Aquarius adaptability and transformative nature…?

So when I first learned that I was an Aquarius the main thing that would come up other than the no brainers was this theme of an Aquarius’ ability to change. The gist is that if you meet an Aquarius in the beginning of the year you will meet a completely different person by the end of that year if you were to compare.

I have to say I have experienced this myself my entire life but now that I now much more about astrology I am wondering how this works. Because we are a fixed sign ruled by Saturn that can be pretty stubborn. I can see how fixed fire is easily transformative maybe.

Could it be because air/wind is ever changing and flowing? Also, I used to hear a lot about the “dark side of an Aquarius” that was basically pointing to a duality very similar to Gemini except much more stable, rigid, and harder to access.

Thanks