding hands in a line into the water: Bloom, Layla, Flora, Musa, and Tecna.
Under the ocean, Bloom is pulling Layla along. Flora seems to be struggling a bit. Tecna is wearing her face mask. The girls swim.
Alfea. Stella is pacing around in her room again when she hears thumping on her door. Kiko freaks out and runs off. Amore, Chatta, and Piff zip off. Stella goes to the door, and this time, it's Nova. Stella asks her to come in.
Nova holds her phone: "My mother just called me from Solaria. Something terrible has happened."
Stella: "Well, what is it?"
Chatta sounds like she has a hoarse throat: "Yeah! C'mon! Tell us! Talk!"
Stella: "Is it something about my father? Huh?"
Nova: "No. It's about YOU."
Stella: "Huh?"
Nighttime at Solaria palace. The steppies-to-be are calling all the shots, as usual. And Cassandra is totally channeling Joan Collins.
Cassandra: "This meeting is over. You are all dismissed. And this time, before you leave, make sure you curtsey to Chimera."
A bunch of guys are not pleased at the order but they oblige anyway.
Cassandra: "Congratulations to the new princess of Solaria!"
Chimera: "Oh, mommy, I'm so happy."
Cassandra: "You'll never regret this King Radius. Chimera will be a far better daughter than that ungrateful Stella."
Some random palace guy naturally fails to see the logic in this: "Your Majesty, if I may, this is highly irregular. Your daughter is the princess by right of birth. It is against our laws to deny her that title."
Cassandra: "Nobody cares what you think, Chamberlain."
Chamberlain: "His Majesty King Radius has always cared."
Cassandra: "Maybe he used to, but things have changed. Now be gone, your audience is over."
Chamberlain: "Your Majesty, can you hear me???"
Cassandra: "BE GONE I SAID."
Radius: "Speak old friend. I hear you. Go on..."
Chamberlain: "Is this really your will? That Countess Cassandra will rule in your place?"
We see Cassandra casting a spell behind Chamberlain as Radius replies, "Well why not?"
Cassandra: "Well be gone before I throw you in jail. And don't you defy me. I will soon be the queen of Solaria, and when I am, I will deal harshly with those who are disloyal."
Chimera: "Well done mom."
Cassandra: "I hate to be so rude to the hired help, but I can't risk anyone interfering with our plans. All this will soon be mine and I'll defend it tooth and nail."
All of which means that Stella's position is under serious danger.
Back underwater, Tressa and the gang are finally arriving at the city of mermaids. Tressa explains that "Valtor's keeping the queen behind the palace. She's locked up WAY at the bottom of the trench." Musa notes that it's pretty deserted around here. Tressa continues to explain things: "After Valtor's attack, all the mermaids took off. The city is totally emptied out." We see lots of underwater housing. In a side alley, we see a squid's head, and some mermaids carrying tridents.
Back to the girls swimming and we now see that Tressa is carrying some kind of knife. Flora notices that they're being attacked, and we get a good look at the mermaid monsters. Bloom hands Layla off to Tressa and tells her to take Layla somewhere safe, while the girls will deal with the monsters.
Nighttime at Alfea. Stella is STILL pacing around in her room. Honestly, Stella, doesn't pacing around in your room get tiring after a couple hours? "I can't believe it. That sleazy Chimera took my place. If there were ever any doubts this proves that my father is under a spell. But now, Chimera's going to have to deal with ME." Lockette: "What do you mean? You can't leave Alfea. What if Grizelda finds out?" Stella: "She'll never know. Because you're going to cover for me." Lockette: "Wh...wh... wha?" Chatta: "Okay, what's the plan?" Stella: "Nothing new. The substitution spell worked once, it'll work again."
Digit is looking over a sheet of paper: "But we're one pixie short! You've only got me, Amore, Lockette, Tune and Chatta. And I don't wanna risk relying on Kiko again." We cut to a close up of Digit and Tune, and we see that the paper has "1 + 1 = ?" written on it, which is different from 4K's version:
Stella points out: "You didn't count Piff." And we cut to Piff sleeping in Stella's bed. Tune: "Oh no, she's way too little for that." Stella: "Au contraire. She's perfect. She just has to keep on sleeping."
And with that, she turns Piff into herself. "Isn't she lovely? :-)" She then turns Digit, Tune, Lockette, and Chatta into their associated fairies, and has them come help her pack. Amore/Layla is missing. Hmm...
