User blog comment:RoyallyBella/Official Season 7 discussion blog/@comment-29197449-20160803053055/@comment-26569404-20160804023726

"Honestly, you're right about that. Introducing Nex as "the guy who comes between Roy and Aisha possibly having a thing" was a terrible idea. In that way, he's introduced as kind of an antagonist when he obviously isn't meant to be."

Worse, some fans -- including me, I admit -- thought Aisha and Roy were a couple, so it seemed like Nex was trying to steal her. I wish Rainbow had introduced both guys in season six. That way, she would have had a season by herself, and we wouldn't have had any previous attachment to either guy. But making it look like Nex was coming between her and Roy -- when it was really the other way around -- wasn't a good way to introduce him.

"Sure, Roy knew that Nex had an interest in Aisha but he immediately jumps the gun and starts telling him to back off, like there was some beef between them pre-season 6."

Actually, he wasn't even interested in her yet when Roy challenged him. Nex was flirting with all the Winx, not just her. Roy got jealous for no reason. He didn't even know she was Nex's type, so why did he see him as a threat to his nonexistent relationship with her? It made no sense.

"How is it backwards? I mean, Aisha could fall for whoever she wants but, with how I initially thought of Nex, it felt like she was being set up with a carbon copy of Riven. I mean, I know he's way better and more redeemable than Riven, especially with how he acted after Seasons 4 and 6, but it just came off to me as being that way."

What I meant by "backwards" is it's putting his similarities to Riven first and his role as Aisha's love interest second. I think it's the other way around. Nex is first and foremost her love interest, and that's what explains most of his character. Rainbow didn't create him to take Riven's place. They created him to be an ideal boyfriend and companion for her, but he happens to have a few traits in common with Riven.

Again, I think the fanbase has oversimplified Nex and Riven's characters, and that's why they think they're the same. But the core of Riven's character was his emotional baggage and how he acted because of it. He was even an antagonist for a while because of it! People have called Nex "the new and improved Riven" -- i.e. Riven without the baggage -- but if the baggage is what made Riven who he was, wouldn't taking it away make him a different character?

That's who Nex is: a different character. He's not Riven or a copy of him. He's a new guy with a different background and different motivations -- and maybe some baggage of his own. (Everyone's got problems.) Hopefully, we'll find out what his story is.

"I only liked Riven more because of the development he had going for him during the first 3 seasons."

I never liked Riven. I understand why people thought he was interesting, but Rainbow started using him just to add drama at Musa's expense. Strangely, some fans even liked him in that role. (Did they even care about her?)

I wish he and Musa had broken up earlier, and I don't want him to come back. Again, I understand why other fans do: they fantasize about him finally becoming a better person. But one of the side effects of all the attention he got was he became more popular than Musa. Personally, I don't think any of the guys should be allowed to overshadow the Winx, so it's better for her if he doesn't come back. She needs to shine now.

"I'm a fan of direct parallels so I did notice that Roy was a lot like Aisha when she still had those barriers up during her debut season."

I don't know what you meant here. Did you mean to say Nex?

"I'd actually like to see those 15+ differences you have listed! Not really as a challenge, they just sound interesting."

I wrote a post on my blog comparing these guys. Originally, it was just gonna be a list of differences between them, but it evolved into something else. I know I still have it, though. I'll to have to find it again.

"Again, I'm no fan of Riven's but if he wanted to protect Musa by proving he can lead the Specialists, then why the hell was he basically treating her like she was unimportant? They even had a scene where Musa confronts Riven about this and he literally treats her like nothing more than a doormat. Like, what??? I'm pretty sure Riven has common sense; that's not how you treat ANYBODY if you're trying to protect them."

This is my problem with how much the fanbase loves Riven. They say he acted this way because he loved Musa, but he treated her horribly. You don't do that to someone you love and expect them to wanna stay with you!

I feel like the fanbase cares more about him than about her. They treat her like she was just a plot device for his supposed character development. But Musa's one of the six main characters of this series. Like it or not, she's more important than him. He was ruining her life, so he needed to go. That's how I feel.

"It's just that the way Aisha was handled during that whole season felt like she just forgot Nabu as soon as Roy stepped in. Would it have been right for her to constantly keep up walls and cry to herself every night? Nope, but they could've thrown in a little scene where she "talks" to Nabu for one final time and let us see that she's gotten some sort of closure other than have it look like Roy walked in so Nabu had to get the boot out of her heart."

