Winx Club 3x07: The Company of the Light
Dec. 8th, 2007 07:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spiderbraidsBefore I head into my summary, let me just grumble a bit about CN Asia. This morning I checked their website's usually reliable online schedule to see what they would air. They said that they were airing episodes 3x08 and 3x09. Well, I turned on CN at just past 11:00 (the start of the 2nd episode), and saw Bloom having a dream about Valtor and FG and I realized that they were airing 3x24. You see, CN had stopped at 3x23 a few weeks back (they aired the eppy, and then they looped back to 3x01), and I looked at their scheds to see when they'd start airing new episodes, so I could program my VCR accordingly. Result of this snafu is that I only have part of the episode (from after when FG suggests the seance), and I'm not even sure if they're even going to keep airing Winx long enough for the ep to air again (it's coming up to a year since Winx has aired anywhere but weekend mornings). Hmm...
Okay, now, summary. Previously on Winx Club: Stella found out from Nova that Chimera has taken her place as Princess of the Sun and Moon and decided to go to Solaria to straighten things out, but found herself going nowhere fast instead after the Griz found the pixies were impersonating the other Winx girls. Meanwhile, there's also something about Layla getting her final fairy form, and Valtor alluding to some kind of connection with our good ol' redhead here.
We open in, uh, China? Well, it sure looks like China, with all the Oriental buildings and stuff... With all that imaginative thought going into designing realms that are tangential to the storyline, you'd think that they'd spare some to create the Winx girls' realms and a certainevil not-so-nice fairy's school, which I'm pretty sure are more important the plot than NotChina.
Oh look, a tourist transport. Two "Asian" guys (replete with fans) greet the tourists to "Espero, the most enchanted kingdom in the entire magic dimension. The perfect resort for your perfect holiday." No sooner than their transport leaves, though, that there are clouds coming. The "Asian" guys find it impossible, since there no clouds here. Dude. Isn't that sort of Solaria's schtick already?
And here come the Trix. Oh, and Valtor, too. Obviously, the tourists are scared of them.
Val: "My name is Valtor."
Icy: "But you can call him Master."
We see them fly off towardsNotChinaEspero's main town, as we fade to Alfea. We hear some schoolyard chatter, and then suddenly a bright light materializes in the middle of the schoolyard. Everyone is attracted to this, and we see Layla in her final fairy form, along with the others in their regular fairy form. Yes, they're back at Alfea. And here comes the Griz, demanding an explanation for their unauthorized absense. Bloom: "Not now Griselda, please? Layla needs your help."
We see that Layla is still blind, even though the curing power she sacrificed to get her Enchantix should have been available the next day. Like I said, they're treating it as forever lost. The Griz looks a bit dismayed...
...as we jumpcut to Stella running down the hallways to FG's office with the pixies in tow. FG: "Come in Stella. You're just in time to see some magic at work." Stella asks what happened to Layla and FG answers: "Something very terrible... and something very wonderful," as she holds up a pink and red jewel, and explains things. Blah blah dark magic cast out the light from her eyes blah blah final fairy form. "She is now an Enchantix. Valtor's spell is powerful, but you are now strong enough to break it, Layla."
The jewel FG is holding glows as she continues, "You have the power of the fairy dust. It's a magic energy in your new wings. You can feel it if you concentrate."
Layla begins to concentrate, and her new wings flutter to release a glowing dust. "You should be able to feel it all around you, and you don't need your eyes to see it." Layla collects the dust in her gloved hands, and releases it above herself to fall onto her green-shadowed eyelids. We see the pixies watching. Then we cut back to Layla, who concentrates a little and opens her eyelids... to reveal her ocean-colored irises.
Layla is VERY glad to see her new outfit... or, y'know, see AT ALL. Almost as soon as she says, "I can see," though, her new outfit fades back to her casuals. Hmm... The other Winx girls go hug her.
FG explains: "The fairy dust can break through most dark spells. It's one of the new powers you have as an Enchantix." Griz coughs.
I dunno. Stella's 4K one liner sounds better. Anyhow, time for the Griz to speak.
Griz: "Ahem. Young ladies, I really hate to spoil this lovely moment, but there is still the matter of disciplinary action. As punishment for leaving school without permission and trying to deceive me by having Ms. Stella and the pixies impersonate you, you will have to go and work in the restricted section of the school library, and reorganize the entire collection of all reference books for Ms. Barbatea. (pause) And that's without using magic of course. Your detention will last until all the books are on the stacks, is that clear?"
Winx girls, the Griz has spoken. (Imitates "torch snuffed" sting from Survivor) As the girls leave the council area immediately:
Musa: "Well done, Stella."
Stella knows she didn't intend to get them punished: "I did my best, but things just kinda... got out of control."
Musa: "Yeah, we noticed."
Stella groans.
And let me take a time out to talk about Layla's final fairy form. Layla has new two-toned hair with a pigtailed hairdo, as well as a blue ribbon over her forehead, eyelids with green eyeshadow, brighter pink lips, and a multi-colored (but mostly blue) outfit, gold sparkling gloves, green-lined wings, and instead of fairyboots, ribbons around her legs. We're talking a big sea change (no pun intended) for her outfit here.