PiffStella wakes up and crawls out the door, all the time making Piff noises. Stella sees Piff is missing, and realizes this can't be good.
Underwater, and the Winx and the mermaid monsters are ready for a fight. Tressa and Layla hide behind a rock as Layla asks what's happening to her friends. Alright, play-by-play! Bloom evades a monster. Musa somersaults under another monster, while (holy Toledo!) Tecna shoves away a monster and takes her trident (not that it matters, since we don't see her carry it with her for later use).
Bloom: "I have no idea whether my fire attack will work under water. I guess there's only one way to find out."
There's no fireball coming out from Bloom, but it repels the mermaids all the same. Bloom decides to get going before the attack again, and tells everyone to swim into the trench. Musa tells Layla and Tressa to come along, and Tressa waits for the monsters to pass their rock before they follow. Tecna tells them to keep swimming, and casts a goo attack to stop the monsters that are right on their tails, and it sends the monsters sinking as the girls continue swimming.
Nighttime at Alfea. Stella and the PixieWinx are walking down the outside hallway looking for PiffStella. Unlike last time, the PixieWinx speak with pixie voices.
DigiTecna: "I told you this would turn out to be a mistake!"
AmoreLayla is now present: "Piff! Piff! Where are you?"
TuneMusa: "If you were a baby where would you go?"
LocketteBloom: "Why did she go without telling us? Piff! Piff!"
Stella: "Lower your voice. Do you want to wake up the whole school???"
DigiTecna: "Right. Shout quietly." HEH!
Then they all hear a distinct "Ahem!" which can only mean one thing: The Griz. And she's with PiffStella.
Griz: "Looking for somebody, young ladies? Perhaps a Ms. Stella? Oh, sorry, I see you already have one." PiffStella makes Piff noises. Stella is resigned to defeat as the PixieWinx revert back to their pixie forms. ChattaFlora: "Looks like we're in trouble." (Although it doesn't sound like Chatta at all here.)
From here, it's Andros all out. We wipe back to underwater and Tressa. Bloom can't see the bottom, and Tressa explains that there is none, according to the legend of the trench. Bloom wonders if Tressa is scared by any of this.
Flora tells the girls to watch out for the coral: "It cuts like it's made of glass." Flora shoots it with one of her beams, which I have no idea what it's supposed to do. Tecna shows her knowledge of coral, that although it's made mostly of calcium carbonate, it's considered to be alive.
The coral starts chasing them. Seriously. Tecna: "And I must say, this coral looks VERY much alive." HEH! Cue lots of evasive action, with a Bloom fireball thrown in for good measure.
Finally, the girls reach a clearing in the middle of the ocean floor. Tressa finds a crown right behind her, and it's her mother's. She picks it up and also notes a cave as the kraken's lair. Tecna thought it was just a legendary creature. Tressa points out that many have fought it but none ever won, and Valtor has it guarding her mother (!)
Inside the cave. Flora is chaperoning Layla. Flora's never seen a kraken before, and asks what it looks like. Well, looks like you got your answer Flo, because here comes the kraken right now, and it looks like a really big squid. Bloom gets everyone to scatter. Kraken tries to pick off Layla, and there's a tug-of-war between the kraken and Flora that the kraken easily wins. The kraken takes Layla into its lair, and Bloom follows, along with everyone else.
In pursuit of the kraken, they come across a bunch of underwater jail cells. One of them has a long green-haired winged mermaid with a red scepter. Hello, Queen Ligea. Bloom tells Tressa to free her mom and head back to the surface while they go deal with the kraken.
QL: "My dear Tressa, I was afraid I'd never see you again."
Tressa: "Well, you can thank the fairies and Princess Layla. They risked their lives to come down here. They helped me. And all I've done in return is act like a coward."
Apparently on this show, you're a coward if you don't do anything in the fight against evil, even if what you could do would not help at all. There's been precedent.
Both back off from the bars, and we finally get to see why Tressa has been carrying that huge knife of hers: to whack open the cell for the queen to escape. Tressa looks pretty winded after doing all this.
After a nice moment of QL reuniting herself with her daughter, Tressa gives her mom back her crown, and tells her get away from here. She adds, "I'll catch up with you later. There's still something I have to do."
