Time for episode 10, "Bloom Tested". It indicates that Bloom has a test this episode. That's about it. 4Kids calls it, "Magical Reality Check". It refers to the test that Bloom will take here and what type it is. The 4Kids title feels better to me here, so point to them. RAI 5. 4Kids 3.
The episode begins with Bloom dropping a coin in the well at Alfea. She's sad for some reason and hears Daphne calling out for her. She stops daydreaming when Stella snaps her out of it. Stella is annoyed that Bloom wasn't listening to her. Musa tells her that Palladium is taking them into the famous simulation room, and she's excited for it. Stella had heard things wonderful happen in there. Flora has heard of some horrible things. Good old paranoid Flora. Tecna says those are just stupid rumors and questions what could ever happen to her in there. Tecna isn't very Genre Savvy. Flora decides that Tecna's right. Stella says she's going to have fun and become the talk of Alfea. Like that'll work out for her.
It's raining at Cloudtower, like it's doing half the time anyway. I'm surprised it took three seasons for the place to flood. The Trix know that Bloom is too powerful for a first year student. They summon their vacuums in a sequence that takes too long and examine their fight with Bloom. She registers at the highest level, equal only to the Dragon flame. Stormy says they should test Bloom again, just to be sure. Looks like they don't want another dead end.
Knut however doesn't understand why the Trix are looking for a flame, as it could be on a candle or in a fireplace as anyone's house. Since Knut is half blind and talking to brooms at the time, it's best to assume that Knut is just an idiot. Icy thinks he's embarrassing. Wonder what took her so long to figure that out. After Icy tells Knut to put on his glasses, she announces that the flame will restore the magnificence of a distant past, whatever that means.
At Alfea, Palladium has taken the fairies into the simulation room, which Palladium explains is the product of the most powerful magic and most sophisticated technology. Tecna especially seems to like it, which she should be as this is essentially what her expertise should be, combining magic and technology. Flawless virtual realities and environments can be created here. Stella asks if virtual dates can be stimulated, causing another fairy to tell her she can get one then. Stella is actually embarrassed by this. Palladium announces they will simulate their final exam in anticipation of the upcoming midterms.
Palladium takes them into the control room. Tecna admits that this is wonderful to her. It does make me wonder what her home planet has and whether this is new or nostalgic to her. The fairies have two choices for the test. The first is to counteract the spells of a group of evil witches. The fairies think the simulation looks real. The second option is to use magic to heal a damaged environment. Flora notes that's her strong point. Naturally she'll do that one, right? Stella thinks this'll be easy for her. Bloom sarcastically states modesty is Stella's best trait. Stella says it's second to her beauty. Modesty is probably down in the 30's for her. The tests will start tomorrow, and it'll be something they remember for a long time. The audience probably won't though.
Bloom is walking with Brandon and Lady near Red Fountain. Brandon tells Bloom that he rode a dragon for the first time today. He was thrown off a few times, but he did it in the end. Bloom is impressed. That would've been nice to see. Bloom tells him about the simulation test that is going to be her midterm. She's going for the fix the damaged environment route. Bloom is worried, and Brandon sympathizes with her. It does seem odd that they're doing a completely new situation for their midterm, but fairies have to be adaptable. Brandon is sure she'll do well. They're totally dating. Riven was spying in on them and telepathically contacts Darcy to give her information.
After the lights go out at Alfea, Darcy teleports into the simulation room. She notes that the computer is powerful, but it's not as powerful as her. She spells the computer, causing an error. She declares that Bloom's going to need luck on tomorrow's test. Aw that's nice of her, wishing her enemy good luck.
In the morning, Bloom is finishing up her last studies and gathering up supplies. Kiko sneaks into Bloom's bag. At the simulation room Palladium announces they will be going one at a time. Faragonda is watching them through the mirror in her office and says that she loves watching these tests. Flora and Musa are nervous about going first. Stella says she thinks it's better to go first to get it off her mind. She's right about that. Pity she can't follow her own advice. Bloom agrees with Stella.
Palladium asks for a volunteer. Musa tells Stella she wanted to go first, but Stella's already changed her mind. Palladium isn't surprised by the lack of volunteers and selects Bloom, who chooses to fix a damaged environment. Flora approves. When asked for an environment, Bloom chooses a desolate environment. Palladium selects Domino, the saddest place in the Magical Dimension. Bloom says she's never heard of it. Hold on a second, Bloom learned about Domino when she researched the Great Dragon in episode 6. She has terrible memory.
Bloom is allowed to bring in her bag with ingredients and potions. The test will last 30 minutes, and Palladium will be controlling everything. So in theory that means he could just screw with her easily. Musa, Flora, and Stella give Bloom some standard encouragement. Tecna tells her to figure it out. Stella doesn't get that kind of encouragement. Tecna thinks it's the most logical kind. Tecna's got a point there. Bloom thanks them and heads in.
The simulation starts up as Domino appears. The environment is pretty much completely dead, and Bloom finds it freezing. Foreshadowing. Faragonda is shocked at seeing Domino. I'm amazed she can tell one desolate place from another. Bloom looks around in her bag and finds Kiko in it. Bloom tells him to be a good bunny and ignores him. This is the midterm. She should be more careful about this stuff. She's lucky that Kiko didn't destroy her supplies. I wonder, does Palladium count Kiko as a tool? Kiko hops off. Bloom spreads some seeds on the ground. She buries them and uses magic to make them grow. A small plant starts to grow. Kiko approves.
