Category: fandoms

Join Me Down the Rabbit Hole of Dragon Music

How to Train Your Dragon quickly became one of my favorite films and certainly one of my favorite soundtracks.  I also managed to get several other members of my family into the film as well, lol. First, a few notes about the How to Train Your Dragon fandom:

Amongst the fandom, we agree that Astrid and Hiccup are relationship goals.  We notice that Astrid will lean down and back to look Hiccup in the eye since he is used to looking down and avoiding people’s gaze.

We realize that Hiccup tends to bottle things up.  He doesn’t like to be seen as weak; he tries to stay logical and mature.  When it becomes too much, he either yaps, or shuts down, pushing himself harder.

Just think about when Hiccup was asleep after being injured in the first movie and Gobber built Hiccup a new tail for Toothless.  Gobber had to go through and understand Hiccup’s drawings and recreate his work.  What if Stoick joined him?  How they would come to realize Hiccup’s genius.  If he had been able to rework his earlier inventions.  The fact that Hiccup didn’t hide his drawings because he knew no one would come looking; no one was interested in looking.

We also feel that Toothless is the single greatest character in all of film and television history.  Any movie would be improved with the addition of Toothless.  Including James Bond.  He looks very dashing in a tux.

How likely do we think that at some point all of the Dragon Riders called Hiccup ‘Dad’ while they were at the Edge?  And how much did they struggle not to do it when back on Berk?

Hiccup first imitates Stoick to undervalue himself, then imitates Stoick to think to highly of Hiccup.  And finally he imitates Stoick when giving Toothless a curfew.

WWVD: What Would Viggo Do.  More ruthless than WWJD.  Sometimes, the Viggo method is valid.  This would make Hiccup a formidable opponent to other villages and tribes they come across.  And sometimes, the Viggo method is “Nope, no, definitely not.”  For example, Viggo’s method would be helpful in a trade situation.  Not so much if a group of assassins are caught trying to kill Hiccup.  That would be murder.  Though, Stoick’s method would also be murder.

It is pointed out that the How to Train Your Dragon franchise is not afraid to show its main characters, its heroes making mistakes.  Being wrong.

Apparently sarcasm was first introduced to the English language by Vikings.  We all know which Viking.

Hiccup is also the Steve Irwin of dragons.  Cool, dangerous dragon?  Let’s touch it!

This gem: Villagers ask why Hiccup is doing something monumentally stupid.  “I was born with the heart of a dragon and the soul of an absolute dumbass.”  [This is going in my room somewhere]

Compare Hiccup in the first film: cannot hold a shield, trips over his own two feet, the embarrassment of Berk.  And in the third film: walks through fire looking like an avenging mythical dragon lord come down to earth to seek revenge on those that harmed his subjects.

Someone did want Hiccup to take off his leg when talking to Drago and the bigger man takes off his arm to show what dragons can do, and Hiccup throws his prosthetic foot at Drago comment “I’m not a little whiney baby about it.”

“Who needs a knight in shining armor riding a white stallion when I have this one-legged doofus with a dragon.”  (Astrid, at some point)

I know there are thousands more fanfiction stories out there, but these are some of the ones that I have discovered and keep making my way back to:

Accidental Fiancé by harrypanther is a cute modern AU where Astrid is a soccer star and ends up accidentally engaged to Hiccup, with appearances by other characters throughout the whole series.

Sunflowerb has several How to Train Your Dragon stories, most notably Persephone which is a bit AU, but brilliantly written and a bit darker.  The Late Egg is a nice one-shot, and there’s the duo of Cold North Wind and Warm Summer Breeze which feature Valka.

Dazed is a marvelous one-shot by Midnight Eternal that takes place directly after “Stryke Out” (S3, E8) and features Snotlout being decent to Hiccup.

For the Love of Thor is a collection of snippets by The Sad Privateer.

Eyeslikethecosmos has three stories, two of which feature Astrid and Hiccup and their relationship, and the third is Flightless Bird which starts the story of Valka (but is sadly incomplete)

There are some wonderful videos by Cinema Therapy about these movies and series; one is reacting to the first movie and covering the father/son relationship between Stoick and Hiccup, and the other is explaining how Astrid and Hiccup are couple goals.  [He’s got a bunch of other great videos; I highly recommend checking them out]

Speaking of videos; there are people who are probably far more qualified to talk about the music to these films than me.  But, I’ll take a stab at it.  Though seriously, check out Sideways “Why How to Train Your Dragon Has the Best Opening Ever;” he makes some fantastic points and links to other material.  Inside the Score also has a great video “Why is This Music so Memorable?  How to Train Your Dragon,” and I agree with many of his points.  I’ve watched a few of Charles Cornell’s videos and managed to save “How to Train Your Dragon is a MASTERCLASS in Theme Writing” three times.  Matt Macleod also has a great short about Test Drive.

(All of this *points above* there is lots more out there that I probably will dive in to at some point, but I also highly encourage you go check it out for yourself.  Join the fandom!)

Now, do I have qualifications to discuss the music of How to Train Your Dragon, beyond simply being a fan?  Perhaps yes, perhaps no.  Admittedly, I have been reading music since I was in kindergarten.  I’ve learned to play the piano, the flute, and the viola (which has its own separate clef).  I was in band, orchestra, and chorus in high school.  I took part in choir every semester of college.  I have a general interest in music; before I ever learned anything about music, I listened to it.  I took dance lessons before I ever started reading sheet music.  I am often bopping and bouncing in my seat as I listen to music, my hips minutely move as I sit.  For about a minute freshman year, I considered minoring in music, then I realized that was completely outside the realm of crazy; I’d heard how much one needed to do to major in music and I was already busy with two majors and the honors’ program, so I wasn’t going to dig myself deeper.  This does mean that I know just enough to be dangerous, but by no means am I an expert.  I have not taken any musical theory classes; if I happen to know anything it’s from comments made by my directors, primarily Dr. Barr.

I may not identify all the different themes and a lot of this is based more on my experiences playing in ensembles.  Again, not fully trained to do it, but these are my observations from lovingly listening to these soundtracks on repeat.  If I’m stressed out or upset, How to Train Your Dragon and Lord of the Rings are the two sets of soundtracks that can always calm me down.  How to Train Your Dragon is also an excellent soundtrack for driving.  Enough movement to not lull one to sleep.

One phrase I throw around a lot in this write-up is “reveal chord” and I’m almost certain that is not a actual musical term, but what my brain has coined that sound when a big reveal happens on screen, when the music swells and opens up.  Perhaps it is actually a key change, or a specific stacked chord, this is where the proof comes out that no, I don’t know all the proper terminology.  But I certainly hope you enjoy it.

The first soundtrack opens with low brass and we get the first theme, or leitmotif [this I know is an actual musical term; again, just enough to be dangerous], then an oboe brings the next theme, little jaunty notes to brighten the piece.  Strings play underneath and just the hint of a wordless choir.  It’s light and peaceful as we get our first glimpse of a sleeping village.  Then the pulse changes, percussion comes in, and a sharper rhythm takes over.  At this point, I turn up the volume because I love the deep part that comes next.  [I may be a soprano, but there is something about a deep male voice, particularly as a choir.  Maybe I like this and Hobbit because you can actually hear the guys (sorry)].  There’s a definite downbeat now for each measure and the brass takes over the theme.  Then lower brass comes in, against the up and down of the string instruments.  More of our characters and the story is introduced.  Deeper male voices, still without words, evoke the Viking villagers; we meet Stoick and know that he is in charge.  Then back to the jaunty little tune and a flute takes a solo.  Then there’s the sweeping, slow, legato theme that plays over the teens taking center stage (this will get reused for the romantic theme later, since Hiccup’s emphasis is Astrid at this point.)  The score transitions as the scene settles.

Horns signal Stoick and the fight against the dragons.  Percussion keeps the beat.  There’s an anvil in the background, a nod to Hiccup and Gobber as blacksmiths.  Parts are almost sweeping, but it’s certainly not a happy tune.  Something serious is going on.  When Gobber comes to the forefront, the tune again gets a little jauntier.  The tone becomes a little happier when Hiccup runs through the village.

Strings hold a suspended note as a harp plucks out a melody before the oboe takes over while Hiccup searches for the downed Night Fury.  Low brass and the male choir echo his thoughts about being a true Viking.  Again, we have reed instruments that evoke something happy or curious.  We know when Hiccup’s found the dragon by the change in tone.  Strings again are suspended and percussion is low, but not steady.  This all creates tension.  What will happen?  The strings have a reveal chord.  Then there’s a staccato beat and Stoick’s theme takes over as Hiccup prepares to do what his father would do.  But it’s soon drowned out by strings jumping between notes.  They hesitate as Hiccup hesitates.  Again, those strident notes [really hard to play against the performer next to you since they’re dissonant and don’t match] puts us on the edge of our seat as we wait for this tiny battle to play out.  A violin mimics a bagpipe as Toothless stares down Hiccup.  (As pointed out in one of the videos, this is an otherworldly creature now interacting with our hero.)

Viking choir introduces the arena that the teenagers will train in to kill dragons.  It builds to another reveal chord.  Low strings come in with a connected melody, a version of Hiccup’s as he looks around and starts thinking about what he will do.  Faster, repeated notes build tension this time as everyone waits for the first dragon.  Bagpipes signal the dragons and there’s a bit of chaos in the tune as there’s chaos on the screen with everyone running around.  However, the instruments aren’t actually battling each other; they’re passing the tune around.

Wounded sounds a little spooky, possibly in a minor key.  The themes we’ve just started hearing are slowed down a little; lots of held notes for suspense.  The Dragon Book picks up where Wounded left off, a bit deeper choir signifying the Vikings as a whole. Percussion comes in to drive the tempo as Hiccup reads the book of dragons.  Something that sounds akin to a hammer dulcimer plays the dragon’s theme.  A solo violin comes in until the percussion finishes the piece with sort of a flash chord as the last say.

More chaos as Hiccup is back in the arena; the instruments almost competing against each other, interrupting.  But the hero’s theme does come through clearly at a few points.

There’s a light percussion instrument, almost an Orff instrument [something like a xylophone or marimba; the family of percussive instruments that have removable bars that resonate when struck with a mallet.  We had several of these in the rooms with children’s choir at my church.  We were taught from an early age to respect musical instruments, but also to have fun] that echoes a bit that keeps a steady rhythm, almost like a heartbeat, as something strummed starts with a theme in Forbidden Friendship.  Everything is light, gentle, echoing how Hiccup is trying to not scare Toothless in order to get close to him.  The theme that develops slowly comes down the scale at points.  Eventually a flute (which we kind of think of as Hiccup) takes over the melody.  What emerges is the combination that becomes the two main characters’ friendship theme.  Staccato notes are Hiccup’s footsteps, again, come in clearer as the piece goes on.  The voice part holds notes, suspended, almost like someone holding their breath as we wait for how Toothless will respond to Hiccup.  Overall, beautiful piece.

New Tail starts with almost double strings, which sounds vaguely Scandinavian (I think I saw something similar in Hobbit).  Again the flute signifies Hiccup as he works on his plan for a new tail for Toothless.    More suspended notes as Hiccup goes back to Toothless; there’s still hesitancy.  Woodwinds do little frills over the strings.  Harp and flute lead to the strings taking over a sharp rhythm.  The Viking choir punctuates the beat.  The woodwinds haven’t gone away; you can just pick them out over the low notes.

Strings and flutes almost sound Celtic as they bring in one of Hiccup’s themes.  The flutes take over and we know Hiccup is up to something.  The melody is bouncy and happy.  Soon the brass and strings come in loud and proud with Hiccup’s theme.  This is when Hiccup becomes a success in the training ring and the village begins to accept him.  We get repeating phrases when Hiccup works on flying with Toothless.  Then the phrases become jumpy when Hiccup is jumpy in the village.

Then we have the masterpiece that is Test Drive.  Toothless’ and Hiccup’s themes twine together.  The flute plays over runs by the strings and we feel the power of the two working together.  The phrases soar.  When the two are on the verge of failure, there’s not a lot of note movement in the orchestra, lots of held notes.  The brass works to bring everyone back.  They soar over the string runs as Hiccup finally gets rid of his cheat sheet.

We get two short pieces very similar to each other, descending notes leading into the dragon theme as Astrid tries to win training with the Berk theme.  Then it repeats but now Astrid is taken on a wild ride and we can hear Toothless spinning and Hiccup’s response “thank you for nothing, you useless reptile.”  When Astrid apologizes and Toothless decides to behave, he soars up into Romantic Flight.  A beautiful piece featuring a solo violin with little grace notes to move between legato notes.  The brass almost sounds muted.  There are hesitant notes that move at the last moment, to help build the piece.  The phrases are overarching, soaring.  We hear those yarning notes, yearning moments, hallmarks of a great love theme.

There’s a change of tone in Dragon’s Den.  The strings play short, repeated runs, and the key sounds minor.  Something is happening, something unknown.  The piece slowly builds until there’s a reveal chord as the teens discover the nest and the dragon queen.  Little frills indicate the innocent dragon until deeper tones take over for the queen.  It quiets down when the teens return to the cove.  We get a reprise of the romance theme, since Astrid is sweet to Hiccup.  Admittedly, she does hit him as well, but that’s Astrid.

Hiccup has to face a dragon in the ring the following morning, so there’s a reprise of the tune for entering the arena.  Quiet, just a few instruments playing.  The tone changes when Hiccup signals he’s ready.  Then chaos when the Monstrous Nightmare is released and Stoick calls for the fight to be stopped.  Instruments interrupt each other.  There’s a moment of Toothless’ theme as he races to protect Hiccup, even a bit of their flying theme.  A fanfare sounds when we think Hiccup and Toothless will be able to escape, but that dies down when other Vikings jump into the ring and try to “help.”  Percussion rolls to signal a change; Toothless has been captured and now Stoick cannot look at his son.  He’s no longer the pride of Berk; he’s more shameful than ever.  The music declines in sadness.

Brass again signals the Vikings, very march-like, sharp and harsh as they prepare for war.  Big strikes from the percussion.  Bagpipes come back in as Toothless is lowered to a ship, and the Viking choir is back.  The tune turns melancholic as the ships leave Hiccup behind, standing on a cliff.   Everything quiet downs as Astrid talks to Hiccup, the occasional solo instrument playing over.  It’s actually the same tune that was used when the dragon was led out; signifying Hiccup’s connection to dragons in general.  But there’s a stirring in the strings at the end; action is ramping up.  Hiccup has an idea and the Vikings have reached the nest.  Once they land and dig in, their theme is back, but interspersed with the teens gathering and listening to Hiccup.  Odd dissonant chords come in while the Vikings wait for their prey.

Strings repeating short phrases open Battling the Green Death, creating tension.  This dragon is larger than any of these Vikings have seen and their plan is falling apart.  Percussion and brass keep the beat.  The notes swing back and forth a bit, sort of like a running step.  Sweeping Viking choir as the Green Death rampages.  Quiets down for a moment as Stoick and Gobber plan their last stand, then triumphant brass fanfare as the teens swoop in on dragons to help.  Stoick can hear Hiccup issues order; there’s even a reprise of Stoick’s theme, except now it covers Hiccup as a leader.  The rhythm becomes syncopated (when it’s not a straight, even tempo, when some notes are long and others are short.  Often the short comes right before the long.)  This adds intensity.  This rhythm changes when Hiccup tries to rescue Toothless, their theme playing a little differently.  Not quite as happy and bright; there’s the underlying battle sense.  Strings keep the tempo going [I do not know why, but that part always has me envisioning someone skating backwards; we are going to blame watching Olympic figure skating for years]. 

Themes pass around as we see the teens try their best against the massive dragon, but then there’s the standoff music playing again as Toothless drowns.  There’s more of a bass behind the double stringed instrument as Stoick and Toothless face off, but we’re soon back to the triumphant main theme as Toothless and Hiccup take to the air.  A little quiet moment and Hiccup’s theme as Stoick tells his son he’s proud.  But soon they’re in the air again, strings taking over as our heroes get into the action.  There are two repeating brass phrases as Hiccup and Toothless rescue Astrid.  Just, lots of triumphant hero themes interspersed! 

When there are loud, low sounds, that’s the Green Death lumbering around.  Moving notes, very fast, is the Night Fury speeding by as our heroic pair Counter Attack.  The brass have a staccato note they repeat (which this is actually hard to keep tempo because your inclination is to speed up) as the pair climb into the clouds.  This idea is repeated throughout the piece; instrument passing back and forth to keep movement going and the fact that there are two sides to this battle.  Brass are very good instruments to portray the heroic moments, bright and loud [and they know it].  Everything speeds up at the end as the Green Death crashes.  Though the notes slow and hold as Hiccup falls and Toothless dives.

Most of the voices are low and keep one tone as a higher voice (again, this is all without words, just open sound), mourns overtop as Stoick searches for Hiccup.  All instruments and voices hold a note when Stoick finds his son, then it turns happier when he declares their hero alive.  Hiccup’s theme plays gently on the piano [love this part] when we see Hiccup next, in bed recovering.  Then he’s woken by his best friend.  Some strings eventually join in as Toothless helps Hiccup up.

It’s almost a reprise of the romance theme when Hiccup steps out the door and discovers the changes to Berk.  Vikings and dragons living together.  Astrid does kiss him again, accompanied by a solo violin, and Stoick declares to all his pride.  A tin whistle flourishes and then bagpipes come back in with the theme and strings sweep behind them.  When the strings start their run, the brass take up the theme.  The phrase echoes and then the percussion start rolling.  The end almost sounds like a marching band [check out the massed pipes playing this at the Edinburgh Tattoo].

This score was nominated for Best Original Score at the 2010 Academy Awards (totally should have won.)  The film as a whole was also nominated the same time as Best Animated Film, also lost, sadly.

There’s a louder and prouder brass introduction to the theme of This is Berk as Dragon Racing introduces the second film.  The orchestra builds to the dragons’ theme as the young adults race and we hear bagpipes play clearly.  It’s all an echo of the first film, but not as mysterious.  We know these characters, this setting, but there are new things.  So it’s a bit bolder and brighter.  The tune turns jaunty as Hiccup describes what he’s helped install in Berk.  Then we bring in a new theme, which is actually what’s used as the theme for Race to the Edge, kinds of sharp, but very adventurous.  The tempo speeds up as we reach the conclusion of the race.  A bit of a sweep as Astrid wins.  Lots of movement in the strings.  What can I say, I love it!

A harp and oboe bring us to Toothless and Hiccup, who are discovering a new island.  A new, slightly mournful theme comes in as they look about.  Hiccup wonders aloud if they’ll find some Night Furies.  But the tune skips up and the strings pizzicato (when string players pluck the strings instead of sliding the bow across) and woodwinds take up the tune.  Lots of movement as Hiccup and Toothless play.  Then it turns reminiscent of their Forbidden Friendship theme.