Back with the Winx and the kraken. The Winx continue to pursue. Layla tries using her Morphix magic on the kraken to get it to let go. Musa: "Didn't you hear what Layla said? If you didn't understand, we'll be happy to make it clear for you!" Bloom says they have to be careful how they attack because they don't want to hurt Layla...
But no sooner than that's said that Tressa makes her grand entrance with that big knife of hers. She chops off two of the kraken's arms, freeing Layla. Musa and Tecna: "Nice shot Tressa! :-)" Oh, you're just glad that she saved you a whole bunch of effort... ;-)
As the kraken sinks, Bloom is glad to see Tressa again, and Tressa mentions her mom is free. Bloom tells Tressa to go ahead and they'll catch up.
Kraken. Despite just getting an impromptu amputation, it just resprouts the two limbs it lost. This can't be good.
Tressa carries the blind Layla out the cave to meet QL. Layla is still concerned about the rest of the Winx in the cave, but just like Tressa, the first thing QL notices is Layla's eyes, and Tressa explains. QL does have some good news for her, though: "Sweet princess, the magic coral gem in my sceptre has healing powers. We can use it to give you back your sight." Layla: "Is that true Queen Ligea?" QL: "It is. I can help you, but we haven't much time. For the sceptre to restore your sight, the last rays of twilight must be gathered in its coral gem, and then reflected into your eyes." Tressa: "We have to hurry up. It's almost dark."
Back with the Winx girls in the cave. And Musa sees that the kraken is back. The girls power up and hit the kraken, who takes out a column. A Tecna shot at a stalactite ends up taking out a good deal of the roof. Tec: "Our attacks may not work on it, but they will work on the walls of the cave."
They swim some more. Tecna avoids a swipe.
Tecna: "Concentrate your powers. Convergence spell!"
You know, getting a lot of power would be much easier if they'd just summon their Charmix... Anyways, the combined attack takes out a large section of roof directly above the kraken.
Bloom: "Alright, nice shot! The kraken is retreating!"
They keep swimming, but the cave roof just won't stop falling. Flora asks, "Uh, Tecna, the cave collpasing, was that part of your plan?" Tec: "Well no, but I never said my plan was perfect."
Yes, you heard that right. An unperfect plan. From Tecna. And that she's admitting it. Normally this would be character derailment, but remember when she thought that finding out where Cloudtower's Codex was was the most logical plan of all, and she ended up being wrong in both ways? She was quite teed over that and even snapped at Bloom, "Apparently fairies and logic don't mix!" This is an improvement.
Back to the now. The girls avoid falling rocks and exit the cave. They cheer as they rejoin the others. Bloom: "Hurry now, let's get out of here."
The Winx, followed by the princesses, then the queen, start swimming to the surface. Note the order.
Cave. Even the whole cave collapsing around the kraken hasn't stopped it one bit. As the girls are swimming to the surface, the kraken flips over and Steve Irwins the back pack. In other words, the queen. Cue really dragged out slow-motion of QL in pain, and dropping her sceptre. After showing the girls suitably shocked, we see the Winx shooting at the kraken while Tressa goes to get her mom.
QL: "You're a brave daughter Tressa, I'm proud of youuu...."
Tressa just stands there despondently.
Layla: "Wait! There's healing magic in her sceptre! We can still save her, but we have to reach the surface before the sun sets."
Bloom starts to spin: "I'll create a shortcut. Brace yourselves! The ride's gonna be bumpy, but extremely fast."
The girls watch her create a giant water tornado with her spinning.
Surface. The Winx girls fly out of the water, while the princesses and the queen hit the surface. The sun is setting fast. Tressa hands Layla her mom's sceptre: "Take it quick! The sun has almost disappeared!" Layla: "I don't think that the coral gem has enough magic for two healing spells, but don't worry Tressa. Your mother will live!" Instead of into her eyes, Layla reflects the scepter's healing power on to QL.
The sun sets.
Tressa thanks Layla, and she seems a bit surprised at Layla's gesture, and I guess it's because she was expecting her mom's scepter to be used for Layla... but let's face it: This sacrifice couldn't have been more telegraphed if Samuel Morse had written this episode. And it's mostly downhill from here, folks, but I'll get into details when we get to each relevant episode.
Bloom says they're very proud of Layla, as we cut to a very bright light in the sky. Tecna: "Hey, what's happening?"
