Dawn of the Dragon Riders
This was released as a short with the second movie, but takes place between the end of Defenders of Berk and Race to the Edge. The riders are catching sheep and then start discussing how Dragon Racing was started [which spoilers, opens the second film]. They all wear face paint and Astrid comments to Hiccup that “red is your color,” but is speaking more to Toothless [note how Hiccup wears a red tunic in Race to the Edge]. Snotlout’s sheep catapult apparently took 32 attempts to perfect and thus he argues that he created the sport.
What really happened is that Stoick had the teens help Silent Sven gather up his sheep, and as the other riders tend to do, they made a competition out of it. Stoick then has to go on business to Loki Island for wood for their fleet and leaves Hiccup as ‘acting chief,’ and with strict instructions to begin preparations for the annual regatta. Hiccup remarks how the regatta comprises of boats sailing slowly across the harbor, arguing that they could start a new, exciting tradition. Stoick holds to the regatta; their clan has been doing it for ages as a way to blow off steam instead of fighting each other.
Fishlegs is the only one really excited for the regatta. Meanwhile, Hiccup walks in on Tuffnut planning on catching more sheep. When he tries to put a stop to it, explaining that they need to work on the regatta, Snotlout, in all his brilliance, retorts “Who made you acting chief?” “Stoick.” “Well, who made Stoick chief?” and everyone gives him a look. Hiccup asks Astrid for back up, then has to face the village when they excitedly cheer on the riders chasing sheep; one even remarking “this is better than the regatta!” So, Hiccup allows one more race to settle everyone down, though he works on making teams and baskets, then figures they’ll all be ready for regatta work afterwards.
Snotlout crashes into Astrid and hurts her arm. Hiccup finally talks Fishlegs into joining him when they find out that Meatlug is seasick and sinks their boat. However, Stoick returns early. Seeing how excited the village is, he decides to switch to dragon racing and adds some more ideas, such as the face paint to give it a warrior feel. Astrid will be the referee and keeps an eye on the riders. It comes to a tie breaker, involving the black sheep. Fishlegs and Hiccup find one in the well, but Snotlout has returned with one. Tuffnut rubs his face on the sheep, revealing it was painted, so the results are overturn to crown Hiccup and Fishlegs as the winners.
So, Tuffnut argues he invented the game, well, definitely the cheating. Hiccup insists they all invented it to keep peace, though it was Snotlout who made the sheep launcher.
Race to the Edge: Season 1
This show was developed by Netflix (though I have them on DVD in case of no Internet connection, or Netflix ever drops it) and was actually done after the second movie, but chronologically takes place before. It features an entirely new intro and utilizes music from the second movie. The series starts with the two-parter Eye of the Beholder, which sets the stage three years after the showdown with Dagur (making our main characters all around eighteen). Indeed, Dagur actually ends up escaping the Outcast prison and is bent on revenge on Hiccup.
Meanwhile, Hiccup is still doing stunts with Toothless and remarks he needs his own set of wings when they end up separating and plummeting for a minute. The narration of “this is Berk,” is back, explaining the time jump and showcasing the new parts of Berk. The riders have moved on to new tasks; the twins pledging to cause all the chaos they can in the name of Loki. Snotlout is a weapons’ tester, and Fishlegs is educating the children, talking about Hiccup and Toothless as the new heroes of Berk. Astrid catches up to Hiccup, who is eager to do more exploring; except they’ve covered the area directly surrounding Berk, more than once. Hiccup says “this can’t be all there is.” Astrid tells Hiccup she has joined the Berk Guard, so all of his friends have moved on to new jobs. But Hiccup still yearns to explore. He says as much to his father that evening.
