“You will kiss this boot!”

Defenders of Berk

The second season of the cartoon, though is lumped under “Dreamworks Dragons” in imbd. It’s not quite specified how much time has passed between the end of Riders and now, though it’s not long; I’d say less than a year. I think that Hiccup’s hair is depicted just a smidge longer. And it should be noted that the tone has changed just a bit; they’re now the “defenders” of Berk, rather than just riders.

This comes through even in the first episode, Live and Let Fly. Hiccup is having the riders practice what they should do if ever captured by Alvin – say your name and where you live and that is it. Fishlegs is not the best under pressure; he doesn’t like the dark. Then Stoick comes along and grounds all the dragons and puts a ban on flying. No patrols, no training. The riders complain to Hiccup and he resolutely says he will never call the chief ridiculous; it’s just Stoick being an overprotective father. Hiccup does argue with Stoick that they only way they will be able to fight back against Alvin is on top dragons. Stoick insists he won’t rick the teens. His son argues that the safest place for him is on Toothless.

What do all teens do when told not to do something? Go behind the adults’ backs and do it anyway. Hiccup created “Flight Club,” and the first rule of Flight Club is there is no flight club (which just confuses the twins). They have to keep their skills sharp in order to defend Berk. Hiccup’s even added features to his shield. Meanwhile, Stoick has Gobber make him a new saddle because the ban on flying obviously does not apply to the chief. Then the two groups eventually meet in the air as Alvin attacks Berk. Stoick readily coordinates with Hiccup to take on the ship. Which is really just a distraction for Mildew to sneak ashore with a few Outcasts to plant Whispering Death eggs.

The teens continue to be an important part of the defense against Alvin in The Iron Gronkle. During patrols, Fishlegs routinely falls behind the rest of the riders. One day, they stay behind on the beach and Meatlug eats a bunch of different rocks. Fishlegs has to tickle her with a feather to get her to regurgitate when she gets sick. The lava cools into a remarkable metal that makes light and strong weapons. Hiccup even adds it to his shield. Now, Fishlegs and Meatlug are busy in the village with Gobber. Until they run out of the wonderous “Gronkle Iron.” The other teens also discover that Fishlegs played a role in their patrols, like keeping track of where they’ve been. They all learn a lesson and the secret recipe of Gronkle Iron remains a secret (since Fishlegs can’t remember the proper combination of rocks to recreate it.) They manage to drive away an Outcast ship (that was sneaking in to check on the eggs, including an exceptionally large one.)

Astrid arranges a training mission on Dragon Island during The Night and the Fury, where the riders are to camp out without their dragons in order to work on stealth and defense. Tuffnut ends up being elected to remain with the dragons. Hiccup soon finds out that the Berk riders are not alone on the island; Dagur has been camping out, searching for the Night Fury after Hiccup “rescued” him during its attack on Berk. So, great idea, Dagur wants to search for the elusive dragon with Hiccup, whom he now calls “brother.” The dragons escape from Tuffnut and Dagur and Hiccup also start coming across the other teens. They eventually spot the Night Fury and Hiccup uses his shield (it transforms into a crossbow!) to take out Dagur in order to save his friends and also ends up revealing that they don’t hunt dragons anymore on Berk, they rider them. Dagur goes on about the “trappers’ trap can trap the trapper” (this will pop up throughout the rest of the seasons) and reveals that he is not alone either; the Berserker armada has been offshore. Dagur demands of his men that no one else hurts Hiccup; that is reserved for Dagur. Our riders escape, but Dagur just laughs maniacally behind them.

Tunnell Vision starts funny, with the riders and Stoick attempting to catch Gobber so he can be bathed. It takes a dramatic turn when they discover that Berk’s wells have run dry. Hiccup goes down in order to investigate and finds there are tunnels now crisscrossing beneath the village. He then comes across the eggshells of the Whispering Deaths and the Outcast crate and deduces what has happened. Then the dragons start terrorizing the town, though they get chased away pretty quickly. Only for a giant white dragon to emerge, a Screaming Death they term. The scream disorients the riders’ dragons, but Hiccup insists on taking it on. Stoick is able to help with Thornado, but Hiccup continues to put himself in the most dangerous spot. He and Toothless manage fancy flying and get the Screaming Death to smash into a rock stack. The Whispering Death siblings come to help their large counterpart. Hiccup lets them go. Luckily, the wells refill, but Hiccup knows what Alvin’s plan was and knows that they haven’t seen the last of the Screaming Death (that last shot of the dragon attacking the screen as the episode ends is a little creepy).

