Embers to Inferno | Episode 23 (Patreon)

While working on Episode 23, I didn't even know yet I'd be doing multiple seasons, haha. As a lot of you already know, I started this WEBTOON with not much of a plan 😂 It sort of came naturally over time that, yes, there should be multiple seasons of this story!

So, after I started working on episode 24, it just made sense that the season was coming to an end. Episode 23 is sort of a part 1 to one big finale; we start with some much-needed additional lore to the Winx Universe before we move on to the suspenseful final episode of season 1.

A huge thank you to all my readers who let me use their OC design for this episode!! 🥹

I might be in need of more designs, so I'll probably do an official send-in of Winx OCs for future episodes! That way anyone can send in their OC to be displayed in ETI if they want to, and I can keep track of who all the OCs belong to 🙈 If you happen to see yours, let me know in the comments hehe 🥰

Spoilers ahead.

While watching Winx Club, something that always irked me was that Professor Avalon was just there in season 3. Of course he should still be allowed to work in Alfea, but I feel like some sort of conversation should have taken place? Why is he just there without any reference to what happened in season 2? Is everyone okay with it? Are there no angry parents?? They were quick enough to ask Bloom to be expelled 😅

This episode was made with keeping Bloom's experience with the fake Avalon in mind. It can't be easy to just look at someone who betrayed you and groomed you every day for an entire year, even if it isn't technically the same person. So it felt it was time for ETI to address it.

I also wanted to draw a clear line between the spy and the real Avalon. I wanted to show just how different these two really are. How much the real Avalon is disgusted by what happened and how much he cares about Bloom. In my script I even wrote that he secretly lets her pass his classes without her having to do anything, to try and make up for her having to be there in the first place. When he woke her up, it was not to be mad at her for sleeping in his class but to suggest she go back to her dorm. This is something that's not easy to write in a webtoon format, so I suppose some people would assume otherwise. But I hope his concerned expression and actions later on show he always has Bloom's best interest in mind.

It still wasn't easy to find a reason for Faragonda to seemingly not care at all about having Bloom be in his class 😂I know a lot of Blootor/Sparxshipping fics like to make Faragonda an evil mastermind, but personally I never thought that fit with her character. She always struck me as someone like Dumbledore from Harry Potter. Not evil, but making the wrong decisions for the right reason. Should Fargonda keep all these secrets from Bloom? No. But in her mind, telling Bloom would only make her worry, and this way, Faragonda thinks she can fix it all while keeping Bloom out of it. Let her be a normal girl as much as possible.

After Bloom was turned into a servant of Darkar, I also can't imagine some sort of higher power in the Magical Dimension wouldn't be worried about that. The Dragon Flame is the strongest power; the possibility of it being used against them should have made some political powers and kingdoms quite anxious. So Faragonda has been keeping the kidnapping a secret. Bloom stealing the codex was bad enough, so she thought it best to keep the rest silent.

This is also why Faragonda is so adamant about keeping Bloom away from Valtor and his influence. If the council were to find out about them, there would be no hesitation in taking measures against Bloom. If she were to turn against them with Valtor, it would be over for most of, if not the entire, Magical Dimension.

A part I did giggle at a little was with the dialogue "As long as she stays with Sky..." — cut to Bloom sleeping on Valtor's couch, bwahahah 😂 If only Faragonda knew how much her plan already backfired hahahaha. She pushed her right into Valtor's hands 👀

I am very sorry to leave you all hanging like this. I know you're all probably at the edge of your seats waiting for Valtor to enter the library 🙈 I promise the finale will be worth the wait!!!

In the meantime, I would love to hear all your thoughts about this episode and about the lore I added! I always love hearing you guys' theories 🥰