Layla and Bloom are walking in the Alfea schoolyard. Layla: "Hey Bloom, look! You have a visitor." It's Sky, and Bloom glomps him. Sky says he was on his way back to RF, and decided to stop by Alfea. "I heard you saw some real action on Andros. I wanted to make sure that you were okay. And then... I wanted to ask you something."
Bloom: "Well, what did you want to ask me?"
Sky: "Bloom, I'm the prince of Eraklyon and this weekend is my kingdom's 1000th anniversary. At the party, I want to announce to the world that, um, you're my girlfriend."
Bloom: "You want to tell the whole world??? That's a lot of people." Duh, of course it is, Bloom.
Sky: "Well, you see, I want everybody to know how important you are to me. That is if it's okay with you..."
Bloom doesn't even wait for Sky to finish as she hugs him. Aww...
Sky: "That's a yes then? :-)"
Bloom: "You bet it is! There's nothing in the world that could keep me from going to your party."
Then she realises something: "Well, actually there is one thing, and that's Griselda's detention."
Andros. We see a mermonster. Then we see an image of non-fairy Bloom. And hello Valtor. Stormy looks at a set of scrolls. Icy: "So these are the enchanted codes of Espero? Somehow I pictured them differently. You'd think they'd have a safer place to store the magic knowledge of an entire world." Agreed, Icy.
Darcy, being the smart one, notices that Valtor isn't replying to Icy. "You're talking to yourself Icy. He's obviously not listening." Icy: "Valtor's mind's a million miles away..."
Icy stands in front of our good ol' redhead's picture: "Hey! What's going on? We just made off with all of Espero's magic! Add that to what you took from Solaria and Andros and let's get going!"
We see that Valtor still isn't responding.
Icy: "Soon you're going to be the supreme sorceror of the magic dimension! Isn't that what you want? No but really, one would think you'd show a little more enthusiasm! I mean, what's with this sudden interest in Bloom?!" That last part is accompanied with Icy punching her fist on the Bloom picture.
Darcy: "You think maybe she's got a crush on her?"
Stormy, being the one with a crush on Val, has thismuch-iconizediconized-by-me reaction:
Okay, now Valtor's finally giving a response: "I'm studying her. Bloom is an enemy we do NOT want to underestimate. You three, of all people, should know that. We need to get rid of her before she causes more trouble. And that party on Eraklyon will be the perfect place to do it. I just had a great idea." Wow. Nothing ever gets past Valtor.
Alfea. Some girl's got a new flower bag and she's telling others to check it out. We get a wide shot of Alfea, as a bunch of glowing orbs fly out above the school and form a big digi-sphere barrier thing to shield the entire school. The girls have never seen this before.
Auditorium, where FG has a very important announcement. Random girls are wondering "What's with the magic dome above the school?"
Flora: "I hope it's nothing serious..."
Bloom: "I wish it weren't (her VA pronounces it as "where-int"... Eh?) but look at Faragonda. I'm pretty sure she's about to give us some bad news."
FG talks about Val's attack onNotChinaEspero from earlier.
FG: "This pattern of attack is great concern to us, because it means sooner or later, Alfea will become his target. Our school is the preserver of some supreme magical spell. (she doesn't use the plural... hmm?) Consequently, the other teachers and I have decided to create a special dome over the school premises to act as a protective barrier. For your safety, and until Valtor is no longer a threat, nobody may enter or leave the school without special authorization." The Griz walks over to the Winx, and she is all smug as FG finishes: "And that can be only be issued by Griselda."
Stella is the most dismayed: "Now we'll NEVER be able to get out of here!" Griz: "YOU wouldn't be able to anyway young lady. Or did you forget about your detention? I'll see you in the library in ten minutes."
We get a nice shot of Alfea, with a shimmer over the background for the barrier. Library. Winx. Pixies. Griz: "Some of you snuck off campus, and others lied about it. Now all of you will have a chance to think about what you've done while you organize the volumes of the restricted area."
We see a huge pile of books in the middle of the library. It looks like a search spell gone awry.
Griz: "You will spend all your time in detention until everything is in order. And remember, no magic allowed!"
For the first time since back in S1, we see Barbatea the librarian, as the Griz hands the girls over to her. Barbatea: "The restricted section is extremely disorganized. These books think they own the place, and so they think they can do whatever they want. Some of them are indeed very bad tempered." Barb hands a purple book over to Tecna, who notes: "These are books of curses." The purple book is very heavy. It opens on its own and starts chomping with its teeth. Hey, isn't that straight out of Harry Potter? The book falls to the floor, and we see the teeth turn back into pages.
Barb: "I would handle them with great care if I were you." No kidding, Barb.
Barriered Alfea. Flora thinks that the Griz came down hard on them.
Flora: "Griselda really came down hard on us. We're gonna be here forever."
Tecna: "That's not quite true. According to my calculations, working at this rate, we should be done by next Tuesday."
We see the girls working really hard, and then Stella just sitting there reading (dude!), despondent at missing the party for sure.
