Fate

Saturday mornings were always filled with sneaking out of our rooms and silently powering on the television. We would turn the volume down low, and sit under the screen. Our parents would say "you can wake up early to watch TV, but cannot bring yourselves to get out of bed for school?" That left us speechless, really.

The boys watched Spiderman or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I did too, however; the show that intrigued me was The Winx Club. The show is set in a magical universe that is inhabited by fairies, witches, and other mythical creatures. Bloom, the main character, is enrolled at Alfea College where she hopes to learn how to train and hone her skills.

Surprisingly the Winx Club is an Italian-American animated series, which I only learned about when I was in high school. There have been spinoffs, games, live action adaptations and merchandise created after the successful run of the show. The creator, Iginio Straffi, originally intended for this show to have three seasons. He continued the story for a fourth season in 2009. Around this time, Winx Club's popularity attracted the attention of the American media company Viacom, owner of Nickelodeon. As of 2019, the animated series has completed eight seasons.

Which brings us to 2021 with the Netflix series that is in the top ten, Fate the Winx Saga! The trailer shows Bloom as a young girl learning how to create fire from her own hands, and then transitions to show her as a teenager who's much more powerful. At Alfea, Bloom and her friends learn to cultivate their powers and fight entities who threaten them. The casting was slammed, especially with Flora (known as Terra in the netflix show) and Musa, who are WOC in the original series. There are many controversies surrounding the characters that were chosen, the depiction of the college and the lack of diversity in the characters.

Despite people analyzing and comparing an animated and live action show, I thoroughly enjoyed the version on Netflix.

Bloom is a fire fairy from the far-off realm of California. Despite being new to the fairy world, Bloom is relatively unfazed by her new surroundings. Then again, with her complicated backstory and vaguely rebellious streak (“I’m whatever the opposite of a cheerleader is”), Bloom was clearly born to be a the heroine.

There’s Aisha, a water fairy with a penchant for protecting others at her own peril.

Stella, a light fairy (and literal princess) who uses a killer wardrobe and icy glare to mask her insecurities.

Musa, a mind fairy whose empathic powers prove to be more of a curse than a gift; and Terra, an earth fairy whose sunny disposition is often mistaken for weakness — as a fat-shaming jerk named Riven learns when she uses vines to choke him out. (Side note: Terra casually mentions that she has a cousin named Flora, one of the original Winx fairies. So there’s still hope that she may turn up yet!)

Beatrix, might as well be wearing a name tag that says “Hello, my name is The Villain.” Even though she helps Bloom get closer to the answers she desperately needs, Beatrix has an agenda of her own.

There are a few male characters dealing with a bit of drama as well. Sky, Riven, Dane and Silva have quite a dynamic. Silva is the teacher of the specialists group, which Sky, Riven and Dane are a part of.

Sky discovers the man who raised him lied to him all his life and Andreas, Sky's father, was actually a genocidal monster. Silva, who was trying to protect Sky, didn't want him to find out. To make matters worse, Andreas and Co. arrest Silva for his attempted murder, which means Sky's tyrant father is back and the soldier who genuinely cared for him is likely going to die. This leads to trust and abandonment issues coming back for Sky, as Andreas clearly chose the mission over his boy 16 years ago.

With Riven, this fracture feels similar to when Andreas and Silva fought, and Sky will surely be hurt his pseudo-brother was willing to become a monster to get out of his shadow. Sky always treated him well and tried to guide him, which is why Riven and another protege, Dane, switching sides is going to have him questioning himself as a leader. He was willing to put his life on the line for them, so this will surely affect who he trusts moving forward.

Needless to say, I am impatiently waiting for the following seasons to make their debut!