Suddenly the Trix teleport in. Bloom seems more annoyed then anything and asks why they're here. Naturally an unexpected witch attack would be cause for the test to shut down.. or not. Darcy tells Bloom to not ask stupid questions and defend herself. She then slowly blasts Bloom, who dodges. Bloom transforms and thinks the Trix are just holograms. What does a Trix attack have to do with fixing a damaged environment? Or does she think that people that fix the environment are frequently attacked just because?
Bloom doesn't hesitate to attack the Trix even if they're just holograms. She shoots Darcy down. Kiko is proud of her. Icy tells Darcy to get up. It's then revealed that the Trix are in their room using dolls to send projections of themselves into the simulation room. Faragonda thinks Palladium has chosen a difficult test for Bloom, though she'll get high marks if she completes it. I guess random witch attacks are part of fairy tests after all.
The Trix think Bloom is doing well. Icy asks Stormy if she's getting a clear picture. Stormy isn't certain yet. She thinks Bloom is consciously suppressing her power. Darcy thinks that means Bloom can do better. They decide to make Bloom lose her temper and drive her crazy. It worked last time, so it should work again.
The other Winx are surprised at what's going on. Kiko is scared. Bloom is on the ground. Stormy almost blasts her with lightning, but Bloom barely dodges out of the way. Stormy taunts Bloom and dodges her attacks. Icy starts to freeze Bloom from behind and sends her crashing to the ground. Icy gives Stormy permission to do what she wants. As Stormy prepares, tremors in the ground start appearing, with lava underneath the surface. Bloom breaks the ice and avoids falling into the lava.
Bloom is pissed, but before she can do anything Icy points out the bunny is in danger of falling into the lava. Bloom tells Kiko to hold on, but Icy sends Kiko flying down. Bloom tries and fails to catch Kiko, leading to a Big "NO!". Looks like Kiko is dead. Maybe the Trix get to have roasted rabbit for dinner tonight. The Trix continue to taunt Bloom, asking her what she's going to do about it. Bloom starts flying up and is glowing. She's also on fire, like a bomb. Bloom explodes for the second time. The attack destroys the Trix projections and melts the dolls, but the Trix just laugh happily. Icy is excited that they've found what they were looking for.
Palladium is working at the computer, to apparently minimal effect. So much for him having full control of the simulation. Tecna thinks the computer is crashing. Bloom has detransformed and is lying on the ground of the hologram, which is still up. Kiko walks over to her. Bloom sees him and reaches out, but her hand goes right through him. She hen sees holographic Kikos everywhere. It's kind of sad actually; she's so traumatized by the loss of her pet that she's hallucinating him everywhere.
Bloom can also hear Kiko snoring. Kiko wakes up and hops into Bloom's arms. She's relieved to see him okay, having thought him dead, though she doesn't say the d-word. Of course he's okay, the whole thing was a hologram. Palladium decides to cast a restoration spell to get Bloom out of it. The simulation finally shuts down. Palladium is initially confused about something, but everyone is then relieved to see Bloom alright.
Flora and Stella go in to tell her that she's crashed the computer. Palladium confirms that the simulator is totally gone. Bloom assures him that she's fine. Since the room is torn up, Palladium has to delay the exams until the room is fixed. I'd assume that Bloom would be given a failing grade both for destroying school property and not actually getting anywhere in her assignment. All the fairies are excited for the delay and throw her into the air. Stella asks if Bloom can get the history exam delayed as well. Bloom jokes that she can try. Faragonda watches the commotion, suspicious about something. End of episode.
This was somewhat of a more relaxing episode, despite the intensity at the end. The main thing was the Trix confirming that Bloom has what they want. The simulation arc starts here, which will last a couple episodes. Bloom continues to be a fairy bomb. She also bonds with Brandon a bit more.
Bloom was the focus this episode. She was nervous about the big test, but she was confident enough to make sure she was prepared. She's still confiding with Brandon, even if she doesn't want to admit they're dating. Her anger issues pop up again, though once again it's because someone dear to her is threatened.
The other Winx are mostly sidelined this episode. Stella doesn't seem to be too confident about the test despite her behavior. With light magic helping an environment seems more natural for her. Flora is nervous as always. With her nature powers you would think she's going to choose the environment test. Musa didn't do anything. Either test makes sense for her. Tecna sadly didn't get to do anything with the magic-technology hybrid, though she does like it. Since technology usually isn't associated with environmental action, counteracting the spell of a witch makes more sense for her.
Brandon is supportive of Bloom like he always is. He's going through his own tests, and he seems to be doing well in them. Riven's roles for the Trix is revealed. He's a spy who has no problem with making life hard for Bloom if it makes Darcy happy.
The Trix were both daring and cautious this episode. It's daring to attack Bloom in front of everyone, as that's in the middle of fairy territory. On the other hand, they want to be certain of their target before committing to anything. Stormy in particular doesn't want to rush anything. Icy knows how to get Bloom angry, just burn the bunny.
Palladium is either terrible at administering tests, or Alfea has some odd standards of what is an acceptable distraction. That and he seemed to have completely lost control of the computer he was running, so it wasn't his best day. Faragonda seems to have some history with the planet Domino.
It's a decent episode overall that advances Bloom's studies. It's nice to see them actually doing school work since the current premise if fairies going to magic school. The Trix know what to do, so soon they should be attacking Bloom again. The other Winx still need to take the exam, so hopefully they prepare for it properly and do well.
Comments