And with that, we have the very first En... er, "final transformation", for Layla, as her hair gets tied up and the various parts of her outfit form out of light, before her wings sprout out. Since we still don't have the "fancy" term for this yet, we don't get the transformation song that you'll become "familiar" with.
Bloom: "Wow, she's beautiful."
Musa: "Awesome."
Flora: "That's her final fairy form. It's just like Miss Faragonda said."
We get a nice long look at Layla's final form, and we see the mermaid royals in awe over her new look.
Bloom: "Layla, your sacrifice for Queen Ligea earned you your Enchantix powers. Congratulations!"
Layla: "Yes but..."
Bloom: "But what? What's wrong?"
Layla: "I still can't see. There's still darkness in my eyes."
And knowing the way these things are written, they're going to treat the healing sceptre as forever lost. Even though logically its power will be available again at the next sunset. Hmph.
Before I go, I should note that the biggest difference between the original and 4K is that the latter completely played up the whole "I suck because I'm a coward" angle. Here's the scene where Tressa frees her mom to help illustrate my point:
Anvilicious much? They were totally aiming for "Hey kids! Brave good, coward bad!" especially due to the E/I rating. Considering that Tressa's survival would be much less sure if she had battled than if she had escaped instead, one wonders if that was undue.
Previously on Winx Club: Faragonda introduced the 3rd year students to final transformation, and Valtor made Layla blind on Andros, while Stella, concerned about the situation on Solaria, stayed behind at Alfea... and that's where we begin, with a nice sweeping night shot to the dorm, where Stella is pacing around in her room.
"I'm so worried about everyone. I should never have let them go to Andros alone." Stella, do you even know what the word "alone" means? And Amore is thinking the same thing. "They're not 'alone' Stella, they have each other. And they're very powerful. If I were you I wouldn't worry." Stella: "I'm just so tense, what with everything that's happening on Solaria, it's making me crazy. Cassandra has my father under her spell, and is doing all she can to become queen."
With that, we get another flashback to Stella getting spelled into a monster, and Radius spelled into banishing the monster. We get to relive the steppies-to-be being smug with themselves.
Stella: "It's like everyone I care about is in danger, and I feel so useless." Piff consoles her.
Then some kooky music starts up. Here comes the Griz. Kiko freaks out and jumps on to the shelf. Griz: "I want to know what's going on. You all missed class again today, and none of you reported to the nurse's office."
In the dorm, Stella orders the pixies and Kiko to transform. Once again, Amore becomes Layla, Kiko becomes Flora (who's cramped up on that little shelf :-D ), and the other three pixies become their bonded fairies. (I should note that both Piff and Chatta were just shown earlier as well, so I'm wondering why she didn't just use them for Layla and Flora?)
Griz: "I was starting to get worried."
Stella: "Um... their fever broke, but they still have some of those pox-thingies."
Stella opens the door ajar to talk to the Griz: "And those pox-thingies are highly contagious. They say it's a short virus, though, so we should all be back in class in a couple of days."
Griz: "Well I sure hope so."
Flora's shelf crashes down :-D
Stella: "Okay, good night! :-)"
She closes the door, and slumps down, as everyone changes back to their original forms. It's not easy maintaining a masquerade is it Stella?
Andros, and Stella isn't the only one who feels useless. Bloom: "I'm so sorry Layla. I wish we could break the spell that Valtor put on your eyes but it's just too strong!" We get a quick flashback to this.
Layla seems resigned: "So I'll be blind for the rest of my life." Flora: "Don't say that. We're going to look for a cure and we won't stop until we've found one." Bloom takes Layla's hands: "Well said Flora." Flora: "In the meantime, we'll be your eyes." Flora, Bloom and Tecna put their hands on top of Layla's. Tecna: "You have our word." Layla: "Thanks guys."
Musa sees something coming from the sea. The girls all take up ready-to-fight poses, except for Layla, whose hands are in some neutral position.
Musa: "It's a mermaid, but it's not like the one who attacked us before. She doesn't have the mark of Valtor."
We see get a close-up of blind Layla, before showing the mermaid emerging from the water. She has long red hair with a shark-tooth necklace and mostly red wings (with some orange and green). Wings on a mermaid. HUH. Mermaid: "I've come in peace, fairies of Alfea." Hey, how does she know who they are?
Cut to Layla, and the symbol on her shirt is backwards:
Anyways, Layla recognizes that voice, and we get a name for the mermaid: "Is that you, Tressa?"