Layla: "C'mon girls, let's not give up. Saturday is Bloom's party, and I for one don't intend to let her miss it." Funny that this is coming from the only Winx girl who missed Stella's party.
Stella: "But Saturday is tomorrow. It'll be impossible to get this all done without using magic. Unless..."
Musa, with a bunch of scrolls: "Unless what?"
Stella: "Unless it's not our magic we use. If the books were to use their own magic that wouldn't be breaking Griselda's rules."
Digit: "I predict failure is highly probable."
Musa: "More than just probable. It's CERTAIN." Quote gold, right there.
Layla: "Yeah, Stella, bad idea. Put the book down, it's still cheating."
Stella still insists that they're just going to open the book, rather than do anything themselves. She takes a large blue book off the pile next to her, and says that there's a nice little genie in it "just like in Aladdin's lamp." Stella leafs through the book for the genie. She gets something else instead...
Monster: "Who dares disturb my rest?!"
Stella shuts the book: "Oops! I must have misread its title!"
The book jumps out of Stella's hands over to the search spell area, and opens itself for the monster to reveal its full size. And it's real big.
Musa: "Whoever said you can't judge a book by its cover never saw this one."
Bloom sees the monster, and tells Layla to take the pixies to safety and make sure no teachers are coming. Piff is apparently resting on Layla's hair. (I could come up with theories on why there's no Enchantix transformation in this episode, but nah.) And now, cue regular Winx transformations. (Looks like the animators cued up Musa's old short-haired endpose instead of the new one... whoops!) Bloom has Tecna and Musa protect the books, and puts the others on attack.
Stella: "Whoa, time to work off some stress!"
Tecna and Musa use convergence magic to create a Digital Barrier. It covers the bookshelves, and takes the form of musical notation. And now, time for some offense!
Bloom shoots, but her shot flies off into the Digital Barrier. The books stay unharmed, and Tecna and Musa are proud of their work.
Monster uses its breath to knock Stella into the barriered shelves. She gets up... and promptly gets hit on the head by a book. And another. And a couple more. A lot more in fact.
Musa: "And I had just finished reorganizing those..."
Flora casts a spell to wrap the monster up in vines. Bloom: "And now, go back where you came from!" Bloom shoots her fire at the monster, and it turns into a one-eyed worm thingy, which Stella then promptly chases down with the book.
Musa: "Phew, it's over."
Bloom is standing next to a pile of books: "No Musa, it's not. I'd say it's really just the beginning."
We see a bustling marketplace. And towering high above is someone's residence. And that someone is none other than Princess Diaspro. You remember her, right? Anyways, she's with her hired help.
HH: "Aren't you going out tonight Princess Diaspro? Eraklyon is celebrating."
Diaspro: "There's nothing for me to celebrate! And take that dress away, I don't want to see it!"
Di knocks over the mannequin with the dress on it. Hired help thought that Di had been planning on wearing it at tomorrow's party: "It is an event you must attend." Di: "And an event where I'll be on the sidelines! That stupid Sky is bringing his precious little fairy Bloom. Now go, get out, beat it! I want to be alone!"
Hired help looks a bit horrified, but obliges. And thus, Di is finally addressing an issue that some viewers have been waiting more than a season for her to bring up again: The issue between herself, Sky and Bloom. Now Di is alone in front of her mirror. "Sky thinks Bloom is prettier than me? How ridiculous!" And then Val appears in her mirror, startling her. Val channels certain Di-sympathetic viewers by telling her: "Poor Diaspro, I know how you feel." Val offers his help, but Di insists on him leaving her room now before she orders the guards.
Val: "That would be a mistake. I can give you what you want. I can help you fulfill your dream and get rid of Bloom forever. Take a look at this." And with that, a bottle of potion appears in his hand.
And I think we'll take a short time out. The last time she appeared, she was rescued by Sky and Bloom from nasty Technoninjas, but she took offense at Bloom of all people rescuing her. Chatta told her, "There are plenty of princes in the magic dimension." That was the extent of how much they showed Diaspro's side of the issue. And the 4K dub never addressed her side of the issue at all. Disappointment much? Anyways, apparently Chatta's advice has not made Diaspro any less bitter about her situation at all. Talk about holding a grudge.
Back to Alfea, and the girls are back in their casuals and back at work. Flora and Chatta ask Bloom what Sky's party will be like.
Bloom: "Well, all I can think about is how intimidating it's going to be. I really hope I don't blush too much."
Stella: "Come on, Sky and you will be side by side all regal and majorly-super-fabulous looking. "
Tecna: "If she says so, that's got to be true."
Stella: "He'll take you up to one of the royal palace balconies overlooking the courtyard."
Amore: "Ooh, I like it."
Stella: "Down below, the masses will be jockeying for a better view. The press will be fighting for that front page shot. All eyes will be on you!"
And over a sparkly background, she gestures with her hands.
Bloom: "That doesn't reassure me AT ALL. I won't know what to do! I won't know what to say!"
Layla: "You've faced much bigger dangers, so don't worry."
Stella: "Yeah, and Layla and I will teach you how to be a perfect princess in no time."