Almost a melding of the romance theme and the Berk theme plays as Astrid and Hiccup talk about Hiccup becoming chief sooner rather than later.  More subdued and laid back than the grand sweep it usually is; more yearning.  A held note denotes the change in mood.  The key changes as the pair flies to investigate.  A take on the dragons’ theme introduces ice blast and new people connected to dragons.  As Hiccup and Astrid dodge an attack, the theme from Battling the Green Death comes in.  Another hold and another mood change as they report to Stoick and prepares the island for war.  Lots of movement, lots of sharp rhythms, repeating to denote action and a little jumpy like eyes darting around.  The strings keep busy.  The tempo speeds up and instruments play over each other as Hiccup disobeys his father and flies off.

Again, I use ‘jaunty’ to describe the feeling as Hiccup finds Eret.  A swashbuckling movement.  Then it’s laid back as Hiccup nonchalantly tells Eret his plan to visit Drago.  The mood changes when high voices take over sustained tones, strings are very light as Hiccup is in the clouds.  When they repeat their notes and the trumpets take up that, the large new dragon circles our heroes, very new and strange.  Chaos then mournful as Toothless falls into the water and Hiccup is taken away.

Large reveal chords as Hiccup’s taken to a new location.  Voices hum the new mournful theme.  Then we get the orchestra back in with the Viking theme as Stoick hunts for Hiccup.  It’s not quite deep, more adventurous.  There’s a bit of mystery in there too.  Slow, open high tones show the sanctuary off.  Something akin to a bell plays as Hiccup looks to his mother.  The mournful theme plays as Valka speaks to her son, the woodwinds taking the lead.  More bells and Valka’s theme as she talks about the dragons she’s helped.  The theme is almost trying to be an older theme, but it’s not quite there.  There’s a reprise of the theme from the cove in the first film, signaling discovery.

A change in mood as we flashback to a time when dragons and Vikings battled each other on Berk; Valka reminds her son, “it was a time of kill or be killed.”  Valka’s theme plays as she looks at Cloudjumper and discovers he’s not all danger.  There’s an almost triumphant theme as she’s carried off, but not fully.  There’s still something sad tinging it; then fully sad, when the piano plays as Stoick rescues Hiccup from the fire and they watch Valka disappear, reprising that sense of loss from the first film.  Then, it was the loss of Hiccup’s leg.  Here, it’s the loss of his mother.  A new theme for the Alpha comes in as Hiccup is introduced to the Bewilderbeast, the tempo slowing, denoting something large.  High voices bring about a coldness, as the Bewilderbeast breathes on Hiccup.

A new, very minor theme is introduced as we’re finally introduced to Drago.  Slow and ominous.  The notes are very close to each other.  There’s brief fast movement when there’s action, but it’s quickly subdued.  Cellos take up Drago’s theme, percussion sounding occasionally.  Then short bursts of notes, bit jarring as Drago takes control.  Then it quiets down, as we’re in the flashback and Dragon is speaking to the chiefs and they don’t know what is about to happen.  But brighter when Stoick is on screen.  His theme as he issues orders to his son’s friends.  This part of the score works both for the flashback and when the young adults meet Drago.  His methods have not changed.

A bassoon introduces Stoick Finds Beauty.  We get the Viking feel as Stoick starts to drag Hiccup out, but offset by a few woodwinds as Hiccup tries to explain.  Tremolo (strings’ version of vibrato) as the strings show the tension once Stoick spots Valka.  Then mournful, very hesitant.  The strings grow louder as Stoick draws closer to Valka.

Uillean pipes play while Hiccup is Flying with Mother.  It’s as bouncy, happy time.  [Also note that produced soundtracks do not wholly follow the order of the film.  The recording score is different than what is sold as the soundtrack.]  The voices actually say a few words (not that I can make them out.)  It’s almost like a dance; notes are up and down and back and forth.  A happier version of Valka’s theme as she shows things to her son.  The tone grows pensive as they talk, then grander and fuller as Hiccup leaps off Toothless to show off.  Little chaos as Hiccup and Toothless crash.

The harp introduces For the Dancing and the Dreaming, then flute joins in.  Stoick whistles the tune, very slow, a bit hesitant.  Does Valka remember this?  There is a long pause as he waits for her to join in.  She’s quiet and hesitant when she responds, but they grow together.  Gobber is caught up in the mood and joins, until he’s told to stop (twice.)  A violin plays alongside Valka.  Soon everyone is up and dancing, happy.  Gobber holds the last note.

A complete mood change as percussion and brass begin a battle score.  Strings go up and down in the background.  There’s not the frantic air to this battle as in the first movie.  Those involved are wiser and more coordinated.  There are short bursts from the strings to show Drago coming.  The orchestra builds as the young adults swoop in on their freed dragons, ready to cause chaos.  The Viking theme also plays against them.  A few high notes as Ruff falls, hoping Eret will catch her.  Hiccup and Toothless’ theme signals their arrival.  Instruments pass the melody around as we survey the battle.  Then reveal chords as the Alpha Bewilderbeast enters the fray.  A lot of this is a repeat from Battling the Green Death [but hey, if it’s awesome, why mess with a good thing?]  Triumphant heroes theme makes us smile.  Then in quiets down as Drago puts into action his plan.  Bewilderbeast takes on Bewilderbeast, slow and low voices, plus some high voices to show action.  A triumphant moment of Dancing and the Dreaming as Stoick rescues Valka, then the orchestra goes into Stoick’s theme as he battles Drago.  More passing the melody around between the instruments; lots going on.  Short bursts of notes as Drago’s Bewilderbeast takes the upper hand, and suspended notes at the end when Valka’s Bewilderbeast falls.

Repeated string phrases denote tension as the battle is not over.   Stoick and Valka are looking after each other, but everything quiets down as Hiccup Confronts Drago.  Drago’s theme features as he lays out his thoughts to Hiccup, trying to teach this young boy about the real world and real dangers of dragons.  Then it turns mournful as Drago eyes Toothless.  Bagpipes as Drago yells for his Bewilderbeast; almost an echo, but far more menacing than when Toothless and Hiccup first faced off.  Timpani beat in the background.  Toothless is in distress.  The confrontation theme comes back clearer once Toothless is fully under Drago’s control and eyes Hiccup.

An accordion plays the mournful tune as we discover the cost that Stoick Saves Hiccup.  A violin eventually joins in, swelling as more people realize who they’ve lost.  The sad tune is almost a slow play on Hiccup’s theme.  The choir comes back in when Drago takes control of Toothless and the rest of the dragons fly away.  Percussion shows that for Drago, the battle will continue.

A very, very sad reprise of Dancing and the Dreaming done by voice and strings plays for Stoick’s Ship.  A harp or piano is mixed in as well.  The tune swells as bagpipes play once the pyre is lit [this still manages to draw a tear to my eye].  Then it dies down as Hiccup and Valka both speak; Valka telling her son how he came into this world, and Hiccup remembering his father; how can he live up to such a great man?  The reprise of Dancing and the Dreaming showcases the time that this small family got to spend together, often apart, only happy for a brief time.  Hiccup’s whistle comes back, circling our hero.  Stoick, despite being gruff, loved his son.  The tune becomes more purposeful as Hiccup takes charge, and then brings back his theme as he declares “a chief protects his own.”

The orchestra is a bit quiet and hesitant, like when Astrid and Hiccup found the ice in the beginning of the film.  Ice now covers Berk.  Then a change as our heroes arrive, triumphant and bouncy, considering they are riding young dragons.  The main theme is back.

Timpani bring us into the fight between Drago and Hiccup.  But it soon quiets down as Hiccup talks to Toothless, calling his best friend back.  A little of that mournful theme comes in; Hiccup does not blame Toothless for Stoick’s death (despite his harsh words earlier in the full throes of his grief).  The melody climbs up to triumph.  Toothless is back!  [Gotta turn it up at this point!]  Brass does what they do best and punch out their theme until they quiet down for the strings to bring tension as Hiccup plans.  Then back up to triumph as they take action.  Their theme almost modulates into something more mature.  Strings have a slide as Toothless flies.  Lots of phrases that repeat and don’t quite complete as we wait to see what happens.

Low voices and timpani again signal Drago thinking he’s won, firing ice on the heroes.  But the music doesn’t ever get sad.  It holds until the brass come back up as Toothless unleashes new powers and takes on the Bewilderbeast as Alpha.  Their theme is back.  Tiumph as the dragons leave the Bewilderbeast and side with Toothless.  Strings take over the theme for a minute, voices joining as Hiccup declares “this is what it is to earn a dragon’s loyalty.”  More of the action theme as the dragons all fire on the Bewilderbeast, driving it away.  Horns transition into a reveal chord when Berk realizes they’ve won.  They settle into a new norm with Two New Alphas.  Hiccup’s theme is fully back and bouncy as everyone cheers.  Toothless is playful around his best friend again.  A momentary reprise of Dancing and the Dreaming as Valka and Hiccup think about Stoick.  The romantic theme is back as Astrid and Hiccup briefly talk and kiss [see, they were ready to be a couple.]  Then quiet triumph as Hiccup is declared chief, building to a brighter finish.

The second film also features Where No One Goes and Into a Fantasy.  Where No One Goes plays while Hiccup and Toothless are flying at the beginning of the film, racing through the waves and predominantly features their flying theme.  Into a Fantasy only features in European releases of the film, but it is part of the official soundtrack.  The official video certainly features Toothless.

Also already stated in the last post, the third How to Train Your Dragon film is not my favorite of the three, nor is the soundtrack.  There are some great moments, but while I can listen to most of the score from the prior two films, I space out on many sections in this score. I do not blame John Powell for my dislike of the third soundtrack; I blame the storyline.

This film does not start with a reprise of This is Berk; instead, it is a mysterious and darker intro.  Parts of the piece admittedly sound familiar, like another action movie or something, but I can’t quite recall.  It is a very adventurous opening piece as our favorite dragon riders go on a raid to free dragons.  There’s a small preview of the Light Fury’s theme when we spot her, but that’s amidst the chaos as the stealth part of the mission fails.  Eventually the strings do transition the piece into This is Berk, even bolder and busier than the previous movie.  Lots of movement underneath the main theme, and a faster tempo.

While still in Berk, the tone is quieter with a new theme, a tinge of sadness, but legato and arching.  Mostly happy.  The new life of Berk with its young chief.  There’s a statute to Stoick  Then a major mood change when the antagonists come on screen.  Deeper tones and shorter bursts, a bit like Drago, but doesn’t have the minor notes.  When the key does change to minor, it’s still a different melody.  The orchestra doesn’t move a lot, very quiet, and not quite the tension that they’d sometimes have.  The strings try to build and we get Grimmel’s theme.  Perhaps it’s not as bombastic since Grimmel likes to lurk in the dark.  When the orchestra finally gets louder and gains movement, it’s when his creepy dragons take the screen.

It’s quieter in the next piece, a suspended note to start, but not creepy.  A little sad since it’s a flashback.  The flute quietly plays a new theme, while Stoick talks of the Hidden World, then it switches back to the new gentle theme, which has a bit of a romantic touch to it.  Another switch to echoes of the mournful theme of the second film.  Strings bring back the new theme and pass it on to the flutes.  They’re a little hesitant, but we soon get a whistle playing Astrid’s romantic theme.

Light chimes bring in the Light Fury and her theme, as Toothless gets proper look at her.  It slowly builds, a hint of tension, then returns to quiet and hesitant.  The strings take over the theme and there are a few deeper notes underneath (foreshadowing that she can’t be completely trusted at this point.)  When Toothless truly becomes interested, the tempo and rhythm change to something more precise and playful.  Woodwinds bring in the Light Fury and the harp brings back the playful tune.

Not much happens in Worst Pep Talk Ever.  Mostly quiet, occasionally mysterious, particularly towards the end of the piece.  There are also brief hints of Grimmel’s deep theme.  This is where our characters find out about Grimmel.  When he appears next, very dissonant.  Lots of notes played against each other, scary.  Grimmel’s theme takes over.  But all very slow.  Strings start to bring tension, little bursts of a repeated note.  They remain even as Grimmel’s theme tries to play overtop.  Eventually, the piece gets louder as the creepy dragons attack, still some dissonance, but now Hiccup’s home is alight.

Exodus! starts with a few held notes, until the choir comes in and grows the sound.  Percussion raps a few times, a silent beat, and everyone comes back in with the new theme, even with a few uillean pipes.  This is a new adventure; off into the unknown.  A deeper phrase comes in, but it brightens, then repeats.  A little bit of the action theme comes in, then the Light Fury enters.  Some danger when she drops Hiccup, but she’s back.  The orchestra quiets for a bit, then grows and adds the full choir with the romantic new theme.  It eventually dies down with some held suspended notes and very slow phrases.

Now, Third Date is a piece that I enjoy.  It’s happy and light.  The woodwinds play a bit of the Light Fury theme and the harp brings back that playful section from their first meeting, eventually joined by woodwinds and chimes.  Pipes of a variety and a whistle bring a Celtic flair.  A moment for the legato theme, then stumbling a bit with a trumpet flare until everyone resumes the bouncy theme.  The tempo picks up, some of the lower instruments take over the theme, build it up, then settle back down.  The piece slows down a bit with rests between notes in the woodwinds, but not quite tense.  Bagpipes come in and repeat a phrase as Toothless tries a dragon dance to flirt with the Light Fury.  Then back to the bouncy theme with woodwinds.  Strings come in and grow the volume, a hold, and then back to the playful tune a bit faster and with a fuller orchestra.  Pipes even come back in and everyone grows louder and faster, and then another hold.  Now a few floating legato phrases.  The harp comes back in, but not as bouncy, this is almost a variation on the Light Fury theme, along with some Orff instruments.  We can hear Toothless’ yearning when he can’t follow the Light Fury.  I envision even a human couple skipping along, romantic and in love, a bit playful and teasing.

The strings softly bring in the new action theme, then the old action theme for a moment.  Finally a reprise in a new key of New Tail, since Hiccup has rebuilt a new tail for Toothless so he can pursue the Light Fury.  Overall higher, without some of the deep Viking tones of the original.

Low tones bring in the next piece, and then a high descending voice.  The Light Fury theme features heavily in Furies in Love, with a few variations.  There are hints of romance and yearning, and then, a bit unexpectedly, a hint of danger, but it soon returns to a brighter variation of the Fury theme, before slowly descending away.  (We’re getting hints that the Light Fury can’t fully be trusted, or at least, there is something going on in the background.)

Loud, repeated phrases signal imminent danger in Killer Dragons but it doesn’t quite grow.  There’s a beat of silence, a moment of dissonance, but that is soon gone, though we get a march for a moment [reminiscent of Imperial March].  More low tension and it sounds like an old action theme is trying to make its way in, but it’s never completed and is always drowned out.  Woodwinds take over the tension, signaling that danger is incoming with a repeated trill.  Chaos ensues as our heroes escape.  The choir jumps in for a few moments, even bringing a new heroic theme for a second, trying to brighten the piece when it seems everyone is free and clear.

We get a quiet, mournful reprise of something from the first film in With Love Comes a Great Waterfall.  Then a few odd transitional notes to bring in an action theme.  Lots of moving instruments, our characters are moving, on a mission.  Low horns bring them to the waterfall in the middle of the ocean.  It swells even more with the choir and a solo trumpet playing over all [I always turn the music up at this point; I think it is so cool!]

Not fond of The Hidden World track.  Very modern sounding; which it’s supposed to be like nothing we’ve heard from this world before because this is strange, and new, and different.  A suspended note hangs over the high vocal lines.  A second, competing line comes in; there are almost words to these lines, though I certainly cannot tell what they are saying.  They do unite for a moment, then split apart.  Voices give way to the new theme, but in different variations (and perhaps keys).  Towards the end, low brass and strings speed up the tempo and the chaos as Astrid and Hiccup are in danger.

I think it would be fun to direct Armada Battle.  I would not be a traditional director because I would move too much, but I’d love to cue the different parts.  (Battle scores are a great way to use lots of themes to show what’s going on.)  This is a masterful weaving of different action themes from across the trilogy.  The brass starts faraway, then a slow and quiet reprise of Toothless’ and Hiccup’s confrontation theme.  It gently builds, adding the choir into the “ready for war” section from the second movie, with a bit of Stoick’s theme entwined.  The confrontation returns in the strings then a brighter version of the Light Fury theme.  We get our typical hero/action theme almost directly into the battle score from the second film.  The brass punches through until the romantic theme plays as Hiccup and Astrid cause a fireball.  The brass continues to keep the piece moving, the sense of flying coming in, then into the track that played in the first film when Toothless was reaching Hiccup in the arena.

A suspended note, then into an action variation of the new theme.  And the Viking choir is back with its usual theme, accompanied by low brass.  Valka’s flying theme takes over, back to the new action theme with strings repeating a scaling down phrase.  The orchestra passes the melody of the first film’s battle back and forth; this piece certainly keeps the tempo.  Back to the Light Fury theme, then the second’s action theme, a bit of the bouncy Berk theme thrown in.  The climbing portion of any battle Hiccup and Toothless encounters comes in.  Strings scale up and down, the brass maintains the beat, a bit of dissonance, but not stalling the music, back to passing within the strings, and the tune that plays when the Green Death rises.  After the crescendo, a gentle release.

The pace resumes with the next track, with brass repeating phrases to keep suspense. The melody from the waterfall returns, then the choir comes in mournfully as Hiccup falls.  It’s actually the flying theme that plays with the Light Fury saves Hiccup, loud and proud.  The theme turns to the new romance theme with a held note as everyone lands.  But a harp plays a few notes as Hiccup speaks to Toothless.  The mournful cry is back when he says goodbye, a sad reprise of Hiccup’s theme.  The Hiccup/Toothless Alpha theme then takes over as the dragons fly away, with the waterfall theme also showing up.  They leave for the safety of the Hidden World.

Once There Were Dragons ends the soundtrack with the choir singing the new theme as Astrid and Hiccup marry.  It becomes clear that this theme signifies changes and a new chapter.  Pipe eventually come in, a bit bouncy, then strings.  Finally, the piano gently plays the main theme as Hiccup brings a new generation to the Hidden World.  Solo brass calls and cello and whistle respond, then the choir as Hiccup approaches.  We get a wonderful reprise of Forbidden Friendship as Hiccup shows his kids to Toothless, even the breathing notes as the put their hands on the Night Fury.  And finally, the main flying theme returns, as glorious as the first movie as both families fly together.  (Can’t beat the original.)

Overall, I believe that my favorite soundtrack of the trilogy is the original. I enjoy some of the additions in the second film and there are a few bits of the third that I like, but overall, the first soundtrack is great to listen to. The themes that were set out haven’t been modified.