The first thing Tressa notices is Layla's blind eyes. Layla seems a bit angry as she mentions Valtor's magic, and also adds that she isn't giving up. Tressa is quite sad at the mention of Val: "Valtor has wrecked havoc on the underwater world. His evil spells have transformed most of my family and friends into monsters. The city of mermaids is ruined, and my mother is imprisoned."
We then get a flashback to the first episode, when the gate to Andros was opened, and Valtor took the mermaid guards' powers and turned them into his minions. Good times, good times.
Tressa continues: "I was hoping you could help me, but now I realize it's not possible." Ugh, way to be defeatist, Tressa.
Layla: "Valtor is holding Queen Ligea (li-ZHEE-a) hostage? My eyes may not see but that doesn't mean I can't help you Tressa."
Bloom: "Alright guys, are you ready for another swim?"
Musa: "I think you know the answer to that :-) Lead the way!"
But Tressa is still upset despite the Winx's enthusiasm to help.
Bloom: "What's the matter Tressa? You look upset."
Tressa: "I think you should know that I didn't survive the fight against Valtor. I escaped instead. I failed as a warrior and as a daughter. My friends were fighting to protect the queen. And I froze with fear! ;_;"
Layla: "Well, fear is a part of courage."
Bloom: "Let's go Tressa. Take us to the city of mermaids."
Tressa swims off, and let me interrupt the action for a little Good Thing, Bad Thing. Good Thing: the original writers are acknowledging, if minimally, that Tressa's fear is why she survived. Bad Thing: they still need a little grammar school, because I understand that, most of the time at least, saying that someone "didn't survive" a battle is a "kid-friendly" way of saying that someone got killed in it. And 4K passed this grammar "mistake" straight to the American viewers, too. HUH.
Back to the action.
Musa: "You don't expect us to hold our breath all the way to the bottom of the ocean I hope?"
Layla: "My Morphix magic will take care of that. Give me your hands."
Everyone piles their hands on top of Layla's, as a light blue-grey glow forms around everyone.
Layla: "This shield will not only transform water into oxygen, but it will also protect us from the cold."
And then... GAH! Transformations, don't sneak up on us like that ever again! We see Bloom and Tecna in their Winx outfits, and then we see the Winx girls holding hands in a line into the water: Bloom, Layla, Flora, Musa, and Tecna.
Under the ocean, Bloom is pulling Layla along. Flora seems to be struggling a bit. Tecna is wearing her face mask. The girls swim.
Alfea. Stella is pacing around in her room again when she hears thumping on her door. Kiko freaks out and runs off. Amore, Chatta, and Piff zip off. Stella goes to the door, and this time, it's Nova. Stella asks her to come in.
Nova holds her phone: "My mother just called me from Solaria. Something terrible has happened."
Stella: "Well, what is it?"
Chatta sounds like she has a hoarse throat: "Yeah! C'mon! Tell us! Talk!"
Stella: "Is it something about my father? Huh?"
Nova: "No. It's about YOU."
Stella: "Huh?"
Nighttime at Solaria palace. The steppies-to-be are calling all the shots, as usual. And Cassandra is totally channeling Joan Collins.
Cassandra: "This meeting is over. You are all dismissed. And this time, before you leave, make sure you curtsey to Chimera."
A bunch of guys are not pleased at the order but they oblige anyway.
Cassandra: "Congratulations to the new princess of Solaria!"
Chimera: "Oh, mommy, I'm so happy."
Cassandra: "You'll never regret this King Radius. Chimera will be a far better daughter than that ungrateful Stella."
Some random palace guy naturally fails to see the logic in this: "Your Majesty, if I may, this is highly irregular. Your daughter is the princess by right of birth. It is against our laws to deny her that title."
Cassandra: "Nobody cares what you think, Chamberlain."
Chamberlain: "His Majesty King Radius has always cared."
Cassandra: "Maybe he used to, but things have changed. Now be gone, your audience is over."
Chamberlain: "Your Majesty, can you hear me???"
Cassandra: "BE GONE I SAID."
Radius: "Speak old friend. I hear you. Go on..."
Chamberlain: "Is this really your will? That Countess Cassandra will rule in your place?"
We see Cassandra casting a spell behind Chamberlain as Radius replies, "Well why not?"