Bloom: "I hope so, because I made a total fool of myself the last time I was on Eraklyon."
Stella: "Oh, trust us."
Unlike the dub, we don't hear Stella and Layla talking at first while they're teaching Bloom proper royal behavior. Instead, we get a song playing. Sample lyrics as good as I can decipher them: "Like a princess I'll be / Such a new life for me / From tomorrow I'm living a fairy tale / Like a princess I'll be / And with you next to me / Be the dreams may turn into reality."
Lessons. We see Stella and Layla walking with books on their heads. Bloom tries the same with much less success. Tune (no discussion of proper behavior is complete without the pixie of etiquette!) looks on in disgust. Next, we see Bloom learning how to drink tea properly (note Piff sleeping on the teapot!). As far as I can tell, she tries to drink from the saucer instead. Tune is disgusted.
The song ends, and we see the others still working on the detention task.
Stella teaches Bloom how to curtsey. Bloom ends up falling over backwards. So now she has terrible balance? Tune, still disgusted.
We see those who were working earlier (plus Layla and Piff) sleeping, while Stella's lessons continue, as Bloom learns how to address the king properly: "Thank you your Majesty. The honor is all mine." Stella: "By George, I think she's got it. But there's still one more thing, the royal look. True nobility can be conveyed with just a simple glance. Now, eyes narrowed, chin up and out, eyebrows arched, nostrils slightly flared..." Bloom: "How's this?" Lockette screams :-D and Tune faints :-D :-D as we see that Bloom's nostrils are not-so-slightly-at-all flared. Fiasco, much?
Insert barriered Alfea shot here.
All the girls are now awake, and we see that Bloom is performing better at the book-on-head walk. Stella then tells her to give the look and curtsey. Bloom still doesn't have this down yet, and Layla catches her.
Tecna: "I don't want to spoil the party, but your crash course for princesses has really slowed us down. We're seriously behind schedule."
Stella: "Alright, don't panic. Bloom will still make it to her party, because I have another great idea..."
Tecna: "Don't you think the last one was enough?"
Stella: "This is different, it will work! We'll turn the pixies into copies of us again, and..."
The rest scream "Stella!" and I don't blame them, since they know how bad that idea went down the last time. Bloom thinks Stella has done so much for her already, and suggests that they should just work super-hard. "We are behind, but if we do our best, I think we can finish in time without using tricks or magic. All we have to do is believe we can do it."
And we see the Winx girls running around with their books and scrolls, while Tecna just leisurely puts three books into her shelf. We see Stella taking piles of books to put on the shelf before taking a rest on the floor. We see the pixies relaying a book to Layla for her to put on the shelf.
We see the shelves full of books in their proper place and display cases with scrolls both rolled up and spread out. FG and the Griz are in the library with the Winx.
Griz: "We've completed the inspection of the library, and I have to say, I'm impressed."
FG: "Well then. I think it's only fair to grant permission to all of you to go visit Eraklyon."
That's the best news the girls have heard all day, no doubt. FG tells the girls that they better get ready... except for Bloom. Uh-oh, this must be important.
FG is now alone with Bloom in the library: "I want to tell you a story that I've kept secret for a very long time. But now it's important that you know."
Bloom: "More secrets? I thought you'd told me everything."
FG: "Not this. The time just wasn't right before."
FG levitates a book off the shelf and opens it to reveal this weird looking symbol, which leads into some sort of shadow puppet show. I'll let FG tell the story...
FG: "This is the story of a battle that took place many years ago. What you see here is the Company of Light in their greatest battle: the one against Valtor. Valtor was no ordinary sorceror. When the great dragon created the universe, a small spark of its flame fell into the darkness. The darkness then mixed with the power of the flame, and that's when the three ancient witches found it."
Bloom: "The three ancient witches? You mean the ancestors of the Trix?"
FG: "Exactly. They molded that flame into the shape of a man, and called him Valtor. They brought him up, and when he was old enough, they sent him to conquer all the magical dimensions."
Bloom: "But what about these warriors? Who was the Company of Light?"
FG: "They were a brave order: the best of the heroes, the fairies, and the sorcerors. It was founded by Marian and Oritel, your birth parents." (HUH. Heroes, fairies, sorcerors... no witches?)
At this point, the shadow puppets fade into Bloom's usual flashbacks. Ancient witches, destruction, more destruction, Daphne carrying Bloom around the hallways, you get the picture.
Bloom: "They formed the Company of Light to fight the ancient witches, right?"
FG: "Yes, and when the witches destroyed Domino, your parents thought you had been destroyed too. That's when they went after Valtor with everything they had."
Bloom: "Wait! How do you know all this?"
Flashback fades back to FG, and she's about to drop a bombshell.
FG: "Well, I was a member of the Company of Light, along with Griffin and Saladin. To drive back the forces of evil, we challenged Valtor together."
Bloom: "So what happened? Did you trap him in the Omega Dimension?"
FG: "Your parents did. After the rest of us were knocked out, they used the last of their strength to seal Valtor away. The price was high. Marian and Oritel never returned from that battle."
Bloom: "But if no one really saw what happened to my birth parents, do you think it could be possible..."
