Fate: The Winx Saga season 1, episode 3 recap – “Heavy Mortal Hopes”

This recap of Netflix’s Fate: The Winx Saga season 1, episode 3, “Heavy Mortal Hopes” contains significant spoilers.

Now that we have established that Bloom has a connection with the Burned Ones, the series is ramping the story up, introducing more facets to her and the other characters; peeling away one secret at a time. Fate: The Winx Saga season 1, episode 3 begins with Bloom’s eyes rolled back, and they are completely white. She remembers being born, and a woman says to her, “When the time comes, find me”. Her eyes revert to normal, and she tells Aisha that she believes she’s had a vision of the fairy who took her from the Otherworld.

Bloom feels the memory was embedded in her head by this woman, presumably her mother; Aisha tells Bloom not to get her hopes up in finding this fairy. It’s strange early on how Aisha is downbeat about Bloom finding her mother; she’s consistently bringing Bloom down for the rest of the episode, suggesting to the audience at this stage that she may know something. At the midway point, we have a basis for a story that is engaging.

Sky is genuinely worried about Silva

Despite nearly being killed in the last episode, Silva returns to train the fairies to fight. He’s noticeably hobbling, and Riven asks Sky if Saul looks okay. Stella believes that Saul looks fine and tells Sky to stop worrying. When Stella walks away, Riven is confused as to why Sky has let Stella back into his life. But one of the themes in “Heavy Mortal Hopes” is Sky’s worries for Silva, and how Stella struggles to be there for him during a difficult time.

Dowling continues to show first years how to control their powers

“Heavy Mortal Hopes” does not sway away from the school classes despite a lot going on. In class, Bloom is asked if she can light a single kindle and leave the others untouched. Bloom pulls it off, and she seems to be improving with her powers. Alfea school continuously raises the importance of control, but it feels like Dowling is preparing them for something. Aisha gets her latest power control wrong in class which shocks Bloom.

Silva is not coping as much as he shows

Sky checks up on Silva and realizes that he isn’t coping well with the medication. Silva gives him an update on the mission; they are close to killing the Burned One. However, they need to kill it soon as the infection is growing inside Silva — if it reaches his heart, he will die. Sky is understandably emotional; he sees Silva like a father.

Terra wants to look cool

Before a Senior Party, Terra is freaking out and asks Bloom and Aisha to help with her make-up. She wants to look cool and fun. There’s a feeling of unity with the women now since they went into the forest to find the Burned One. Meanwhile, Sky tells Stella that he isn’t drinking — he’s too busy thinking about Silva.

Progress update by Marco, the fairy tracking down the Burned One with the squad

Silva and Dowling radio to Marco and his battalion for an update on the Burned One. Silva looks pale and near-death. Dowling is impatient, knowing she’s putting mission success down to their graduates.

Bloom hangs out with Sky at the party

It seems that Bloom and Sky are magnetized together; it feels like they are fated to be together. Terra brings weed brownies to the party and tries impressing Dane. He takes one and then looks for his friends. Bloom speaks to Sky about Silva; she clearly cares for him and listens to him. Sky opens up and explains how Silva raised him. After revealing his feelings for Silva, he asks Bloom to play beer pong with him. He finally loosens up and drinks. Aisha uses her magic at beer pong and soaks one of the players, and Bloom finds it hilarious. Aisha, on the other hand, is not happy — she still cannot control her powers.

The story about Ricki

“Heavy Mortal Hopes” then brings a potentially disturbing story that may delay the Sky/Bloom love storyline. After the beer pong, Riven has a loose tongue and brings up to Bloom what happened to Stella’s last roommate Ricki. Ricki was Stella’s best mate until she started flirting with Sky — Stella blinded Ricki on purpose. Sky’s face says it all — it’s potentially true. Bloom is a little spooked by the story and tries to find Aisha — she ends up in a side room and looks at a photo frame and is shocked.

Musa is sneaking around with Sam because of Terra

Musa tells Sam that they need to sneak around because Terra has many thoughts — with Sam being the brother of Terra, this is a tough spot for Musa, who has genuine feelings for the boy. When they kiss, Sam quickly disappears, and Terra shows up. Terra asks about Dane and wonders if it could be a “thing”. Musa tells Terra that when they are together, he seems comfortable so it could mean something. Meanwhile, Riven tells Dane that Terra wants him, but then changes the conversation and asks about his shirt size. Despite Terra’s interest, there’s no suggestion of a spark there between her and Dane.

