Farah Dowling is a main character from Fate: The Winx Saga. She is portrayed by Eve Best.
Ms. Dowling was the headmistress of Alfea.[1] She is a Mind fairy.[2]
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Not much is known about Farah's life prior to her time at Alfea. She attended the school along with Saul Silva and Ben Harvey, and likely Andreas as well. She was likely a student of Rosalind, who served as headmistress of Alfea while they were in school. At some point, she became Rosalind's protege. She was part of the team that hunted the Burned Ones that was led by Rosalind.
Throughout the Series[]
Season 1[]
To the Waters and the Wild[]
Farah is introduced as the Headmistress at Alfea who discovered Bloom back in the first world, and revealed to first year student, she is a fairy. While Dowling talks with Bloom on her first day, she tells Bloom to take things slowly as magic can be dangerous. She further explains that the curriculum at Alfea is designed with that thought in mind. She then asks Bloom to trust the process, and explains that Alfea’s graduates have gone on to rule realms and led armies. While others have forged powerful relics and rediscovered long lost magic. Later, when Bloom jokes with Farah that she was a bit disappointed to not have seen a single pair of fairy wings. Dowling explains that fairies had wings in the past, but that as they evolved, that kind of transformation magic has been lost.
After Riven found the remains of a charred person in the woods outside the barrier,Farah, along with Ben Harvey and Saul Silva take a closer look of the dead body. Dowling suggests it could have been a wolf. Whereas Silva suggests it could have alternatively been a bear, who could have gone out to protect his herd and got surprised, which led to the attack. Ben, however, tells the other two teachers that he found char residue on the body. Silva then asks how long it had been since the last sighting of a Burned one. Ben explains that it has been about two decades, with Dowling emphasizing it was sixteen years to be exact since Rosalind was relentless. The trio realize that perhaps their former mentor did not get rid of all the Burned Ones, seen as how one is on the loose near the school.
Later, she comes to Bloom's rescue who traveled home without permission using Stella's Gateway Ring and was attacked by a Burned One that followed her all the way to California. After capturing the creature, she confides in Saul that she left the Burned One that attacked Bloom chained up in a barn outside the Barrier. Silva tells her that she should have killed it. But Dowling counters that train of thought by saying she couldn’t just leave it in the human world. Silva then asks if the Burned one broke her skin, but Dowling replies that she is not infected. But she did get Ben to make up some oil from the Zanbaq flowers in the greenhouse. She reveals that she had dozed it and it won’t be unconscious for hours. Silva is about to chastise Dowling, but she argues that she needs to keep it alive in order to get inside its head. She needs to know if this was an isolated incident or something more. When pressed for more information, she acquiesces and tells Silva that she found a changeling in the First World and thinks it’s all connected. Silva mentions how she hadn’t heard of a changeling occurrence in centuries, but Dowling explains how it doesn’t feel like it’s coincidence that one appears sixteen years after the last Burned One was spotted. She admits to struggling and feeling stressed because of just how much knowledge Rosalind kept from them. She’s worried about the students because the Alfea they know is very different from the one she and Silva attended. That these kids have so much life to experience but that even if this world were safe, what they’re going through can feel impossible. She admits that she doesn’t know how long they will be able to protect them from it. There’s been a shift, and Dowling states that the kids have had order for so long, they don’t know what chaos feels like.
No Strangers Here[]
Saul and Dowling discuss the Burned Ones as they leave The Barrier. Dowling talks about their other excursion relating to the fearsome creatures and mentions The Black Woods Massacre. Saul proudly boasts that he has killed 13 Burned Ones in his lifetime, even if he had some help with that. He praises Farah for being able to take a Burn One out all these years later all on her own. Farah though, doesn’t see it that way, and says that she just got lucky because the creature didn’t see her coming. They enter the barn where Dowling was keeping the Burned One that had been chasing after Bloom in the First World. Dowling doesn’t waste any time as she enters the creature’s mind to see if it’s a lone wolf or if there’s a group of them.
Later, Dowling brings the first-year pupils to the stone circle and gives them an introductory lesson on magic and nature. The Headmistress explains that down the line, the fairies may learn to connect with other elements, but that their first year is all about honing the element they were born with. Each fairy then proceeds to test out their magic as she observes. But when it is Bloom’s turn, Dowling tells her to push past her doubts. There’s anxiety etched over Bloom’s face and everyone gossips around her; Bloom is unable to produce her powers and just when it seems as if the pressure is getting to her, Dowling lets her stop and moves onto the next less. After class, Dowling tells Bloom that in order to do well, she needs to find a clear mind. Bloom asks the headmistress if she’s a changeling. Dowling is shocked that she knows and admits that she doesn’t know who her birth parents are. But her advice to the young student would be to learn and grow, and that the answers will come when the time is right.