FG: "What dear?"
Bloom: "...that my parents might still be alive somewhere?"
FG: "Bloom I can't say. Nobody can."
Bloom: "Nobody except Valtor. He was the last one to see my parents. He knows the answer!"
FG: "Bloom, be careful. This is why I told you about this. Valtor really is a wicked creature. If he finds out who you are, he will certainly come after you to take his revenge."
We zoom in on Bloom's right eye where a flame appears in the reflection, and... scene.
Well, at this point, the season seemed like it was going to be much more awesome than it really turned out to be. Then again, having so many storylines (actual and potential) on the plate may well have been part of the problem.
Comments, anyone?
Okay, now, summary. Previously on Winx Club: Stella found out from Nova that Chimera has taken her place as Princess of the Sun and Moon and decided to go to Solaria to straighten things out, but found herself going nowhere fast instead after the Griz found the pixies were impersonating the other Winx girls. Meanwhile, there's also something about Layla getting her final fairy form, and Valtor alluding to some kind of connection with our good ol' redhead here.
We open in, uh, China? Well, it sure looks like China, with all the Oriental buildings and stuff... With all that imaginative thought going into designing realms that are tangential to the storyline, you'd think that they'd spare some to create the Winx girls' realms and a certain
Oh look, a tourist transport. Two "Asian" guys (replete with fans) greet the tourists to "Espero, the most enchanted kingdom in the entire magic dimension. The perfect resort for your perfect holiday." No sooner than their transport leaves, though, that there are clouds coming. The "Asian" guys find it impossible, since there no clouds here. Dude. Isn't that sort of Solaria's schtick already?
And here come the Trix. Oh, and Valtor, too. Obviously, the tourists are scared of them.
Val: "My name is Valtor."
Icy: "But you can call him Master."
We see them fly off towards
We see that Layla is still blind, even though the curing power she sacrificed to get her Enchantix should have been available the next day. Like I said, they're treating it as forever lost. The Griz looks a bit dismayed...
...as we jumpcut to Stella running down the hallways to FG's office with the pixies in tow. FG: "Come in Stella. You're just in time to see some magic at work." Stella asks what happened to Layla and FG answers: "Something very terrible... and something very wonderful," as she holds up a pink and red jewel, and explains things. Blah blah dark magic cast out the light from her eyes blah blah final fairy form. "She is now an Enchantix. Valtor's spell is powerful, but you are now strong enough to break it, Layla."
The jewel FG is holding glows as she continues, "You have the power of the fairy dust. It's a magic energy in your new wings. You can feel it if you concentrate."
Layla begins to concentrate, and her new wings flutter to release a glowing dust. "You should be able to feel it all around you, and you don't need your eyes to see it." Layla collects the dust in her gloved hands, and releases it above herself to fall onto her green-shadowed eyelids. We see the pixies watching. Then we cut back to Layla, who concentrates a little and opens her eyelids... to reveal her ocean-colored irises.
Layla is VERY glad to see her new outfit... or, y'know, see AT ALL. Almost as soon as she says, "I can see," though, her new outfit fades back to her casuals. Hmm... The other Winx girls go hug her.
FG explains: "The fairy dust can break through most dark spells. It's one of the new powers you have as an Enchantix." Griz coughs.
| Stella: | Enchantix. That sounds cool! | Plus, the wings are FABULOUS! :-) |
I dunno. Stella's 4K one liner sounds better. Anyhow, time for the Griz to speak.
Griz: "Ahem. Young ladies, I really hate to spoil this lovely moment, but there is still the matter of disciplinary action. As punishment for leaving school without permission and trying to deceive me by having Ms. Stella and the pixies impersonate you, you will have to go and work in the restricted section of the school library, and reorganize the entire collection of all reference books for Ms. Barbatea. (pause) And that's without using magic of course. Your detention will last until all the books are on the stacks, is that clear?"
Winx girls, the Griz has spoken. (Imitates "torch snuffed" sting from Survivor) As the girls leave the council area immediately:
Musa: "Well done, Stella."
Stella knows she didn't intend to get them punished: "I did my best, but things just kinda... got out of control."
Musa: "Yeah, we noticed."
Stella groans.
And let me take a time out to talk about Layla's final fairy form. Layla has new two-toned hair with a pigtailed hairdo, as well as a blue ribbon over her forehead, eyelids with green eyeshadow, brighter pink lips, and a multi-colored (but mostly blue) outfit, gold sparkling gloves, green-lined wings, and instead of fairyboots, ribbons around her legs. We're talking a big sea change (no pun intended) for her outfit here.
Layla and Bloom are walking in the Alfea schoolyard. Layla: "Hey Bloom, look! You have a visitor." It's Sky, and Bloom glomps him. Sky says he was on his way back to RF, and decided to stop by Alfea. "I heard you saw some real action on Andros. I wanted to make sure that you were okay. And then... I wanted to ask you something."
Bloom: "Well, what did you want to ask me?"
Sky: "Bloom, I'm the prince of Eraklyon and this weekend is my kingdom's 1000th anniversary. At the party, I want to announce to the world that, um, you're my girlfriend."
