The Trix are sent off to the Light Rock fortress to be rehabilitated, and the Winx fairies are ready for their second year at Alfea. Though, this one won’t be much calmer than the last. A weak girl stumbles through the forest and passes out near Alfea, carrying a baby pixie. They immediately rush to help her. The girl is none other than Aisha (formerly known as “Layla”, everywhere outside of Italy).
Once Aisha gets better, she tells the girls what had happened. She tried to rescue the pixies who had been kidnapped by a mysterious dark being. Unfortunately, she couldn’t manage it alone. When she tells Faragonda about it, the headmistress helps form a group which will go to the creature’s underground layer to try the rescue mission again. It consists of Bloom, Aisha, Stella, Sky, and Brandon. With the help from a mysterious winged paladin the mission proves successful and the pixies are freed. Additionally, most of them bond with each of the Winx upon coming to Alfea.
The information that the group gained during the mission helps identify the creature as Lord Darkar, also known as the Shadow Phoenix. He is the antithesis of the Great Dragon who created the Magic Dimension, as well as the being who ordered the ancestral witches to attack Domino. At the start of the season, he breaks into Light Rock and helps the Trix escape by giving them new powers. Much like their ancestors, they are now doing his bidding.
After the mission to save the pixies, it is revealed that the paladin who helped during it, is a new professor at Alfea – Avalon. Every student immediately feels drawn to him. After Bloom has a dream about her biological family, she asks him for help with finding out more about them and he agrees. With the professor’s guidance, Bloom finds out the names of her biological parents: Oritel and Mariam. She also gains a music box with her family’s coat of arms.
Red Fountain hosts an opening ceremony for their new building. The Trix use the festivities as an opportunity to sneak into the school and steal an artifact for their new master. After the pixies fall victim to Darkar’s homesickness spell, the secret location of their village is almost uncovered. Once the Winx manage to prevent it from happening, Faragonda tells them what Darkar is looking for. An object known as “The Codex” has been divided into four quadrants, with Alfea, Cloud Tower, Red Fountain, and the Pixie Village each guarding one of them. Once untied by Darkar and Bloom, the pieces open a portal to the dimension of Relix. There lies the ultimate power that he wants for himself.
Despite the continuous efforts to keep the pieces of the Codex safe, Bloom gets hypnotised into stealing Alfea’s piece of the Codex for Darkar, and the Trix steal the one of Cloud Tower. After a fight with the pixies and princess Amentia, Icy gets the last piece from Pixie Village.
With all the pieces in Darkar’s claws, Faragonda sends the Winx on vacation to the Wildlands to relax and regain their strength. Since their destination has low magical energy, which makes the use of magic difficult, Faragonda also invites the specialist to help them if anything goes wrong. During the vacation, the girls grow as people, and so do the bonds between them. Each of them overcomes a personal weakness, and by doing so, earns their Charmix in the RAI dub. It is a power upgrade to their Magic Winx transformation which grants them new powers and makes them stronger. In the 4kids dub, gaining Charmix requires the fairies to “get in touch with their true selves” to gain their Charmix.
After the vacation, the Winx fairies return to Alfea. A weak Avalon comes out of the woods and seeks headmistress Faragonda. It turns out that all this time, Darkar had him imprisoned in his castle, and the professor who has been posing as him is actually one of Darkar’s minions. Before anyone can react, the clone abducts Bloom and takes her to his master. Darkar then casts a spell on her and turns her into Dark Bloom.
The rest of the Winx Club arrives at the castle, along with the Specialists. Before they can reach Bloom and Darkar, they open the portal to the dimension of Relix, where he wastes no time and makes Bloom start the ritual to summon the ultimate power for him. In order to have all of it for himself, he betrays the Trix and sends them to the void.
Once everyone gets to the Relix dimension, Bloom is nearly done with the ritual. The Winx and Specialists face Darkar. Even the Trix come to get their revenge on him. Yet, no one is able to stop him. Dark Bloom summons the ultimate power and Darkar seems to win. Her boyfriend, Prince Sky, tries one last thing. He comes up to Dark Bloom and openly expresses his deepest feelings for her and pleads with her to fight the darkness. Where magic failed, love is successful. Bloom wakes up from the trance and Darkar gets defeated once and for all.
Magical Memories Zine 