Winx Season 8: 4 Reasons Aisha and Nex Had The Best Relationship Development

Posted On August 10, 2020

Let’s face it: relationship development isn’t Rainbow’s forte. They love dropping meaningless obstacles into the couples’ lives just to stir up drama. That’s why Winx Club is full of love triangles, misunderstandings, and fights over dumb stuff like plant care. It’s a wonder some of these couples are still together! (Looking at you, Bloom and Sky.)

Do they learn anything from it? Are their relationships stronger in the end? No. They just smile, hug, maybe sing, then go back to the way they were until next season. Or next episode. (Looking at you again, Bloom and Sky.)

But good relationship development is about change, progress, and maturity. The partners deepen their bond with each other, learn to accept their differences, and help each other become their ideal selves. That’s what happened to Aisha and Nex in the first Sirenix arc in Winx season eight. I guess someone at Rainbow knows what they’re doing.

Why was this arc so enjoyable — and better yet, well written? Here are four reasons Aisha and Nex had the best relationship development in Winx season eight.

1. Their conflict was caused by their flaws.

If you read my third “Aisha/Roy NoTP” post, you may remember this quote by author Kristen Lamb:

Great fiction is fueled by bad decisions and human weakness.

Well, the Winx couples sure make a lot of bad decisions! How about hanging off other guys in front of your jealous boyfriend, Musa? Or introducing your girlfriend as your “friend” to a girl you’ve known longer? Really, Helia?

Here’s a doozy: going on a secret mission with your psycho ex, without telling your fiancée, who she tried to burn alive a couple years ago. Sky, what the heck is wrong with you? (Also, why isn’t Diaspro in prison by now? She must have the best lawyers in the Magic Dimension!)

Why do most of these conflicts fall flat? Because the characters’ actions and dialogue don’t match their personalities and experiences. It feels like an invisible hand — the writers — shoves them into situations they should know how to avoid.

But Aisha and Nex’s conflict in season eight felt natural because they acted like themselves. Also, it wasn’t sparked by a random person or event, but by their flaws and personalities clashing. (The Andros Foundation Festival and the attack on Gorgol were mostly backdrops.) Because of this, we also got a better sense of how these two differ from each other.

Flaw vs. Flaw

One of Aisha’s flaws is her avoidance. Whenever she feels upset or worried, she isolates herself, even from her friends and family. She masks it as independence, but it goes too far when she refuses help when she needs it. Not to mention, she actually hates being alone. (I’ll talk more about this later.)

But Nex is Mr. Sociable. He values teamwork and community, so he believes in reaching out to others in “a moment of stress”. But one of his flaws is his “ardor” or “passion” (bollenti spiriti), as Bloom called it in comic #131: “La Prova di Nex” (Nex’s Test). In other words, he gets too excited sometimes and doesn’t think before he acts.

So Aisha and Nex’s conflict was her lone-wolf behavior vs. his “teamwork never fails” motto, and her anxiety vs. his enthusiasm. Was this a fight? Not exactly. But he accidentally made things worse for her, and she got annoyed with him, even though she knew he just wanted to help.

That’s another thing: she understood his intentions, and he never stopped believing in her. They just didn’t know how to react to each other. He thought flowers, Emojix, and advice would cheer her up, but it got on her nerves instead. And she knew he wanted to support her, but she didn’t know he’d get that jazzed about it. She may be an energetic girl, but she can still get overwhelmed by someone else’s energy.

This was a chance to get to know each other better and learn to adjust to each other’s moods. So not only did they fall deeper in love by the end of the Sirenix arc, but they also understood each other better.

2. Rainbow weaved their relationship development into the main plot.

The first of Bloom and Sky’s three side plots in Winx season eight began as they often do: “We never have time for each other.” First, she missed their date at the end of “Attack on the Core” (Winx season 8, episode 3). Then in the next episode, he had to cancel their picnic under the stars — er…the sun is a star — to go on a “top-secret” mission with the Specialists. As usual, she threw a fit about it.

How did they resolve this conflict? Simple. They had their picnic — and a romantic dance — later that day. On a spaceship. During a mission. Right after they narrowly escaped getting sucked into a black hole.

I’m sorry. You may not remember this scene because you skipped it.

Admit it. You skipped it.

You didn’t the first time because you didn’t expect it. But every time afterwards, you skipped it.

And I don’t blame you. It came out of nowhere and had nothing to do with the rest of the episode. If you didn’t skip it, feel free to do so from now on because you know you won’t miss anything.

Besides, did it solve Bloom and Sky’s problems? No. As we saw later in the season, they still had trouble making time for each other. One uninterrupted date wouldn’t make up for that.