Bloom: "You want to tell the whole world??? That's a lot of people." Duh, of course it is, Bloom.
Sky: "Well, you see, I want everybody to know how important you are to me. That is if it's okay with you..."
Bloom doesn't even wait for Sky to finish as she hugs him. Aww...
Sky: "That's a yes then? :-)"
Bloom: "You bet it is! There's nothing in the world that could keep me from going to your party."
Then she realises something: "Well, actually there is one thing, and that's Griselda's detention."
Andros. We see a mermonster. Then we see an image of non-fairy Bloom. And hello Valtor. Stormy looks at a set of scrolls. Icy: "So these are the enchanted codes of Espero? Somehow I pictured them differently. You'd think they'd have a safer place to store the magic knowledge of an entire world." Agreed, Icy.
Darcy, being the smart one, notices that Valtor isn't replying to Icy. "You're talking to yourself Icy. He's obviously not listening." Icy: "Valtor's mind's a million miles away..."
Icy stands in front of our good ol' redhead's picture: "Hey! What's going on? We just made off with all of Espero's magic! Add that to what you took from Solaria and Andros and let's get going!"
We see that Valtor still isn't responding.
Icy: "Soon you're going to be the supreme sorceror of the magic dimension! Isn't that what you want? No but really, one would think you'd show a little more enthusiasm! I mean, what's with this sudden interest in Bloom?!" That last part is accompanied with Icy punching her fist on the Bloom picture.
Darcy: "You think maybe she's got a crush on her?"
Stormy, being the one with a crush on Val, has this
Okay, now Valtor's finally giving a response: "I'm studying her. Bloom is an enemy we do NOT want to underestimate. You three, of all people, should know that. We need to get rid of her before she causes more trouble. And that party on Eraklyon will be the perfect place to do it. I just had a great idea." Wow. Nothing ever gets past Valtor.
Alfea. Some girl's got a new flower bag and she's telling others to check it out. We get a wide shot of Alfea, as a bunch of glowing orbs fly out above the school and form a big digi-sphere barrier thing to shield the entire school. The girls have never seen this before.
Auditorium, where FG has a very important announcement. Random girls are wondering "What's with the magic dome above the school?"
Flora: "I hope it's nothing serious..."
Bloom: "I wish it weren't (her VA pronounces it as "where-int"... Eh?) but look at Faragonda. I'm pretty sure she's about to give us some bad news."
FG talks about Val's attack on
FG: "This pattern of attack is great concern to us, because it means sooner or later, Alfea will become his target. Our school is the preserver of some supreme magical spell. (she doesn't use the plural... hmm?) Consequently, the other teachers and I have decided to create a special dome over the school premises to act as a protective barrier. For your safety, and until Valtor is no longer a threat, nobody may enter or leave the school without special authorization." The Griz walks over to the Winx, and she is all smug as FG finishes: "And that can be only be issued by Griselda."
Stella is the most dismayed: "Now we'll NEVER be able to get out of here!" Griz: "YOU wouldn't be able to anyway young lady. Or did you forget about your detention? I'll see you in the library in ten minutes."
We get a nice shot of Alfea, with a shimmer over the background for the barrier. Library. Winx. Pixies. Griz: "Some of you snuck off campus, and others lied about it. Now all of you will have a chance to think about what you've done while you organize the volumes of the restricted area."
We see a huge pile of books in the middle of the library. It looks like a search spell gone awry.
Griz: "You will spend all your time in detention until everything is in order. And remember, no magic allowed!"
For the first time since back in S1, we see Barbatea the librarian, as the Griz hands the girls over to her. Barbatea: "The restricted section is extremely disorganized. These books think they own the place, and so they think they can do whatever they want. Some of them are indeed very bad tempered." Barb hands a purple book over to Tecna, who notes: "These are books of curses." The purple book is very heavy. It opens on its own and starts chomping with its teeth. Hey, isn't that straight out of Harry Potter? The book falls to the floor, and we see the teeth turn back into pages.
Barb: "I would handle them with great care if I were you." No kidding, Barb.
Barriered Alfea. Flora thinks that the Griz came down hard on them.
Flora: "Griselda really came down hard on us. We're gonna be here forever."
Tecna: "That's not quite true. According to my calculations, working at this rate, we should be done by next Tuesday."
We see the girls working really hard, and then Stella just sitting there reading (dude!), despondent at missing the party for sure.
Layla: "C'mon girls, let's not give up. Saturday is Bloom's party, and I for one don't intend to let her miss it." Funny that this is coming from the only Winx girl who missed Stella's party.
Stella: "But Saturday is tomorrow. It'll be impossible to get this all done without using magic. Unless..."
Musa, with a bunch of scrolls: "Unless what?"
Stella: "Unless it's not our magic we use. If the books were to use their own magic that wouldn't be breaking Griselda's rules."
Digit: "I predict failure is highly probable."
Musa: "More than just probable. It's CERTAIN." Quote gold, right there.
Layla: "Yeah, Stella, bad idea. Put the book down, it's still cheating."