I guess closure is what the whole fanbase needs. That's why they won't let Aisha move on because they don't feel like the relationship ended properly. We didn't even see his funeral -- unless that scene where she turned his body into flowers was supposed to be some kind of burial.

The comics do a slightly better job of wrapping things up. She doesn't "talk" to him, but she says something like, "He'll live forever in my memories." Roy also doesn't show up until the season six comics (he's only in one of them), but he and Nex never fight over her. He just disappears like he did in the show, and now Nex is part of the main group.

"Nabu even said that he wants her to always be happy so, for Aisha to act like how most of the fanbase wants her to act, she would already be going against Nabu's dying wish, which is obviously what she didn't want to do. If her being happy involved her moving on and finding someone else then she's still honoring Nabu in death because that's what he wanted."

I think a lot of fans have forgotten that (or don't care). The last thing she said before she "buried" him was, "Goodbye, Nabu. This is my last tear. These eyes will never cry again." Of course, it was figurative -- she cried plenty of times afterwards -- but it was a promise to him that she'd find happiness again like he wanted her to.

It didn't have to be with another guy, but I think it fits her character to for her to end up in another relationship. She hates being alone because she grew up alone. Why would she wanna be alone for the rest of her life?

But the fanbase has made her story more about Nabu than about her! He's definitely more popular than her. All they want her to do is bring him back. They don't care how she does it, if it makes sense or not, or even if someone else has to die (even one of her own family members) to make it happen. Her only purpose in the show now is to find her way back to Nabu. That's it.

I think they really missed the point of her story.

"After reading this and rewatching the third season more closely, I can actually see how her and Nabu's relationship just kinda exploded. I always felt like the both of them were trying to rush into a relationship as fast as possible to go against their arranged marriages but thaaaaaaaaaaaaaat doesn't really sound like it'd fit now. I wish there was a clearer time-frame between some episodes. All I know is that one season is always a year after the previous one. Even then, deciding on marriage within a year of dating is rushing it, especially 'cause they're all about 19~21 at that time."

"Exploded" is a good word for it. I think it was just the rush of first love. They were young, and neither of them had been in a relationship before (they both had lonely childhoods), so they fell fast and hard. I'm not saying it wasn't real love, but I think that's why it was so intense.

Yes, the time frame between episodes isn't clear. A little bit of time passed between eps. 22 and 23 of season three, but Aisha just said she and Nabu had been getting close lately. It could have been a few weeks or a couple months. Who knows? But season four opened at the beginning of the next school year, so they had to have been together less than a year (or maybe about a year) before getting engaged. (Unless there was a large time skip somewhere in season four.)

"Daphne and Thoren dated for only a couple weeks to about a month before they were ready for marriage... Rainbow probably shouldn't be rushing characters into marriage so quickly. Actually, speaking of Daphne and Thoren, how is Bloom not freaked out by the fact that her fiancee for 3~4 years? is now her brother-in-law. Eh, I guess she's not worrying because they aren't blood-related but that was still pretty weird for most."

They dated longer than that (they became a couple in ep. 6), but the problem is we never saw them date. The only time they even mentioned dating was near the end of the season, not long before they got married. It seemed more rushed than it was...but it was rushed. Again, it had been less than a year.

As for the Bloom X Sky relationship problem, I think Rainbow's just gonna ignore it. They're royalty, anyway. Marrying cousins and siblings is pretty common for royals.

"Heck, I'm hoping that they don't try to hook Musa up with anyone during this upcoming WoW either. Season 7 already felt like they were hammering me over the head with the fact that Riven's on his bus ride to somewhere and not with Musa anymore, but I'd love for one of the Winx to not look like she needs a guy to not feel lonely. They did that perfectly fine with Aisha in Season 2 and most of 3 where she believed that she was better off being a single chick so I don't see why they can't make Musa look like she's capable of being confident without a guy either."

I'm not sure what Rainbow's gonna do. I think they learned their lesson with Aisha, since Musa didn't get a new guy in season seven. (Orlando doesn't count.) I doubt they'll introduce someone new for her in WoW, since it might not be canon to the main series.

Season eight? Maybe. Personally, I think it will happen -- but I'm not sure I want it to. On the one hand, I wanna see her in a happy relationship for the first time. On the other hand, I know the fanbase will freak out if she even looks at a guy other than Riven, and I'm not looking forward to that.