Up Next: Another break for a bit as I continue to try to finish drafts of two stories.  But the next fandom we will visit is Chronicles of Narnia.  This might start up after the first of the year; I tend to watch them around the holidays.  The books series will be interspersed with the three films that came out between 2005 and 2010.  I read these books as a child and there was an animated film that I watched as a child, but I am not quite sure where to find it.  And I really enjoyed these films.

A Shadowhunter Random Fandom Update

It should surprise no one at this point that I get (easily) distracted by fanfiction. Partly because it is easy to read, since it’s on my phone and can just open it up for a few minutes at a time. I can switch between multiple stories and multiple fandoms at a moment’s notice. I can change what genre I’m reading depending on my mood. And it is super easy to re-read stories.

So, the reason that I am not more diligent on getting through my TBR pile is I am still reading Shadowhunter fanfiction. (It also helps keep ideas fresh for one of the stories I am working on.) So I thought I would share what has been playing in the background of my brain for months now (note: some of these may not be for everyone depending on their preference, and I am totally okay with that):

Takara_Phoenix has literally hundreds of stories for Shadowhunters. I’ve come to enjoy their triple pairing of Magnus/Alec/Jace. They will also pair Jace up with several other characters. Many of the stories are Alpha-Beta-Omega verse (which is why I now have standards when it comes to those kind of stories and why I didn’t like A Pack for Autumn.) Shapeshifting shows up a lot, as does the notion of soul animals (which I’ve come across in a few other fandoms).

I particularly love their The Lost Soulmarks story. Some of the descriptions of Jace just sit right. There is Finding William Marcus Herondale and The A and O of Love. Lust and Love is rather good, as is Demon on Your Shoulder. The Turned Double Agent is the mob-AU that I never knew I wanted to read, but I’ve returned to it several times; Gangster’s Paradise is similar. And They Were Roommates, Dancing with the Monsters in the Night, Stay for Breakfast, My Heart Down the Hall are all rather sweet. The Barista and the Fashionista is rather fluffy. There’s a pirate-AU that is fun and that theme is hit on in a few compilations as well. Do Not Touch is a similar theme to Lost Soulmarks. The Incubus and his Ace has some fluff and lots of happy endings. There’s a trilogy of Magnus and Jace getting together and a trilogy that of owl-inspired stories and a very smutty trilogy (not that there is not smut in just about all of these stories). Not All That Glitters is Gold takes a bit of a twist, as does The Morgenstern Heir. There are several stories that tie in to episodes of the show.

lawsofchaos is an excellent fanfiction author. They’ve really built a world around their stories, adding some characters and details about the Shadowhunter culture. That is most shown in their Consular High Warlock Magnus Bane series and Dona Nobis Pacem. I adore in somno veritas (in sleep lies the truth); Max makes an appearance! For Every Bird There is a Stone is a bit heart wrenching. Though if you want to shed a few tears, there is Greater Love Hath No Man. Stone Can Be Broken also evokes some tears.

Some of their stories tie in with Aria_Lerendeair, such as One Luminary Clock and Never Judge a Shadowhunter by Their Scent. And Dies Dolorem and A Nephilim, Made. I highly recommend their stories as well. Most especially The Golden Trio-A Trinity of Trouble. There are a couple lighthearted stories of what Magnus does with all his money, like paying taxes. Alec fixes some things in A Trueblood in More Than Name, and Magnus fixes things in Magnus Bane, the Great Destruction. Ten Not-Dates and Domesticity are rather cute and Love Him Like He Deserves is sweet, as is Could My Soulmate Please Take a Nap and The New York Shadow Market. Alec Lightwood is a Good Doctor is another mob-AU that I didn’t know I needed until I read it. (Which possibly gives me a short story idea; but I need to finish my proper stories first.) “At Least I Didn’t Sleep with Kant!” is hilarious. There’s also a president-AU series. I also adore the A Vampire, His Parabatai, and a Warlock Walk Into a Bar… series.

MoonlightBreeze has several lovely stories and I’m still exploring their work. Same with Nadja_Lee.

I don’t quite have all of the stories I’ve read listed out like other fandoms. But those first few authors are the ones I keep returning to. If you wish, I hope you enjoy them. If you’re not your cup of tea, go out and find out what is! And sometimes you surprise yourself! Enjoy the random fandom update. I will try to work on my other projects.

“Oh what, do you want an apology? Is that why you’re pouting, big babyboo?”

How to Train Your Dragon 2

This movie truly expands the world of How to Train Your Dragon.  It did come out before Race to the Edge, which was how they were able to bridge the gap so well.  For those of us who are coming off the end of RTTE, it’s a few years later, a total of five years after the events of the first movie.  The teens are settled back on Berk.  They’ve made dragon racing more elaborate (as detailed in the short we watched before RTTE, Dawn of the Dragon Racers) and the whole village has turned out to watch them.  Hiccup introduces “this is Berk” and explains some of the changes made, even more than we saw in RTTE (someone was busy once he returned).

The dynamics of the team have changed a little more.  Both Snotlout and Fishlegs are interested in Ruffnut, though she’s not showing a preference between the two and Astrid even points out to Snotlout that Ruff tried to bury him alive.  His come back?  It was only for a few hours.  Stoick cheers on Astrid in the race, remarking to Spitelout that she’s his future daughter-in-law (we witnessed their engagement in RTTE).  However, Hiccup…is nowhere to be found.  Gobber figures that Stoick chased him off.  Astrid manages to win the race as Hiccup’s voice over comments that all of his hard work has paid off, and the world got a lot bigger.

We catch up with Hiccup and Toothless shooting across the ocean.  Toothless climbs and Hiccup starts his new trick, decked out in a new flight suit and full helmet [most likely to improve aerodynamics].  Hiccup sets Toothless’ tail to glide while Hiccup falls off.  They free fall for a while, then glide on their own.  Toothless has to try to catch Hiccup when the Viking gets in a little trouble with an oncoming sea stack.  Toothless catches him, but it’s a bit of a rough landing.  We see Hiccup’s new leg, which can change which kind of foot he has.  Hiccup’s not too phased by what happened, more excited to be out doing something, finding a new land.  He and Toothless joke around and Toothless wins by collapsing on the Viking and licking him.  “You know that doesn’t wash out!”

They’re joined by Astrid and Stormfly.  The two dragons bound off to play and Astrid helps Hiccup with his map.  He reveals that he’s hiding from his dad because Stoick brought up making Hiccup chief soon.  Astrid’s excited for her boyfriend.  Hiccup is not.  He’s still figuring out who he is; Astrid has always known.  She’s a warrior; she’s like Stoick.  She leads the team when Hiccup is not there (and will make a good chieftain’s wife).  But Hiccup is not his father and he never knew his mother.  He still wants to explore more.  He wants to find more Night Furies for Toothless.  Then he spots smoke in the distance.

The couple checks the scene out and discovers a mound of ice blasts, but they’re interrupted by trappers catching Stormfly.  Hiccup has also improved his sword since RTTE and uses it to great effect.  The blade retracts, but also lights on fire.  They meet Eret, son of Eret, and his trappers, who work for someone named Drago Bludvist (briefly mentioned at the end of RTTE).  Eret thinks that the person who destroyed their fort and stole their trapped dragons works with Hiccup.  This is the first Hiccup has heard of this, but he’s not keen on the news that Drago is building a dragon army.  For now, they free Stormly and fly back to Berk.

Stoick is thrilled to begin training Hiccup as chief.  Hiccup forcibly has to stop his father and tell him about Drago.  Stoick knows Drago and instantly switches modes to defend the island.  Everyone is grounded, no one is allowed off the island.  He starts closing up the dragon pens.  Hiccup wants to go out and find Drago and keep the peace, what he sees as his duty.  Stoick disagrees.  Drago is a man without conscious or mercy.  He must prepare his son for war.  A chief protects his own.  Hiccup manages to fly out with Toothless and Astrid follows him. 

They find Eret again and Hiccup turns them in, intending to hitch a ride to Drago (also showing off how he uses Zippleback gas as a distraction).  Hiccup figures he can change Drago’s mind.  [He’s managed in the show to change so many enemies’ minds; Alvin, Dagur, Viggo.  He changed Stoick’s mind.  Hiccup believes this is his path.]  That notion gets knocked about when the rest of the team, along with Stoick and Gobber show up.  Ruffnut is instantly attracted to Eret (it’s a little creepy).  The argument between father and son starts back up.  Hiccup is trying to prevent a war.  War is what Dragon wants, Stoick answers.  He tells the young adults about a gathering of chiefs where Drago promised he alone could keep everyone safe.  The rest of the chiefs laughed him out and he shouted “see how well you do without me!” and the place erupted in dragon fire.  Stoick alone escaped.  “Men who kill without reason cannot be reasoned with,” he warns his son.  Hiccup still wants to try and manages to fly off again.  Stoick orders Astrid to take the rest of the team back to Berk.  He and Gobber track down Hiccup.

Hiccup lets out some steam, but is surprised when a new dragon with a strange covered rider rises from the clouds.  The dragon has four wings and is larger than Toothless.  Other dragons come up and whisk Hiccup off of Toothless, who falls into the water.  Water dragons eventually take Toothless away, but Hiccup is yelling at the strange rider that Toothless cannot fly on his own, he’ll drown.  Hiccup is eventually let down amongst a herd of dragons, but he uses his flaming sword to calm them down, show the dragons that he’s one of them.  The other rider is intrigued, but steps in before Hiccup can touch a dragon.   Hiccup is relieved when Toothless is brought in and hugs his friend.  Hiccup wonders if this rider is possibly Drago?  Or the stranger who took Eret’s dragons?  The stranger approached Hiccup but backs up when they catch sight of a scar on Hiccup’s chin.  The stranger knows Hiccup’s name.  They take off their mask; the stranger is a woman.  “Should I know you?”  “No, you were only a babe.  But a mother never forgets.” 

Skullcrusher finds Hiccup’s helmet and gets a scent; they’re on the trail for Hiccup.  Gobber points out to Stoick that Hiccup is twenty and a Viking, off course he’s stubborn.  Stoick remarks that Hiccup’s mother could never stay still either.

Hiccup’s mother, Valka bounds away to show Hiccup something and he follows [it reminds me of the scene from the Lion King where Rafiki is showing Simba something.]  Hiccup has questions. Where has she been for twenty years?  She got carried off by a dragon, what happened?  Well, she lives in a dragon sanctuary.  She’s helped rescue and tend to hundreds of dragons.  They all live under the protection of the Alpha, the King of all dragons (a Bewilderbeast, and what the antagonists were searching for at the end of RTTE).  Valka takes a look at Toothless and remarks that he’s the last of his kind and is Hiccup’s age, which must be why they get along so well. 

She asks about Toothless’ injury and assumes it was Drago.  Now it gets awkward.  Hiccup admits he shot Toothless down, but “you got me back, right bud.  You couldn’t save all of me, could you?  You just had to make it even.  So, peg leg!”  He admits Stoick was able to change after what Hiccup did.  Valka doesn’t believe Hiccup.  In her day, Berk was a land of kill or be killed, but she couldn’t kill dragons either.  Then, one night, a dragon broke into their house while Hiccup was in his cradle.  Valka went to defend him, but found Cloudjumper being thoughtful and kind.  He was startled, which left the scratch that scarred on Hiccup’s chin.  When Stoick burst in, Cloudjumper took off with Valka, leaving a burning hut behind with Stoick and Hiccup.  Hiccup is still trying to take everything in; “it’s not every day you find out your mother is some kind of crazy, feral, vigilante, dragon lady.”  Hiccup meets the Alpha and finds out that all dragons listen to the Alpha; they are under his control as well as his protection.  Well, the baby dragons listen to no one.

When Stoick and Gobber don’t return with Hiccup in short order, Astrid worries they may have been captured, so she takes the team to find Eret again and once again find Drago.  In finding Eret, Stormfly plays fetch with the trapper.  He finally agrees to take the Berkians to Drago.  “Works every time,” Astrid remarks about her dragon.

Mother and son continue to bond.  They fly with the dragons and Hiccup shows Valka his map.  She draws another map for him, which prompts Toothless to draw in the snow (an echo of the first film).  Hiccup shows off his flying suit, proving to be truly like a dragon.  Until Toothless has to rescue him again.  Hiccup’s still a daredevil and is thrilled even after Toothless dumps snow on him.  Valka shows Toothless and Hiccup that there are a second set of finds on Toothless’ back that would help with tight turns.  Valka realizes, “all this time, you took after me?”  She asks to start over with her son.  He agrees.  And then wants Valka to come with him and speak reason to Drago.  She also refuses, more concerned with protecting the dragons from Drago and his men.  She will protect her own (an echo of Stoick saying a chief protects his own in regards to Vikings.)

Astrid and the team make it to Drago’s camp and are taken prisoner.  Stoick and Hiccup aren’t there, but Drago manages to bend Hookfang to his will, more through brute strength and fear than understanding like Hiccup.  He claims that he alone controls dragons.  Well, the Berkians have a surprise for him.  There’s another ‘dragon master,’ Hiccup, son of Stoick the Vast, heir to the chief of Berk.  He will come rescue them on his Night Fury and take down Drago.  He chuckles.  Now he knows he needs to attack Berk.  When Drago orders Eret to be killed, Stormfly protects him, to his astonishment.  When the young adults are about to walk the plank, Eret returns the favor and helps them get free.  They search for their dragons and Eret thanks Stormfly.

Since neither of his parents will listen to him, or try to help him, Hiccup plans to set out for Drago on his own.  He’s stopped by Stoick and Gobber who have arrived.  Well, now Hiccup has another surprise for Stoick.  He’s stunned silent when he catches sight of Valka.  She expects him to shout, demand why she stayed away from them for twenty years.  “Stop being so stoic, Stoick!”  Instead, the first words out of his mouth are “you’re as beautiful as the day I lost you.”  Who knew that Stoick could be so soft and romantic?  They kiss and all are happy with the reunion.  This is the first time in Hiccup’s memory that he’s had both of his parents present.  Stoick even sings a song to Valka, The Dancing and the Dreaming.  She joins in and they dance around.  They’re ready to be a family again.  Gobber will cook.

Their happiness is interrupted by distress from the dragons.  Drago has found the sanctuary.  Everyone mounts up.  The team escape with their dragons and start setting fire to the traps, rescuing other wild dragons.  Fishlegs and Snotlout both save Ruffnut when she falls off Barf and Belch, (they attempt to look majestic…mixed results I’d say.)  Astrid and Eret ride Stormfly together and then Hiccup bursts in.  When Astrid asks what he’s been up to, “oh, just catching up with mom,” as Cloudjumper and the Bewilderbeast emerge.  Now they know where Hiccup gets his dramatic flair.  [The music is awesome here.]

Valka ends up on the ground and goes after Drago.  Drago reveals that he too has a Bewilderbeast Alpha, that controls his dragon army.  So Bewilderbeast faces off against Bewilderbeast.  Stoick steps in to defend Valka and then faces off against Drago, in a mimic of the fight going on behind them.  Ultimately, Drago’s Bewilderbeast kills Valka’s.  Then he sets it to kill Valka.  Stoick rushes off to save his long-lost wife.  Hiccup is the next to face Drago.  Drago’s surprised by Hiccup’s size and comments that Stoick must feel shame that this is his son.  Hiccup ignores that comment and retorts that this is Drago’s effort to rule the world.  He remarks that dragons are kind and can bring people together.  Drago doesn’t believe it; he knows their cruelty; he shows Hiccup where he lost an arm and wears a prosthetic.  Hiccup theorizes that Drago needs dragons to conquer other dragons, or is it other people?  Control those who follow him and get rid of those who won’t.  Drago admits Hiccup is a “clever boy,” [but with none of the genuine admiration that Viggo had for Hiccup, even at the height of their war against each other.]  Hiccup presses that the world wants peace, and he can show Drago.

Drago has his Bewilderbeast ignore Valka and take control of Toothless.  Then orders Toothless against Hiccup.  “He who controls the Alpha, controls all,” and that true strength is strength over others.  Stoick realizes the change and runs back to his son [he’s almost lost Hiccup how many times?  He’s lived with this fear for twenty years; it’s been just the two guys.]  Toothless advances on Hiccup and Hiccup can’t get his friend to snap out of it.  Toothless prepares a blast and Stoick knocks Hiccup out of the way at the last second.

The music shifts and we all realize what occurred.  Astrid rushes to her fiancé’s side and Drago strides away.  Toothless comes back to himself and tries to nuzzle Stoick.  Hiccup brushes him away with angry words.  Valka comforts Hiccup; it wasn’t Toothless’ fault.  “Good dragons under the control of bad people do bad things.”  Drago then takes control of Toothless, who is having difficulty flying.  When Hiccup hears his friends cry, his angry vanishes and he wants to go after Toothless, but all of the dragons are flying off to follow the new Alpha to attack Berk.

Stoick is laid out in a funeral ship, Gobber speaks the farewell words to “a warrior, a chieftain, a father, a friend,” and Hiccup leads everyone (including Eret) in lighting the funeral ship alight.  Many of his friends, who we’ve seen act tough, shed tears.  Heck, I cry during this scene every time (not helped by bagpipes playing).  [And we wonder for a moment if all will be well; Stoick told Drago it takes more than a little fire to kill him.]  Hiccup addresses his father: “I’m not the chief that you wanted me to be.  And I’m not the peacekeeper I thought I was.”

Valka tells Hiccup he was born early; wee, frail, fragile.  She wondered if he’d survive, but Stoick never doubted.  “He always said you’d become the strongest of them all.”  And words of wisdom for her son: “You have the heart of a chief, and the soul of a dragon.  Only you can bring our worlds together.”  Hiccup doesn’t have to choose.  This is who he can be; who he was born to be.  Chief, like his father.  Dragon lover, like his mother.  [But with a Hiccup flair thrown in.]  [And oh, the art is beautiful here, where Hiccup stands in front of the light from the funeral pyre.]

I was so afraid of becoming my dad, mostly because I thought I never could. How, how do you become someone that great, that brave, that selfless. I guess you can only try.

His theme comes back as he turns to his friends and declares “a chief protects his own,” echoing his father’s statement earlier.  Then he tells them they’re going back.  They’re going to stop Drago.  And he’s got an idea.  A crazy one, but then all Hiccup ideas are crazy.  They ride the baby dragons to Berk; they won’t get controlled by the Alpha.  They’ll get Toothless back and kick Drago’s…that part gets cut off.