Cassandra: "Well be gone before I throw you in jail. And don't you defy me. I will soon be the queen of Solaria, and when I am, I will deal harshly with those who are disloyal."
Chimera: "Well done mom."
Cassandra: "I hate to be so rude to the hired help, but I can't risk anyone interfering with our plans. All this will soon be mine and I'll defend it tooth and nail."
All of which means that Stella's position is under serious danger.
Back underwater, Tressa and the gang are finally arriving at the city of mermaids. Tressa explains that "Valtor's keeping the queen behind the palace. She's locked up WAY at the bottom of the trench." Musa notes that it's pretty deserted around here. Tressa continues to explain things: "After Valtor's attack, all the mermaids took off. The city is totally emptied out." We see lots of underwater housing. In a side alley, we see a squid's head, and some mermaids carrying tridents.
Back to the girls swimming and we now see that Tressa is carrying some kind of knife. Flora notices that they're being attacked, and we get a good look at the mermaid monsters. Bloom hands Layla off to Tressa and tells her to take Layla somewhere safe, while the girls will deal with the monsters.
Nighttime at Alfea. Stella is STILL pacing around in her room. Honestly, Stella, doesn't pacing around in your room get tiring after a couple hours? "I can't believe it. That sleazy Chimera took my place. If there were ever any doubts this proves that my father is under a spell. But now, Chimera's going to have to deal with ME." Lockette: "What do you mean? You can't leave Alfea. What if Grizelda finds out?" Stella: "She'll never know. Because you're going to cover for me." Lockette: "Wh...wh... wha?" Chatta: "Okay, what's the plan?" Stella: "Nothing new. The substitution spell worked once, it'll work again."
Digit is looking over a sheet of paper: "But we're one pixie short! You've only got me, Amore, Lockette, Tune and Chatta. And I don't wanna risk relying on Kiko again." We cut to a close up of Digit and Tune, and we see that the paper has "1 + 1 = ?" written on it, which is different from 4K's version:
Stella points out: "You didn't count Piff." And we cut to Piff sleeping in Stella's bed. Tune: "Oh no, she's way too little for that." Stella: "Au contraire. She's perfect. She just has to keep on sleeping."
And with that, she turns Piff into herself. "Isn't she lovely? :-)" She then turns Digit, Tune, Lockette, and Chatta into their associated fairies, and has them come help her pack. Amore/Layla is missing. Hmm...
PiffStella wakes up and crawls out the door, all the time making Piff noises. Stella sees Piff is missing, and realizes this can't be good.
Underwater, and the Winx and the mermaid monsters are ready for a fight. Tressa and Layla hide behind a rock as Layla asks what's happening to her friends. Alright, play-by-play! Bloom evades a monster. Musa somersaults under another monster, while (holy Toledo!) Tecna shoves away a monster and takes her trident (not that it matters, since we don't see her carry it with her for later use).
Bloom: "I have no idea whether my fire attack will work under water. I guess there's only one way to find out."
There's no fireball coming out from Bloom, but it repels the mermaids all the same. Bloom decides to get going before the attack again, and tells everyone to swim into the trench. Musa tells Layla and Tressa to come along, and Tressa waits for the monsters to pass their rock before they follow. Tecna tells them to keep swimming, and casts a goo attack to stop the monsters that are right on their tails, and it sends the monsters sinking as the girls continue swimming.
Nighttime at Alfea. Stella and the PixieWinx are walking down the outside hallway looking for PiffStella. Unlike last time, the PixieWinx speak with pixie voices.
DigiTecna: "I told you this would turn out to be a mistake!"
AmoreLayla is now present: "Piff! Piff! Where are you?"
TuneMusa: "If you were a baby where would you go?"
LocketteBloom: "Why did she go without telling us? Piff! Piff!"
Stella: "Lower your voice. Do you want to wake up the whole school???"
DigiTecna: "Right. Shout quietly." HEH!
Then they all hear a distinct "Ahem!" which can only mean one thing: The Griz. And she's with PiffStella.
Griz: "Looking for somebody, young ladies? Perhaps a Ms. Stella? Oh, sorry, I see you already have one." PiffStella makes Piff noises. Stella is resigned to defeat as the PixieWinx revert back to their pixie forms. ChattaFlora: "Looks like we're in trouble." (Although it doesn't sound like Chatta at all here.)
