Winx Season 9: Thoughts and Theories *UPDATE*

A few of you have brought up Winx season nine, a.k.a. Winx Club Shorts, in your comments recently. Everyone’s talking about right now, huh? Well, I guess I’ll drop in my two cents. I don’t know as much about it, though, since I don’t follow Winx news anymore, so I’m going off scraps of information.

UPDATE: After seeing information I missed, I wrote a follow-up to this post.

Charmix Outfits? Winx Season 9 is a Reboot?

The most popular theory about Winx season nine is Rainbow is starting over. From what I’ve seen, the only evidence is a banner that showed Bloom, Stella, and Flora in what the fandom thinks are Charmix (or “Magic Winx”) outfits:

All I have to say is…huh? This doesn’t look like Charmix to me! ? Stella maybe, but not Flora and Bloom. Isn’t Flora’s hairstyle from her Enchantix form? And Bloom’s outfit reminds me more of her princess dress from Magical Adventure:

It’s hard to see their wings, but those blurs don’t look like their Charmix wings, either. Bloom’s are too big, for starters, and the wrong shape. Sure, these could be new designs, but their Sirenix and Enchantix looks in Winx season eight still had the same wings. ?‍♀️

So if this is a fairy form, I think it’s a new one. But even if it is Charmix, why does that mean season nine is a reboot? If Rainbow shoehorned Sirenix and Enchantix into Winx season eight, they could find an excuse to bring back Charmix, too.

I don’t think we have enough proof Winx season nine is a reboot. And based on other information, I doubt it.

The New Episode Format

52 episodes, 13 minutes each, just like PopPixie. That’s more like an episodic kids’ show: short, standalone episodes with a few two-parters here and there. Until now, Winx Club was a serialized show. Each episode (or most of them) advanced an overarching plot.

Hate to say it, but I think Rainbow is officially turning Winx Club into a preschool series. I could be wrong — I hope so — but I am confident about the content. Episodic shows are full of random moments and misadventures in the characters’ lives that aren’t connected by a plot. Not an adequate way to retell the entire Winx Club story.

Here’s more evidence. I remember a while back (when I still cared about Winx news), someone posted a video claiming:

• Winx season nine won’t just about the Winx.
• It’ll continue some plots from Winx season eight, like Icy’s stupid backstory.

That almost gives away that this isn’t a reboot. One, Winx Club is about the Winx (mostly Bloom), so why wouldn’t a reboot focus on its main characters? Also, why would it “continue” plots from season eight if it’s starting over?

I couldn’t find the video again, so maybe something has changed. But if that info was true, the new format explains it better than the reboot theory. Since this season won’t have an overarching plot, the episodes could be about anything or anyone and take place anytime in Winx Club history, even before season one.

Icy will probably get an episode that resolves her story. The Winx (minus Bloom) could get an episode about when they first transformed into fairies, hence the Charmix art (if that’s what it is). There could also be episodes about the Specialists, the teachers, the Pixies, the Fairy Animals, Roxy, Daphne, Mitzi, Andy and his band — you name it. The possibilities are endless.

Let me put it this way: do you like the Winx comics? Then you might like season nine. Some episodes might be adaptations of the comics. Who knows?

Final Thoughts

I’m nervous and excited about Winx season nine. It has potential, but it could also be a disaster. At worst, the show could devolve into a mess of cheesy comedy and ham-fisted morals… you know, like season five or seven, but worse. Imagine if every day was “Banana Day”. ?

Or — and what I’m hoping for — Rainbow could develop characters who desperately need it. Flora and Tecna are the least developed Winx. We just met their parents in season six and seven, while we met the other Winx’s parents in the first three seasons.

Here’s a question: what do these two want to do once they finally leave Alfea? Aisha, Stella, and Bloom will become queens, and Musa will become a musician. Maybe Flora will be a botanist like her parents, and Tecna will become an engineer. It makes sense, but we don’t know because they’re rarely in the spotlight.

Same with any Specialist not named Sky or Riven. I’ve already said I hope Nex gets a backstory that humanizes him and finally endears him to the Winx fandom. But Timmy and even Riven need backstories, too. (Helia has one, but it’s irrelevant to his character. ?) We’ve known these guys for 3+ seasons, but we still know little about them. This new format is perfect for filling in the gaps in their characters and stories.

Bottom line: I don’t think Winx season nine is a reboot. I’d call it a spin-off first, but even that may be a stretch. I think all Rainbow is doing is changing the episode format so Winx Club fits better on kids’ channels like RAI Yoyo and Nick Jr. A lot of kids’ shows these days are CG, too, so that could explain the switch to CG animation.

What do you think about Winx season nine?