Drago arrives at Berk with his Bewilderbeast and takes control of the dragons there, then announces to the village that their chief is dead.  And Hiccup is nowhere to be seen.  But they cheer come the dawn when Hiccup rides in with the rest of the young adults.  There are ice chunks now in the village and Drago is still in front of all the people.  Hiccup sends his friends to distract the Alpha so Hiccup can get close to Toothless.  They use the sheep launcher and Fishlegs even responds to its growls with a giant horn.  They’re briefly successful, but Hiccup does get close to Toothless.  Drago warns him that the Night Fury won’t miss a second time, after noting that the lad is hard to get rid of (yeah, several people in RTTE found that out.)  Hiccup pleads, “you’re my best friend,” and understands that Toothless didn’t mean to hurt Stoick.  Toothless would never hurt Hiccup.  After several blinks, Toothless is back!  [And cue awesome music!]  He knocks Drago off and then falls without someone to control his tail.  Hiccup dives after him.  The pair right themselves before they crash and take off.

Hiccup makes sure to cover Toothless’ ears and eyes.  “You and me as one,” he tells his friend.  Astrid and the rest of the Berkians cheer Hiccup on.  They separate again so Hiccup can surprise Drago and knock him off the Bewilderbeast.  But now Toothless and Hiccup have to meet back up and they’re approaching a large dragon tail again.  But the new fins help and Toothless catches Hiccup properly.  They land and Hiccup faces Drago, but the Bewilderbeast shoots his ice at the young Viking.  Toothless jumps around him and covers him, but they’re encased.  Drago thinks he’s won.  But the ice glows blue and bursts apart.  There are bright blue spots on Toothless who roars loudly at the Bewilderbeast, still covering Hiccup.  He spreads his wings (as many animals do to appear more threatening) and challenges the Alpha, as Hiccup notes.  “To protect you,” Valka adds.  Toothless’ barrage on the Bewilderbeast breaks its hold on the other dragons, who fly around to Toothless’ side and also begin blasting the Bewilderbeast.  In the chaos, he loses part of a tusk, even while Drago shouts for him to take back control.  Hiccup joins his dragon and tells Drago that this is what it truly means to gain a dragon’s loyalty.  Drago loses his metal arm in all the firepower and the Bewilderbeast sinks back into the water.  We don’t quite see what happens to Drago, if he manages to ride with the dragon or something else happens.

The rest of the dragons, led by Cloudjumper, bow to their new Alpha, Toothless (who looks very pleased with himself).  Hiccup thanks his friend.  The moment is lightened when Toothless licks him again.  Hiccup takes the time to pass Skullcrusher to Eret; he’ll need someone to look after him.  Astrid joins her fiancé and the two share a kiss.  Gobber and Gothi come to stand next to Hiccup.  Hiccup kneels for Gothi to place a symbol on his forehead in ash.  Gobber announces to the crowd “the chief has come home!” and all cheer.

We see the village rebuilding, removing the ice, and even starting on a statue of Stoick.  The young adults are dragon racing again, with Hiccup joining in.  His narration tells us his view as chief:

Those who attacked us are relentless and crazy, but those who stopped them, oh, even more so.  We may be small in numbers, but we stand for something bigger than anything the world can pit against us.  We are the voice of peace and bit by bit, we will change this world.  You see, we have something they don’t.  Oh sure, they have armies and they have armadas, but we…we have…our dragons!

Cate Blanchett (Galadriel in Lord of the Rings and Hobbit, Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, the evil stepmother in the live action Cinderella, Marion in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, the antagonist in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and portrayed Elizabeth I in two movies amongst dozens of other roles.  She’s won two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, and three SAG awards) joins the cast as Valka, and Dijmon Hounsou (he’s Korath in the MCU and appeared in Eragon) is Drago, while Kit Harington (best known as Jon Snow from Game of Thrones, I also watched him in Pompeii and Testament of Youth) is Eret.

It’s a toss-up between this and the original for my favorite movie of the franchise.  I adore the soundtrack to this movie.  I think I will definitely detail some thoughts on all of them in my wrap up blog in a few months.  I will note that we hear bagpipes more in this soundtrack than the first.  There’s still the humor we love from the first movie, but it is a little more of an adult story.  Especially with the death of Hiccup’s father.  Did not see that coming the first time around.  As noted by the fandom when Hiccup takes off his helmet at the beginning of the movie: we were Neville Longbottomed by a cartoon character (nerdy kid matured to be good looking.) 

I also dearly love the character growth shown in Race to the Edge that plays into this film.  Hiccup faced challenges during their life at the Edge; he grew as a leader.  He became a peacekeeper, always trying to show how dragons and people can live together.  His friends support him as a leader.  Astrid is unquestionably his second in command; we see that in this movie as well.  They follow her to Drago’s camp.  They follow Hiccup back to Berk.

Hiccup and Astrid are absolutely sweet in this movie.  They’re settled as a couple.  Astrid can tell most times what Hiccup is planning on doing and often follows and supports him.  She gives him wise counsel that what Hiccup’s searching for in his life isn’t out in the great beyond, it’s in his heart.  Hiccup easily wants Astrid along; he doesn’t argue when she finds him at Itchy Armpit.  He doesn’t send her away when he tries to persuade Eret to take him to Drago.  He’s not ashamed to initiate a kiss with her in front of the entire village at the end of the film.

Even in Race to the Edge, Hiccup was not keen on becoming chief of Berk anytime soon.  He didn’t want to do it when Stoick was very hurt.  He doesn’t want to do it now initially.  He’s twenty; he still likes a life of adventure (we saw that even at the beginning of RTTE).  But he will step up.  He will do what is right for his people; a chief protects his own.  And for Hiccup, that includes dragons as well as Vikings.  He is a mixture of his parents, a lover of dragons, and a leader of Vikings.  And Berk has grown to trust and follow Hiccup.  They cheer when he comes to protect them from Drago.

This movie expands Hiccup’s family dynamics, with the reemergence of his mother, who has been gone for twenty years.  The trio were blissfully happy for a few hours.  And then Drago destroyed that.  Hiccup will only ever know having one parent.  His gained a mother, but lost a father.  He lost the parent who raised him.  He lost the parent that saw him through his trials and being an awkward kid and teenager, to coming through fire (literally) to change how their village and surrounding area views dragons.  Stoick did not hesitate to protect Hiccup, leaving his long-lost wife to run after his boy.  Many antagonists that Hiccup has met along the way comment that Stoick the Vast must be disappointed with his son.  Known as the dragon master, but so skinny and unimposing.  It’s Hiccup’s heart that is great.  Hiccup remarks at the funeral that he’s scared to take over his father’s position; he knows he’s not his dad.  Some fanfic authors have explored the growing pains that Valka and Hiccup go through after the film; getting to know one another after so long apart from each other.

I do have a bittersweet memory attached to this movie.  It came out about the time a friend from faire went into hospice.  She was an incredibly sweet woman, made sure to tell me as a newbie, peasant cast member, that I don’t have to bow and wait for the royal cast members to interact if they’re not paying attention.  When I found out she had passed, I went to see this movie as something to do.  Luckily, a coworker was also at the movie the same day and I managed to not cry through the entire movie.  Still love the movie, but the funeral scene always twinges a bit more.

This film is a great addition to the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.  Drago did pose a bigger threat to Hiccup and Berk because he had the literal army, both in men and dragons, to back up his claims.  He has control of a Bewilderbeast and manages to land and attack Berk.  He’s impervious to Hiccup’s persuasion.  Hiccup has now met someone he cannot charm (well, he found a few towards the end of Race to the Edge.)  Hiccup and his riders take on a literal army in this film, far more numbers than they have before.  But they’re twenty now, not teens.  And they have Stoick and Valka to back them up for a bit, plus a Bewilderbeast on their side.  The battle still boils down to Hiccup taking on the main antagonist and this antagonist doesn’t roll over for the pride of Berk.  His Bewilderbeast kills the other.  He takes control of the other dragons, which our heroes have not encountered. 

However, good does triumph over evil.  And it is due to love.  Hiccup may have initially been angry at Toothless for the death of his father, in those first few moments.  But as soon as Toothless was in trouble, Hiccup wants to rescue his friend, his best friend.  Hiccup’s love for Toothless, and Toothless’ love in return for Hiccup bring the pair back together and together they triumph over the Alpha and Drago.  Toothless is tiny compared to the Bewilderbeast, but he doesn’t hesitate to get between his opponent and his boy.  His roar brings the other dragons to his side and then acknowledge him as their new Alpha.

Up Next: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, and a few ending shorts.  After that will be a longer wrap-up of the fandom in general and my take on the music of the franchise (that may be a bit longer coming)

“You and Toothless came together for a very specific reason at a very specific time.”

Sixth and Final Season: Race to the Edge

It’s the final season of the show, so the stakes are even higher.  We have a new antagonist that was totally unexpected the first time around.  And now they’re looking for a King of Dragons.

Johann and his cronies do not find the King of Dragons on their lens; they must need more in In Plain Sight.  Krogan and Viggo differ on their methods of retrieving lenses.  Johann suggests they figure out how to persuade Hiccup to give up his lenses. 

So, meanwhile at Dragon’s Edge, Dagur stops by and discovers that of course, Hiccup has built his own Dragon Eye.  But he needs more gems to properly make it work.  That’s when Johann drops by and he’d be glad to help Hiccup acquire the appropriate gems (now we can hear the wheedling and conniving in his voice).  Just like Heather, Oswald left a Dragon Eye lens for Dagur, except his was lost years ago, though he has an idea where it is.  Snotlout goes with Dagur to retrieve that and the twins invite themselves along to the Northern Market with Johann and Hiccup.

Some Hunters try to trap Hiccup at the market and get the lenses, but Toothless rescues Hiccup.  The twins point out the irony of the trap, but Hiccup willingly goes with Johann to get the final gems, in the lair of the Sandblaster.  Except, as we’ve noticed, the twins often will speak the truth amongst their gibberish and chaos.  And Hiccup has learned to listen; he realized Johann was playing Hiccup.  Why else did the trader suggest bringing all the lenses?  Why would the Hunters ask for the lenses?  He even rattles off the clues Johann has dropped through the years, giving them just the right or wrong information as needed.

Johann has been a traitor since Breakneck Bog (all the way back in the first season of Riders of Berk); probably got annoyed by the dragons and the teens.  He desires the King of Dragons so he can become the richest man on Earth.  His tales have been stolen from real merchants that he disposed of once he sank their ships and took their cargo.  He also wants to rid the archipelago of Hiccup and his Dragon Riders.  “But you have the most annoying habit of not dying when you’re supposed to.”  [Bit harsh for a so-called children’s show.]  Johann makes a grab for Hiccup’s bag, but it doesn’t have the lenses in it.  Johann manages to escape, but Hiccup knows they’ll get another shot.  Dagur has his lens and now it’s a race: “first person to find all five lenses reveals the King of Dragons.”  “Game on,” Hiccup declares.

Unfortunately, Hiccup now has to inform his father of Johann’s treachery.  Stoick’s decisions in No Bark, All Bite, is to burn everything Johann has recently brought.  His argument is to make sure none of the food is poisoned.  Hiccup has a different opinion on how to do things, so he butts heads with Stoick.  He did invite three of the most trustworthy merchants in the archipelago to stop by and vie for Berk’s trade.  Stoick quickly dismisses them because none of them had willow bark, which they need for their medicines.  Hiccup and Stoick will go get some bark; Gobber offers to stay behind and try out all the merchants.

Flyers tail the duo and set fire to the islands where they can get the bark.  Hiccup and Stoick continue to bicker, then realize that there’s a larger plan at work.  In fact, the Hunters have invaded Berk and hold its people hostage (seems the merchants weren’t so trustworthy.)  The Riders work on escaping as Hiccup and Stoick fly back.  Stoick faces off versus Krogan, but the man manages to slink away at the end instead of fighting against more of the Riders.  Stoick tells his son that he and Berk need Hiccup, though the teen intends to return to the Edge to fight against the Hunters.  Dagur, proving to be good ally, sends the willow bark that Berk needs.

Hiccup sets up a summit at Defender of the Wing island to fill his allies in on Johann’s treachery in Chain of Command.  At Wingmaiden island, Snotlout bonds with Minden about how they’re passed over for the more important roles of authority.  Minden repeatedly tries to prove herself, but often chooses the wrong option; like moving all the guards to the other side of the island to combat a fire; it was a distraction.  She feels like she’s not longer worthy of being a Wingmaiden.  Snotlout points out that he never said she should quit, but deal with there are some people their leaders will choose over them.  “I’m an idiot, ask anyone.”

Meanwhile, at the Defenders of the Wing island, Dagur meets Mala and they end up bonding; well, the twins try to mediate between them when the two leaders bicker.  And they bond and Mala rides with Dagur when they come to help rescue Hiccup and Toothless.  Krogan once again retreats and the Riders hide their lenses on Wingmaiden island.  As they fly back to the Edge, Hiccup states that Snotlout is indeed a valuable member of the tribe, though he’ll have to fight Astrid for some of the tasks.

There is apparently a Loyal Order of Ingerman and Fishlegs is distressed to discover that his family was known for hunting Dramillion dragons.  [How is this different than any other family in Berk?  All of Berk fought dragons until Hiccup shot one down and then rode it into battle.]  Astrid goes along with Fishlegs to find the rest of the Dramillions and make sure they’re not extinct.  Nope, not extinct, but there are Hunters who train using them, so the two have to set the Dramillions free.  Meanwhile, the twins and Snotlout try their hands at educating a group of kids from Berk, which goes about as well as one can expect from Snotlout and the twins.  “How is it that three dragon riders who have gone head-to-head with Viggo Grimborn can’t handle three children from Berk?” Hiccup quips.

Fishlegs gains the trust of the Dramillions by echoing many of Hiccup’s actions: tossing his Viking helmet aside, and holding out his hand to the dragon’s nose.  The three children do emerge from the woods, having proved themselves to their new trainers and are eager to rejoin Fishlegs for more education.

Gruffnut returns in A Gruff Separation to moderate the Thorston Induction Trials for the twins, though he claims there is only one spot open in the family.  At first, neither twin will compete, but he talks them around separately.  The first challenge is to acquire Speed Stinger venom, which they’ll use in the second challenge to freeze Changewings in order to grab some of their molted skin (which works a bit like an visibility cloak.)  The twins don’t fully trust Gruff and neither does Hiccup, so he follows them through the challenges.  The third challenge is to go into a nest of Titanwing Zipplebacks and retrieve a chest.  The twins ultimately work together because Ruff won’t leave Tuff to be eaten.  Gruff takes the chest, supposedly back to Berk.  And his story gets a gaping hole in it when their aunt arrives on the Edge to administer the trails.  We find out that the chest has a lens in it, but the conclusion of the story won’t play out for a few episodes.

The relationship between Dagur and Mala goes well and in Mi Amore Wing, they announce they are getting married and ask Hiccup to be the best man.  They act very lovey-dovey and Astrid notices the differences in her relationship with Hiccup.  Hiccup quips that he’s never seen Dagur so passionate about anything, except killing me.  Astrid wears the betrothal medallion, to see if Hiccup notices.  He’s distracted by a dragon problem and doesn’t notice.  He spots a Dragon Eye lens on the Armorwing, before he notices the medallion, which does not earn him any points with Astrid.  She goes so far as to give the medallion back to Hiccup.  But, when Krogan turns up and it becomes a race to get the lens, Astrid takes Hiccup’s hand.  “I’m with you.”  “I know.”

Afterwards Hiccup tosses the lens to protect Dagur and Krogan flies off with it, Hiccup admits that he’s taken Astrid for granted.  Yes, their relationship is different from Dagur’s and Mala’s; it’s built on years of friendship.  But he couldn’t have done any of the big things; the Riders, the Edge, without Astrid.  “You’ve always been there for me, and I want to always be there for you.  I love you, Astrid Hofferson, with everything I have.  And I always will.”  He returns the medallion to Astrid and kisses her.

With Krogan and the Hunters gaining another lens, Hiccup decides it’s wise to move their lenses from Wingmaiden island as a precaution.  They arrive on the island when it’s time for a new batch of baby Razorwhips to pick their maiden who will be their protector.  One decides that Ruffnut is their person, much to Ruffnut’s annoyance.  Tuffnut is eager to help and secretly does the training tasks for his twin sister, bestowing the name “Wingnutt” on the baby dragon.  Ruff struggles to bond with the dragon and the dragon won’t go to anyone else.  She attempts to give up, but spots a Hunter ambush and goes into action with Wingnutt.  Astrid commands the Riders as Hiccup faces off with Krogan.  Ruff recues Atali, but still refuses to remain on Wingmaiden island afterwards.  She’s still a Dragon Rider and since men aren’t allowed and the island and Ruffnut won’t be separated from Tuffnut…  Wingnutt decides to stay with Atali in Ruff Transition.

Johann seals Viggo inside a cave with a Monstrous Nightmare in Triple Cross.  Next, Hiccup goes to find another lens, alone, based off a note from Stoick.  But he’s prepared when Viggo pops out; he’s learned a few things over the years.  The two adversaries face off and Viggo has his own fire sword, with a few improvements [some of those will be incorporated in Hiccup’s next sword.]  Viggo’s sword emits Zippleback gas, which gets his breathing room to ask Hiccup for help against Krogan and Johann.  He tells Hiccup that Krogan is employed by a mysterious buyer from the North [Drago], not Johann.  Viggo has come for the Skrill, who is the Singetail’s natural predator.

He’s learned from Hiccup about dragons.  The Monstrous Nightmare protected Viggo in the cave in.  And Viggo won’t hurt the Skirll; it’s a magnificent creature; he’d never torture it.  That’s something Hiccup never thought he’d hear his adversary say.

When they enact their plan, Viggo gives Hiccup to Johann, but he won’t kill Hiccup when all three men argue.  That’s Hiccup’s cue for his part of the plan to get Johann’s lenses.  It’s another trap and Viggo comes by to help Hiccup get out.  It will be Viggo’s last stand; he already has several arrow wounds.  The Skrill stands beside Viggo against the Hunters while Hiccup and Toothless escape, despite Hiccup’s protests.  He covers the Maces and Talons board at the Edge, a bit in memory of Viggo.

Astrid wants to check on Garff in Family Matters.  Hiccup tries to warn her not to; they don’t want the Hunters to find him.  But, Hiccup can’t win an argument against Astrid.  And indeed, when they find the adult Deathsong and go to free it, Garff is captured.  The Riders are forced to retreat and they wonder why the Singetails won’t leave the island.  Turns out, it’s a hatchery.  Throughout all of this, Snotlout is composing a book (which Hiccup and Astrid call a short story and a work of fiction.)  The Riders eventually come up with a plan to get all the eggs out and all the dragons to leave, and free the two Deathsongs.