In contrast to that randomness, Aisha and Nex’s relationship development felt like part of the Sirenix arc. Aside from one or two moments in “Into the Depths of Andros”, the action didn’t stop for them. Instead, the main plot and their focus scenes flowed together beautifully.

“Into the Depths of Andros” (Winx season 8, episode 8)

We started with Aisha preparing for her speech for the Andros Foundation Festival and Nex unintentionally distracting her with texts and phone calls. That set off their conflict. The next scene where she turned down the bouquet explained why he kept calling her and established the lesson she needed to learn. (More on that later.)

Their next big moment was when the Winx were about to head to Gorgol. Nex wanted to come, but Aisha gave her usual “I can take care of myself” excuse. It didn’t work on him because he’s always appreciated that about her. 🙂 Again, this tied into the moral of the arc.

Admittedly, their next notable scene slowed things down a little. Nex called Aisha aside to ask why she was acting this way. She told him she’d wanted to impress her parents and her people, and he assured her that everyone understood her feelings and wanted to help her. This not only kept the teamwork theme going, but it also strengthened their connection to each other.

But Bloom’s line at the end — “Hey, lovey-dovey! Move it!” — confirms Rainbow knew this scene paused the action. (Lampshading doesn’t excuse it, guys.) What if Aisha and Nex had talked while swimming towards Gorgol? That would kept the story moving, literally.

The scene before Aisha and Nex fought Obscurum ended the conflict between them. She apologized for pushing him away and acknowledged she’d been fixated on not disappointing everyone. I don’t think this conversation stalled the action as much as the previous one, especially since Rainbow segued into the next scene with Aisha’s question, “So…power couple team up?” ?

You know what happened. They knocked Obscurum down, but he got back up and shot the cave ceiling with an energy beam. Aisha screamed Nex’s name as boulders plummeted towards him. And…fade to black. Cliffhanger!

Okay, most of us knew he was gonna be fine. But it was still an interesting way to end the episode.

“The Light of Gorgol” (Winx season 8, episode 9): Beginning

“The Light of Gorgol” had the best blend of action and romance of the two episodes. First, it picked up with Aisha saving Nex from Obscurum’s cave-in. This sweet moment of concern for each other lasted just long enough to be memorable. ❤️

The next major scene between them was after the anemones captured the Winx (except Aisha, of course). Before that, Nex tried to stop her from attacking the panicked plants, but she ignored him. Rainbow flashed back to it later. But what made the former scene more powerful was the music: the silence as she stared at her fallen friends, the tension as she dove in to save them, then a sudden stop when Nex grabbed her arm.

After he pointed out her recklessness, she frantically looked for a different solution. That’s when he took her hand to help calm her down. He did this once in “Legendary Duel” (Winx season 6, episode 24), but she wasn’t panicked then. So this was new for them. Aisha (and the audience) learned he can comfort her in a crisis.

A pair of Lumens conveniently passed by at that moment — yes, I’ll admit it — and Aisha and Nex listened as they sang to calm the anemones down. The couple followed them into a cave where a group of Lumens seemed to live. They revealed the anemones protect Gorgol from invaders, and they only attack when threatened.

“The Light of Gorgol”: Climax

Aisha realized she created this mess and dashed out of the cave to fix it. Nex hurried after her. But he didn’t make it far before an anemone snagged his ankle, sending electricity surging up to his neck. He lost consciousness and dropped to the ocean floor.

Confession: I was glad when this happened. Yes, I like Nex, but I didn’t want him to be the hero in this episode. So when Aisha was the last person standing — er, swimming — I felt relieved. It made the most sense, after all. This was an Aisha/Nex arc, but as I’ll talk about later, it was also her character arc. She needed to redeem herself.

As the anemones bound her boyfriend, she panicked again and hurled Morphix staves left and right to save him. But she was too late. Exhausted, she recomposed herself and remembered the Lumens’ words. “The anemones only attack when they sense a threat.”

“The Light of Gorgol”: Resolution

Aisha asked the Lumens who’d been watching her to sing like they did before. Their melody pacified the anemones, and they released the Winx and Nex. As soon as he woke up, he rushed up to her and asked if she was okay.

I liked this moment because it showed that A) he cares about her without being overprotective, and B) he’s not as self-centered as the Winx fandom thinks he is. Aisha, having regained her cool, replied, “Never felt better!”

But the Winx needed to relight Gorgol’s core, since Obscurum and the Staryummies stole all its light. How would the Winx breathe underwater without their Sirenix powers? Fortunately, Aisha had thought of a solution. She wrapped a Morphix bubble full of air around the core. Brilliant! I love it when the Winx use their magic resourcefully.

Closing out the denouement, the Winx transformed into Cosmix fairies and restored the darkened star. Aisha and Nex hugged, and he thanked her for saving everyone. Fast forward to the Andros Foundation Festival. She gave her revised speech, and the celebration finally began.

