The Right Man for Aisha

Nabu

I think I'll forever be the only person not attracted to Nabu.

Let's get this out of the way: Nabu is dead. It ain't a coma. And it wasn't a retcon. Rainbow didn't think their younger audience could handle death (fuck you, Rainbow, my favorite shows have always been the ones they aren't afraid to kill their characters off).

Nabu was the last love interest to be introduced in the og run, first as Aisha's stalker. They officially met in season three, episode eighteen, Valtor's Box/Day at the Museum/The Museum of Magic. Stella reveals him to be stalking Aisha, and she runs away after yelling at him.

Here's where people mix up the facts: this was not a slow-burn relationship. Aisha and Nabu begin dating in episode twenty-three, The Wizard's Challenge/The Water Stars. That was only five episodes, most of which Aisha is pretty hostile to Nabu in. But they tell their parents they accept the arranged marriage anyway because they love each other.

I wanna know what happened to Aisha saying that she would choose her own guy.

I think the reason I dislike this couple is because of how much Aisha's story revolves around Nabu in season four. Her character goal is to marry him, but that isn't a character goal. She has nothing else to work towards for herself. Maybe the other girls don't this season, either, but at least they did before. Bloom wanted to know who her birth parents were, Musa needed to move past the loss of her mother, Tecna needed to experience emotion. Stella wanted her parents to get back together, but what she needed was to accept that they were divorced and would not be getting back together. Even Flora worked to become more assertive. Maybe not the most interesting, but it was something!

Some of you might say that Aisha's character goal was to break free of her parents and live her own life. But once she gets to Alfea, they don't really care. The only thing they try to push on her is her marriage to Nabu, which she eventually accepts. Even after both groups of parents decide that they don't have to get married, they get engaged less than a year later.

So, by the time Aisha transfers, she has nothing else to work towards. So that plus the fact that every Winx needs a boyfriend gave us Nabu.

I don't dislike Nabu. He's nice, he's a good friend to Riven, he's a good boyfriend. But...what else does he have going for him? I think Aisha really only fell for him because they were both sheltered and could relate and liked the same band. Seriously, the conversation that made her decide he wasn't so bad was about a band that they both enjoyed.

I don't think they killed Nabu off because he was the darkest member (although that is a pretty bad look). I think they did it because they didn't know what to do with him. He existed to shoehorn a love interest in for Aisha before the show ended. He wasn't even in Secret of the Lost Kingdom except for a few shots at the dance. He didn't have much of a personality, either. So, they killed him. It would've been him or Helia as the token love interests, but Helia has seniority.

Even after his death, they do nothing with Aisha mourning him. "Why did you let me die? You could've saved me, but you let me die." I'm sorry, who the Hell was season five written for?! Seriously, they have the illusions (season one's dreams), Aisha being aggressive towards Roy (Nabu), and they bring Daphne back in Bloom's conscious (season one's dreams). Since when can bloom and Daphne communicate telepathically again? Whatever, at least we got to hear Lizzie Giles voice her.

Roy

Kill it with fire.

So, because Aisha has no character goal, Rainbow gave her a new love interest: Roy. But if she and Nabu got together quickly, it seems she and Roy got together right away. They had no time to develop their (forced) chemistry.

People prefer him over Nex for two reasons: he's dark-skinned and he's a "nice guy". But most people before season six either wanted nothing to do with him because they were still mourning Nabu, or they were completely neutral to the idea of him being Aisha's boyfriend.

First off, what's wrong with an interracial couple? (I'm about to get on my soapbox, being in an interracial relationship.) Nobody complains that Helia isn't darker. Why's that? Because he's a good boyfriend. Or maybe it's because he's not White. I've noticed some racism recently in media fandoms that if someone is White, they should only be with a White person.

Roy is a "nice guy", sure, but he has even less personality than Nabu and it seems his personality doesn't seem consistent. Also, where was he during the earlier seasons? They had to shoehorn him in, so they made him a...servant? I'm not really sure. But it seems he's pretty high on the latter, yet he didn't seem to know the first thing about Aisha, assuming she would need to be escorted.

I have nothing else to say about Roy because he was a nothing love interest. Just there to be a love interest to Aisha.

Nex

I know I said I only saw part of season six, but...I like them? I've seen clips, read about them (Yin-Yang couple), and became obsessed. While I would write about why I like them as a couple, I think it would be better to compare and contrast them to another couple.

