My Hopes For Aisha and Nex in Winx Season 8, Pt. IV: Mid-Season Status
Winx season eight started over yesterday in Italy, so it’s time for a mid-season break. Guess I’ll return to my blog for now. After all, so much has happened to my beloved couple already. I’ve gotta talk about it! ? (Don’t worry. I won’t spoil too much.)
Remember those three posts I wrote about my hopes for Aisha and Nex in season eight? Here are the ones that have already come true!
1. “They have some romantic and emotional moments…”
Sorry I doubted you, Rainbow. I thought you might ignore Aisha and Nex altogether, but boy was I wrong! They’ve had tons of adorable moments already. ❤️ Of course, the best ones are in the Sirenix arc: “Into the Depths of Andros” (episode 8) and “The Light of Gorgol” (episode 9).
Why has this couple been more tender this season? Yes, Rainbow has brought back the romance for all the couples, but the timing works best for this one. Aisha and Nex have known each other almost three years in-universe and dated almost two years. By now, they’re more comfortable with each other, and their relationship is getting serious.
2. “We get to see more of their teamwork.”
I translated YouTube’s Italian subs for “Into the Depths of Andros”. Turns out the theme for Aisha and Nex in this episode is teamwork. One of Nex’s lines is, “Thanks, Aisha. See? Teamwork always works.” (The official English line might be different.) In an earlier scene, he encourages her to let him and others who care about her help her.
I’ve said many times that teamwork is one of Aisha and Nex’s strengths, but I didn’t expect Rainbow to make an episode about it!
3. “Orion won’t have anything to do with Nabu.”
Are you surprised? I’m not. Why did anyone think he was Nabu, anyway? What were the clues besides…being a dark-skinned guy? ?
If Orion was Nabu, Rainbow would have all but told us. They haven’t kept any returning characters a secret so far. Look at how much they’ve been hyping Riven and the Trix!
Orion is Orion — no reincarnation, no bombs, no amnesia, nothing like that. (Well, he tried to bomb the Specialists, but that’s it.) Plus, he has no romantic interest in Aisha. He gets along better with…well, I’ll let you find out for yourself.
4. “Nex will do or say something that finally endears him (and this couple) to the fandom.”
Maybe? Okay, I’m not sure. But like I said last post, I’ve seen some encouraging signs:
- Positive comments about Aisha and Nex (for once)
- A few more followers on the aisha.and.nex Instagram page
- An increase in views on this blog
- Recently, new favorites on my latest Aisha/Nex commission
That last sign could mean more Winx fans are looking for (and wanna see) Aisha/Nex fan art. If that’s true, they’re in luck because more is coming. ?
Let me add to this hope. I hope that from now on, the Winx fandom will finally treat Nex like a part of the main cast. Right now, they act like he’s a minor character tagging along with no attachment to anyone. But he loves and supports Aisha, and he’s a full-fledged member of Sky’s squad. Why shouldn’t we acknowledge that?
Anyway, I’ll say this again: we might have to wait until season eight airs in more countries to see if it changes the fandom’s opinion of Nex (and of him and Aisha as a couple).
Only three (maybe four) hopes checked off so far? That’s okay. There are still 13 more episodes left.
At least it looks like the most important hope will come true: Aisha and Nex will still be a couple after season eight is over. As long as that happens, they’ll have more chances to change their reputation and fall deeper in love. ❤️
Season 8 is not a disappointment so far! The Nex episodes were nice and also, I find that turquoise suit of his nice, it matches Aisha’s gown…nice little symbolism about them fitting together…and well we finally saw the name significance come into play.
Speaking of name significance…that could be a primary reason why those who still can’t get past a dead man walking (other than nostalgia blindness), cannot accept or have a hard time understanding Nex with those that do get it now starting to appreciate it. That is to say that they don’t get that Nex doesn’t mean death as in “The End”, but more as in “A New Beginning” as he gives Aisha a rest before a fresh start, as a natural change agent, unlike Roy who tried to force it. Doesn’t that sound like a particular holiday in Latin American culture? His attitude and persona perfectly matches the idea behind Dia De Los Muertos.
