Inside Alfea, a fairy crab and fairy white fox seem to playfully spar, as the girls hurry to the magical cuisine seminar, but Stella, and later the other girls, are shocked and appalled when they see Griselda teaching the class. Even worse when Griselda tells them that the cooking class has been replaced with Griselda's master combat class, and yells at them to get to their assigned seats so she can get started. Of course Griselda would be the kind of teacher who would assign seats. Seemed more often than not that it was just done alphabetically... good thing for me that my best friend back in middle school had the same first two letters of my last name for hers!
We now go to Shadowhaunt, the Trix trio bow as Lord Darkar enters the room, and he declares that it's time for the witches to get the first part of the Codex. I thought he already had one part back in "Party Monster"... either I misunderstood, or they goofed. Might be either. Icy asks if she could be Darkar's "main witch" when they succeed. Gag me. Darcy and Stormy oughta' be teasing her.
Back in Griselda's class, she talks about how she competed in the All-Realm Magic Games, and how she was the first female blackbelt gold medalist. Musa teases about how long ago it must've been, but Griselda angrily shouts back that it was twenty years ago, but that she's still just as good as back then. Stella complains that they were going to learn how to make a twelve-course meal with a single spell, but Griselda says she'll just have to order in. For some odd reason, Stella holds her mouth, as if she'd just said something she should've kept to herself... except she didn't. I have this feeling she must've said something very different in Italian. Griselda also warns that the girls had better stop complaining, "or else."
Griselda takes her class outside. Oddly enough, save for the Winx girls themselves, it seems to be a completely different group of students: Amaryl and Francis were definitely not in the classroom! But that brings up the next point: Francis! Again, she isn't shown really doing anything, but she's there, and she's got the coolest fairy form of anyone: a red and black harlequin outfit! Almost have to wonder if the designers for the show were Batman fans. Griselda asks for volunteers, but no one wants to. Griselda picks Stella to go first, to try to attack Griselda. I think she does this just because she doesn't like Stella much. She seems somewhat quietly sadistically happy in making Stella go first. Stella continues to complain about their class schedule being disgraceful, that instead of a well-rounded education, they just keep having battle classes. Griselda complains back that their only mission currently is to survive. Stella attacks with her usual sun powers, but Griselda blocks and sends the attack back to hit Stella.
Griselda then orders everyone to attack. And by everyone, I mean the five other Winx girls and Amaryl: the other random girls and Francis seem to be forgotten from this point on. Flora, Tecna, and Amaryl all attack, not hurting Griselda at all, though. Amaryl, surprised, tells Tecna that Griselda really is as good as she says. Tecna agrees. Interesting to note that Amaryl seems to be on decent terms with Tecna. Makes me wonder all the more what's gone on with Stella and Amaryl in the past. Layla, in her only line of the episode, uses a wave attack against Griselda, doing nothing. Musa shoots a a sonic blast at Griselda, again doing nothing. Bloom shoots a dragon blast at Griselda, and Griselda just catches it as if it were nothing. So... Griselda is even more superpowered than Bloom?! I mean, dragonfire, hello! If Griselda was stronger than Mary Sue this whole time, then why couldn't she just handle the Army of Decay incident last season?! I'll chalk it up to inconsistent writing... sigh. Tecna nervously asks Griselda how she got so good. Griselda shrieks back that she took all the battle classes when she was in school, and hopes that the students have learned how important the battle training is. And we see why Tecna was so nervous asking in the first place. Poor students are all scared of Griselda! Fear and intimidation only get one so far: long-term respect isn't going to be earned by it, for sure. They shouldn't be so afraid to ask questions.
At night, in Bloom's room, she has trouble sleeping. Flora knows something is wrong, and asks Bloom what it is. Bloom says it's about Sky, that he wants a serious talk with Bloom tomorrow. Bloom fears that Sky is going to break up with her tomorrow. Flora says she'll go with Bloom for moral support. Bloom thanks her for being there for her.
The next day, outside Red Fountain, are the Trix sisters. The trio unleash a glowing purple mayhem globe, floating above them all.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
Sky and Brandon are in their room at Red Fountain. Sky frets about needing to talk to Bloom, but Brandon encourages him to do so.
Brandon: Bro, everybody knows you have to have the talk after the three-month talk. If you don't, the relationship's done.
