Underwater, three mermaids are being threatened by monster mermaids. One comments that something most have taken over the monster mermaids' minds. Baltor proclaims that he did it, that these wear his mark, turning them into his minions, and that now he'll do the same to these three. Is Baltor part Irken or something? I swear his mark looks a lot like the Irken symbol. The Trix come up behind Baltor, and follow him as he heads for the interdimensional portal. They can breathe underwater? More interesting, though, is Stormy here, who looks utterly smitten with Baltor! Aww, how cute! Makes more sense than Icy's crush on Darkar last season. Darcy comments on how impressive Baltor is, escaping from the Omega Dimension, taking over Tides, and finding the interdimensional portal.
Stormy: The two of us... um, I mean, the four of us are going to go far.
As if it weren't clear enough Stormy has a schoolgirl crush. Baltor says prison has made him weak, but when he becomes powerful again, he'll be able to conquer the entire universe again. Then Baltor goes into major villain evil monologue mode, giving boring exposition of the obvious. Hey, at least unlike Darkar did last season, he's got an audience listening. Monologuing just seems extra pointless when no one's listening. Eventually Baltor finishes, and jumps into the portal, saying his first stop is Solaria.
Back at Alfea, in the Winx girls' room, Tecna says she can't find Layla using her computer. Bloom wonders if one of Palladium's location spells would work. Everyone's worried about what happened to Layla, though Stella tries to tell everyone that she's probably just busy, and she'll be back soon.
Stella: Layla's not about to miss the party of the century.
Bloom: What are you talking about? My birthday's not until December.
Stella, half-oblivious to what Bloom just said, says that she's talking about her Princess Ball, and not Bloom's party. Stella's obliviousness just causes Bloom to laugh harder, as well as getting Flora and Musa to laugh. It finally dawns on Stella that it was a joke, and Stella throws a little tantrum over it, thinking how dare Bloom joke about that. Stella could use a chill pill about now. Kiko and some pixie animals pop out of one of Stella's boxes; Stella tells them no pets are allowed at the Princess Ball. Stella says it's time, and shrinks all of her luggage into one small suitcase. Bloom asks if they have to leave now. Stella says that she needs a lot of time and preparation to make sure she's beautiful enough for the party, so they go immediately, using Stella's scepter.
As Bloom and Stella arrive in Solaria, they are immediately greeted by King Radius, whom Stella immediately bolts off to hug. A blonde woman watches from a window above, sounding none too happy. Stella gives and unshrinks her luggage to a servant. Bloom introduces herself to King Radius, calling him "Your Majesty," that King Radius is fine. He says that Bloom is like family to Stella, and to behave just as she would in her own home. Bloom says she'll try, though her home is about a hundred rooms smaller.
Stella takes Bloom on a tour of her castle, which ends with the Hall of the Universe, which can take Bloom to any moment in time anywhere in the realms. Bloom wants to know about her birth parents Oritel and Miriam, and asks what happened to them. We see Sparx being destroyed, the coven that did the destroying, and Bloom's parents standing there. Bloom starts crying. Stella tells her not to cry, that since the room showed them just standing there, that they must still be alive, and out there somewhere. It's a sweet little moment. Guess it makes up for Stella's earlier tantrum.
Outside the castle, a bush explodes; seems Baltor has arrived, and sneaks into a room with Chimera, who's spying on Bloom and Stella. Chimera hears Bloom going on about Stella's presents, and Stella becoming excited about her parents' getting back together being the surprise. Chimera's Mom steps out, though, saying that it's un-ladylike to snoop. Mom goes on to say that Stella is so dreadful that it's hard not to hate her, though. She says that Chimera would make a much better princess, but Chimera fears that she's always going to just be stuck as Stella's poor little stepsister forever. Mom says that a father's love for his daughter is hard to overcome, but a mother's love is so fierce that nothing whatsoever can stop it. Baltor chuckles to himself.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1
Chimera's mother introduces herself to Stella and Bloom. Stella quietly tells Bloom that she is Countess Cassandra, who has a horrible fashion sense. So I'm guessing that has something to do with Countess Cassandra's hatred for Stella. The Countess shows Stella the gift she got for her: an extremely bright necklace.