Darkest Night is where the season starts wrapping up.  Stoick is patrolling at night, alone, when the Flyers attack.  He and Skullcrusher are knocked down; Stoick has to bat away fireballs with his axe.  Gobber and the A-Team rescue Stoick before it’s too late, but he’s badly hurt.  Hiccup and the other Riders rush back to Berk.  Spitelout speaks at a council meeting that it’s time they take the offensive Johann.  Snotlout agrees with his father; they need the right strategy and right leader.  Spitelout says that if Stoick can’t be chief, someone needs to step in.  That would mean Hiccup.  Hiccup’s not ready to take on even the temporary mantle of chief; he’s not ready to give up on his father getting better.

Hiccup blames himself for this mess.  If he had never left for the Edge, none of this would have happened.  His friends come by because they can’t sleep either and start theorizing what life would be like if they had stayed on Berk.  The twins figure they would have gone full Loki and chaos would rein, with Johann and Dagur still attacking, but Berk would be less prepared.  Fishlegs thinks that there would have been peace.  Snotlout bursts his bubble and loudly proclaims that he would have been the favored Viking and engaged to Astrid instead.  Hiccup puts a loud end to their storytelling.  It doesn’t matter what story they come up with.

“We trained the dragons. We left Berk. And my father is on his deathbed because of it, because of me. None of this would have happened…if I had never shot down Toothless in the first place. You know it, I know it. Berk knows it. Everyone knows it! Even he [Toothless] knows it.”

He storms off for some privacy, but Toothless finds him.  Hiccup apologizes.  Then Astrid finds him and tells him a different story.  If Hiccup had missed that shot those years ago, Stoick would have eventually made Hiccup complete his training and kill a dragon.  Hiccup mocks Stoick in the cove on why killing a beast that’s minding its own business suddenly makes you a man, when Toothless shows up.  Hiccup accidentally catches him, but still can’t bring himself to kill the Night Fury.  Toothless gets free and yells at Hiccup, but then a Screaming Death appears.  Both Hiccup and Toothless attempt to protect the other, including a wild flight.  They’re both knocked out at certain points and Stoick comes thundering up to scare off the Screaming Death.  Same as after the Red Death, Toothless kept Hiccup safe, though the young Viking still lost his leg.  So ultimately, the pair come together as they are.  As Astrid told Hiccup earlier, they came together for a reason.  Hiccup agrees, he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be.  He’d ultimately still be out there fighting for dragons; all of his friends would end up right where they are.

Hiccup’s not giving up on his dad, but he has to stop Johann and the Flyers, or none of what’s happened will matter.  Then more bad news at the end of the episode; Heather brings word that the Flyers have attacked Vanaheim.

In Guardians of Vanaheim, Stoick wakes up long enough to tell Hiccup to do what he needs to do.  Luckily, Alvin and some Outcasts arrive to help keep an eye on Stoick and protect Berk.  The Riders find fires on Vanaheim and the Sentinel dragons down, seemingly dead.  There’s one Flyer left that tells them that word is on its way back to Johann.  Fishlegs remains behind when Meatlug won’t leave the Sentinels; the rest of the Riders race after the Flyers.  They’re forced to regroup and Hiccup now starts worrying about making the wrong decision; a lot is riding on what he decides.  Astrid calms him down; the young man makes a hundred decisions a day, they’re not all going to be correct.  What is important is that Hiccup keeps going after making a mistake.

Meatlug is able to wake up the Sentinels with her lava; and some help from the twins (cause they’ll take any excuse to start a big fire).  Johann doesn’t make it to Vanaheim, but he does have Gruffnut and the Dragon Eye lens.

The season ends with the two-parter King of Dragons.  Legend says that the King of Dragons uses its mind to control other dragons.  The Riders think it’s a Titanwing Dramillion based on what lenses they have.  As the Riders get ready to head out, Spitelout brings word that Stoick’s condition has worsened.  He’s not dead, but the council has called Hiccup back to Berk to be acting chief.  The teens start packing up, with Astrid keeping them in line.  Hiccup ultimately decides that he’s going after Johann; the chief doesn’t have to follow orders, well, Stoick never did.  Spitelout goes with the Riders when they find the Hunter navy.

The twins rescue Gruffnut, but he talks them and Spitelout into going back for something important.  (They ultimately leave him on a beach later.)  Turns out, the Titanwing Dramillion can cloak itself like a Changewing.  It’s a battle to try to either capture the dragon or protect it.  The Hunters get him and cart him away.  Later, the Riders find him left to die and bring him to Defenders of the Wing island for care.  There, his fire reveals the final puzzle in the Dragon Eye for the King of Dragons.  Hiccup had been thinking that the Dramillion couldn’t be the king, because the skeletons don’t match.  The final showdown will take place on Berserker Island.

Once again, when the Riders manage to surround Krogan on Berserker Island, he retreats.  Oddly, the Singetails can’t get too close to the island, something prevents them.  The king must be beneath the island, using its mind control.  Wingmaidens arrive to bolster the Riders and Astrid takes charge after she tells Hiccup to go protect the king from Krogan and Johann.  (They do have enough time for a kiss.)

The king indeed has as strange blast; ice rather than fire.  [It’s a Bewilderbeast.]  Hiccup finds an egg and tries to get it to safety, but is pinned down by Johann and Krogan.  Hiccup ends up over the cliff and starts to climb up using his fire sword and his peg leg.  Johann grabs the egg, but they all fight over it.  Toothless protects Hiccup, then Hiccup orders him after Krogan and the egg.  Now it’s just Johann and Hiccup.  Johann quips how ironic it will be that the final resting place for the champion of dragons will be in the King of Dragon’s birth nest.  A blast from the king freezes Johann and gives Hiccup a chance to climb up, made a little more difficult when his sword breaks (ice plus fire).  Hiccup never actually sees the king.

We see a whole flock of dragons; all the dragons we’ve seen in the show arrive to help defend the king of dragons.  Garff recues Astrid.  Fishlegs and Snotlout both rescue Ruffnut.  Krogan manages to get away, but Toothless has the egg.  When Krogan reports to Drago, Drago refuses to give the man another chance, he motions for him to be killed.  They’ll just have to find another king of dragons.

The Wingmaidens know of someone who can care for the egg, so they leave it in a special spot.  A mysterious figure [Valka] retrieves the egg.  Astrid and Hiccup share a kiss at Dagur and Mala’s wedding, where Snotlout and Fishlegs start vying for Ruffnut’s attention.  The Riders officially leave the Edge (though the buildings remain).  Stoick recovers, but Hiccup figures his father will try to hand the reins over soon.  They destroy both Dragon Eyes; they’re chocked full of information on dragons, but in the wrong hands, they would be very dangerous. 

“We are older, stronger, braver, and in some cases wiser… We return to Berk ready for anything, ready for anyone, ready to fight for our dragons and they are ready to fight for us.”

 This all sets up the second movie; excellent tie-in.  Though there is a question to be asked: where were all of these allies when Drago moved against Berk?  The simple answer is, these allies weren’t written into the timeline until after the second movie had come out, so they weren’t available to be used.  Also, parts of this, like the attack on Stoick, become so much more poignant after the second movie.

I liked Astrid’s story best of all in Darkest Night because it’s the most plausible.  While the twins would undoubtedly go full Loki with nothing to take up their time, their tales always descend into the absurd.  And there’s no evidence to support either Fishleg’s or Snotlout’s ideas.  Yes, Hiccup would have to prove himself to his father.  And he quickly learned once he was in dragon training that he didn’t want to kill them.  He’d figure out some way to befriend them.

It’s sweet that Dagur and Mala got together and definitely not something we could have seen coming.  Hiccup does have a point that his and Astrid’s relationship is very different than theirs; Astrid has always been Hiccup’s second in command and Snotlout has wisely learned that.  He’s still searching for his exact place and has proven on occasion to be a decent leader.

We see Hiccup get a little more ruthless.  He almost attacks the Flyer on Vanaheim, but puts his sword in the sand.  He fires an arrow directly at Krogan, only for the Singetail to bat it away.  He’s also gotten good at throwing bolas.  He’s developed skills that help with dragon riding, but don’t center completely on dragon riding.

This will play into the second movie, but Hiccup has gotten good at persuading people to the good qualities of dragons.  He persuaded his father and all of Berk.  Alvin and Dagur are now allies because they discovered they couldn’t best Hiccup and it was better to have dragons as friends than enemies.  Hiccup’s even gotten Viggo Grimborn to respect dragons and want to protect them rather than hunt and sell them.  That was something we did not expect when he was introduced.  Krogan’s proven to be more of a blunt instrument, with very little of the finesse and charm that Viggo displays.  There would be no turning him, since he delights in using dragons to attack the Riders.  And there’s no turning Johann.  He hid his disdain for years, masterfully.  Hiccup is learning what sort of people are out in the world.  Some can be reasoned with, some cannot.  There are more dragons than they ever thought of; and again, some can be reasoned with, and some cannot.

Hiccup continues to develop as a leader.  The Berk council is willing to name him acting chief when Stoick is incapacitated.  He speaks well with other leaders who are undoubtedly older than him.  He’s gained their trust as an expert on dragons.  He’s finally settled into a friendship with Dagur and stands as his best man at his wedding.

I love this show like I love the movies.  There are episodes I willingly watch over and over for how the characters act, for little scenes that pop up.  The teens get to grow into young adults and have adventures and some crazy times.  What teen hasn’t wanted a super cool clubhouse with their friends?  The show is a wonderful bridge between the first two movies and I’m now kind of eager to watch the second movie soon.  First, I will step back and work on some stories for a few weeks, but never fear, How to Train Your Dragon 2 blog will be coming.

“Please don’t kill me, I’ll never hear the end of it from my dragon…why don’t I ever listen to my dragon?”

Season 5: Race to the Edge

`           A lot more ties to the second movie pop up in this season.  Reminder, the second movie came out before this series began, but storyline-wise, this all happens before the film.

            So, Living on the Edge picks up with the aftermath of the volcano erupting at the end of Season 4.  Aftershocks rock the island and most of the team is ready to leave.  Even Astrid tells Hiccup “it might be time to head back to Berk.  Viggo and Ryker are gone.  The Dragon Eye is destroyed.  Even Mother Natures is telling us to go.”  Softer, “Hiccup, we won.  We can go home now.”  Hiccup finally agrees, though he says they need to stabilize the island and relocate the dragons first.  That’s when Johann arrives with news.  Astrid and Hiccup go to investigate and find an injured Garff.  He was recently injured, meaning the Hunters are still active and still a threat.  Hiccup and the other Riders decide that they can’t go home yet.

            We see that the Dragon Hunters have a new leader, the mysterious cloaked bounty hunter.  He’s been using the adult Death Song to lure in dragons.  Some of his hunters think that’s cheating.  The man seems to allow a discussion, but then eliminates the naysayers a few minutes later.

            Hiccup and Astrid are preparing to make their betrothal official in Sandblasted.  Hiccup already has his betrothal gift for Astrid, but Astrid is desperately seeking a gift good enough for Hiccup.  He’s not an ordinary Viking; he has a Night Fury, a suit made of yak hides for flying, a sword that ignites on command, and he will be the next chief of Berk.  She enlists Fishleg’s help in finding a gift.

            Once again, the Riders head off to investigate information that Trader Johann has sent them.  In the course of the day, Snotlout allows Hiccup’s gift to Astrid to be taken, so Hiccup and Snotlout have to chase after the guy.  They disappear into the beach where many merchants have met the same fate.  There’s a new dragon that blasts something that turns into glass they have to avoid.  It also dislikes sunlight, which is why is hides in a cave under the beach.

            Astrid leads the other Riders to find Hiccup and Snotlout even admits he won’t leave without Hiccup (he’s come a long way, especially since the Thawfest games).  After all the commotion, Hiccup and Astrid get a moment alone.  Hiccup’s gift is the charm his father used for his mother, now strung as a necklace.  Astrid admits she doesn’t have a gift for Hiccup.  Hiccup is fine with that; she is the only gift he needs.  Astrid has always been a part of their family and Hiccup hopes she always will be.  The episode ends with Hiccup noticing that a sword one of the other Riders has picked up is Viggo’s sword.  How did Viggo’s sword end up somewhere else?

            Next, the Riders are invited to Berserker Island to watch an apprentice graduate in Something Rotten on Berserker Island.  That apprentice turns out to be Gustav, which annoys Snotlout, since Gustav has always been trying to copy Snotlout.  And Dagur makes up new nicknames for Snotlout.  Hiccup is a little surprised to see Savage back with the Berserkers.  Hiccup was right to note his appearance, because Savage tries to take over the island.  He knocks out the dragons and puts Dagur in prison.  Snotlout and Gustav have to work together to get the Berserker chief out and then all the Riders go into battle without their dragons.  Which hey, just proves that Hiccup can now.  Also, turns out that the apprenticeship was made up; Dagur took Gustav off Stoick’s hands as a favor.

            In Snotlout’s Angels, Snotlout says something so heinous to Astrid that he has to fly away immediately.  We don’t hear what it is, but all of the Riders agree that Astrid is right to try to beat Snotlout up.  Hiccup does insist they need to find Snotlout regardless. 

            Snotlout manages to find an island full of Viking women, who call themselves Wing Maidens, partly due to the fact that they have dragons on their backs.  While there, Snotlout is called out for his attitude towards women.  Heather, Astrid, and Ruffnut figure they need to go in to retrieve Snotlout and discover that the Wing Maidens tend to baby Razor Whips, who would otherwise be prey to male Razor Whips.  They watch over then until they’re strong enough to defend themselves.  Heather’s Razor Whip, Windshear, would have been raised for a time on their island.  The Riders have gained new friends and Snotlout admits that all he had to do was be nice to Astrid, instead of opening his yap.

            On Defenders of the Wing island, the new Great Protector takes on his duties; there is a changing of the guard in A Matter of Perspective.  Gronk and Mala explain that the old Great Protector will retire to Vanaheim, the final resting place of dragons.  It is a well-earned rest and a day to rejoice, not to mourn.  He is lucky to have led such a meaningful life.  The twins decide to try to find Vanaheim, even after Hiccup warns them they should not.  So the other Riders have to follow them in turn.  What appears to be Sentinel statues are actually stony dragons that want to protect the weary dragons on the land and keep other dragons, and humans away.

            The Riders manage to get past the Sentinels when they cover themselves in the fruit that grows on the island and insists to the other Riders, especially the twins, that this part of dragon culture needs to remain secret.  They can tell no one about the island.  From the sky as the Riders fly away, we can see that there is a large dragon skeleton on the island [Spoiler from the second movie: it’s a Bewilderbeast.]

            The Outcasts come to Hiccup and the Riders to report that Alvin has been kidnapped in Return of Thor Bonecrusher.  Snotlout insists that they should bring Thor Bonecrusher back in order to retrieve Alvin.  Hiccup advises no, because Thor was very arrogant.  Fishlegs wants to help, so he goes to Snotlout; on the conditions that he’s not so heroic and dangerous, and that he still loves Meatlug.  Snotlout also makes sure that Fishlegs can be brought back by clapping.  Except he said for Fishlegs to be anti-heroic.  So, Thor does not follow the plan, though they find out that whoever has Alvin wants a particular fish in exchange.  Weird.  During the fight, Snotlout claps to bring Fishlegs back, but Thor remains.  However, it did actually work and Fishlegs just pretended to still be Thor to continue with the plan. 

            They get Alvin back and we discover the new baddie’s name is Krogan.  Oh, and he’s working with Viggo, who is still alive and scarred, isn’t that grand.

            Hiccup and Astrid head off together to find ingredients for Hiccup’s secret project in Dawn of Destruction.  Snotlout brought up how the couple seems to only have time for each other now, and not their other friends.  Hiccup and Astrid both tell each other they don’t want to forget their friends, but they still want personal time together.  Astrid comments that she likes sensitive Hiccup.  Hiccup warns her not to tell his father.  Oh, Stoick already knows, everyone knows.  It’s what makes Hiccup such a great friend and leader and boyfriend.

            While they’re gone, Krogan has a group of Singetails attack the Edge.  He has a group of men flying them, whipping them into obedience.  The Riders attempt to fight them off.  Viggo gets on the island and makes his way back to the volcano.  He argues with Krogan that he doesn’t take orders from anyone, and that Krogan came looking for Viggo.  These two are uneasy allies.

            Snotlout is actually doing a decent job of leading the Riders in their fight against the Flyers, but they’re very happy that Hiccup and Astrid show up.  Hiccup makes the call for them to retreat, though he makes sure to destroy his hut before they finally leave.  They head for Defenders of the Wing island and are welcomed by Mala.  Fishlegs reveals that he and Snotlout snuck into Hiccup’s hut at the beginning of the fight to retrieve Hiccup’s secret project: a new Dragon Eye.  We see that Viggo is searching for the original one.

            Mala and Throk help cheer up the dejected Riders in the first part of Wings of War.  They have personal recommendations for each person, such as training for Snotlout and boars for the twins.  Viggo warns Krogan that Hiccup is a formidable adversary, and yes, he respects Hiccup’s ingenuity.  Krogan warns Viggo against the sentiment and sends his Flyers to the Defenders of the Wing to chase the Riders away. 

            They head back to Berk.  Stoick takes charge; he knows how to lead in a war; and knows what dragons are like under the influence of evil men.  He advises Hiccup that it’s more important to win the war than the battle [he also has a flashback to something we will see in the second movie.]  However, Stoick also holds that is may come to having to fire on the Singetails if they want to take down the Flyers.  Hiccup cannot hold to that; there has to be another way.  He flies off to think about it.  Stoick goes to Astrid with a plan.

            Hiccup’s plan is to go study Singetails, though he gets in a spot of trouble and separated from Toothless, though he finds Spitelout instead.  Spitelout has wanted revenge on the Singetails for ruining his off-Berk supply storage.  But that means he’s learned a bit about Singetails, and even named many of them.  Of course some sort of -lout name, but are we surprised?  Hiccup gets an idea and flies back to Berk, only to find Gustav, who tells him that Stoick and the other Riders have launched a pre-emptive strike on the Flyers.  Hiccup’s not sure a pre-emptive strike is a good idea, but he, Gustav, and Spitelout fly after everyone.  Hiccup uses what he learned from Spitelout and the Singetails to get the dragons distracted and shoot off their flyers.

            While Garff has bonded with Stormfly in No Dragon Left Behind, it is time for him to find a new home, because he’s not safe for the other dragons.  Fishlegs thinks he’s found the perfect island, but it’s not as uninhabited as he thought.  There are giant snake-like dragons called Slitherwings on the island, which are very poisonous.  It looks like Stormfly is hit defending Garff and Astrid is desperate for the antidote, which requires Slitherwing venom.  When the other Riders fail to get the venom, she punches a Slitherwing to acquire it.  But the antidote is only working on Astrid, not Stormly.