I don't know whether that's true or not, but it seems that usually women are the ones who are more concerned with the "hidden little" rules like this one. Guess Brandon's probably learned from experience! Brandon goes on to tell Bloom the stuff to talk about, like how much he likes her, and giving her his Red Fountain hero jacket. Sky calls, but gets Bloom's answering machine.
Bloom: Hey, you've reached Bloom--
Stella: That's princess Bloom of Sparx!
Musa: And planet Earth!
Bloom: Just leave a message!
That is so very Stella, trying to hype Bloom up! Even if Bloom isn't quite as braggy, I guess Stella likes having people know who her best friend is! Sky's message is just reminding her that she'll see her tomorrow. Sky practices what he'll say, saying that he wants to officially make Bloom his girlfriend, then realize how dorky he sounds. Which he is! As he paces on the balcony outside his room, though, he's attacked by the mayhem globe, which shoots him with a blast of electricity, which narrowly misses him.
Not far from Red Fountain, Bloom is walking there to see Sky, along with Flora and Tecna for moral support. OK... I'll buy Flora, but Tecna? The girl confused about the whole dating scene?! If she was only going to bring a couple of her friends, wouldn't it seem more likely for Stella to have gone with Bloom? I mean, aside from being her best friend, Stella is also the unofficial "guy expert," and the most likely to show Sky where to shove it if the situation got that bad. So why isn't Stella here? Who the heck knows!
Bloom: So statistically, this makes sense.
Tecna: That's correct. One out of two relationships ends in heartbreak.
Of course, that isn't to say it isn't nice to have Tecna around... more, just that, for this particular "mission," it didn't really make a lot of sense for Tecna to go with Bloom instead of Stella. Bloom has become a bit more accepting of the whole possibility. It's an obvious front, but she's trying, at least. The trio then spot a mayhem globe attacking Red Fountain, and rush on over to help. At Red Fountain, a random woman, completely unseen, using the school's PA system, orders the students to prepare to fight against the thing. Sky and Brandon use their flying ships to go after the thing. Codatorta and Timmy are working in a computer control room.
Codatorta: Gentlemen, we are being attacked by an unidentified mayhem globe.
Question: if Codatorta knows it's a mayhem globe, then it's not exactly unidentified, right? Kinda' like, if an unidentified flying object can be identified as an authentic alien spaceship, then it would no longer be an unidentified flying object, right? Then again, I'm probably looking way too much into a line that was meant to be just a throwaway gag. Not a great one, either. Codatorta orders Sky and Brandon to keep the mayhem globe away from the school. Timmy says the mayhem globe could destroy the entire school. Riven shows up for a random line. Codatorta orders a few other random students via the control room to defend the school. Some students fly on dragons to go after the globe. The whole scene is a bit too jumpy for my tastes. Helia enters, wearing a Specialists' uniform, no less, with Tecna, Flora, and Bloom to help.
Flying quickly toward Red Fountain, the Trix sisters break into the school on their own none-too-subtly, at a passageway leading straight for the Veritas Chamber, which holds the Codex they are seeking. Timmy tells Tecna to be careful, and vice versa. Right as the Winx girls are about to leave, with Riven, Sky enters, making for an unexpected awkward. moment between Sky and Bloom.
Meanwhile, the Trix sisters are continuing down the hallway to the Veritas chamber. Stormy blasts a random elevator, and hit the jackpot with her guess of "which elevator would have the biggest payoff to blast," since this one conveniently has six students trapped inside. They're never seen again. I guess they'll be trapped in the elevator for all eternity! Or probably someone just rescues them off screen, if you want to be all boring about it. The witches, oddly enough, wind up outside Red Fountain, where they easily ward off Riven and a few other random students. Of course, why did they break into the school, only to wind up back outside? I mean, I'm sure Stormy enjoyed blasting the elevator, but it seems Icy and, especially, more practical-minded Darcy would've preferred taking the absolute shortest route possible. Blasting through the roof where they did was obviously not the fastest way possible, since the route takes them back outside. Back inside the building, Stormy wants to trash the place more, but Darcy says they need to wait until after they get their hands on the Codex. That's better. Darcy back to her smart self, and Stormy... well, she's still the same. Stormy never was too keen on patience, though.