Stella still insists that they're just going to open the book, rather than do anything themselves. She takes a large blue book off the pile next to her, and says that there's a nice little genie in it "just like in Aladdin's lamp." Stella leafs through the book for the genie. She gets something else instead...
Monster: "Who dares disturb my rest?!"
Stella shuts the book: "Oops! I must have misread its title!"
The book jumps out of Stella's hands over to the search spell area, and opens itself for the monster to reveal its full size. And it's real big.
Musa: "Whoever said you can't judge a book by its cover never saw this one."
Bloom sees the monster, and tells Layla to take the pixies to safety and make sure no teachers are coming. Piff is apparently resting on Layla's hair. (I could come up with theories on why there's no Enchantix transformation in this episode, but nah.) And now, cue regular Winx transformations. (Looks like the animators cued up Musa's old short-haired endpose instead of the new one... whoops!) Bloom has Tecna and Musa protect the books, and puts the others on attack.
Stella: "Whoa, time to work off some stress!"
Tecna and Musa use convergence magic to create a Digital Barrier. It covers the bookshelves, and takes the form of musical notation. And now, time for some offense!
Bloom shoots, but her shot flies off into the Digital Barrier. The books stay unharmed, and Tecna and Musa are proud of their work.
Monster uses its breath to knock Stella into the barriered shelves. She gets up... and promptly gets hit on the head by a book. And another. And a couple more. A lot more in fact.
Musa: "And I had just finished reorganizing those..."
Flora casts a spell to wrap the monster up in vines. Bloom: "And now, go back where you came from!" Bloom shoots her fire at the monster, and it turns into a one-eyed worm thingy, which Stella then promptly chases down with the book.
Musa: "Phew, it's over."
Bloom is standing next to a pile of books: "No Musa, it's not. I'd say it's really just the beginning."
We see a bustling marketplace. And towering high above is someone's residence. And that someone is none other than Princess Diaspro. You remember her, right? Anyways, she's with her hired help.
HH: "Aren't you going out tonight Princess Diaspro? Eraklyon is celebrating."
Diaspro: "There's nothing for me to celebrate! And take that dress away, I don't want to see it!"
Di knocks over the mannequin with the dress on it. Hired help thought that Di had been planning on wearing it at tomorrow's party: "It is an event you must attend." Di: "And an event where I'll be on the sidelines! That stupid Sky is bringing his precious little fairy Bloom. Now go, get out, beat it! I want to be alone!"
Hired help looks a bit horrified, but obliges. And thus, Di is finally addressing an issue that some viewers have been waiting more than a season for her to bring up again: The issue between herself, Sky and Bloom. Now Di is alone in front of her mirror. "Sky thinks Bloom is prettier than me? How ridiculous!" And then Val appears in her mirror, startling her. Val channels certain Di-sympathetic viewers by telling her: "Poor Diaspro, I know how you feel." Val offers his help, but Di insists on him leaving her room now before she orders the guards.
Val: "That would be a mistake. I can give you what you want. I can help you fulfill your dream and get rid of Bloom forever. Take a look at this." And with that, a bottle of potion appears in his hand.
And I think we'll take a short time out. The last time she appeared, she was rescued by Sky and Bloom from nasty Technoninjas, but she took offense at Bloom of all people rescuing her. Chatta told her, "There are plenty of princes in the magic dimension." That was the extent of how much they showed Diaspro's side of the issue. And the 4K dub never addressed her side of the issue at all. Disappointment much? Anyways, apparently Chatta's advice has not made Diaspro any less bitter about her situation at all. Talk about holding a grudge.
Back to Alfea, and the girls are back in their casuals and back at work. Flora and Chatta ask Bloom what Sky's party will be like.
Bloom: "Well, all I can think about is how intimidating it's going to be. I really hope I don't blush too much."
Stella: "Come on, Sky and you will be side by side all regal and majorly-super-fabulous looking. "
Tecna: "If she says so, that's got to be true."
Stella: "He'll take you up to one of the royal palace balconies overlooking the courtyard."
Amore: "Ooh, I like it."
Stella: "Down below, the masses will be jockeying for a better view. The press will be fighting for that front page shot. All eyes will be on you!"
And over a sparkly background, she gestures with her hands.
Bloom: "That doesn't reassure me AT ALL. I won't know what to do! I won't know what to say!"
Layla: "You've faced much bigger dangers, so don't worry."
Stella: "Yeah, and Layla and I will teach you how to be a perfect princess in no time."
Bloom: "I hope so, because I made a total fool of myself the last time I was on Eraklyon."
Stella: "Oh, trust us."
Unlike the dub, we don't hear Stella and Layla talking at first while they're teaching Bloom proper royal behavior. Instead, we get a song playing. Sample lyrics as good as I can decipher them: "Like a princess I'll be / Such a new life for me / From tomorrow I'm living a fairy tale / Like a princess I'll be / And with you next to me / Be the dreams may turn into reality."
Lessons. We see Stella and Layla walking with books on their heads. Bloom tries the same with much less success. Tune (no discussion of proper behavior is complete without the pixie of etiquette!) looks on in disgust. Next, we see Bloom learning how to drink tea properly (note Piff sleeping on the teapot!). As far as I can tell, she tries to drink from the saucer instead. Tune is disgusted.