Saul tells Dowling that there is only one Burned One for now and they should use the Queen’s army to safely transport it away. She is later informed by Beatrix that Saul was injured.
Heavy Mortal Hopes[]
Dowling continues to show the first years how to control their powers. In class, Bloom is asked if she can light a single kindle and leave the others untouched. Bloom pulls it off, and it seems like she is improving with her powers. Later, there is a progress update from Marco, the fairy tracking down the Burned One with his squad. Dowling grows more and more impatient, knowing she’s putting mission success down to their graduates.
Later, she goes on to tell 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 to see her, but Dowling tells her that isn’t possible because Rosalind is dead and that unfortunately “this is where it ends”.
Once again, she comes to Bloom's rescue who in spite of Sky's help couldn't take down a Burned One on her own.The teens initially think they have killed the creature, but it ends up being Dowling who finished the job. While she pretends that she’s annoyed at Bloom and the others, Musa uses her mind fairy powers to find out that deep down, she’s happy that they saved Silva’s life.
Later that night, Dowling tells Silva that Bloom knows about Rosalind but that the two women can never meet. Dowling then brings up how Bloom appears to be the most powerful fairy ever to live.
Some Wrecked Angel[]
Callum is confirmed to be dead and this prompts Ben, Silva and Dowling to investigate it. There are suspicions that someone tried to get into Dowling’s secret underground. Which leads the trio to conclude that there’s a murderer inside the school. Luna, the Queen of Solaria, comes to Alfea, where she gives a speech at the school assembly. While she does, Dowling tries to find more traces to learn who murdered Callum. Musa however senses Dowling’s anxiety.
Later, Queen Luna speaks with Dowling to check on Stella's progress and asks how the process of fixing her is going. Dowling insists that when Stella is ready, they will move to stronger magic. Elsewhere, Bloom’s friends realize that Dowling and the other teachers were trying to find Callum's killer in the assembly.
Terra, Aisha and Musa eventually approach Dowling and reveal they know about Callum and that they are looking for the killer too. They tell the headmistress that Bloom and Beatrix are currently missing. Silva then eventually enters the room and alerts the headmistress that an SUV from the Solarian security detail has driven off.
In Aster Dell, Beatrix shows Blooms the devastion that Farah along with Ben and Silva caused,Unfortunately for the girls, on their way back the car Beatrix stile is attacked, and Dowling uses this opportunity to arrests Beatrix with special bracelets.
Back in Alfea once again, Bloom tells Dowling that how she’s treating Beatrix is barbaric by limiting her magic with bracelets that visibly cause the air fairy pain. She tells the headmistress that it was only a joyride, and that was all. But Dowling doesn’t believe her and when Bloom walks off, she rings Bloom’s mother and raises “concerns” about Bloom’s behavior as of late. She tells her that if Bloom mentions anything out of the ordinary, to let her know immediately in order to help Bloom.
Wither into the Truth[]
Initially, Beatrix is screaming repeatedly as Dowling appears to be tormenting her using her mind fairy abilities. She wants to know what Beatrix knows, and then reveals that all the screaming is part of Beatrix’s act. Immediately after Dowling says that, Beatrix calms down.
Dowling later mentions how ever since the Queen left with her daughter, they’ve been abandoned. It’s not a coincidence that the Solarian troops have been withdrawn as well.
Eventually, Bloom tells Dowling that she wants to see Rosalind and that she knows she’s from Aster Dell. Dowling is shocked to find out about this. Bloom subsequently revealsto her how she knows they murdered innocent people and have been covering up this atrocious act ever since. Dowling says that she made a mistake that day and that Rosalind was her mentor, but she was feared and respected. She explains that the magic they unleashed that day was potent. Until then, fairies didn’t know they could combine magic and Rosalind kept it a secret until that fateful day. Dowling further says that prior to this event, they never questioned her. Rosalind told Dowling and the others that only the Burned Ones would be hurt from the blast, but it wasn’t true, and it was quite a tragedy.
Dowling then admits that if Bloom is from Aster Dell, she’s caused her damage and there will never be enough apologies. Bloom still wants to see Rosalind. But Dowling tells Bloom that Rosalind is not worth bringing back into the world and that she promises to give her answers in due time.