Their evening is interrupted by news from Johann that Dagur has escaped and he is more berserk than ever. He also holds a map to Johann’s graveyard of ships, where he hides all his treasures. He warns the Berkians of the “Reaper” ship, which is full of booby traps. The other riders eagerly join Hiccup to head off Dagur; they plan to steal the treasures first so Dagur can’t use them to purchase a new armada. Their way is impeded by giant eels, which chase most of the dragons off. While they wait for them to return, they separate to gather treasure. The twins find jewels, Fishlegs finds maps, charts, and books, and Snotlout finds a chest of blond hair [which was actually prized by Vikings.] Hiccup heads over to the “Reaper,” determined that the most valuable items will be there. And if the ship is that booby trapped, it must be hiding something important. He jokes of the benefit of a metal leg when a trap springs around it and he prefers Toothless’s plan of simply blasting the door open. They also discover a dragon skeleton aboard the ship; so this place was no friend of dragons. Hiccup takes an object from the captain’s room because it must be dangerous to dragons and thus really cannot fall into Dagur’s hands. A giant axe falling makes sure they rush back to the deck of the ship, only to find that Dagur has captured the other riders.
Dagur is certainly more unhinged after three years in prison, attempting to flirt with his brother. But he’s busy with an army to build and revenge to plot. Astrid sends Hiccup after Dagur, but Dagur was expecting that, so he arranges for the ship to be sunk, causing Hiccup to have to choose between going after Dagur and the strange new item, or saving his friends.
Part Two immediately picks up with the riders’ predicament. And a new challenge is that the cage is made of dragon-proof metal. And the giant eels are back. They manage to escape and their dragons come to the recuse, so Hiccup chases after Dagur and gets the strange item back. Gobber tries to help the teens figure out what the item is, which Hiccup has named the Dragon Eye, though Tuffnut bears the brunt of the mistakes. While they’re at Gothi’s she recognizes a mark on the item that came from a Snow Wraith dragon. Hiccup persuades Gothi (who may have scribbled something not kind about him, but Gobber wouldn’t translate since Hiccup is the chief’s son) to go with them to get the tooth they need to unlock the Dragon Eye, saying that didn’t she once want to see what is out there and find answers to questions not thought of yet.
The Snow Wraith attacks during snowstorms, able to sense heat signatures, which the teens do try to use to their advantage. Luckily, when it attacks Gothi at one point, she makes to get a tooth stuck in her staff. Hiccup is now able to unlock the Dragon Eye. And it doesn’t do much to start, until it catches the light of a dragon’s fire, then it presents images on the wall. “This changes everything,” Hiccup remarks (and this line is used in the new intro.)
Hiccup excitedly shows the riders his discovery in Imperfect Harmony, explaining that much of it is in a different language and the maps show areas beyond the boundaries of their archipelago. Next, Hiccup goes to the council, pleading that he wants to explore the new areas. Spitelout brings up that they have been at peace for several years and they shouldn’t go looking for trouble. It’s more important to hunt for Dagur, than new dragons. Stoick agrees that peace is important, but dragons are important to Hiccup and what would any of them do for something like that? How far would they go to get it, what would they risk? Besides, they couldn’t stop the boy if they tried, he might as well have their support. The council agrees and Stoick sends his son off to find what is pulling on him. And when he’s done, Berk will be waiting for him. He also tells Toothless, “take care of my boy.”
The other riders again join in, shouting “into the great beyond!” They get discouraged after a while and Hiccup encourages them by saying “nothing that’s worth anything comes easy.” They have to fly though a bit of a storm, but the cloud covers break and they see new islands below them. A strange sound comes to them and their dragons head down to an island. It’s idyllic, but come morning, all the dragons are gone. While searching, Toothless comes across the riders and quickly pulls Hiccup’s leg to follow. The prosthetic leg. Which comes off, but Hiccup appreciates Toothless’s enthusiasm.