Stella: That's so pretty. And I imagine it would help me see in the dark if I'm ever stuck without a flashlight.
Cassandra says her daughter, a student at Beta Academy, picked it out. Chimera enters the room, very nervous, and gives a cute little nervous "hello," with a cute nervous expression on her face. Stella yells, saying Chimera's the dress thief. Cassandra asks what's going on, and Bloom says they met yesterday, and didn't get off on the right foot. And Cassandra already hated Stella. This isn't about to endear Stella to her. Chimera insists she didn't steal anything, but she'd be willing to give Stella the dress right then and there. The old martyr trick. And technically, she didn't steal the dress. Just kinda' cheated to buy it before Stella could. Not that Stella cares. Chimera's idea to calm Stella a little--and preferably earn a couple of pity points as well--just went completely awry, and Stella starts to steam, quite literally. Stella completely overreacts, insulted that she would be offered second-hand clothes. Even the outfit she wanted so desperately just yesterday. They both run out of the room, very angry. Chimera mutters that one way or another, she will ruin Stella's party.
Now, all of that over, I can't really blame Chimera here. I mean, sure, she hates Stella, and she was obviously uncomfortable here, but at least she's trying to act civilly here. Probably could've avoided the whole "ruining Stella's party" thing too if Stella had also been able to act a bit more civilly here. She's still got much to learn from Bloom, apparently.
Very early the next morning, Stella wakes Bloom up, telling her how late it is. Bloom says it's only dawn. Stella insists that they only have twelve hours before her party begins, and that there's still a lot more she has to get done, so Stella magically lifts the bed and turns it to its side, dumping Bloom onto the floor. Bloom wears her hair in braids to sleep? Because they're gone by the next scene. As Stella starts talking about outfits she's deciding to wear, though, Bloom snuggles right back onto the floor, trying to get some more sleep, giving a thumbs up in approval of Stella's dress choice. Naturally not even paying attention to what Stella's picked out. Bloom is simply adorable in this scene. Who can blame her, being waken up earlier than what she feels is necessary? Meanwhile, Chimera is once again spying, outside the door.
A little later, Stella and Bloom are getting their hair done, as well as Stella getting her nails done. Chimera pops her head in, about to shoot a blast to screw with Stella's hair. Stella spots Chimera though, and gets Bloom to place a little handheld mirror to block the blast, and shoot it right back at Chimera. Magical bursts of energy work like ordinary light? Doesn't seem like magical spells would bounce off a mirror like that. Then again, if Stella can shoot steam from her ears, why not? Chimera now has Medusa-like hair, running off screaming, and runs into a large cake being wheeled out, covering Chimera in cake.
Chimera is back with Mommy, still covered in cake, but with normal hair again.
Countess Cassandra: Oh dear, you haven't reverted to finger painting with food again, have you?
Heh. Now see, this joke was much more inappropriately timed than Bloom's earlier one about her birthday party. Chimera was clearly annoyed with the comment too, though she's still a lot angrier with Stella. Baltor walks through a wall to enter the room, saying he could arrange making Stella miserable. Cassandra wants to know why Baltor is here. As Baltor cleans Chimera and gives her a fancy new hairdo, he explains that he can give Chimera and Cassandra enough power to let them have what they've always wanted: the Queen and Princess of Solaria. All he needs is for them to lead him to the Steeple of the Sun, which has the Second Sun of Solaria, and to give him their eternal allegiance.