A Fanatic Heart[]
She is informed by Aisha that Bloom and her friends would be attempting to break into her office to free Rosalind. Bloom manages to suceed, and Farah is furious with the girls. Especially after seeing that both Bloom and Rosalind are no where to be seen.
Elsewhere, Bloom begins to learn who Rosalind really is while Dowling looks for the two women near the stone circle. Meanwhile, Bloom asks Rosalind about Aster Dell. Rosalind confirms that Dowling’s account of what happened is true.
Dowling eventually is forced to prepared the students for battle and with the help of some of the fire fairies, secures every entrance to the school. She subsequently announces that the Burned Ones have infiltrated The Barrier. She mentions that while Solarian troops are on their way, they likely won’t arrive in time to help them out. Thus, Dowling prepares them for the harsh reality that they may need to defend themselves. She tells them to be brave in a rousing speech.
Eventually, Bloom makes her way back inside Alfea and tells Dowling that Aster Dell was full of Blood Witches and that her parents were not there. Dowling becomes agitated and tells Bloom that she’s being manipulated, and questions where Rosalind is. She learns from the fire fairy that Rosalind was at the stone circle. Dowling reveals that this is the school’s main source of power which is used for things like the electricity inside the school, to power the barrier. In that moment, both women realize Rosalind is the reason they are fighting for their lives; the former headmistress sucking out all the power.
Later, Dowling tells Silva that Bloom transformed. which means she unlocked ancient fairy magic that they didn’t believe still existed. She reveals that Rosalind told Bloom that the people at Aster Dell were Blood Witches. Silva feels this is a revelation, and everything he did was for nothing.
The next day, Dowling catches up with Bloom after the dust settles. Bloom admits she’s been a brat and that she hasn’t been grateful. Dowling instantly forgives her. Bloom asks if they can hug, but as they do, there’s a slight concern on Dowling’s face, and then she gets slightly emotional before letting go. Dowling admits she should have been more honest.
Sometime after the Burned Ones have been defeated, Rosalind finds Dowling out in the woods. Dowling has buried the Burned Ones who turned back into humans after Bloom killed them. Rosalind then tells Dowling that the Burned Ones are soldiers from an ancient war, and the legend is about the magic used against them — it created them; she calls it the Dragon Flame, and that it burns inside Bloom. Dowling now understands why Bloom was able to transform so easily.
The former headmistress reveals that Queen Luna no longer believes in Dowling’s teaching methods. While she initially had planned to threaten to expose the Queen regarding the cover-up at Aster Dell, Rosalind instead learned that Luna had been mad at Dowling for a while due to her daughter not improving like she wanted. Luna has thus agreed that the school needs to undergo changes and Rosalind believes the faculty will fall in line when she walks through the doors. Rosalind asks Dowling to take a sabbatical and when Dowling refuses to leave the school, Rosalind uses her powers to lift Dowling in the air and snaps her neck. The ground then buries Dowling as Rosalind walks off.
Season 2[]
Are You a Good Witch or a Bad Witch[]
Sebastian reveals Dowling's murder to Bloom and that Dowling is buried in the graveyard.
After returning to Alfea, Bloom confronts Rosalind in the graveyard and demands to know if she really killed Dowling there. Rosalind admits that it was "a little to your right," causing Bloom to turn on her completely. Rosalind starts to put Bloom into stasis so that she can channel the Dragon Flame from her. However, after Rosalind calls Dowling weak too, Bloom loses control of the Dragon Flame, breaks free and kills Rosalind.
Poor Unfortunate Souls[]
With Bloom put on trial for killing Rosalind, her friends attempt to use Dowling's murder as proof that Bloom was acting in self-defense. However, Flora and Terra are unable to locate her body, only recovering a mass of leaves and soil. Bloom eventually admits that there was a moment where she could've stopped before killing Rosalind, but she wanted her to pay for killing Dowling and the Dragon Flame gave her the means to do so.
After the mass starts draining energy from Flora's plants, she uses the Convergence Crystal to give it more power. Shortly thereafter, Dowling's spirit releases Bloom from stasis. Flora explains to Bloom that she realized that the mass, which is now a full plant, was absorbing every piece of life essence that it could. It was a Resurrection Plant which acts like nature's time capsules. After the plant was fed the last bit of the Dragon Flame from the Convergence Crystal, it opened up and released Dowling's spirit. Dowling explains that when she realized what Rosalind was about to do, she drew on as much magic as she could and called upon the natural world to preserve her. Dowling owed her students one last goodbye and while life is precious, so is death and both must be respected.