The song ends, and we see the others still working on the detention task.
Stella teaches Bloom how to curtsey. Bloom ends up falling over backwards. So now she has terrible balance? Tune, still disgusted.
We see those who were working earlier (plus Layla and Piff) sleeping, while Stella's lessons continue, as Bloom learns how to address the king properly: "Thank you your Majesty. The honor is all mine." Stella: "By George, I think she's got it. But there's still one more thing, the royal look. True nobility can be conveyed with just a simple glance. Now, eyes narrowed, chin up and out, eyebrows arched, nostrils slightly flared..." Bloom: "How's this?" Lockette screams :-D and Tune faints :-D :-D as we see that Bloom's nostrils are not-so-slightly-at-all flared. Fiasco, much?
Insert barriered Alfea shot here.
All the girls are now awake, and we see that Bloom is performing better at the book-on-head walk. Stella then tells her to give the look and curtsey. Bloom still doesn't have this down yet, and Layla catches her.
Tecna: "I don't want to spoil the party, but your crash course for princesses has really slowed us down. We're seriously behind schedule."
Stella: "Alright, don't panic. Bloom will still make it to her party, because I have another great idea..."
Tecna: "Don't you think the last one was enough?"
Stella: "This is different, it will work! We'll turn the pixies into copies of us again, and..."
The rest scream "Stella!" and I don't blame them, since they know how bad that idea went down the last time. Bloom thinks Stella has done so much for her already, and suggests that they should just work super-hard. "We are behind, but if we do our best, I think we can finish in time without using tricks or magic. All we have to do is believe we can do it."
And we see the Winx girls running around with their books and scrolls, while Tecna just leisurely puts three books into her shelf. We see Stella taking piles of books to put on the shelf before taking a rest on the floor. We see the pixies relaying a book to Layla for her to put on the shelf.
We see the shelves full of books in their proper place and display cases with scrolls both rolled up and spread out. FG and the Griz are in the library with the Winx.
Griz: "We've completed the inspection of the library, and I have to say, I'm impressed."
FG: "Well then. I think it's only fair to grant permission to all of you to go visit Eraklyon."
That's the best news the girls have heard all day, no doubt. FG tells the girls that they better get ready... except for Bloom. Uh-oh, this must be important.
FG is now alone with Bloom in the library: "I want to tell you a story that I've kept secret for a very long time. But now it's important that you know."
Bloom: "More secrets? I thought you'd told me everything."
FG: "Not this. The time just wasn't right before."
FG levitates a book off the shelf and opens it to reveal this weird looking symbol, which leads into some sort of shadow puppet show. I'll let FG tell the story...
FG: "This is the story of a battle that took place many years ago. What you see here is the Company of Light in their greatest battle: the one against Valtor. Valtor was no ordinary sorceror. When the great dragon created the universe, a small spark of its flame fell into the darkness. The darkness then mixed with the power of the flame, and that's when the three ancient witches found it."
Bloom: "The three ancient witches? You mean the ancestors of the Trix?"
FG: "Exactly. They molded that flame into the shape of a man, and called him Valtor. They brought him up, and when he was old enough, they sent him to conquer all the magical dimensions."
Bloom: "But what about these warriors? Who was the Company of Light?"
FG: "They were a brave order: the best of the heroes, the fairies, and the sorcerors. It was founded by Marian and Oritel, your birth parents." (HUH. Heroes, fairies, sorcerors... no witches?)
At this point, the shadow puppets fade into Bloom's usual flashbacks. Ancient witches, destruction, more destruction, Daphne carrying Bloom around the hallways, you get the picture.
Bloom: "They formed the Company of Light to fight the ancient witches, right?"
FG: "Yes, and when the witches destroyed Domino, your parents thought you had been destroyed too. That's when they went after Valtor with everything they had."
Bloom: "Wait! How do you know all this?"
Flashback fades back to FG, and she's about to drop a bombshell.
FG: "Well, I was a member of the Company of Light, along with Griffin and Saladin. To drive back the forces of evil, we challenged Valtor together."
Bloom: "So what happened? Did you trap him in the Omega Dimension?"
FG: "Your parents did. After the rest of us were knocked out, they used the last of their strength to seal Valtor away. The price was high. Marian and Oritel never returned from that battle."
Bloom: "But if no one really saw what happened to my birth parents, do you think it could be possible..."
FG: "What dear?"
Bloom: "...that my parents might still be alive somewhere?"
FG: "Bloom I can't say. Nobody can."
Bloom: "Nobody except Valtor. He was the last one to see my parents. He knows the answer!"
FG: "Bloom, be careful. This is why I told you about this. Valtor really is a wicked creature. If he finds out who you are, he will certainly come after you to take his revenge."
We zoom in on Bloom's right eye where a flame appears in the reflection, and... scene.
Well, at this point, the season seemed like it was going to be much more awesome than it really turned out to be. Then again, having so many storylines (actual and potential) on the plate may well have been part of the problem.
Comments, anyone?