Sky talks to Stella about her purposefully blinding her best friend. He’s drunk, and they argue about the truth to the story. Suddenly, Sky gets a text; the Burned One is dead.

Bloom is closer to the truth which annoys Beatrix

Bloom takes photos of the frames and asks Beatrix if she knows the person in the photo. She then goes outside and tells Aisha that the woman in the photo is from her vision. She wants to see Dowling in the middle of the night. Aisha is frustrated and tells Bloom she’s leaving the party. Meanwhile, Beatrix tells Dowling’s assistant Calum that they need to go underground immediately because Bloom is asking about Rosalind. She uses her magic to throw Calum into the trap on the door and heads down herself, leaving Calum injured. This is an insight into Beatrix as a character; she’s becoming more villainous which each chapter that passes.

Silvia is still sick

Silva tells Sky that he’s still sick; the battalion must have killed another Burned One, which means there is more than one. Sky is annoyed that Silva is giving up. Meanwhile, Dowling is worried that there’s more than one Burned One. Bloom approaches Dowling and shows the photo of the woman from the frames. Dowling confirms she’s called Rosalind.

Who is Rosalind?

Dowling tells Bloom that she was Rosalind’s student, and then her protégé, but that she doesn’t know the circumstances of Bloom’s birth. Dowling continues defending Rosalind, claiming she was headmistress during a difficult period of Alfea. Bloom demands that she wants to see her, but Dowling tells her that Rosalind is dead and “this is where it ends”. It’s blatantly obvious that Dowling is lying.

An enraged Bloom heads to the stones

Bloom cannot accept that as an answer and drunkenly heads out to the stones and sets them alight with her fire; she’s filled with rage, but then it turns into tears, and the fire stops as she sobs uncontrollably. Sky finds her and Bloom tells him that she’s a Changeling; she’s fragile, believing that all she wants is answers. Bloom notices that Sky is wearing armor — he’s after the Burned One on his own.

Bloom hears the same mystic whispers and sends for help

Like she did in the previous episode, Bloom hears mystic whispers that led her to the Burned One. She knows where it is, and Sky immediately sprints. Bloom chases after him. Back at the party, Stella asks Riven where Sky is, and he hints that he’s with Bloom. She gets a text from Bloom about the Burned One near the stone circle and how it’s an emergency. Musa gets the same message. Meanwhile, Beatrix finds a barrier underground, and when she touches it, it shocks her.

Defeating the Burned One

Like the previous chapter, Fate: The Winx Saga season 1, episode 3 sees another confrontation with a Burned One. It attacks Bloom and Sky. The others arrive, and Stella shocks the creature with light; the others use their powers, and then Sky stabs it. Dowling arrives and finishes it off. As for Beatrix, she updates Calum and tells him that Dowling has put up another barrier. She uses her powers to deteriorate Calum into millions of pieces.

Silva is saved

Sky meets Silva, who has recovered from the infection, and the pair hug. Dowling has to pretend that she’s annoyed at Bloom and the others but deep down, she’s happy that they saved Silva’s life. Stella apologizes to Sky for being awful to him; she doesn’t like seeing him vulnerable. Sky backs off, but Stella tells him he’s the only person that knows the real her and that she’s the heir of Solorian; she asks him to be her safety net. Sky asks the right question: “What about my safety net?”.

The ending

As Terra gets into bed, she looks on social media and sees Riven asking Dane about his “weird-arse fat girl”. Dane starts ripping into her as Beatrix records the video. Terra sobs. It’s a painful video for her after spending most of the effort trying to impress him.

Bloom tells Aisha about her night, but Aisha tells her to stop. She raises how there may not be a conspiracy, and how Bloom could have been the daughter of a scared student who got pregnant and didn’t know what to do; she raises how many fairies would kill to have magic like Bloom and that she should start being realistic. Bloom gets upset and says being realistic means her mother didn’t want her. She wants to believe there’s something more.

As the episode ends, Dowling tells Silva and the others that Bloom knows about Rosalind but that the young fairy can be the most powerful fairy ever to live, so she told her that her mother is dead. She doesn’t want Rosalind and Bloom to meet. The end scene brings a cliffhanger; Rosalind is under the school behind the barrier, trapped. That’s where Beatrix is trying to get to.

Plenty of events happen in Fate: The Winx Saga season 1, episode 3. Perhaps too many, but there’s now a solid base for the story, with secrets slowly seeping away and Bloom becoming accustomed to her new world. Unfortunately, the story is rushing through many answers, but there is at least some emotional engagement and objectives for the lead character.