Dowling did not survive Rosalind's attack so she can't help them fight the battle ahead. However, she does have time for one last lesson on Magic Transformation. While Dowling was headmistress, she shielded everyone from the harsh truths of the world and she believed that positive emotions were the cornerstone of powerful magic while Rosalind believed the opposite, that strength was only forged in those harsh truths. However, Dowling now knows that they were both wrong: to unlock true magic, one must make peace with all of your emotions, "the reckless joy of the positive and the despair of the negative. There is beauty and power in both." Dowling expresses her pride in all of her students and in the women that they're becoming and asks Bloom to take a walk.
Sitting together overlooking the school, Bloom asks if Dowling is disappointed in her for losing control and killing somebody. Dowling states that taking a life is serious and Bloom will carry that burden forever, but nothing happens in a vacuum. After discovering what Rosalind had done at Aster Dell, Dowling was so angry that she wanted to kill her. If Dowling had the power that Bloom does things might have turned out very differently. Dowling admits that the world is a better place without Rosalind Hale which is an objective truth and what's done is done. However, it's not done for Bloom because she still has the Dragon Flame inside of her and the more that she learns about it the more that it scares her. While Dowling is sure that it does, Bloom has to use it one way or another, Bloom can't give up, she has to fight. Bloom wonders how she can do that without losing control and admits that she just wants somebody to tell her what to do. However, Dowling can't, nobody can and that's the hardest lesson of all. All that Dowling can tell Bloom is that she believes in her and that anything with the power to destroy can also protect. Bloom has the power to save the world and Bloom reveals that Rosalind had proclaimed it at the alumni banquet. The two briefly joke about Rosalind before Dowling amends the statement: "don't think about saving the world. Think about saving your world. The people you love, the people you care about. If you use your power for that... you can never go wrong."
As Aisha, Terra and Stella join them, Dowling and Bloom share one last hug before Dowling's spirit dissipates and floats away into the sky.
All the Wild Witches[]
Using Dowling's final lesson, Aisha, Terra and Stella are able to achieve Magic Transformation and use it to kill Sebastian alongside Bloom.
Personality[]
Farah comes off as a hardened woman due to her position as headmistress and her time under Rosalind. Though, she shows her softer side around her friends, Saul and Ben, often making jokes and reliving the old days. They share a common wariness of Rosalind and they all work to keep the Otherworld safe.
Appearance[]
Farah is a middle aged woman with greying brown hair, often pulled into a bun and occasionally quiffed. She has brown eyes which turned silver/grey when she used magic. She often wears a long coat over any outfit she wore, often pants and blouse. She has a tattoo on her index finger of a line circling above her knuckle and three dots closer to her fingertips.
Powers and Abilities[]
Basic Fairy Abilities[]
- Channeling: Like every fairy, Farah possesses the ability to channel her own emotions as a source of power to fuel her magic. She also has the ability to channel the Stone Circle.
- Eye-Color Shifting: Once Farah's powers are in use, her eyes shift to a grey color.
Mind Fairy Abilities[]
- Memory Scanning: Farah utilized this ability upon one of the Burned Ones to visualize their previous encounters. She attempted to use this ability on Beatrix, however, as Farah stated, her mental defenses were up.
Water Fairy Abilities[]
- Hydrokinesis: Farah uses this to levitate and separate water into smaller droplets while teaching Aisha.
Earth Fairy Abilities[]
- Resurrection Plant Creation: The ability to create a plant which will hold someone's essence in itself and allow it to absorb the magic around it so that they can return temporarily. Farah managed to save her life essence in this plant right before Rosalind killed her.
Air Fairy Abilities[]
- Sound Manipulation: Farah is also shown to be able to amplify the sounds of an area. She amplified the sounds of the forest in order to locate one of the Burned Ones.
- Temperature Manipulation: The ability to manipulate temperature through the air.
- Cryokinesis: The ability to manipulate cold.
- Cryo-Inducement Veil: In Farah's study at Alfea, she has a veil to protect the staircase behind her bookcase. In order to enter this veil without permission, you must trigger the trap. Beatrix uses her ability to shove Callum into the veil to trigger the defense, leaving him in a frozen state. Later, Beatrix herself triggers the trap, pushed in.
- Cryokinesis: The ability to manipulate cold.