From here, it's Andros all out. We wipe back to underwater and Tressa. Bloom can't see the bottom, and Tressa explains that there is none, according to the legend of the trench. Bloom wonders if Tressa is scared by any of this.
Flora tells the girls to watch out for the coral: "It cuts like it's made of glass." Flora shoots it with one of her beams, which I have no idea what it's supposed to do. Tecna shows her knowledge of coral, that although it's made mostly of calcium carbonate, it's considered to be alive.
The coral starts chasing them. Seriously. Tecna: "And I must say, this coral looks VERY much alive." HEH! Cue lots of evasive action, with a Bloom fireball thrown in for good measure.
Finally, the girls reach a clearing in the middle of the ocean floor. Tressa finds a crown right behind her, and it's her mother's. She picks it up and also notes a cave as the kraken's lair. Tecna thought it was just a legendary creature. Tressa points out that many have fought it but none ever won, and Valtor has it guarding her mother (!)
Inside the cave. Flora is chaperoning Layla. Flora's never seen a kraken before, and asks what it looks like. Well, looks like you got your answer Flo, because here comes the kraken right now, and it looks like a really big squid. Bloom gets everyone to scatter. Kraken tries to pick off Layla, and there's a tug-of-war between the kraken and Flora that the kraken easily wins. The kraken takes Layla into its lair, and Bloom follows, along with everyone else.
In pursuit of the kraken, they come across a bunch of underwater jail cells. One of them has a long green-haired winged mermaid with a red scepter. Hello, Queen Ligea. Bloom tells Tressa to free her mom and head back to the surface while they go deal with the kraken.
QL: "My dear Tressa, I was afraid I'd never see you again."
Tressa: "Well, you can thank the fairies and Princess Layla. They risked their lives to come down here. They helped me. And all I've done in return is act like a coward."
Apparently on this show, you're a coward if you don't do anything in the fight against evil, even if what you could do would not help at all. There's been precedent.
Both back off from the bars, and we finally get to see why Tressa has been carrying that huge knife of hers: to whack open the cell for the queen to escape. Tressa looks pretty winded after doing all this.
After a nice moment of QL reuniting herself with her daughter, Tressa gives her mom back her crown, and tells her get away from here. She adds, "I'll catch up with you later. There's still something I have to do."
Back with the Winx and the kraken. The Winx continue to pursue. Layla tries using her Morphix magic on the kraken to get it to let go. Musa: "Didn't you hear what Layla said? If you didn't understand, we'll be happy to make it clear for you!" Bloom says they have to be careful how they attack because they don't want to hurt Layla...
But no sooner than that's said that Tressa makes her grand entrance with that big knife of hers. She chops off two of the kraken's arms, freeing Layla. Musa and Tecna: "Nice shot Tressa! :-)" Oh, you're just glad that she saved you a whole bunch of effort... ;-)
As the kraken sinks, Bloom is glad to see Tressa again, and Tressa mentions her mom is free. Bloom tells Tressa to go ahead and they'll catch up.
Kraken. Despite just getting an impromptu amputation, it just resprouts the two limbs it lost. This can't be good.
Tressa carries the blind Layla out the cave to meet QL. Layla is still concerned about the rest of the Winx in the cave, but just like Tressa, the first thing QL notices is Layla's eyes, and Tressa explains. QL does have some good news for her, though: "Sweet princess, the magic coral gem in my sceptre has healing powers. We can use it to give you back your sight." Layla: "Is that true Queen Ligea?" QL: "It is. I can help you, but we haven't much time. For the sceptre to restore your sight, the last rays of twilight must be gathered in its coral gem, and then reflected into your eyes." Tressa: "We have to hurry up. It's almost dark."
Back with the Winx girls in the cave. And Musa sees that the kraken is back. The girls power up and hit the kraken, who takes out a column. A Tecna shot at a stalactite ends up taking out a good deal of the roof. Tec: "Our attacks may not work on it, but they will work on the walls of the cave."
They swim some more. Tecna avoids a swipe.
Tecna: "Concentrate your powers. Convergence spell!"
You know, getting a lot of power would be much easier if they'd just summon their Charmix... Anyways, the combined attack takes out a large section of roof directly above the kraken.
Bloom: "Alright, nice shot! The kraken is retreating!"
They keep swimming, but the cave roof just won't stop falling. Flora asks, "Uh, Tecna, the cave collpasing, was that part of your plan?" Tec: "Well no, but I never said my plan was perfect."