On their way to leading Baltor to the Steeple of the Sun, the three pass Bloom on the staircase. Bloom asks where the nail salon is. Countess Cassandra gives a "hmph," though Chimera answers her. Interesting that Chimera seems to hold no anger toward Bloom, though I doubt they'll be coming friends any time soon, either. Bloom gets an ominous sensation as she passes Baltor, though, which seems to leave her kinda' scared, as she starts running. As they make their way to the doors, Cassandra asks for privacy. The guards follow her command and leave. She's a high enough rank to make such an order? In the room, Baltor touches the sun, saying the sun's magical energy is strong enough to give him back the power the Omega Prison took from him. Baltor raises Cassandra and Chamira, and leaves his mark on them, giving them more power, and making them his. At that moment, the welcoming horns sound, meaning the guests are arriving. Baltor says that means it's time for him to leave, but the next time he sees them, they'll be Queen and Princess of Solaria.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2
A Red Fountain ship lands, and Bloom, in a fancy new dress, goes out to greet them. Brandon, Sky, Flora, Musa, and Tecna all walk out. The Specialists in their uniforms, and the Winx girls in new dresses. Musa, with a red dress and hair down, looks a lot like Chimera, incidentally.
Inside the castle, everyone is gathered for the party. Flora says she can't believe Helia's ship broke down. Seems like a convenient way to keep Helia, Timmy, Riven, and Mirta out of the episode. Mirta's absence in particular is sad: I'd have liked to have seen whatever dress she'd have had. King Radius comes out shortly, and announces Princess Stella before everyone. Brandon's mouth hangs open, and Sky has to shut it. Guess Brandon thinks the dress Stella had to settle for is darn good, anyway! King Radius tells Stella that he has another announcement to make: the surprise he was talking about in the message to Stella earlier, that Solaria will soon have a queen again. Um... is Luna not Queen anymore? I thought Solaria still had that queen.... King Radius announces that in a month, he and Cassandra will be married. King Radius worries that Stella isn't happy, but Stella, obviously very fakely, says she's happy, and walks away. Cassandra says she's sure Chimera can help Stella through this to King Radius. Regardless of whether or not Stella deserves revenge, Cassandra is not a very nice person, anyway. Stella goes to her Winx friends, complaining about how awful the situation is. Musa makes a joke about looking on the bright side, that Chimera could have had ten sisters. Another great example of an ill-timed joke. Take note for future reference. Stella complains that she was hoping her parents would get back together, but this was the worst thing her father could have done to her, as she storms off. Brandon watches, as Sky hits him and directs him to go to Stella. Brandon does, giving Stella a present, but Stella, not feeling well, says she'll open it later, and she puts the gift on a plate a servant is holding. Brandon snatches it back. Flora goes up to Stella, telling him not to be upset, that Stella's just a bit freaked out right now.
King Radius walks up to Stella, saying the Dad getting the first dance is Princess Ball tradition. Chimera says to herself for Stella to enjoy the moment, because things are about to change for Stella. Others start dancing, as well as Sky getting Bloom to dance, though she's too worried about Stella to really enjoy it much. Chimera casts a spell for Stella to go from as pretty as she is to equally but inversely become just as hideous, causing Stella to collapse, and change into an overweight frog monster thingy. Oddly enough, Stella's hair remains, though it now has a headband that wasn't there before. Headband creation seems like an odd effect for the spell, really. Cassandra then goes to King Radius and spells him, convincing him that the frog beast is not Stella. Now, Stella may have deserved the frog beast thing, but convincing her father that she isn't Stella is hitting below the belt, methinks. Especially since Mommy's in on it, but then, she's not Mom of the Year exactly, is she?