Good observations! I’ve also noticed that Nex has been wearing more turquoise and green this season. It could be symbolic like you said. And yes, I liked that we not only saw their name symbolism in action, but we also more of their differences. A lot of fans still see Aisha and Nex as exactly the same, but I think these episodes proved that they’re not.
Yes, Aisha and Nex’s relationship does fit the concept of life and death celebrated in El Día de los Muertos. Death is a continuation of life, not the end of it. That’s another reason why I can’t accept Roy over Nex. The significance of Aisha experiencing death, then falling in love with “death” — making peace with it, if you will — that’s such a meaningful path for her story. Roy didn’t add anything as special as that.
Escrima- electric staffs for anyone who hasn’t heard of this. You’ll often seen Nightwing (original Robin) using these to protect Gotham and Blüdhaven both of which are in New Jersey. Nex will take a page out of that book for protecting the Magic Universe and Earth…and more importantly Aisha because he wouldn’t save the universe if she wasn’t in it. (Yes, I’m aware of how cheesy that sounds, but it’s true.)
I don’t know about that. He was a Paladin before he met her, so he may have also had a desire to help and fight for other people. Of course, I’m sure now she’s his biggest motivation. ?
On another note with his character, I wonder if his realm has Spanish Influnce in it…seeing as he kind of resembles the Castillian Spanish or one of their legends…like a silver haired Zorro, if i had to make a guess, though he uses escrima since the fencing blades might have been overdoing it with the swords.
Escrima, huh? I’d never heard of that until now, but you’re right. That does seem more like what Nex is using. Winx Wiki just called his weapons short swords. ?
As for what race or nationality he’s supposed to look like, it’s hard to tell. I’ve seen Spanish as a guess before, but I’ve also heard Asian or mixed race. It’d be nice if we (or rather, Aisha ?) could meet his family so we could find out.
Rainbow can make some things right after all. I hope the fandom finally starts accepting Nex, I mean, the only reason he was hated so much from day one was that he isn’t Nabu (Roy wasn’t either but the fandom somehow accepted him for some reason….must have been the blonde hair and the bland babyface “mister nice guy” attitude).
Things are looking good so far though (hope it starts going this way for me personally as well. But I don’t wish to go that deep here on this blog. You never know if my stalkers might read along).
Okay, this is slightly random, but after reading Sirenix-Winx’s post comparing Aisha and Nex to Greek mythology, I was reminded of another pair from mythology that reminded me of them: Hades and Persephone. Most people know this tale, but if you’re unfamiliar, a brief summary:
Hades, the god of underworld, decides to kidnap Persephone, the goddess of flowers, and make her his wife. (Yes, this is creepy, but it was common in ancient Greece, so it isn’t that weird in its original culture.) After several shenanagins involving dead crops, a messenger god, and some pomegranates, Hades makes a deal with his ticked-off mother-in-law: Persephone gets to spend half of the year in the Underworld, and half of the year with her mom.
To start, we have our life/death symbolism again. Hades rules the afterlife, whixh gives him lots of connections to the concept of mortality. I believe he is basically the boss of the god of death, but don’t quote me on that. As for Persephone, though she has no connections to life herself, her mother does. Demeter is the goddess of the harvest and fertility, two things which are necessary for civilized human life.
Next we have their personality dynamics. Though Hades is often represented as evil, in most of his myths, he’s pretty relaxed and kind of adorable. There are very few times where he acts irrationally or becomes upset with people. For goodness’ sake, he basically named his giant three-headed guard dog “Spot”. Besides the whole kidnapping thing, he treats Persephone pretty well, and is described as being happier during the months she’s around. Persephone herself is very kind and seems happy with her situation. During the rare times where Hades goes off the rails, she helps calm him down and keep him from making bad decisions. A lot of this is kind of similar to Aisha and Nex’s story, but with less kidnapping and more mutual benefits for both parties.
Does this mean their relationship is going to get more “Cerberus”? I hope it does.