Brandon arrives right behind them, though Darcy gets him by multiplying herself and then using cloud of darkness to keep him blind. Sky and the three Winx girls arrive, and the fairies immediately transform. Stormy shoots a blast at everyone, and then flies off with her sisters, all headed for the basement, when Helia tries to grab hold of her with his strings. Helia goes to Tecna's side to see if she's OK. Funny... he didn't care two episodes ago. Flora notices, and asks if he's attending Red Fountain now. Sky says Saladin convinced him. Seems odd that he was somehow convinced so quickly, when he seemed so against the idea back in "Party Monster." Either he has a huge crush on Flora, and thinks being a Specialist will impress her, or... something else. Sky leads the others to a shortcut, climbing down an elevator shaft. They find Stormy, obviously trailing behind her sisters. Stormy and Flora shoot blasts at one another, but Stormy's blast completely nullifies Flora's, and hits Flora, and Stormy continues trying to catch up to her sisters. Flora's down, but sweetly tells the others that she'll be all right, and to just go on without her. It's a cute, sweet little Flora moment. She hasn't gotten many of them lately, really.
A few guards are guarding the Veritas, as it suddenly starts snowing. The three Trix sisters storm into the room.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
Tecna, Bloom, and Sky rush toward the Veritas Chamber. Sky says the guards there will be no match for the Trix sisters, though. Bloom looks like she has other things on her mind, seeming more worried about her relationship with Sky, even in the fight against the Trix.
The Trix sisters are right outside the Veritas Chamber, with the guards all frozen in ice. There's a scale that secures the chamber, which the trio is unsure of how to get past it to enter the chamber. And the Trix sisters are going to absolutely shine from this point on in the show!
Stormy: How do you think this thing works?
Darcy: Oh who cares! Let's just blow this thing up.
Stormy: Let me handle it!
Stormy shoots a blast at the scale.
Darcy: Wait, there's a riddle on it!
The scale shoots a blast back at Stormy, electrifying her.
Darcy: Sorry, I didn't see it.
Like hell she didn't! It seems odd that Darcy, of all people, would suggest trying to physically demolish the scale, but at the same time, perhaps she knew that Stormy would just jump right up at that suggestion, so if something went wrong--as it did--then Stormy would get the hurt, and not Darcy herself. I mean, Darcy didn't sound excited or anything, suggesting they blow it up: she sounded almost bored. Anyway, to the riddle!
Darcy: Of course those nerds are into riddles. What equals the weight of Red Fountain?
Icy: If you choose the wrong item, you will be destroyed.
The possible items: a weird bowl-thingy, a crystal, a miniature robed statue, a feather, a very small disc, a small wooden spear, a holosword, a scroll, and a pen. If anyone can tell what the bowl-thingy and small disc are meant to be, feel free to share! Meanwhile, Stormy gets back up, in obvious pain.
Stormy: Owie, my poor back!
Poor Stormy. I mean, I guess being evil, maybe she deserves it, but still.... Darcy reasons that these questions are usually a trick, and the biggest trick would be for the answer to be the lightest item: the feather. Darcy tries to get Icy to place the feather in the scale, but Icy won't have it, and insists that, since Darcy picked out the feather, that she should be the one to try it out. Right as Darcy is about to place the feather in, though, Sky throws a boomerang into the room, giving Darcy the perfect opportunity to "conveniently" get distracted from placing the feather. To think it probably would've helped the heroes out more if they had just come in a few seconds later. Nice of them to give Darcy the edge, anyway! Icy shoots Tecna with a platinum icicle. Um... platinum icicle? What makes it platinum? Has Icy sold more than a million of these suckers? Bloom puts herself in the "Griselda Bubble"--Tecna's own words--which protects her from Darcy's vibration wave attsck. As Stormy is about to attack, Timmy shoots at her--and misses by a long shot.
Tecna: That was a good one, Timmy!
Stormy: That's not a good one. This is a good one!
Sorry Tecna, but Stormy's right. Timmy missed Stormy with his shot--heck, he missed her by several yards, at least. Stormy, however, with her tornado, knocked down Bloom, Timmy, and you like three bowling pins. Simply, Stormy's attack worked well. Timmy's attack did nothing. Icy blasts Sky with a rather small blast, but it seems this particular blast put Sky into a 100-year sleep. In the original Italian, it killed Sky. And fellow fan Lori has got me thinking that the change works for the better. I'll get more into that later, though. For now, just know that Sky is doing the whole Briar Rose routine here. Icy tells Darcy to put a non-aggression spell on Tecna, Bloom, and Timmy. There's absolutely no sign that Darcy's done anything: I suspect this was a line simply added for the US version of the show, since there's nothing to suggest otherwise. Icy stands before the items, and goes into a great little monologue, even if not necessarily vital to the show's plot:
Icy: The crystal stands for magic, but these loser-wannabes have no powers. Hmm... the sword could stand for their battle skills; however, that would be kind of shallow, and these Red Fountain dweebs think they're so deep--wait! I've got it! Whenever they have a big event, their teachers always wear these pompous robes, which I'm sure they think indicates wisdom.