Musa x Riven

Riven 2.0

Don't mind the enneagrams here, I couldn't find another picture with them together.

But look at that. Different enneagrams. Okay, I know this is a pseudoscience, but I want to get into their MBTI types.

RIVEN: ISFP-T

Just because Riven is "angry", doesn't mean he's a thinker. But if you notice, he often acts before he thinks.

Introverted Sensing:
His dominant function is introverted feeling (as an INFP, I relate).  While I cover up what I feel with apathy, he does so with anger. Even when his best friend dies, he only cries in front of Musa, quickly wiping away his tears and looking at her solemnly. He's only said it once to himself, but he doesn't like who he is. He covers it up by acting cocky. He doesn't want others to know his weakness.

Extraverted Sensing:
Open to new experiences? Yeah, I guess. I mean, he was the only one willing to date a witch, even if it didn't work out. I don't really have a whole lotta examples for this, to be honest. But I don't see much of an intuition with him. The thing is, this is the main thing that separates him from an INFP, so I feel like I'm failing with examples here.

NEX: ESTP-A

Yes, I said A. He's cocky. He's a little too competitive. But he's not really a T guy.

Extraverted Sensenig:
He certainty does act in the moment. Seriously. Zero hesitation to jump off a ramp with Aisha because fuck it why not?

Introverted Thinking:
He deficiently expresses himself better than Riven (seriously, look at how he melts when Squank is with him). But he doesn't run on emotion. He quietly backs off when it seems Aisha is more interested in Roy than him. He only tells Aisha "Be safe" when she's about to go back into the Legendarium.

"That's easy, you don't."

Musa: ...It's the fact he didn't believe me when I said something was wrong. How can you stay with someone who doesn't fully trust you?
Aisha: That's easy, you don't.

People often use this scene to explain why Aisha should have never worked with Nex. But they miss the context that it is not because of how Riven acts, but because Musa believed he did not trust her (another instance where I think she overreacted).

But let's say that she was referring to Riven's behavior. Again, Nex isn't like Riven to the point he's a Riven 2.0. Aisha isn't being a hypocrite.

I will admit, Nex does have his flaws, as I've already mentioned. But he acknowledges them and actively tries to fix them. Even though Riven knows he has problems, he doesn't do much to change, leading to constantly breaking up with Musa.

Who Would She Choose?

Here's a fun little exercise I'd like to give myself: Would Aisha have ultimately ended up with Nex if Nabu was still alive? Let's think logically for a moment. Aisha seems to change when it comes to Nabu, becoming more openly affectionate and lovey-dovey, something not really carried over to Nex, even though there is no doubt that she loves him. I think of Nabu as more of a perfect first love: you fall for them, think you'll marry them, but it doesn't work out for one reason or another, in his case, death. Would any other circumstance drive them apart? I don't think so for awhile, but ultimately, I don't think Nabu can fulfill Aisha's needs the way Nex could. He loved her, clearly, but Aisha wanted to break away from her royal life. Not only is Nabu from a high-status family on Andros, but she was also arranged to marry him, something that did not fly with her at first, as you'll recall.

I'm going to use the Nickelodeon translation because it flows better.

Niobe: Aisha, I understand. But on Andros, we have a tradition. The parents always choose a partner for their children.
Aisha: I know, but I don't care about tradition. What I care about is love and when the time is right, I want to be able to make my own choice.
Niobe: Nabu is a wonderful young man, Aisha.
Aisha: And if I marry him, it'll be because I love him.

In the Rai dub she even says she's too young to think about marriage, which Nick vaguely touches upon. But then she decides to marry Nabu not even a year later? It just doesn't add up.

I think she'll always love Nabu, but in the long-run, I just don't see it working. Nabu also wanted the freedom to choose and get away from his family's expectations, so how would this benefit him, as well?

I don't see them working out and Aisha inevitably getting with someone like Nex (not Riven). Her not being as soft with him is in-character, even while still being a cute couple that both thrive on touch.

"These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which, as they kiss, consume. The sweet honey
Is loathsome in its own deliciousness
And in taste confounds the appetite.
Therefore, love moderately. Long love doth so.
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow "
- Friar Lawrence (Romeo and Juliet)

Well, yeah, I'd call Nabu's sacrifice a violent end. (I won't give up now...)

Conclusion