            Hiccup and Snotlout meanwhile, look for Garff.  They find him encased in his amber.  Luckily, Stormfly comes to the rescue with a new, powerful blast.  Stormfly hadn’t been poisoned, she had been depressed because she couldn’t keep Garff from harm.  Fishlegs finds a better island the next time.

            Tuffnut goofs off during the Changewing migration in Snuffnut.  Throk also comes to the Edge because he’s in love with Ruffnut and desires to take her away to be his bride.  Though his idea of courtship does not match up with that the teens learned in Berk and Hiccup has to guide Astrid away before she hurts their guest.  Fishlegs is left to educate Throk.  Throk makes his intentions known to Ruffnut, but she turns him down when he only invites her, not Tuffnut as well.  She takes her status as a twin very seriously; they’re a package deal. 

            Hiccup and Astrid point out to Tuffnut that Ruffnut could be giving up her own happiness with Throk to remain with Tuffnut.  So, Tuffnut stages his death by Changewing.  But Ruffnut still won’t leave.  This Changewing will be her new brother.  Throk understands a bit and tries to bond with the dragon.  Hiccup and Astrid knew that Tuffnut wasn’t dead and make him show himself.  Throk leaves the island alone, saying that for the good of the archipelago, he cannot split up Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

            Dagur and Heather are still searching for their father in the next episode, but Dagur worries that Heather’s obsession is going to get her hurt.  “As someone who’s spent most of their life in various states of existential crises,” I know meaningless.  He likes having a sister and doesn’t want anything bad to happen to her.  He sneaks the diary away from Heather and takes it to Hiccup.  He also wants Hiccup to tell Heather that there’s nothing in the diary and to give up on the search, but Hiccup recognizes a few drawings.  Oswald was on Vanaheim.

            When Hiccup sees the skeleton of the dragon again on the island, he comments that it’s even larger than the Red Death (the dragon he went against at the end of the first movie).  There are other dragons that he spots.  They apparently hunt the aging dragons and Oswald gave them the name ‘Grim Gnashers.’  Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Dagur found Oswald’s hut, his notes, and his body (they don’t show that on screen, but we do see the stone cairn they erect.)  The guys figure that Oswald ended up shipwrecked on the island and got along with the Sentinels, defending the gaining dragons on the island.  He left notes for both of his children and tells Dagur in his that he’s proud of his son.  Dagur admits to Hiccup that he feels guilty; he was a villain.  Hiccup disputes that Dagur was a kid, albeit misunderstood, diabolical, and slightly maniacal.

            The guys help drive off the Grim Gnashers and earn the Sentinels’ trust.  They’re allowed to leave the island.  Fishlegs takes Oswald’s research.  Meanwhile, back on the edge, the other Riders have been searching for Chicken, who apparently has a secret family, with Snotlout oddly narrating the entire time.  Heather is not at the Edge.  Instead, she has met with Johann, who tells her he has information that Oswald is alive.

            When Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Dagur find that out in Sins of the Past, they quickly fly to the Northern Market; it is obviously a trap.  Heather’s contact leads her to Krogan, who captures Wind Shear.  Krogan proposes a deal; he’ll give back Wind Shear if Heather hands over the Dragon Eye lens that has been on her belt this entire time.  Heather agrees, for Wind Shear.  But Krogan drops the cage into the ocean.  Luckily, Dagur is there to rescue his sister and her dragon.  They try to get the lens back, passing it between the various Riders, but Krogan does end up with the lens.  And gives it to Trader Johann who SURPRISE, is a bad guy all along!  He’s in search of the King of Dragons.

            Each season’s villain ups the ante.  Now we have Krogan who does not mind lulling his men into a false sense of security and then personally killing them.  Viggo was a bit like that, but he also respects Hiccup as an adversary.  Krogan does not.  Krogan’s men are disposable to him.  Viggo tries to advise Krogan to keep some Flyers back when they take the Edge, but Krogan senses victory and sends them all, then Hiccup pulls out a trick.

            We’ve already seen Alvin and Dagur turn from adversaries to allies.  Hiccup admits that Dagur was not always the best guy, but he’s changed; he’s grown.  Oswald was right to be proud of his son.  And I did not see the betrayal of Johann AT ALL the first time I watched the show.  Now, it does color how you view him the entire time during re-watches.  When do we get the clue that he can’t be trusted?  This will develop more in the final season.

            Astrid and Hiccup grow as a couple, as they grow up.  They are the future of Berk.  They learn to support each other and also learn to balance remaining close to their friends and peers and also sneaking some alone time.  Their feelings for each other have developed beyond crushes; Hiccup admits that Astrid has been a part of his family for a while.  Astrid lists a myriad of good qualities that Hiccup has.

            All the teens are growing.  Snotlout can lead the Riders decently in a fight, though Astrid and Hiccup still excel in that.  Hiccup easily takes charge of any group of riders when he’s around, and everyone lets him, including Stoick.  Stoick knows war, but even that is changing, though it means he still has some things to teach his son.  And they’re going to butt heads at some point on how to deal with an adversary.  Hiccup will always want to protect dragons, even if he recognizes that they can be harmful and there may be a line that comes when he can’t, when the safety of his people comes before saving a dragon.

            It’s nice to see Snotlout learn a lesson to keep his mouth shut and not insult women.  Whether it sticks or not is yet to be seen.  The twins still have their moments of brilliance, amongst their crazy.  And even the fact that Ruffnut is a woman is brought to attention and the idea that other guys may find her attractive and the twins may have to separate.

            Hiccup’s world is expanding.  He is gaining new allies and keeps coming across new information about dragons.  There are Slitherwings and Grim Gnashers.  The dragons’ final resting place in Vanaheim.  An island of woman who take care of Razor Whips.  Throk and Mala are friends to the Riders.  And Hiccup continues to grow as a leader.  He can spar with Astrid without immediately ducking for cover; kind of cool to watch.

            We’re heading into the last season of Race to the Edge and I might actually get that up soon.  More puzzle pieces fall into place.

(A side note; the writing is coming along well, as is making the tiniest dent in my TBR pile).

“Whatever it is, I bet it’s the twins’ fault.”

First, my deepest apologies for the lengthy delay.  You may be aware that I managed to get distracted my new-to-me fandoms last year.  There are still some projects connected with those that I need to work on, but I am really going to try to finish the How to Train Your Dragon portion this year.  I do thank everyone who has been reading these posts in the meantime.  I am…astounded.

Anyways, on with the show!

Season Four: Race to the Edge

The second part of Defenders of the Wing opens the season with Hiccup managing to convince Mala that Viggo has used the Dragon Riders.  They were all tricked.  Mala agrees to go with Hiccup to save the Eruptadon, though she also threatens to kill him if anything goes wrong.  She starts to realize how well Hiccup and Toothless works together and marvels at their harmony in flying; it’s rather magical.  They find Viggo’s ship and attack.  But there’s no Viggo and no dragon; another misdirection.

No, Viggo is at Dragon’s Edge, with the intention of using the Eruptadon to destroy the Riders’ base going through the crust of the dormant volcano.  (Apparently a classic Maces and Talons move.)  Hiccup and Mala make it to the Edge to attack Viggo there, Mala having great fun taking out several of the Hunters.  She now understands that Hiccup and his friends are not enemies to dragons and that he recognizes the good of the many outweighs the good of the few. 

With some help from Gronkles on the island, the lava is stopped from getting to their headquarters.  The Dragon Riders and the Defenders of the Wing are now officially allies.  The village even puts up with the twins’ antics, though undoubtedly pleased when the Riders head back to the Edge.  Viggo is displeased with the outcome; he had been expecting a victory.  Hiccup keeps interfering with his plans.

We then find out that Ruffnut and Tuffnut have a cousin named Gruffnut, who comes to visit the Edge.  Tuff is excited.  Ruff sees Gruff for who he really is and is not happy of the influence he has on her twin brother.  Gruff tends to tell tall tales, that Tuff falls for.  The others make him come clean that he’s trying to take one of their dragons in order to pay off a debt.

The Riders think they’ve seen the last of Gruffnut, but he pretends to be Tuff and takes his dragon.  But Chicken knows the difference and warns the dragons.  Tuff manages to escape from being tied up by his cousin and goes with Hiccup to rescue Barf and Belch (Gruff is also now stuck with Ruffnut).  Tuff even makes use of Hiccup’s Dragon Fly suit and fights Gruff.  Gruff is sent packing and Ruff and Tuff continue to happily annoy everyone else on the island.

 Midnight Scrum is one of my favorite episodes; I oddly love my heroes in a bit of peril.  The episode opens with Hiccup running from bounty hunters.  Turns out, Viggo has put a price on his head.  But Hiccup doesn’t want to tell his father right away, partly due to the fact that a big anniversary celebration is coming up on Berk.  He doesn’t want to distract the chief.  Astrid urges Hiccup to share the burden.  That idea gets knocked on its head when Stoick tells Hiccup upon their arrival on Berk that the “needs of the many outweigh the need of the few.”  [Yes, Dragons is now quoting Star Trek.]

During the celebration, Gobber praises the youth as “some of the youngest Berkians had the guts to step up and take a stand.  The time has come to look towards the future, Hiccup and the Dragon Riders!”  They then put on a dragon show, but the stress of the bounty starts getting to Hiccup and he overreacts to some strangers.  Astrid advises him again to tell Stoick, yes he’s the chief, but he’s also your dad.

The next morning Stoick goes looking for Hiccup and cannot find him.  That’s because during the night a few bounty hunters were lucky enough to catch Hiccup unawares, knock him out, and get him on a boat.  Those two indeed got lucky, because otherwise, they’re incompetent.  Hiccup makes a break for it, but does not find his friends above deck.  Instead, it’s Savage, Alvin’s old second in command.  He’ll be glad to deliver Hiccup to Viggo.  Hiccup fights smart against Savage, but he’s saved when Throk arrives.

In the meantime, Stoick has gathered the Riders and is riding Toothless, searching for his son.  Astrid talks to him about the bounty.  Why would Hiccup not share this information with Stoick?  “He’s Hiccup.  Sometimes, his pride’s bigger than his brain.”

Throk is overpowered by a mystery cloaked man who chains Hiccup up to take him to Viggo.  But they find Ryker instead and the sack of gold is actually a sack of rocks.  The mystery man won’t release Hiccup for that.  The man must now fight the Hunters and Hiccup gets a chance to escape and use his flaming sword.  The man and Hiccup get knocked off a cliff and the man clings to Hiccup’s leg.  Hiccup is able to knock his prosthetic leg off and the man goes tumbling.  But when Hiccup slips, he’s saved…by Ryker.  “Viggo wants to kill you himself”.  [Getting a bit grim for a children’s show, though this may be geared more for teenagers and young adults.]  Stoick and Toothless have been tracking Hiccup and find him just in time.  Stoick faces off against Ryker; “you put a bounty on one of us, you get all of us.”  He knocks out Ryker, but the man wakes up in time to throw a knife at a retreating Hiccup (helped by Astrid.)  It doesn’t land because he’s knocked out by Hiccup’s leg, thrown by the mystery man, who then jumps off the cliff to remain mysterious.

On their way back to Berk, Stoick counsels his son; they are allies, peers.  The people of Berk depend on them to keep them safe.  To do that, they cannot keep secrets.

Snotlout has his own issues with his father’s teachings in Not Lout.  Snotlout is desperate to prove himself to his father, maybe not overtake Hiccup (though I’m sure Spitelout would enjoy that), but be a stand-out second.  He messes up an attack, but still tells Hiccup he wants to lead the Dragon Riders when Stoick makes Hiccup chief.  The teens are indeed looking to the future and making their own plans.  Hiccup warns Snotlout that he cannot force his way into a leadership position; everyone has their own strengths.  Snotlout should look for his.

Hiccup also shows his strength as a leader and gives Snotlout the lead on a practice mission.  He still messes up and decides to ground himself.  However, when he’s on the ground, he realizes that the mission the rest of the Riders are flying into is a trap and takes off after them.  He swoops in, messing up their plan, but revealing the trap.  Snotlout then takes charge and they accomplish a better mission.  Afterwards, Hiccup tells Snotlout that he’s proud of him and asks what Snotlout wants to do.  Snotlout decides he doesn’t want to be exactly like his dad.  But that makes him not so different after all.

The Riders return to the Defenders of the Wing island in Saving Shattermaster.  They find out that Mala and Throk were saved from Hunters by a mysterious figure.  On a fun note, it’s time for Snotlout to face a serious of trials to become Mala’s king, after he saved her life earlier.  Snotlout is not pleased with the trials, but Hiccup leaves most of the Riders there with him to keep him safe, and takes Heather to investigate whoever saved Mala and Throk.

That new mysterious man is actually Dagur (note: not the same mysterious man who kidnapped Hiccup; he had been at Viggo’s auction, so definitely not a friend).  Dagur also does not initially appear to be a friend; he seems to be with the Hunters.  Heather attacks him, and Dagur has to reveal that he’s trying to work with the Hunters because he’s trying to save his dragon, Shattermaster.  Thus, Hiccup has to remark to Heather at one point: “shall we rescue our brother?”  Heather’s not so keen.  “I’m going to kill him,” is her response.  She ends up saving him and makes her big brother be the distraction so they can get his dragon.  He tells Heather that once everything has settled, he will return and answer any of her questions.

Dire Straits is another of my favorite episodes.  The trade routes are getting disrupted to Berk, a giant whirlpool is claiming ships.  Berk needs trade in order to survive, especially since they lost their stockpile of gold to Viggo at the dragon auction.  Stoick has the Riders investigate.  It’s a Submaripper dragon, very large, and very territorial.  Hiccup makes use of his Deathsong amber goggles to investigate under the water.  There are dragon-proof chains holding the Submaripper dragon in place.  But Hiccup can’t hold his breath long enough to free him.  They have to come up with another solution.

He makes a diving cauldron and uses Deathsong amber as a lens.  Hiccup takes the risk himself, though Fishlegs is on standby.  When they make their final attempt, Viggo starts an attack to rile the Submaripper up.  The Riders don’t want to hurt the dragon, since it’s not it’s fault.  Under the water, Hiccup manages to free the dragon, but the winch to bring up the diving cauldron is damaged in the attack.  Toothless dives down to save his rider.  Hiccup tries to send Toothless away, but his friend refuses.  Hiccup admits he’d do the same.

The Submaripper helps out the one who helped him, and brings the cauldron to the surface.  Hiccup is eerily still for a minute once they get him out, but he eventually coughs up the water.  He’s weakened and can’t fly after Viggo, but the other Riders are more than pleased to do it for him.  Except they’re foiled again, because Ryker is using Seashocker dragons to escape.

Trade does return to Berk and the village is saved, thanks to Hiccup.  He still feels at fault, since it was his plan that lost Berk it’s gold and it’s his enemy who is doing this to Berk.  Stoick gives wise words to his son.  Viggo has shown his true colors now; “only a coward endangers innocent women and children as a means of intimidation.”  Bravery will triumph over cowardice.

We get a bit of a breather with The Longest Day.  It’s the time of the Midnight Sun, when Berk experiences two weeks full of days of sunlight [it is an actual phenomenon that that part of the world experiences, which, kudos to the team for putting that detail in].  Stoick is pleased because Berkians become very productive.  But that long of a time awake, makes people a little loopy, being so sleep deprived. 

Hiccup gave his Riders a very easy task for the day: wash their dragons.  Well, Fishlegs ends up paranoid, Snotlout has mood swings, Ruffnut and Tuffnut hallucinate, Heather can’t balance, and Astrid is giddy.  Hiccup, meanwhile, is on Berk with Stoick, discussing plans to deal with Viggo.  Hiccup’s first plan is “wipe the psychopath off the map, kaboom!”  Eh, kaboom is not exactly a full plan.  Okay, he wants revenge.  He wants the Dragon Eye back.  Stoick insists that Hiccup needs a plan.

The teen does manage to find a new dragon, well, one large dragon that has a squadron of smaller dragons that cling to its wings to provide firepower [reminds me a bit of guns on a warplane].  He ends up quoting Dagur while he figures out how to deal with the dragons: “trappers trap can trap the trapper.”  That’s when he knows he’s losing it.  When he returns to the Edge, he finds that the dragons have dumped their riders into a hole to get some sleep.  Toothless follows suit.

Hiccup starts trying new moves with Toothless during Gold Rush, telling himself he’ll rest when Viggo’s gone.  His plans are derailed when Dagur returns, searching for his father.  The tales that Dagur killed his father to take over the Berserker tribe were lies.  Oswald had gone on a trip and never returned.  Dagur wants his sister to join the search, and he has news for his “brother,” Dagur knows where Viggo hides his gold.  It will be the perfect strike against Viggo.

Hiccup, Astrid, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout end up captured and discover that Viggo’s new ships are metal underneath the wood, essentially making them dragon-proof.  Until Shattermaster shows up (to the theme played on bagpipes, very cool).  The Riders get free, Hiccup quickly jumping on Toothless.

Later, he realizes that the gold was hidden in Viking ruins on the island.  The hint had been there were no ruins on the map.  Heather decides to accompany Dagur on his trip to find their father, but manages to give Fishlegs a kiss before they leave.

Mala returns again in Out of the Frying Pan; the Eruptadon has laid an egg, but it needs transported to its ancient hatching site inside the volcano.  But the Eruptadon is very old and spent a lot of energy bringing about the egg.  So Hiccup volunteers to help Mala with the egg.  As does Fishlegs.  But the two, who usually work on the same wavelength, are now disagreeing.  Time is running out.  Mala tries to run off with the egg, dodging small dragons that attack her.  Fishlegs and Hiccup realize that the smaller dragons are actually guardians of the eggs and are meant to take the egg to its site.

Throk and Astrid descend into the volcano as the lava rises, hoping to rescue Mala, Hiccup, and Fishlegs.  But Meatlug can’t carry them all.  Luckily, the Eruptadon comes to their rescue.

It starts with a broken Macey in Twintuition.  Hiccup won’t fix her/it in the middle of the night.  But Tuffnut doesn’t want to fly all the way back to Berk either.  Instead, Tuff and Ruff head to the Northern Markets and encounter lots of Hunters.  And decide it’s a good idea to claim they took out Hiccup.  Through their escapades, Macey gets stolen, the twins find Viggo and discover he’s working on a Project Shellfire.  Then Viggo sees Macey and is smart enough to recognize the Gronkle Iron mace and knows that the twins are on his island.  Tuff is actually brave and goes for the project plans instead of his mace, but he gets Macey back in the end (after Viggo tries to drown the Riders.)