Yes, you heard that right. An unperfect plan. From Tecna. And that she's admitting it. Normally this would be character derailment, but remember when she thought that finding out where Cloudtower's Codex was was the most logical plan of all, and she ended up being wrong in both ways? She was quite teed over that and even snapped at Bloom, "Apparently fairies and logic don't mix!" This is an improvement.
Back to the now. The girls avoid falling rocks and exit the cave. They cheer as they rejoin the others. Bloom: "Hurry now, let's get out of here."
The Winx, followed by the princesses, then the queen, start swimming to the surface. Note the order.
Cave. Even the whole cave collapsing around the kraken hasn't stopped it one bit. As the girls are swimming to the surface, the kraken flips over and Steve Irwins the back pack. In other words, the queen. Cue really dragged out slow-motion of QL in pain, and dropping her sceptre. After showing the girls suitably shocked, we see the Winx shooting at the kraken while Tressa goes to get her mom.
QL: "You're a brave daughter Tressa, I'm proud of youuu...."
Tressa just stands there despondently.
Layla: "Wait! There's healing magic in her sceptre! We can still save her, but we have to reach the surface before the sun sets."
Bloom starts to spin: "I'll create a shortcut. Brace yourselves! The ride's gonna be bumpy, but extremely fast."
The girls watch her create a giant water tornado with her spinning.
Surface. The Winx girls fly out of the water, while the princesses and the queen hit the surface. The sun is setting fast. Tressa hands Layla her mom's sceptre: "Take it quick! The sun has almost disappeared!" Layla: "I don't think that the coral gem has enough magic for two healing spells, but don't worry Tressa. Your mother will live!" Instead of into her eyes, Layla reflects the scepter's healing power on to QL.
The sun sets.
Tressa thanks Layla, and she seems a bit surprised at Layla's gesture, and I guess it's because she was expecting her mom's scepter to be used for Layla... but let's face it: This sacrifice couldn't have been more telegraphed if Samuel Morse had written this episode. And it's mostly downhill from here, folks, but I'll get into details when we get to each relevant episode.
Bloom says they're very proud of Layla, as we cut to a very bright light in the sky. Tecna: "Hey, what's happening?"
And with that, we have the very first En... er, "final transformation", for Layla, as her hair gets tied up and the various parts of her outfit form out of light, before her wings sprout out. Since we still don't have the "fancy" term for this yet, we don't get the transformation song that you'll become "familiar" with.
Bloom: "Wow, she's beautiful."
Musa: "Awesome."
Flora: "That's her final fairy form. It's just like Miss Faragonda said."
We get a nice long look at Layla's final form, and we see the mermaid royals in awe over her new look.
Bloom: "Layla, your sacrifice for Queen Ligea earned you your Enchantix powers. Congratulations!"
Layla: "Yes but..."
Bloom: "But what? What's wrong?"
Layla: "I still can't see. There's still darkness in my eyes."
And knowing the way these things are written, they're going to treat the healing sceptre as forever lost. Even though logically its power will be available again at the next sunset. Hmph.
Before I go, I should note that the biggest difference between the original and 4K is that the latter completely played up the whole "I suck because I'm a coward" angle. Here's the scene where Tressa frees her mom to help illustrate my point:
| QL | My dear Tressa, I was afraid I'd never see you again. | You came to rescue me honey. I'm so proud of you. |
| Tressa | Well, you can thank the fairies and Princess Layla. They risked their lives to come down here. They helped me. And all I've done in return is act like a coward. | Don't be. It's Layla and the fairies that you should be proud of. Me? I don't know how to be brave mom. But Bloom said that I should just go for it, that I should just try. |
| QL | (backs off) | I think Bloom is right dear. (backs off) Start now. Be brave. |
| QL | That's my girl. | Well done Tressa. That's my girl. Thank you. |
| QL | I'm proud of you. | |
| Tressa | Happy to be of service mom. | |
| Tressa | This is yours mother. Now go. Get away from here. | With you back in the throne, maybe we can defeat Baltor. |
| Tressa | And this time I'll be at your side. | |
Anvilicious much? They were totally aiming for "Hey kids! Brave good, coward bad!" especially due to the E/I rating. Considering that Tressa's survival would be much less sure if she had battled than if she had escaped instead, one wonders if that was undue.
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Date: 2007-11-15 03:07 am (UTC)