A Thunderdrum comes along while Toothless and Hiccup are flying and screams at the other teens. Hiccup comes back to chase the dragon off and tries to say he is going back up, but everyone shouts “no,” and Snotlout adds “I will take your other leg!” So they all go together and find a pile of dragon bones, then find pieces of amber, and finally, dragons trapped in the amber. A large shrieking dragon makes an appearance, which they name the Death Song. Its cry draws dragons in, then it spits amber at them to trap them, then eats them later. Toothless tries to take on the Death Song, but he’s soon trapped, as are the other riders, though Astrid pushes Hiccup out of the way.
He comes across the Thunderdrum again and manages to get it to trust him. They return to Hiccup’s friends, where he has an idea to spread Monstrous Nightmare gel on the cocoons, then make a spark so they break open. They also free a baby Thunderdrum, which why the adult one had stuck around. All the dragons work together to relocate the Death Song to a cave. The riders eagerly continue on their adventure; it’s the most fun they’ve had in years. They will try to find an island of their own to make into a base of operations. Into the great beyond!
That search continues in When Darkness Falls. Apparently, they keep coming across an island full of boars and once, Snotlout even tries to use Hiccup’s leg as a weapon, though they’re rescued by their dragons in time. Eventually, they come across a perfect looking island. The riders start planning what their outpost is going to look like; Hiccup just wants them to set up camp for the night. Astrid wants it defensible, Snotlout wants an “S,” Fishlegs wants it to be zen, and the twins wants a boar pit. They sleep next to their dragons that night and Tuffnut wakes to an odd sound. He does come across a chicken, but also a large dragon. The rest of the riders don’t immediately believe him, mainly since he shouts “chicken roar!” to warn them along with his phrase “I am hurt, I am very much hurt!” (first appeared in the first movie). Tuffnut goes looking for the dragon again, and Ruffnut accompanies him, ready to declare herself the winner of the “Thorston challenge” if Tuffnut is making it up. Hiccup pleads to go with them to get away from the others arguing about the outpost.
The giant dragon indeed shows up, though they realize it’s a lot of little dragons. The twins capture the light-colored leader. Hiccup allows Tuffnut to name it “Smidvarg,” though they call the rest of them Night Terrors. But Changewings soon move in and harass the other Night Terrors. The riders figure out that the small dragons work together to look like a large version in order to scare off predators and all work together to chase off the Changewings. The riders befriend the Night Terrors and Hiccup comes up with a single idea for the outpost, incorporating everyone’s wants. Everyone has their own spot and then there’s a clubhouse in the center, along with a training arena and stables. He calls it Dragon’s Edge.
The riders return to Berk at Stoick’s request to relocate a Scauldron, but the plan goes awry in Big Man on Berk. Fishlegs is now possibly allergic to Meatlug. Gothi determines that they should hypnotize him in order to get him over the allergy. Snotlout takes it as an opportunity to suggest a new personality to Fishlegs. When he wakes, he ignores Meatlug and is now all about heroics and being a super Viking named ‘Thor Bonecrusher.’ Snotlout gets a crush on him, but Fishlegs is fairly dismissive. The other riders want Fishlegs back, but since he broke Gothi’s staff, they have to figure out another way.
Fishlegs goes after the Scauldron, with Snotlout and Hookfang. Meatlug ends up saving Fishlegs, but then the Scauldron chases Meatlug. That fear snaps Thor back to Fishlegs. The riders end up being successful in their job to relocate the dragon. And unfortunately relocate Stoick’s new axe, which ‘Thor’ had taken. Turns out, Fishlegs was allergic to the new wax Gobber was using on the saddles (his earwax, everyone is suitable disgusted). Snotlout gives a kiss to Fishlegs, saying ‘Thor’ broke his heart.