Sure enough, Icy puts the miniature robed statue onto the scale, and it balances, opening up part of the floor, leading down to the Veritas Chamber, holding part of the Codex.
Icy: It worked! So Red Fountain equals pomposity!
Seems she's gotten better with her humor! Bloom gets up, and rushes over to Sky, who she's noticed seems lifeless and limp.
The pixie Athena is hanging out in the basement, though, and right as Icy breaks the glass surrounding the Codex, Athena puts a kindness spell on Icy.
Icy: Help! It's a kindness spell! Make it stop!
Stormy: No, don't stop it! This could be good for her!
Athena: Put that back now!
Darcy sneaks behind Athena and smashes her between her hands.
Darcy: Boy, do I love smashing pixies.
Stormy: Good job, D! I'm glad you're OK, Icy.
Icy: Yeah, whatever wiatch, I heard what you said!
Yay for sibling rivalry! Stormy so wants to be the leader... but at the same time, their sisterly team wouldn't really work very well under Stormy's leadership, namely, in that she's too rash and unpredictable. She'd never admit it, though, and it's likely she's never really thought about it, either. On another note... kinda' stupid to say that right in front of Icy. Icy was put under a kindness spell, not a deafness spell, Stormy! Timmy goes to the start of the stairs, shooting at the Trix sisters. And missing badly, again. Bloom still worries about Sky, who's still asleep.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
Timmy aims his gun straight at Icy, but he won't shoot it. Icy keeps telling him that he can't, that he has the non-aggression spell on him. Despite never actually seeing it cast. And despite that Timmy was shooting at them only a few seconds ago. Yeah, can you tell I'm not buying the whole non-aggression thing? The Trix sisters just calmly walk out, with the Codex, with Timmy just standing around like an idiot. Right then, Flora finally makes it to the room, and Tecna gets up too, and the four of them gather around Sky, who's going to be sleeping for a long time. And for some reason, Flora says he has no pulse. That really should have been edited out, since 4Kids went the sleeping route with the story. Bloom, with all her magical dragonfire might, and her love for Sky, wakes Sky up from his sleep. Bloom cries, Sky thanks Bloom, asks for her to be his girlfriend officially, and Bloom accepts--Diaspro's completely forgotten for the moment. And considering the situation, I guess we can forgive Bloom for not drilling him about Diaspro. At least not at this very moment. It's actually a sweet moment, ending with a nice hug between the two.
To end things, the Trix are shown flying away from Red Fountain, having succeeded in stealing their piece of the Codex.
First, Lori's inspired me to think more about the whole Sky's death/sleeping thing, and she's right. In the Italian version, Sky dies, but in the US, he's just put to sleep for a hundred years. I mean, I've got no problem with death being used in a kiddie TV show, but I do have a problem with Bloom bringing Sky back from the dead--she is a fairy! She is not a god! Her dragonfire, and her love for Sky, waking him up is infinitely more believable, and less groanworthy... I mean, I know, I know, it's Sleeping Beauty all over again, but there's nothing wrong with that! Having said that, they should have lost the "no pulse" line.
Also, how could such a tiny blast kill Sky, anyway? It having been a sleeping spell makes more sense, because as often as these characters have gotten blasted by the witches, it seems unlikely such a relatively benign-looking attack would've actually killed him.
The non-aggression spell, though... that was lame. Darcy did not cast any spells on the group. None. Nuh-uh! And Timmy was shooting at the witches. He was a bad aim, sure, but he was still shooting at them! How would the use of a non-aggression spell explain that? It doesn't. I'm not sure why that was added in, since it had nothing to do with nothing. Timmy simply couldn't shoot Icy: that's all it was. He just didn't have it in him. Kinda' makes him a pretty bad student, when you think about it. Tecna needs to scold him for that.
So, who was the woman, sight unseen, using the Red Fountain PA system? Is it supposed to just be some computer voice that sounds nothing like a computer, some hidden female Red Fountain teacher who has never been seen before, or what. I'm curious if the Italian version has a female announcing over the school's PA system, or if it was a random oversight for the US version.
9 out of 10 on the old scale.