If this had been a Bloom/Sky arc, their picnic and dance would have fit better here. Thankfully, Rainbow saved Aisha and Nex’s dance for this part. I’ll talk about their scene on the dock later because it’s another reason why their relationship development stood out.

3. Their relationship development reaffirmed their compatibility, instead of casting doubts on it.

I said earlier that it’s a wonder some of these Winx couples are still together. Their conflicts always seem to make them look bad:

• If Bloom and Sky can’t find time for each other now, what makes them think that’ll change after they’re married? News flash: it’s gonna get worse. Just wait until the kids arrive.
• Flora and Helia are too afraid of fighting with each other. Remember my “Bizarre Chat” post where I mentioned that study that found that happy couples fight more? It also said that not fighting can breed resentment between you and your partner. That’s exactly what keeps happening to these two. They need to learn how to express their thoughts to each other, even if it makes the other person angry.
• Musa and Riven…don’t get me started on them.

But Aisha and Nex’s arc this season emphasized their best moments, not their worst. First of all, unlike other couple conflicts in Winx Club, theirs didn’t last the entire season. In fact, it didn’t last the entire episode!

How did they resolve it? By talking to each other! Wow! What a novel idea!

It’s sad that something so simple is impressive for this show. Think of how many couple conflicts over these 16 years could have ended with just one conversation. It’s called communication, guys. Get good at it.

The rest of the arc showed more reasons Aisha and Nex are a great couple: their confidence in each other, their affection, the fact they don’t let each other get away with reckless behavior, etc. They also officially became “The Power Couple” of Winx Club. That’s another part of relationship development: how the partners define their relationship may also change. Of course, I’ve always seen them this way. What else would you call two fearless warriors with impeccable teamwork and complementary skills, who are also are dating? ?

Bottom line: The arc left us feeling positive about Aisha and Nex’s future, not like they’d escaped a relationship crisis. (By the way, “relationship crisis” is how Rainbow described Bloom and Sky’s subplots this season. It’s telling when a couple’s drama becomes a featured event in their love story.)

4. Aisha grew as a person by the end of the arc.

Well-written relationship development is awesome. Well-written relationship development plus character growth? Even better.

As I hinted earlier, Aisha acts like someone with an avoidant attachment style. Avoidants didn’t learn when to depend on others because they couldn’t rely on their parents, who either ignored them or didn’t have to time for them. Her parents are the king and queen of Andros, so you can imagine why they may have been too busy for her. Rainbow suggested this in her dream at the beginning of “The Invisible Pixies” (Winx season 2, episode 13), when one of her servants said her father called to make sure she attended her lessons.

Because of this neglect, Avoidants think they must handle their own business. Several resources I found called Avoidants “compulsively independent”. They often want friends and relationship partners, but they can’t silence the voices in their heads that say, “Don’t get too close. You can’t rely on anyone but yourself.“

Aisha feels comfortable around the Winx and Nex, but she still pushes them away sometimes. As we saw in this arc, the more distressed she felt, the more detached she became, and the more she tried to fix her problems herself. She needed to break her habit. Depending on others when you need them doesn’t make you weak. We all need each other sometimes.

Admittedly, I didn’t like how her redo speech spelled this moral out. It felt like a “just in case you kids didn’t get it” moment. But like I said in my second post about her impulsiveness, it tied into the scene from “Into the Depths of Andros” where Nex encouraged her not to memorize her speech. Her second speech came from her heart, not a tablet.

Regardless, I think her talk with him on the dock got the message across better — or at least, more subtly. It took a lot of maturity for her to thank him for helping her, even though she originally didn’t want him to come with her.

Nex’s response:

Remember: I’ll always be there for you, even when you don’t want me to be.

I like how she reacted to this. She seemed surprised (and maybe a little annoyed), but then she smiled because she understood what he meant. People don’t change instantly. In the future, she might push him away again. But she can always look back on this moment and know he won’t abandon her.

This reminds me of a Marilyn Monroe quote:

I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/marilyn_monroe_498604

Aisha was at her worst in this arc, and Nex proved he can handle her.

Final Thoughts

I felt inspired to write this post after reading one of Winxdreaming’s comments on her Aisha/Nex video:

I agree with you, Rainbow did a very good job (after a long time hah). I think it’s the best developed relationship there. I love how both of them are so alike and so different and how they care for each other, especially the episode on S8 was GOLDEN. How he was there for her ❤️

I’m sure that other Winx fans who haven’t rejected this couple appreciated these episodes, too. Winx Club’s relationship development may be mediocre, but Rainbow does it right now and then.

Thank goodness one of those blue moons rose over this couple. They needed it.