The Triple Stryke dragon returns in Blindsided, with Hiccup now trying to train Sleuther.  Their training is interrupted by storms rolling in (not that it was going well to begin with).  Astrid checks on the dragon pens and lightning strikes, causing a fire.  She’s knocked out in the commotion and the dragons fly off.  Hiccup rescues Astrid and they find out when Astrid wakes up that she is blinded.  Hiccup promises to stay with Astrid.  But, Astrid being Astrid, she wants to help find Stormfly and the other dragons and will not take ‘no’ as an answer.  “I’m putting my foot down,” Hiccup tells Astrid.  Two seconds later, they are both on Toothless.

Hiccup is also desperate to protect Astrid, particularly since she is vulnerable without sight at the moment.  “Of course she’s not going to hide, what was I thinking, she’s Astrid,” he grumbles.  At one point, he does get Astrid behind a rock because the Triple Stryke is all riled up now.  “You, stay,” he orders.  Astrid obeys, for now.  Then she catches on to a sound Sleuther makes before making a strike.  She uses that sound to distract Sleuther and they get all the dragons calmed down…and back with their proper owners.  Now, they have a way to train the Triple Stryke and Astrid does get her sight back.  She gives Hiccup a hug and they go sit together.

Earlier, Hiccup assured Astrid “you have me.  Okay, whatever that mean, whatever you want it mean.  I am with you.  There will always be a Hiccup and Astrid.  Always.”  And Hiccup had been ready to kiss Astrid, but it wasn’t quite the right time.  Astrid brings it up as they sit, watching the sunset.  Hiccup wanted it to be the perfect moment.  Well, now seems pretty perfect.  Indeed it does, and the two young adults share a kiss.  (So romantic!)

The two-parters Shell Shocked finishes the season.  The Riders are on Berk, preparing for Hiccup’s plan to attack the Hunters.  They’re joined by Berk’s A-Team as well as Heather and Dagur.  Hiccup and Astrid share a secret kiss; they haven’t told their friends yet.  All the dragon riders carry out Hiccup’s plan, but find the Hunters’ camp destroyed and Viggo in a hole, happy to see Hiccup.  Stoick would rather punch the man who has threatened his people and his son, but Hiccup holds him back.  Viggo says that Ryker has turned on him and betrayed him.  He plans to wipe out the Riders and their allies using Project Shellfire.  Viggo offers to give Hiccup more information if they will help him take out Ryker.

Hiccup has to act.  He brings Viggo with him and sends others to check on their allies.  Fishlegs gets to see the hatched Eruptadon baby and knows to keep the baby safe.  Viggo then manages to escape during an attack at the Edge.  Hiccup and Astrid have to learn how to balance their care for each other and being in danger.  Ryker runs up a white flag and talks to Hiccup, spinning the same story as his brother, that Viggo betrayed him.  Ryker is willing to give Hiccup the Dragon Eye in exchange for Viggo.  Now Hiccup is a bit confused on who to believe.

Meanwhile, the twins and Snotlout realize something is going on between Hiccup and Astrid.  The twins believe Hiccup is dying, but Snotlout thinks he has a gambling problem…so no one correctly guesses.  They do find out what Project Shellfire is.  It’s a ship on a dragon.  And Hiccup of course, goes after it, but it swims too fast and dives too deep.

Viggo shows back up, with the Dragon Eye, and Hiccup happily locks the man up.  Ryker uses the Shellfire to attack the Edge’s volcano, again.  Fishlegs brings the baby Eruptadon to help eat the lava.  Hiccup is a noble hero and won’t let Viggo die in a fire, hoping he’s not making the biggest mistake of his life.  Viggo, trying to be Hiccup’s friend and advisor, notes the conundrum Hiccup is in, to be in love with a girl who is his partner in battle.  It looks like Viggo is going to stab Hiccup, but the knife is dropped in the water to bring up the Submaripper, who attacks the Shellfire.  The two dragons are natural enemies.  Viggo continues to sweettalk Hiccup: “we may be adversaries, but my respect for you is beyond what I can put into words.”  [And I kind of respect Viggo, as a villain, for respecting Hiccup as a worthy adversary, for not simply dismissing him as a young kid with no brains.]

Dagur now bonds with the Triple Stryke, and Hiccup continues to call the crazy man his brother [a bit sweet.]  Ryker goes down with the ship and for a moment, we think all is well.  Until Viggo shows up with a captured Astrid, demanding Hiccup return the Dragon Eye.  Is the young man willing to “sacrifice your future, all the wonderful years ahead” for the Dragon Eye?  Hiccup throws the Eye into the volcano.  Viggo falls and Hiccup is ready to grab him, but it’s too late.  Now, it’s over.  Finally.  Definitely.

Hiccup and Astrid share a sweet moment, and then a kiss, witnessed by everyone.  Fishlegs remarks, “this changes everything,” (which is the catchphrase of the show, used in the opening).

And nope.  Not over.  The volcano erupts.  End of season.

Another season full of adventures, and the storyline is getting tighter.  There are still side excursions, but the focus is on the battle going on between Viggo and Hiccup.  Hiccup is gaining allies.  Dagur is firmly on his side, as is Heather, even if we don’t see them every episode.  There are now the Defenders of the Wing and we learn a lot about them this season.

I like how Stoick is dealing with Hiccup now.  Hiccup and Stoick are both leaders; Hiccup has proven himself as a leader of the Dragon Riders, is keeping an outpost going.  Has made allies of his own, as well as enemies.  But he’s holding those enemies at bay.  However, Hiccup is still young and needs to learn when to depend upon all his allies and recognize that he can go to his father for advice, as a leader, not simply father and son.  And Hiccup is shaping up to be a worthy heir to the chiefdom of Berk.  While he lives away from the main island, he is still worried about the people.

Viggo is ramping up his actions against Hiccup because Hiccup keeps thwarting him.  Again, he takes Hiccup as a serious threat.  Not like Alvin the first time; oh, Hiccup is small and skinny, he’s such a disappointment.  No.  Hiccup was brave enough to face a dragon and befriend it.  Hiccup has grown as a character and his opponents grow as well.  Viggo tends to come off as classy; he has multi-faceted plans, he treats this as a game of Maces and Talons (kind of like chess), and he tries to teach Hiccup lessons.  Now those lessons have bigger consequences.  Hiccup has a bounty put on him, Viggo goes after Berk.  Stoick is now involved in this fight.

Not surprised that Ryker and Viggo seem to turn on each other.  There has always been a power struggle between the two.  Ryker is the older brother, but Viggo is the one in charge, supposedly brains versus brawn.  But both want Hiccup dead.  Ryker was fine with taking Hiccup from the mysterious man because Viggo wanted to kill him.  When their plans no longer align, Ryker still attacks the Edge.

The twins still have their moments of brilliance.  Snotlout is maturing, a bit, but really just trying to figure out what his role is in the Riders.  Fishlegs becomes sweet with Heather and it’s reciprocated.  And Astrid and Hiccup finally, officially get together!

Next Time:  I have a schedule I’m going to try to keep this year, to finish the How to Train Your Dragon section by the end of the year.  But I’m also going to try to work on completely a full draft of two major stories I’m working on (all to feed into the larger fantasy series I have planned).  Hopefully, a schedule will work.  After Dragons, there will be Chronicles of Narnia, and then finish it off with Lord of the Rings.  I do actually have some further plans after that, but we will see how everything works out.

Thank you again, for hanging with this blog series, it has grown larger than I first imagined and I am simply grateful for every view I get.

“How did you get Magnus to let Jace leave?” “Traded him for Alec.”

Random Fandom – Shadowhunters:

This must be the year I distract myself, because it keeps happening; but considering it is a fandom, I will share what takes over my brain.  I swear, I am about halfway through the next season of Race to the Edge, but I decided one evening to put on The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones movie and remembered, hey, I like this movie.  I should re-read the book series.  Oh yeah, I remember liking these books.  Then telling myself, you’re not getting into the show.  I remember when the show premiered and had told myself then I was not watching it, which I did not.  But seeing enough things about the show on Pinterest, I decide to give it a whirl…slightly bad idea because I’ve gotten completely distracted. 

It is a bit odd to be reading the books while watching the show, which does not fully follow the books, but integrates a lot of the books in different ways.  I love sassy Jace from the books, yet Jame Campbell Bower perfectly portrays Jace in the movie, yet, Dominic Sherwood brings his own spin to the character in the show that I also love (and want to wrap into a hug…he gets a sad look on his face and I want to give him all the love).  And my brain which has not given up on developing essays and academia wants to write a paper comparing how both actors bring elements of the character to life; maybe the same aspect, but in different ways, yet they work.  And I utterly adore how Matthew Daddario and Henry Shum Jr portray Alec and Magnus; there were times I was watching simply to watch Malec (the pairing of their characters and completely canon).  I also have another set of brothers to add to my future project of brother relationships in different fandoms (Francis and Bash were also recently added…this project is going to end up being a book, lol).  And there are some wonderful videos about the two, just like Francis and Bash, often using some of the same music (oh my heart).

I will admit, it was a bit odd to see so many familiar faces in the movie that I did not know when the movie came out.  Well, I knew Aidan Turner as Luke since he’s Kili in The Hobbit and Mitchell in Being Human (the BBC version; I think an American version came out later).  And I will always see Henry VIII from Tudors when I watch Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who plays Valentine.  But Lena Headey is Jocelyn, but we know her as Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones.  Jamie Campbell Bower is Young Grindelwald in Harry Potter [opposite Toby Regbo as Young Dumbledore…we just saw him as Francis in Reign], Caius in the Twilight Saga, and King Arthur in a short-run Camelot series (that show was a bit odd and dark).   We know Jared Harris, who plays Hodge, as King George VI from The Crown and as Moriarty from Game of Shadows with Robert Downey Jr.  Dorothea is played by CCH Pounder; I’ve seen her as Loretta Wade in NCIS: New Orleans.  And we’ve seen Kevin Durand in Robin Hood with Russell Crowe.  It was further strange to see Alan Van Sprang in the show as Valentine after just watching him as Henry de Valois in Reign; he wasn’t a great father in either show.

I honestly like all three; the books, the movie, and the show.  Each has their pros and cons.  The relationship development of Magnus and Alec is wonderful in the show.  I did really enjoy Jace in the movie and Clary wasn’t quite as annoying as she gets in the books and the show.  Jace was also wonderful in the show and well developed, particularly his emotional storyline in season 3.  And I now want to get my own copies of the books and get the other series Cassandra Clare has written in the universe.  Which, a thanks to my cousin for lending me the books, and I guess I should apologize for getting you back into the series *wink. 

The show has inspired some more writing; it doesn’t quite fit into my series as well as elements of Reign.  But it is helping me develop another character.  And since it features the Seelie Court and Queen, it makes me stop and think about how similar or different my Faerie Realm will be from traditional version of the Seelie.  And how I’m going to have to properly work in a Library/Archives type institution.

I should stop saying what is Up Next, because anymore, my brain says no, let’s go on a side quest.

I Daresay the Best Live Action Adaptation

So, the new live-action How to Train Your Dragon is out.  I have seen it and I have thoughts.  It probably doesn’t need to be said, but I shall anyway: SPOILERS AHEAD!!

I tried to go in open minded, telling myself to give it an honest chance and not go in planning to hate it.  In fact, by the time I sat down in the theatre, I was excited for it.  And I feel it is an excellent adaptation.  I will say not quite as spectacular as the original animated, but much better than most live-action adaptations.  I won’t go into a lot of detail, since this was my first viewing, just the first thoughts I have.  It doesn’t have quite the humor that the animated has.  But the actors make it their own.  I enjoyed Mason Thames as Hiccup; not quite as quippy as his animated counterpart, but very real. I loved the emotions he showed and I was still impresses with Hiccup as a character while watching him; like, why does his village doubt him so much because he does these awesome things. 

They’ve changed Astrid’s character a bit, but she still stands beside Hiccup and I like that.  Gerard Butler reprised Stoick well. I liked the emotion he showed when he asks about Hiccup when he returns from looking for the dragons’ nest; “he’s gone?” and he clearly shows that Stoick is now fearful that Hiccup has died. We definitely inferred it in the animated, but I like it being shown clearer.  Nick Frost was good as Gobber; again, not as quippy and sarcastic as he is as voiced by Craig Ferguson, but we can clearly see that Gobber cares for Hiccup.  Heck, they even brought in some of the father-son dynamic from the show to Spitelout and Snotlout, which is rather impressive.  And Fishlegs’ cards make an appearance.  Valka is mentioned, by name, even, but not too much to deviate from the original, just, laying the groundwork more for the other movies.  And I will admit, I am excited to see them brought to live action now.  Please finish the trilogy.

The animatronic, lifelike Toothless is very good, though we miss some of the cute facial expressions from the animated.  Still not as fond of how the other dragons appear on screen, but they had to nail Toothless and they did.  The music is wonderful, of course.  And since I have internalized this soundtrack over the years (it is part of my soul now), I can tell there were a few additions and I swear, some themes from later films peaked in.  And they added words to the ending theme!  I will be purchasing the soundtrack.

They nailed the Test Drive scene.  It’s so iconic and loved from the original.  I was sitting straight up in my seat, watching the scene and loving every single second of it.  I wanted to cheer at the end.  Hiccup also said my favorite line: “Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile.”  (It’s my notification alert on my phone; has been for years).  Again, I wanted to cheer out loud.  The final battle was well done and they brought more emotion to Hiccup waking up and discovering his prosthetic foot, even though they didn’t add much to the actual shot.

I still have some issues with costuming choices.  The one outfit Hiccup wears definitely looks like a hoodie.  Actually, I think all of his tunics have hoods.  Which were not in the original and not period.  But they get better through the movie.  And I think his outfit overall was the best adaptation.

Overall, I give this movie two thumbs up and I encourage everyone to go see it!  I already want to see it again.  And own it.

I have also seen clips from the new Isle of Berk theme park at Universal and yes, I definitely want to go.  I want to hug Toothless!!

On the topic of Dragons, I swear, I will complete Race to the Edge.  The story inspired by Reign has grown and I want to complete it (or at least a full rough draft) before I switch back.  There will probably be a wrap-up blog of that show (once I’ve seen the last two episodes).  Then back to Dragons.  And there’s more to come with that, and a few more movies beyond.

“Don’t laugh Toothless. You’re above that.”

First, since the teaser trailer for the live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon has released, I do have some thoughts.  They’re a mixed bag.  On the one hand, as was commented to me, “more How to Train Your Dragons is good.”  And it’s good that they have the original director at the helm and the original composer (my comment to the last was if they didn’t hire John Powell back, it was a sin.)

On the other hand, the trailer itself is almost shot for shot from the first movie.  And if it’s simply a shot for shot remake, then what is the point?  The characters look a bit weird; Hiccup and Astrid look very real, but the other are caricatures.  The oversized Viking helmets work in animation, not real life.  Gerad Butler doesn’t look like Stoick; it’s easy to see that the actor playing Fishlegs is wearing a puffy suit.  And that can be done realistically, as evidence by the Hobbit.  And Hiccup is wearing a sweatshirt – you can tell by the seaming.  I’m not convinced that Toothless is cute and cuddly.  Will I take a look at material as it becomes available?  Yes, because I am curious.  Will I pay money to see this in theatre?  Most likely, unless something occurs that convinces me it’s a bad idea.

If they’re going to do a live-action movie, then run with it.  Don’t just rehash the beloved animated version.  Keep to the general storyline, but really dig into these are human Vikings.  Still make it colorful and fun; no need to go gritty and dark.  But, have some respect for the feelings of the people who love this series

Enough of that; let’s continue with something funnier, Season Two of Race to the Edge:

Hiccup and Astrid are patrolling at the beginning of Team Astrid, and have words to say to the twins about playing with the Night Terrors.  The small dragons are an integral part of the security of Dragon’s Edge; they’re a warning system in case Dagur or anyone else lands.  So far, Dagur does not know where the Edge is, but there’s no guarantee it will stay that way.  Hiccup receives Terror Mail from Berk; there’s been an attack.  The gang finds out it was a hit and run attack, just a single ship, most likely done by Dagur.  Hiccup gives orders for members to go searching for Dagur.  Astird’s house was hit, but her parents are okay.  The riders collectively agree to sleep at the academy with Astrid (and look how Hiccup sleeps on Toothless).  Astrid can’t sleep and eventually goes patrolling.  She meets up with Stoick.  He understands what she’s feeling; they’re both warriors.

Come morning, Astrid tells the other riders she’s staying on Berk; she won’t leave the island defenseless.  She will also train a set of auxiliary riders for just such attacks.  Hiccup figures he’ll fight her decision later and sends the other riders out searching again.  They miss the ships and we see that this was all part of Dagur’s plan in order to work out where Dragon’s Edge is located.  Hiccup watches Astrid train several of the secondary characters we have seen, including Spitelout, Snotlout’s father, and Gustav.  Hiccup is impressed with some of the crazy stunts, but Astrid keeps pushing the auxiliary team.  He eventually talks to her; she wants them to fail, because then she will have to stay on Berk.  (They also both enjoy seeing Spitelout do some pushups simply because he’s Snotlout’s dad.) 

Hiccup then has to check on the rest of the riders and comes to the Edge to find Dagur attacking.  Not aided by the fact that the Night Terror were not at their post to give advance warning.  He gives the other teens a rousing speech on holding their new home.  He quickly sends a message back to Berk.  Astrid joins Stoick and orders the auxiliary riders to remain at Berk; they’re not ready.  But the auxiliary riders come to the rescue while the others attack Dagur.  Dagur shouts that they’re cheaters, but he’s sent sailing away.  Astrid has also come to a new decision; she will remain at the Edge with the other riders.  She leaves Gustav in charge of the auxiliary since he has the most experience (it finally pays off!).  Hiccup calls them the A-Team; Astrid’s team.

Astrid then enjoys her early morning flight in the first part of Night of the Hunters.  She then goes to investigate when she hears a dragon in distress.  She comes across a group of men with colors she doesn’t recognize, but she does recognize the insignia from The Reaper; these are Dragon Hunters.  The Hunters are led by a big guy named Ryker.  Astrid sets off to warn Hiccup, but Stormfly is hit by an arrow and is taken down and captured.  Astrid ends up in the ocean and left behind by the Ryker and the Hunters.

Hiccup is worried when Astrid doesn’t return by dusk.  As he tells Fishlegs, she’s never been gone all day.  And there is a storm coming in.  He gathers everyone to go searching.  Snotlout is disappointed that Hiccup won’t let him take south, since that is Astrid’s favorite direction to fly.  We see Astrid hold on all day, but eventually falls beneath the surface of the water and starts to sink.  But a shape dives in after her, Hiccup.  Toothless pulls both of them out and they return to Dragon’s Edge.