Fire Fairy Abilities[]
- Incineration: Used to kill a burned one by scorching it from the inside. Demonstrated this ability in Heavy Mortal Hopes
Other Fairy Abilities[]
- Stasis Veil Manipulation: Farah is capable of creating a Stasis Veil as a prison. She has used it to restrain Rosalind and was shown capable of releasing Bloom while after being induced under Queen Luna's command.
- Convergence Magic: Farah combined her magic with Rosalind and Ben to set a lightning strike upon a thought-to-be-evacuated Aster Dell.
- Electrokinesis: Farah is never shown directly using this ability, but by combining this ability of hers with Rosalind, they strike a lightning bolt down onto Aster Dell.
- Telekinesis: Farah possesses the ability to move things with her mind. She has demonstrated this power multiple times. She is skilled enough to use it for various feats, from closing doors to fighting Burned Ones.
Relationships[]
Saul Silva[]
Saul Silva is Farah's closest friend, colleague, and confidant. Having both trained under Rosalind in their youth, the two developed a close affinity for one another that lasted far into their adulthood. Silva was present at Aster Dell, and attempted to prevent Farah from helping Rosalind in destroying the city, but failed; the consequence of which was a strong divide between the two, as Farah blamed herself for Andreas' death and Silva's subsequent guilt.[3] By the time of the events depicted in the show, however, it seems the two have repaired their bond as they are near inseparable, with Silva often chastising Farah for her reckless behaviour.
Benjamin Harvey[]
Similarly to Silva, Harvey fought alongside Farah under Rosalind's guidance during the battle against the burned ones in their youth. By the time of the events depicted in the show, they have an established friendship built upon mutual trust and understanding. When Silva was attacked by burned ones, Harvey was the first to reassure her and, later, seemed to be consistently prepared to offer a calm perspective on any given crises. Though their friendship is not so visibly overaching as that of her and Silva's, it is clear that the two care for one another in both a professional and personal capacity.
Rosalind Hale[]
As her ex-leader, Rosalind's relationship with Farah is noticably mercurial and tense. While, in initial flashbacks, Farah appears to have held a strong sense of respect toward her mentor, Rosalind's betrayal and the subsequent destruction of Aster Dell irrevocably damaged her opinion of her. Though the precise events are not clarified, it can be inferred that Farah, alongside Silva and Harvey, imprisoned her past mentor in stasis as a result. Throughout the events of season one, Bloom's consistent questioning about Rosalind and her actions makes Farah noticably uncomfortable. It is likely that this is due to Farah's apparant desire to hide and forget the darkest aspects of her past, altogether. However, by the finale of season one, Rosalind has escaped stasis and her true motive to overthrow Farah as Headmistress of Alfea is brought to light. This results in a final dramatic confrontation between Farah and Rosalind which results in the prior's death.
Appearances[]
Season One[]
- To the Waters and the Wild
- No Strangers Here
- Heavy Mortal Hopes
- Some Wrecked Angel
- Wither Into The Truth
- A Fanatic Heart
Comparison to Winx Club[]
Farah is an adaptation of Faragonda 
from Winx Club .
Similarities[]
- Both are powerful headmistresses, respected by the students.
- Both were formerly part of a military alliance fighting the Blood Witches.
- Fate Farah being imprisoned in a plant in Season 2 is very similar to how Winx Club Faragonda gets trapped in a tree in Infobox/Character
Changes[]
- Whereas Winx Club Faragonda has immense knowledge of ancient history and magic, and knew of Bloom's origins and the history of the Dragon Flame early on in Winx Club, Fate Farah is not as considerably knowledgeable and was oblivious to many things such as magical convergences, the existence of the Dragon Flame and the origin of the Burned Ones from Rosalind.
- Fate Farah is stoic and less open about her emotions and her affection towards her students, compared to Winx Club Faragonda.
Trivia[]
Promotional Images[]
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| Characters |
|---|
     Sky • Beatrix • Riven • Vanessa Peters • Headmaster Silva • Rosalind Hale • Headmistress Dowling • Dane • Professor Harvey • Sam • Mike Peters • Queen Luna • Andreas • Browse all |
References[]
- ↑ "Boys can be fairies - it's the 21st century": How Fate: The Winx Saga finds the reality in fantasy. The Guardian. December 10, 2020.
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CKeAXwEn1L_/
- ↑ Lighting the Fire (Fate: The Winx Saga) by Sarah Rees Brennan.