Gustav Larson, now sixteen, shows up at Dragon’s Edge in Gone, Gustav, Gone, ready to join the Dragon Riders. Hiccup is busy checking out the Dragon Eye and so the other riders pass the teen around (he also has a crush on Astrid) and he causes chaos. He eventually comes across the Dragon Eye and thinks it’s a treasure map, taking it in order to find the treasure and prove his worth to the other riders. Hiccup finds him before he gets killed on an unstable island and explains that the rules are different out at the Edge. They’re far from Berk and other help, so they can’t be reckless. And to Hiccup, Gustav has just proven he’s not responsible enough to stay at the Edge. He’ll talk to the teen more in the morning. But Gustav takes off and gets captured by the Berserkers. He promises information to Dagur in return for a hot meal. He also promises the Berserker chief the Dragon Eye and a treasure. Hiccup arrives and trades the Eye for Gustav, but Gustav stays with Dagur, citing better treatment. Hiccup understood what Gustav was doing and has the other riders meet him at the island in order to save Gustav and the Dragon Eye.
The episode ends well, with Hiccup promising that Gustav will be ready to join the riders, someday. Gustav also needs to get back to Berk before his mom worries too much. Hiccup also managed to find the treasure chest on the island they had been looking for amongst the chaos and discovers another lens for the Dragon Eye. Meaning there are more out there.
The Dragon’s Edge census is interrupted by the Reign of Fireworms, with a possible migration of the fire starters hitting the island. But the teens can’t focus fully on the problem because the twins discover a “namey rock;” a claim stone that Stoick and Gobber verify as authentic and states that the twins are the direct Thorston descendants of the founder of the island, making Dragon’s Edge their island. The twins are thrilled and have ridiculous plans for the island. Hiccup just wants to make sure it doesn’t burn down. He figures that they should play along and let the twins try to rule and when they discover it’s harder than it looks, they’ll be begging for help. Which they ultimately do when the island is almost engulfed in fire. Before the others will help, Hiccup enforces that the island will be equally claimed by everyone, they’re all equal rulers.
The Night Terrors help out by forming a Fireworm Queen and Hiccup helps lead them away from Dragon’s Edge. And the claim stone matter is settled when Meatlug eats the rock, so everyone dances while chanting “it’s our island!”
The teens deal with a new dragon problem in Crushing It. A Rumblehorn has been causing destruction and they haven’t managed to capture it yet. Gobber comes to the Edge with news from Berk; Stoick is as ornery as a dragon and driving everyone crazy. Hiccup heads back to talk to his father, and Gobber will help fortify the base. He ultimately builds a defensive wall. Hiccup finds Stoick by “following the sound of the angry Viking,” and even Gothi writes some choice words about the chief, which Hiccup can’t repeat. Hiccup finds his father shining Thornado’s saddle and realizes his father is missing his dragon friend. So he invites him back to Dragon’s Edge to help with the Rumblehorn.
They arrive after the Rumblehorn has passed through and toppled a tower onto Gobber, making the one-armed, peg-legged Viking rather loopy. Stoick witnesses his son issue orders (like a chief in the making) and agrees that this wild dragon is fast, smart, and elusive. He’s a worthy adversary, the chief declares and helps his son search for the beast. They do make an attempt at capturing the dragon, but the Rumblehorn takes off, with Stoick hanging on to a rope. Toothless catches the falling chief.
Stoick and Hiccup note that the dragon is an excellent tracker, yet also doesn’t hurt anyone. Stoick feels that the dragon is trying to tell them something. He manages to get back on the Rumblehorn and rides the dragon out to sea, to discover a giant wave is coming right for the base. The teens reinforce Gobber’s wall, and the Rumblehorn helps Stoick topple a sea stack to protect everyone. Due to how well the Rumblehorn tracks, they name the new class the Tracker class and Stoick names the dragon Skullcrusher since he’s a protector, a leader, and hard-headed; a lot like Stoick. He’s gained a new companion and reminds his son that while he may miss Thornado, he also misses Hiccup.
