#but i enjoyed the fact that she didn’t get a full enchantix so she didn’t get full enchantix powers

[starlooove]

Never gonna forgive season 1-3 bloom haters

[kryativelogos]

Aisha/Layla’s Wack Love Life (spoilers for S3+)

I’m on a Winx Club roll right now, but I do plan on making a post about Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. ANYWAYS. I just finished rewatching S6 and I can’t really remember if people thought S6 was good or bad but that’s not what I wanted to talk about for this post (although if people are interested I can discuss some of the things I liked and disliked about it) I’m here to talk about Aisha/Layla’s love life that I wish the show took better care of. (NOTE: I will probably be using both Aisha and Layla’s name interchangeably, please realize they are the same person and I am only switching them based on the season I am talking about. For reference, I am using Layla for S3-4 and Aisha for S5+)

I’m going to split this analysis into four parts, the first three will be about the boys they introduced throughout the show to be Aisha’s love interest and my personal opinions about them. The final part will just be final thoughts about what was appropriate for the show plot-wise and their compatibility with Aisha. So yes, warning, this is a long-ass analysis.

NABU: Introduced in S3 as the mysterious Ophir who was stalking Layla for like three (3) episodes before actually talking to the girl. He was arranged to marry Layla and was initially upset over the idea, thus stalking to figure out who the heck this girl was. He lasted for technically a full season before dying in S4, sacrificing himself to stop the Wizards of the Black Circle. I personally really liked the development that Nabu and Layla have throughout the season. From being completely upset over the idea of spying to apologizing and realizing that they had real chemistry. I learned to really love this couple in S4 because as the season goes on and there was the ridiculous drama between Andy + his band vs the specialist, there were small clips that showed that Nabu and Layla still loved each other very much. In one episode after the girls have a fight with the specialists, they walked away from each other, but Nabu and Layla looked back as they split off in (I’m sorry, I can’t think of the episode atm but if I find it, I’ll add it in). Between all the couples, I found Nabu x Layla (and Helia x Flora) to be the least problematic and understanding couple, even going out of their way to help Riven fix his relationship with Musa. He supports Layla in her passion of dancing, and he doesn’t get jealous. Like the man lets his girl go and dance with another guy because he doesn’t dance but he loves seeing Layla dance. He straight up says “Oh, I don’t dance, but Layla would love to.” (again I can’t give you the exact episode but when I rewatch it - since it’s my favorite season - I’ll update this post) I can’t tell you how sad I was when he died. I understood Layla’s pain when he died and the fact that the girls didn’t really sympathize as much as when Tecna “died” to get her enchantix in Ep16 was so annoying. I will even go as far as to say they killed off the most competent man out of the main love interests. He was by far the most impressive between all the men; his magic clearly made him superior but he wasn’t arrogant nor had a leadership complex. Nabu was really out here just trying to support his girl and I was here for it. If there was a boyfriend I would want from Winx, it would be Nabu. His sacrifice is the first hero-death and I’m pretty sure the only hero-death in the show (this may be wrong, I haven’t watched S8). Now, I know there’s a lot of hope for this man in the sense that the direct translation when Morgana says she’ll watch over him until he wakes. I don’t think this will happen and I’ll explain why later on.

ROY: Introduced in S5 as a protector?? of Andros, where he helped the Winx club navigate around the ocean in a yacht. I don’t really have much to say except he was very kind and sympathetic. He was constantly praising Aisha and was capable of supporting the club when necessary. I appreciated him in S6 despite his competition with Nex for allowing Aisha to enjoy herself. Although it was apparent that there was a rivalry between the two, I really liked how he backed down to let Aisha have fun and not be so pissed off of Nex which was common earlier in the season. This was also annoyingly one of those “nice guys finish last” though since he ends up literally vanishing after Nex and Aisha are “confirmed” a couple. This was frustrating because I really liked Roy as a character, he was supportive like Nabu and there was so much development the show could have introduced to him. There was a lack of personality which I think is why they moved away from Roy and more towards Nex. To add, “the nice guys finish last” is such a poor message to send out to kids; having a jerk as your boyfriend who only softens to you, is such a gross depiction of how men should behave and removing Roy solidified the show’s preference to “bad boys” being better boyfriends. 

NEX: Introduced in S6 with Thorin. I don’t really know the plot-reason for bringing the “red boys” into the show aside from finalizing Daphne and Aisha’s love interest, which is probably why I disliked the two so much from the start. This guy was just as bad, or worse, than Riven in S1. I absolutely despised how he treated the girls, how competitive he was, and the fact that Aisha called him out on his BS only “turned him on.” This being the only thing going for him, he was obnoxious and wanted to show off around Aisha thinking it would make him look better compared to Roy. The only soft thing I noticed throughout the entire show was in S6Ep24 when Aisha went into the Legendarium and he was “scared.” Like, dude, if that was the only time you were concerned about her safety, your character was very poorly written. I know that maybe in S7 there would be more development in his character, but I honestly don’t recall much about the boys in that season at all. So I’ll stick with his behavior in S6 for this analysis.

FINAL THOUGHTS---

I think removing Nabu was a really dumb choice. I also believe that the show thought that Roy was too similar to Nabu, so they nerfed him and introduced Nex. Nabu was too competent and had too little drama for the show’s liking and therefore removed him. I do think that plot-wise Nabu’s sacrifice was a nice touch, however after realizing that the show just wanted a hard reset on Aisha’s love life, I believe there were better ways to do so. Nabu brought out Layla’s soft side, and lead her to live a happy life with an arranged marriage (which in irl, I know of many couples who live happy lives with their arranged spouse). I personally believe that Nabu and Layla were the best couple because they lived like a regular couple irl, they grew to love each so much more organically than Nex. They considered their future together on Earth and were ready to settle down. But with the other boys, I could not see Aisha ever talking about settling down or considering a future together. I didn’t mind Roy being the next potential boyfriend seeing as he wasn’t forceful with his approach to getting to know Aisha. He was gentle with her, and even though he didn’t know her past with Nabu, he was taking it slow with her and giving her space. They had chemistry and although it didn’t last very long, it disappointed me that the show really made Aisha shallow and only noticed Nex for being better athletic-wise and not personality-wise. That being said, I will never ship Aisha and Nex. Aisha clearly disliked him in S6 and yet she tolerated him as he laughed at Roy (S6Ep15) when he messed up and hardly did anything for her. So not only did they make Nex a jerk, but also Aisha so one-dimensional that she let all of the things that she initially called him out for, to slide. I think, the show did a poor job of showing Aisha mourning for Nabu with the exception of S5′s Ep1, Ep7, and Ep8 which is only 3/26 of the episodes, and some of the girls (*cough* Stella in S5Ep8 *cough*) hardly mourned for him at all. Compatibility-wise, Nabu, for me, is and always will be the best choice. Nex, can like, go do more pushups or something. Plot-wise, there was no plot. Nabu’s death moved the storyline to make Nebula a better queen, but aside from that, this whole romance thing was just to make sure all the girls had a partner that “worked” in the show’s favor. Nex will really need to step up in S7+ if he is to ever be like Nabu in that he was supportive, kind, and let Layla be herself around him; because all I see is that Nex is solely attracted to Aisha’s badass side - the side where she’s sporty and athletic, whereas when she was with Nabu she was able to dance - which was her secret passion - and considered settling. Please treat my girl well in S8 nwn

If you guys have any inputs feel free to have a discussion down below! I do sound a bit biased in this, but I hope my analysis explains why. As always this was just a fun post, so please don’t judge me based on this! Thanks~