King Radius commands the guards to lock Stella in the dungeon. The guests all run off, and wonder why it's raining, since it never rains on Solaria. Guess it's understandable, then, why the guy wouldn't be wondering why the rain is purple. Inside though, Stella begs for help, and Bloom orders the guards to stop. Bloom tries to tell them it's Stella, but Chimera says there's no way the hideous beast could be Stella, and orders the guards to seize Stella. I'd question why the guards are following Chimera's orders, except that they'd be following King Radius' identical orders regardless, so it's kinda' a moot point here. The four Winx girls who aren't frog beasts change to their fairy forms. Stella runs up the stairs. Tecna puts up her firewall shield to reflect blasts the guards are shooting back to them, but Flora tells her that they don't want to hurt the guards. Musa shoots a hip hop wave at the guards.
Random Guard: No hip hop allowed in--
Guess King Radius isn't crazy about first season Musa either! Ha! Bloom tells Sky and Brandon to get their ship, and try to fly around to pick them up. The four fairies run up the stairs. Musa worries they won't get invited back. Bloom's more worried about getting out alive, but they scream when they run into Stella. Stella feels down, scaring her friends because of her hideousness. Flora apologizes, and gives Stella a gentle hug. For a moment, it looked like Flora was going in for the kiss! Tecna suspects Chimera is behind this mess, but Bloom says they'll worry about that later, and for now, just to get out of here, as the guards charge forth.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3
Flora: Since there's no hip hop in the palace, how about wrap? Ivy wrap, that is!
The joke so lame, it's laughable. Seriously, it was lame in the first place, but then for Flora to try to explain her joke.... The ivy wrap slows the guards, as the girls fly forth carrying Stella, toward the dove tower. Bloom blasts their way into the tower, and the girls fly to the top. The guards follow them up, with a weird magic platform that leaves a trail of platforms as it speeds up, faster than the fairies can fly. Seriously, this magical platform looks so weird and random in it's movement, and its "trail" it leaves behind. Bloom tries to slow them down with a firewall, a wall of fire separating them above and the guards below. Probably decided to name that after Tecna's shield. The guards just use their shields to pass through unharmed, though. Musa uses magic to open the door to the aviary, and the five girls all go inside. The guards catch up almost immediately, though. Bloom still tries to convince them that the frog beast is really Stella, but the guards still don't believe Stella could ever be so ugly, and so they blast her out the window, leaving her to an ugly falling death. Flora shoots some random blast in some random direction, but more importantly, Bloom flies down to try to save Stella. And we end the show with the little yodeler falling off the mountain in today's Cliff Hangers, apparently, 'cause this is it for today.
Stella's voice was different in this episode. Same voice actress, but for much of the episode, Stella's voice was louder and higher-pitched. Why? Who knows.
Chimera's mom... disappointment. We could have had a lady genuinely in love with King Radius, genuinely nice, who just happened to have a bratty daughter who didn't get along with King Radius' bratty daughter. Instead, we have a lady who makes Chimera look like the nice one of the duo. Must stepmothers always be wicked? Just so cliche, and so uninteresting, but we'll see where it goes.
And Chimera's revenge on Stella... Stella probably needed a good kick in the butt, by someone. Chimera's good for the job, and turning Stella ugly... she probably deserved that. Turning her father against her, though... seemed to be going a bit too far.
Chimera may still feel inadequate next to the "real" princess, Stella, but Stella could've really saved herself a lot of trouble here by being a little more civil. Stella's apparently one to hold a grudge. Then again, Chimera and Countess Cassandra do as well. It was interesting that Chimera seemed to have nothing personal against Bloom, though. I mean, she obviously didn't care for Bloom's defending Stella at any point. Or like Bloom for being an "inferior" Alfea fairy. But other than that, I guess.
Sky and Brandon, the new comedy duo. Least they seemed to be around mostly for comedy here. Not that I mind; their short little antics were here amusing.
It occurs to me that Darkar would have had trouble tricking Chimera and Countess Cassandra the way Baltor did here. I mean, Darkar just looks and sounds like someone you can't trust, and doesn't do much to try to hide that fact, usually being so over-the-top with his methods. Baltor's got just the right finesse, and less of that "supreme evil being" look to him for the job, though.
7 out of 10 on the old scale.