It’s Fishlegs’ turn to check out the Dragon Eye and he comes across information about Dark Deep, the ancestral home of the Gronkles in Quake, Rattle, and Roll. Hiccup agrees to go with Fishlegs in case he would need help. When they find the rocky island, there are few Gronkles about. They’re chased by a boulder that turns out to be a gigantic dragon: a Catastrophic Quaken. It’s been chasing the Gronkles away, and they’ve moved to the Edge. The teens know they can’t stay, but Hiccup isn’t sure how to get rid of the Catastrophic Quaken and maybe, that’s just the natural order of things. Snotlout instead suggests fighting dirty and when Fishlegs doesn’t like Hiccup’s answer, he agrees to lessons from Snotlout.
He stands up to Hiccup, arguing that they do need to go back to Dark Deep. He gets Snotlout to go with him, but Snotlout is freaked out by the size of the giant dragon. Luckily, Hiccup and Astrid followed. Fishlegs uses his new courage to stand up to the Catastrophic Quaken. Turns out, the giant dragon was scared and defensive, which is why it scared off the other Gronkles. But when they realize it just wants friends, they return. Fishlegs is also reminded that he is not Snotlout and doesn’t have to act like the other rider.
There is a mysterious rider and dragon that have been attacking ships in the two-part Have Dragon, Will Travel. The riders are back on Berk, stocking up on necessities when Stoick gets the news. Hiccup insists it wasn’t them, so they go to investigate. They figure out from the barbs its left that the dragon is a Sharp Class, like Stormfly. They use the fire from Stormfly to discover more information and conclude that it’s a Razorwhip they’re looking for. They do find the campsite and the mysterious rider manages to capture the other riders until Hiccup and Toothless chase them, discovering that it’s Heather. She’s been living on her own for years and came across an injured Razorwhip that she nursed back to health and named Windshear. Hiccup offers their help; at the very least, she should come back to their base. Astrid likes how intense Heather has gotten and remarks that they’ve all grown up.
Hiccup also tries to talk to Heather about the ships that she and Windshear are attacking, arguing that there has to be another way. That night, Hiccup follows Heather when she leaves. She visits Trader Johan and Hiccup wrangles the information out of the long-winded man (even threatening trade sanctions, two words that the trader dislikes). He finds out that Heather’s village and family were decimated and Heather has vowed revenge. She goes after Dagur and his new dragon-proof chains wrap around her and Windshear and start pulling her in. The episode breaks at that point.
And immediately picks right back up in the second part. Hiccup and Toothless manage to save Heather and Windshear, though Dagur shouts something about a family reunion, since his so-called “brother” is there. On the way back to the Edge, Hiccup once again tries to talk sense into Heather; her mission is suicide, and while she may be comfortable doing whatever it takes, is she willing to sacrifice Windshear? Heather claims she is destined to be alone. The parents she knew, that were killed by Berserkers, where her adoptive parents; she was separated from her birth family as a child. She has vague memories of her father, and a horn to remember him by. They arrive back at the Edge and Toothless manages to get the other dragons to leave Windshear alone. Astrid takes Heather out from some girl time to compare their axes. It’s Heather who brings up the question to Astrid whether she’s a thing with Hiccup. Astrid insists she is only friends with Hiccup. Well, Heather notes, Hiccup is cute. Astrid admits yeah, if you like that “unassuming, heroic, dragon rider type.” Meanwhile, Heather admits she likes Fishlegs; Snotlout is off-putting.
While girl talk is happening, Hiccup gets a look at Heather’s horn. It bears Stoick’s crest. He flies back to Berk. Meanwhile, Heather goes back to Trader Johan, with Astrid’s company, and gets information on where to find Dagur. Heather plans to go after him again and asks for the riders’ help. Astrid insists it must be a capture mission, not killing. They’ll leave a map for Hiccup to find them. Back on Berk, Hiccup explains the situation and point blank asks his father, “is Heather my sister?” He arrives to stop Heather from killing Dagur and explains what he found out. The horn bears Stoick’s chief seal because it was a gift to the child of another chief, Oswald the Agreeable. Heather is Oswald’s daughter, making her Dagur’s sister [this is something Dagur had to have known; hence the “family reunion” quip]. He gets free in the confusion and while the other riders get ready to leave, he asks Heather to stay. She eventually flies off, but Dagur seems pleased with the idea of Heather joining him one day. Astrid asks Heather to stay, but the other girl needs to work things out. Hiccup apologizes to Astrid; he’s sorry she’s losing a friend. Astrid still has him though, she points out.