When she wakes, Astrid insists they go after the Hunters and retrieve Stormfly.  She rides with Hiccup back to where Stormfly was shot.  Fishlegs (in a totally dumb move) licks an arrow and determines it is refined dragon root, which will disorient a dragon so they can’t fly.  So the riders head back to The Reaper to find clues about these Hunters.  They come across another Dragon Eye lens and it’s Tuffnut who figures out they need a Changewing to see through it.  And it’s Tuff who manages to capture one on Changewing Island, though its acid ends up in Snotlout’s helmet.  They get a map and figure out a plan.  Fishlegs and Meatlug allow themselves to be caught, though the attack reveals that they have a Night Fury, which catches Ryker’s attention.  Astrid falls during the attack and is captured, but she frees Stormfly.  The other riders end up hit as well, except Toothless.  He catches Hookfang and Snotlout and they retreat.  The parting shot reveals that Dagur and Heather have reunited and are working with the Hunters.

The second part of Night of the Hunters starts with Heather taking Astrid to speak to Ryker.  When Astrid returns, she mentions that she told Ryker that the Dragon Eye is back at the Edge with the rest of the Riders.  That was just a ploy in order to buy time to figure out an escape.  Ryker also shows the riders how their dragons are being treated; Stormfly is being harvested for her spines, Barf and Belch are being fattened up in order to sell their hide, and Meatlug is being forced to belch up Gronkle Iron.  All of this is dependent upon how the riders cooperate with Ryker.

Meanwhile, Hookfang, Snotlout, Toothless, and Hiccup try to come up with a new plan.  Hiccup decides to head to Whispering Death Island and use the scales to make armor.  They come face to face with the Screaming Death, who doesn’t quite remember they were the ones to reunite it with its mother, but the mother remembers and the boys are able to complete their task.  And it’s actually Snotlout who is the better stitcher.

It’s Ruffnut who is the one to help everyone escape, despite being ignored.  She snuck a key off a guard while pleading for her dragon’s life.  The riders break out, though the twins set off a trap.  Astrid faces off with Heather, though we don’t actually see the fight.  We also learn that there is another Hunter in play, named Viggo.  Fishlegs manages to get the recipe for Gronkle Iron while escaping.  When Toothless and Hookfang swoop in, the rest are able to escape, though Astrid faces off with Heather again.  Ryker admits, as they fly away, that he may have underestimated the riders, despite Dagur’s warning.  Though they’re one step closer to the Dragon Eye and will report such to Viggo.  The riders are also aware that this is not the last they have seen of the Hunters.

Tuff gets a strange bite on his arm in Bad Moon Rising; a more light-hearted episode after the up in ante in the previous two episodes.  Gobber happens to be at the Edge and decides to share the legend of the Lycanwing, where at the full moon, a bitten human will transform into a dragon with a thirst for blood.  Snotlout eggs on the symptoms listed and Tuff starts to believe he will transform into a Lycanwing.  He locks himself in a cage with Chicken, despite everyone now trying to talk him out of it.  Tuff even nominates Hiccup to be Ruffnut’s new twin brother.  Ruffnut is mad at Snotlout, so she drags him across the island to determine what actually bit Tuff.  Her brother is the most important thing in the world to her.  Not everything agrees with Snotlout, but Ruff is not sympathetic.

Hiccup comes across a new lens for the Dragon Eye, which in the moonlight, shows the image of a human/dragon creature.  So he and Fishlegs head out to find out more.  There is the image of a Lycanwing in a cave, but the eyes are actually Dragon Eye lenses and the myth was created to protect them.  They arrive back at the Edge to talk Tuff out of jumping off a cliff in order to fly.  When he falls, Toothless grabs him.  Snotlout finally shows up with what actually bit Tuffnut, a wolf.  That then escapes.

Spitelout visits the Edge with news that there is to be a union between House Jorgensen and House Hofferson.  Snotlout is bring the ceremonial axe.  Astrid is also to attend, as is Hiccup.  While they’re gone, Fishlegs decides to educate the twins on Viking marriage ceremonies.

Snotlout manages to drop the axe, where an Armorwing finds it.  To get it back, Snotlout lures Smothering Smokebreaths to grab the metal.  However, depriving the Armorwing of metal leaves the dragon defenseless since it has no scales.  So the trio have to drive the Smothering Smokebreaths away and leaves some metal for the dragon.  Snotlout retrieves the axe, but when they reach the site, there is no wedding.  He admits his fault to his father, but the wedding was called off before after a brawl broke out at the rehearsal.  Spitelout tells Snotlout “nice work, I knew I could count on you.”

Back at the Edge, while doing a practice marriage ceremony, Tuffnut reveals that he trained with the village officiator.  So Ruffnut and Fishlegs are now married.  When the trio return, they point out that Tuffnut didn’t finish the course, so he can’t actually marry anyone.  Thus making the union between Ruff and Fishlegs dissolved.

The riders are working on a new watchtower to guard the norther waterway in The Zippleback Experience.  Snotlout has a different idea, but Hiccup retorts “since when do we go blasting people into oblivion?”  The twins start an avalanche.  Hiccup and Toothless save Barf and Belch and end up with the Zippleback following Hiccup around.  The initial rescue broke Hiccup’s metal leg, but he carries a spare.  When Barf and Belch kidnap Hiccup, he breaks the spare, but he has another one.  Tuff remarks that their fearless leader is on his last leg.  Hiccup is not amused.  Gobber stops by to help and also explain that the Zippleback is carrying out a life debt.  This just encourages the twins to try to put Hiccup’s life in danger so Barf and Belch will rescue him and go back to the twins. 

Meanwhile, without the watchtower in place, there have been scouts landing.  They intend to kidnap Hiccup, once he’s away from two protective dragons.

The twins eventually get Snotlout involved.  He gleefully punches and calls Hiccup a coward in order to antagonize the young man.  Hiccup warns Snotlout, but ends up punching the heavier teen and knocks him down [it’s grand!]  Hiccup calls a stop to the shenanigans and goes to think by himself.  This is when he gets grabbed by the Hunters, though he thinks it’s Barf and Belch.  Ryker and Dagur intend to extract dragon knowledge from the Hooligan tribe heir.  Barf and Belch witnessed the kidnapping, so they go to save Hiccup.  He even uses an axe handily against some of the guards.  The other riders also fly in.  When the twins come in on Toothless, they crash, causing Barf and Belch to fall into the water.  The twins also fall and help their dragon escape a net.  Toothless catches his rider and helps blow up the Hunter ship.

Toothless and Hiccup are working on a practice run against “hunters” (the other riders with some paint), wearing meatal armor in Snow Way Out.  It starts breaking off, so Hiccup recommends to Fishlegs they go thinner, which should make it lighter and more flexible.  Hiccup wants to be prepared.  Astrid comes with news from Johann that the Hunters are gathering cold weather gear.  Hiccup figures they’re going after a Snowwraith, to get a tooth key to use on the Dragon Eye.  Snotlout points out as they land that they are protecting a dragon that tried to kill them from Hunters who also try to kill them whenever possible.

Astrid and Heather go to face off again, but hug instead and sneak away.  They’ve been working together; Heather is on the Dragon Riders’ side.  Meaning, when the screen faded to black during their first fight, they weren’t actually fighting, they were planning.  Ryker doesn’t trust anyone and Dagur is paranoid.  The girls’ plan is to have Hiccup search for the Snowwraith and keep Ryker away.  Astrid wants to tell Hiccup the truth, but Heather figures it’s better to try to take the Hunters out from the inside.  Besides, Hiccup cares too much and that will keep Heather from getting to Viggo.  Ryker obviously has his own thoughts, so the riders have to hurry.  The Hunters corner the Riders and Hiccup agrees to talk to Ryker: “if there’s one chance to settle this without bloodshed, I have to try.”

When the two finally face each other, Ryker tells the riders’ leader, “Dagur was right, you don’t look like much.”  Hiccup quips back, “Astrid was right, you look like a psycho.”  [Not the best way to get these guys on your side, but we love him for being sarcastic.]  Ryker wants to barter for the Dragon Eye.  Hiccup refuses and warns the bigger guy “leave now and your men won’t have to find out what burning flesh smells like.”  [Hiccup’s not afraid to play dirty.]  Heather has to reveal the trap to save Hiccup, then defends her actions to Ryker that Hiccup is more valuable to them alive.  Ryker orders the cave closed in.  The riders then have to drive the Snowwraiths out so they hopefully escape.

Except Ryker was waiting for them and captures the dragons.  The riders chase after the Hunters and Astrid has to tell Hiccup the truth about Heather before he blasts her.  He’s disgruntled, because he’s supposed to be a team with Astrid.  The parting words are from Dagur, warning Heather that everyone is scared of Viggo Grimborn, even his older brother, Ryker.  The leader of the Dragon Hunters lives in the shadows.

The storyline picks up in the two-part Edge of Disaster episodes.  Astrid is annoyed by the dummies the twins have placed at the watchtower.  Hiccup doesn’t let it phase him: “because then there would be two crazy people in this conversation and we probably wouldn’t resolve anything.”  Their debate is interrupted by news that Johann is being attacked by Dragon Hunters.  Fishlegs and Snotlout accompany Hiccup; Hookfang and Toothless are the only two dragons with armor and Meatlug is immune to the dragon root arrows.  That leaves Astrid with the twins to defend the Edge.  Astrid is not happy with the arrangements and makes it known to the twins.  Ruffnut calls out Astrid for her attitude; she has no respect for anyone but Hiccup and is never kind.  Admittedly, the twins do spout knowledge from time to time, but they are also very chaotic.

Later in the day, Chicken brings word that Ruffnut has been captured by Hunters, who are right off the coast.  Astrid sends for help, but knows it’s down to her and Tuffnut to defend the Edge.  Tuff wants to trick the Hunters into thinking there are more of them.  Astrid prefers strategic thinking.  She lets Tuff carry on with his ideas by himself.

Ryker orders his men to destroy all in their path on the way to the Dragon Eye.  Dagur is secretly planning on getting rid of Ryker once they have the Dragon Eye.  Ryker ominously tells his younger partner “You feel the air?  That’s fear.  Soon, it’ll be death.”  [A little grim for a show that’s geared towards kids and teens.]

The attack starts in the second part.  Astrid still refuses to listen to Tuffnut, but he goes along with her ideas.  Ruffnut is able to knock out Heather and take Windshear, with some help from Heather, and takes off in the opposite direction.

While all of this is going on the three other riders are trapped by a herd of wild dragons that don’t trust humans after their interaction with hunters.  Hiccup eventually uses his flight suit to show the dragons he has wings in order for them to trust him.

Once Astrid’s plans run out, Tuffnut gets to show her what he’s though of.  The dummies will make the Hunters think there are more riders on the Edge.  Some are filled with Zippleback gas that they set off.  The spread Nightmare gel down ropes in order to stop Hunters from climbing.  Dagur eventually figures out that Hiccup is not on the island by the absence of the Night Fury.  Ryker is able to hit the lead Night Terror, Smidvarg, but Stormly scatters the rest of the Night Terrors.  Astrid takes on Dagur and Tuffnut attempts to fight Ryker.  The calvary arrives (to epic theme music!) with Ruffnutt, Hiccup, Snotlout, and Fishlegs, along with the other wild dragons.  They wreak havoc on the Hunters.  Heather keeps her cover and all Hiccup can do is glare at Ryker.  In the aftermath, Astrid admits to the teamwork between herself and Tuffnut and apologizes to the twins.

We get a lighter episode with Shock and Awe. The twins are busy pranking the other riders for Loki Day.  Fishlegs ends up blocking in a new creature to the bay.  They figure out it’s a Seashocker dragon.  But they do best out in deep water, so they have to set it free.  Except they’ve attracted the attention of Scauldrons, who are the natural enemies of Seashockers.  Hiccup makes the twins be the distraction and lure in a Giant Zapping Eel (admittedly, they were supposed to get small ones), and give the Seashocker a chance to escape.  Fishlegs also jumps in the water to save the new dragon at the last minute.  He gets shocked again for his trouble, but it works.  Other Seashockers come to help and they return to their normal habitat.  The other riders also get the twins back for their pranks, culminating in Astrid picking their hut up and leaving it on a sea stack.

An earthquake and lightning storm wakes the Skrill at the beginning of A Time to Skrill.  The Riders investigate and find the Outcasts run off their island and familiar scorch marks.  Berk is in the direction of the storm.  They rush back and find the auxiliary riders out and Toothless goes after the Skrill.  Hiccup gets to use his flight suit again and lands with his father this time.  Spitelout takes a bolt and Snotlout has to translate for his father (and of course, it’s not entirely accurate).  They find out that the chief’s house was the only one hit.  This was a targeted attack [and proves that dragons are not stupid]; the Skrill is looking for Hiccup.  Hiccup is confident that they can handle the situation; they’ve done it before, they can do it again.  Spitelout wants revenge.

The riders make a deeper tunnel, but when Toothless leads the Skrill, it won’t go in, instead trying to capture the Night Fury and his rider instead.  They escape, but Toothless’s tail is damaged.  The duo lands on one of the graveyard ships and uses the sail to repair the tail.  His new plan is to lead the Skrill to the Hunters, allow them to bring it down, but rescue it to keep it out of Dagur’s hands.  Dagur is thrilled and they do bring down the Skrill.  Hiccup’s sword is shot out of his hand and he can’t rescue the Skrill.

He admits his mistakes to the other riders and Astrid takes charge saying that they will all work together to figure out a new plan.  She encourages their leader, that everything he’s done is to protect the riders and to protect dragons in general.  They go to rescue the Skrill, but get surrounded.  Hiccup’s new plan goes along the line of “the enemy of my enemy might be able to help.”  He tips the cage back to get the Skrill out of the water so it can direct lightning at the Hunters.  He even stands in front of an arrow aimed at the Skrill, which Toothless saves him from.  Once the Hunters are taken care of, Spitelout shoots the Skrill for revenge.

When the riders go to put the Skrill back in ice, Hiccup stops them and frees the Skrill.  The Skrill saved them and risked itself to do so.  If they trap it again, they’re no better than the Hunters.  The Skrill bows to Hiccup and Toothless, and they lower their heads in return.  A shot from the Skrill brings Spitelout’s speech back and Snotlout better run.

Another two-part episode ends the season, Maces and Talons.  The Riders are battling the Hunters and freeing the dragons.  Dagur is mad that Ryker keeps underestimating the riders.  Ryker figures there has to be a traitor in their midst, feeding the riders information.  Astrid takes down Heather to keep her cover.  Orders come from Viggo for the Hunters to meet him. 

On funnier terms, Snotlout and Tuffnut bond over helping each other out in the battle and name each other “official best friends.”  Astrid talks to Hiccup about getting Heather out of the Hunters.  Hiccup wanted to do so weeks ago since it’s always been too dangerous, but Astrid talked him into leaving well enough alone.  He also trusts Heather to take care of herself, and Windshear will look after her rider.

Heather and Dagur meet Viggo, who speaks of a Viking game ‘Maces and Talons’ [no, it’s not a real Viking game, but it’s very similar to chess].  In the game, and echoed in life, the line between good and evil is unclear.  He takes Heather on a walk and asks for her help in finding the traitor in their midst.  Perhaps it’s Ryker, unhappy with the status quo, being ruled by his younger brother.  Perhaps it’s Dagur who’s a bit of a loose cannon.

Heather meets with Astrid and Hiccup and tells them about her success with Viggo.  They will be searching for the Flightmare, which Heather can lead Viggo to.  So the riders will need to ambush them.  However, Viggo is at least one step ahead of our heroes and it’s actually an ambush for the riders.  Heather is captured by Viggo, but when Hiccup lands, Viggo is gone.  When the riders retreat, Hiccup admits that they are going to have to outthink and outsmart Viggo.

In the second part, the riders return to Dragon’s Edge to find it raided.  The Hunters were searching for the Dragon Eye.  Luckily, the twins had hid it from it’s original hiding spot.  They all try to come up with a plan and Hiccup shoots down their typical “go in dragons’ blazing” routine.  He admits they are a smart group.  “We’re fast, we’re fearless, and we ride dragons.”  But Viggo was able to manipulate them; they have to be careful or Heather will be killed.

They find Viggo’s base, but only find a Maces and Talons board left behind.  Viggo is taunting Hiccup.  This will force Hiccup’s hand to save Heather.  Dagur is upset with Heather for the betrayal; the siblings still don’t fully trust each other.  But the wheels start turning in Dagur’s head when Viggo remarks that everyone is expendable, using Maces and Talons as an example.  A leader must be willing to sacrifice all their pieces.  Dagur asks Ryker later why the big guy doesn’t take out his younger brother.  Ryker admits his younger brother annoys him and he could easily be rid of him, but he won’t because they’re brothers.  Besides, Dagur is just to follow orders.

Viggo uses Typhomerangs to guard his base.  Hiccup has the crazy idea to go straight through the fire, a move the twins have actually accomplished.  This way they don’t go around and play into Viggo’s hands.  But when Hiccup thinks he’s found Heather, he instead is frozen by the Flightmare.  This allows Viggo to grab the Dragon Eye from Hiccup’s pouch.  Viggo later uses the Flightmare to burn the Dragon Eye; its glow bypasses the need for a Snowwraith key.  The Night Fury symbol is illuminated as we leave the Hunters.  Dagur sets Heather free and Hiccup screams in frustration.

Again, this season shows the characters continuing to grow up.  Hiccup again demonstrates his skills as a leader.  He gives orders to the riders in front of his father, since he knows the best tasks to set them to.  It was nice to see Astrid have to work with the twins.  And the twins get their chances to shine.  Heck, Hiccup even acknowledges that the twins sometimes have good ideas.  Snotlout gets to shine a bit as well, showing off his skills at sewing and even tries to come up with ideas when Hiccup’s out.  Though when he tells Hiccup “you should listen to me more often,” Hiccup just says “nah.”  That’s because his ideas are not always best. 

But Hiccup is now shown to be fallible.  We have a new antagonist to contend with.  I love Viggo as a villain.  He’s a smart villain.  He respects an intelligent opponent.  He’s all about the worthy opponent and wants to extract the best out of Hiccup.  He’s bored by predictability, but also very used to being the smartest person in the room.

I think we’re glad that Heather is not actually a villain, but she still differs from the riders.  She doesn’t trust Hiccup the way that Astrid does and is still determined to do things herself.  We also seem the friendship between Hiccup and Astrid develop.  He’s very worried when Astrid goes missing and places himself as the one to find her.  He comments that they work as a team and Astrid is the one to bolster his confidence when Hiccup makes a mistake.  Astrid still wants to prove herself as a warrior, and has a specific mindset on how that is accomplished, as showcased by her training of the A-Team.  Hiccup allows more creativity.

Up Next: A bit of a break for the holidays, then on to Season Three

“I see nothing has changed.” “Yup, same story, different year.”

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