Aisha and Nex: Sword and Sorcerer

What is Sword and Sorcerer? As TV Tropes succinctly put it, it’s “a warrior and a magic user working together”. They’re often a male/female Battle Couple where the Sword is male, and the Sorcerer is female.

What are some advantages of this team?

• The Sword is usually short range, while the Sorcerer is long range.
• In some fantasy series, the Sorcerer has healing magic. So if the Sword gets knocked out, the Sorcerer can restore their strength.
• As a trade-off for having incredible magic power, the Sorcerer is often “squishy” (has low defense). So the Sword can be their shield, too.

Another advantage is when one partner can’t fight the other can usually pick up the slack. For example, what if the enemy is immune to magic? The Sorcerer’s powers are useless, but the Sword’s physical attacks will still work.

We saw this in Winx season four. Ogron could absorb magic and turn it into power, so the Winx’s (and Nabu’s) magic only strengthened him. But the Specialists’ weapons still damaged him.

What if instead, the Sword’s weapons bounce right off the enemy? Or maybe magic is the only thing that can beat them. That’s when the Sorcerer gets to shine (literally).

A good example is in Winx season one: Alfea, Redfountain, and Cloud Tower vs. the Trix and the Army of Darkness. The Specialists could destroy the darkness monsters, but their remains combined to form stronger monsters. Even the fairies and witches had a hard time against them.

The only way to get rid of the Army of Darkness forever was to beat the Trix and take the Dragon Flame back. Only the Winx could do that.

Aisha and Nex, The Power Couple

Aisha and Nex aren’t the only Sword/Sorcerer couple in Winx Club. All the Winx/Specialist couples fit this trope. That’s why Faragonda and Saladin like sending them on missions together. They make up for each other’s weaknesses.

So if Aisha and Nex aren’t unique, why talk about this trope with them? Because lately, Rainbow keeps emphasizing it with them. As of season eight, they’re officially Winx Club‘s Battle Couple. It makes sense, since they’re the boldest, most energetic, and most physically fit couple in the group. Plus, they’re both excellent fighters, and teamwork is a major theme in their relationship.

Here are a few Aisha and Nex’s Sword and Sorcerer moments.

1. Aisha and Nex vs. Siobhan (Winx season 6, episode 24)

Even though they weren’t a couple yet — they became one later in the episode — this was their first “Power Couple Team Up”. Nex distracted Siobhan, the Water Champion of Alfea, then Aisha snuck behind her and blasted her with a Water Bolt.

Did they beat her? No. But they found out they work well together, so I’d call that a victory.

2. “Watch your six, golem!” (Winx season 8, episode 2)

When you think about Aisha/Nex scenes in Winx season eight, you probably think about the first Sirenix arc. So I bet this earlier scene slipped under your radar.

In “A Kingdom of Lumens”, the Winx tried to defeat Valtor’s golems, but they were immune to all types of magic but light. Fortunately, the Specialists showed up to deliver an old-fashioned beat down.

At one point, we got a role reversal for Aisha and Nex. She distracted the golem, and Nex attacked it. I wouldn’t call it a sneak attack, though, because she literally warned it that her boyfriend was about to whoop its butt.

“Watch your six, golem!”

That’s another thing: I love how confident Aisha and Nex are in each other’s abilities.

3. “Power Couple Team Up” (Winx season 8, episode 8)

This may be the best example so far. In “Into the Depths of Andros”, after Nex reminded Aisha that “teamwork never fails”, the couple took on Obscurum together. My favorite part was when Nex disarmed him so he couldn’t use magic anymore, then Aisha knocked him out with a Morphix ball.

Sadly, like with Siobhan, they didn’t beat him. I’d love to see these two finish an enemy one day. And if Rainbow makes a Winx season nine, maybe we will.

Final Thoughts

Aisha and Nex may be a great team on the battlefield, but what does that say about their relationship? And what about her other love interests? How well did she work with them?

I’ll talk about it in a future post.