Hiccup shows off his latest invention in The Next Big Sting, the Dragonfly One, his own set of wings. Useful, if he ever gets separated from Toothless in the air. There’s an updraft at the cliff he’s standing on and figures it will help him with gliding. He gets three tries in before he wrecks the contraption and Toothless is not wholly pleased to continually rescue his rider. Astrid even insists he’s done. The riders then find an injured, young Speed Stinger. They splint its leg, then decide to take it back to the Edge to recuperate. Snotlout is not pleased. Fishlegs manages to work and rehabilitate the Speed Stinger, but it gets agitated when the other riders show up. They also discover that this pack of Speed Stingers have evolved to have webbing between their toes so they can cross water (and we see the larger pack doing such). Astrid then threatens to lock Hiccup up if his new project is “Dragonfly Two.”
Snotlout and Ruffnut decide to take the Speed Stinger back, but end up crashing, then getting surrounded by the pack. The Speed Stinger protects them, considering them to be its new pack. They hold off the main pack long enough and Snotlout even bonds with the Speed Stinger. But Hiccup insists its best to let the Speed Stinger go back to its pack. In the scuffle, Hiccup does in fact show off a new glider, using the idea of webbing.
The riders turn a new drill into a competition, as they always do, in Total Nightmare. Toothless and Hiccup work on beating a closing dome and are successful, due to the Night Fury’s speed [accompanied by theme music]. The twins live for the drama. Snotlout takes his turn, but Hookfang gets distracted and fights Snotlout. He puts Hookfang in a pen overnight, but Hookfang gets out. Snotlout finds him and discovers he’s visiting a female Monstrous Nightmare. Fishlegs also ponders if Hookfang could be going feral, considering Hookfang won’t leave the female.
The other riders round up other Monstruous Nightmares to tempt Snotlout back to riding, but he refuses, and there are no other dragons he wants to try. If he can’t fly Hookfang, he doesn’t want to fly any other dragon (and the other riders feel the same way). So Snotlout quits and plans to return to Berk. When he goes to say goodbye to Hookfang, he finds his friend injured. He also finds eggs in the cave behind the female Monstrous Nightmare. Worse, there’s a Titanwing Monstrous Nightmare. Toothless manages to scare it off, but Snotlout knows that it will have to be Hookfang that beats the Titanwing in order to protect the female. “He’s crazy!” Astrid exclaims. “He’s Snotlout,” Hiccup retorts. Snotlout goes to beat the dome, but purposefully loses, getting trapped with the Titanwing. The enclosed area works to Hookfang’s advantage and they tire the Titanwing out.
Thus end the first season of adventures for the dragon riders. I love this series. I love seeing the characters older and taking on adult responsibilities. This series does an excellent job of fleshing out the characters; we’re already seeing some of the other teens take center stage for an episode. We witness Hiccup growing into a leader and Astrid becoming his second, clearly shown in Dawn of the Dragon Racers. Snotlout is even maturing, showing that he truly cares about Hookfang and won’t ride another dragon. The twins are as crazy as ever, with Tuffnut adopting the chicken as a pet…the chicken is not amused at Hiccup’s attempts with Dragonfly One. I adore the humor of the series.
There’s the twist with Heather being Dagur’s sister. That was not something I originally saw coming and the writers did well to tie back in to Riders of Berk and Defenders of Berk. I did think for a minute, the first time watching the episode, that they were going to make Heather Hiccup’s long-lost sister, following the steps of many fanfictions. So I’m glad they made her Dagur’s sister instead and that will be something that comes into play in later seasons.
Up Next: Season Two
Dreamer in the Mirror 