Snotlout is determined to train longer and harder than the other riders in Race to Fireworm Island, which ends up with Hookfang becoming exhausted and losing his flame. Spitelout is not the most comforting, suggesting that Snotlout should just get a “new sword,” or replace Hookfang if he’s no use. But Snotlout actually cares for his dragon and will do anything to save him. The riders end up gathering small fireworm dragons and use them to find their home island, where their queen and nursery resides. Snotlout risks the wrath of the queen and steals one of the cells, thinking Hookfang needs it. Hookfang, pasty grey by this point, summons up enough strength to save Snotlout and the queen stings him in order to restore his flame. Snotlout is now determined to allow Hookfang enough rest to recover and keep him safe.

We learn a bit more about Astrid’s family’s history in Fright of Passage. Every so many years, Aurvandil’s Fire (the aurora borealis) shines in the sky, signaling the return of the Frightmare dragon that glows and causes people to freeze. Astrid’s uncle was once known as Fearless Finn Hofferson, until he went up against the Frightmare, thus tarnishing the Hofferson name. Astrid is determined when the Frightmare returns this year that she will take it on and regain her family’s honor. Hiccup is a little hesitant to take it on, telling her “no one loves a new and terrifying dragon more than me,” but maybe they should think about how they should take it on. Astrid calls his bluff that he doesn’t want to learn about the dragon and possibly train it, retorting that he should tell her with a straight face that he thinks about more than dragons. So they follow the path and discover that the lights in the sky illuminate glowing algae that the Frightmare eats, which causes it to glow, as well as any other dragon. Also, it’s mist paralyzes people temporarily. They figure out they need to cut a new path to the river to send the Frightmare out to sea instead of through the village. (The twins and Snotlout deal with an emergency bunker while the other riders deal with the dragon, and Hiccup starts having to cut off bad words from his friends).

Fishlegs and Snotlout butt heads in Worst in Show, determined that everything is a competition and they have to outdo the other. In order to figure out who is the best dragon trainer, all the riders will train a Terrible Terror; whoever performs the best wins. Hiccup keeps insisting that it is not a competition but none of his friends listen to him. While Fishlegs is busy training his new dragon, he ignores Meatlug. Hiccups’s Terror is Sharpshot and excels at target shooting. Astrid’s Stealth is indeed stealthy, while the twins simply butt heads (hence naming them Head and Butt). Snotlout’s just likes to bite, which Fishlegs’ Iggy is good at retrieving. But the Outcasts have also snuck into Berk and almost get away with Meatlug. The Terrors help get her back and Fishlegs spends quality time with her afterwards. Hiccup and Toothless destroy the Outcast ship.

The riders attempt to track dragons to their respective islands in Appetite for Destruction, but they soon start showing up on the same island. They discover that the original islands are now gone or severely destroyed. The Screaming Death is back and making a path of destruction towards Berk. The riders wrangle the wild dragons to make a stand and drive the Screaming Death away. Gronkles stabilize Dragon Island, but Hiccup continues to be wary that the large dragon will come back to Berk someday.

Gobber sets the riders to dismantling dragon traps around Berk in Zippleback Down. The twins don’t pay attention so Tuffnut ends up trapped in a net in a tree. Ruffnut is bad at directions and takes forever to get back to the village. In the meantime, the weather is dry and Stoick warns the teens against stray sparks from their dragons, it may start a fire. Which is of course what happens. A Typhomerang comes across Tuffnut and they manage to bond since Tuffnut just roars back at the dragon. Barf and Belch have already had their fun by bumping the teen around in the net. Hiccup and Toothless finds Tuffnut and realizes that the friendly Typhomerang is Scorch from last year. Everyone manages to escape the wild fire and Scorch even spins the fire out. It takes the twins the rest of the evening to get Tuffnut out of the net.

We then come to the two-parter A View to a Skrill, where the riders discover the Berserkers are attempting to free a Skrill dragon from an ice encasement. The Skrill is the symbol of the Berserkers and is a dangerous lightning dragon that is a match for a Night Fury. Of course, Snotlout and the twins manage to free the Skrill. Snotlout gets hit by lighting from the dragon for his trouble and babbles for the next day. Now they have to keep this dragon away from Dagur who will surely use it against Berk. Of course, the Berserkers manage to attack at that point. Toothless and Hiccup take on the Skrill; it gets sent into the water, and the twins see Alvin retrieve the dragon. They follow the Outcast back to his island, where Hiccup tracks them down. They see that Alvin and Dagur plan an alliance in order to defeat Berk, but each side plans to double cross each other. Alvin won’t let Dagur have the Skrill until Berk is defeated. Dagur intends to dispose of Alvin in order to take his Skrill, and also destroy Berk. Tuffnut manages to sneak in and get this information and the three come up with the plan that if there is no Skrill, there is no alliance and thus no invasion of Berk.

So, Hiccup and Toothless free the Skrill. Except Dagur manages to get the Skrill and attacks the Outcasts and fires on Alvin, laughing all the while. Savage joins Dagur. Again, Hiccup and his Night Fury go against Dagur and the Skrill. They get Dagur into the water and when the Skrill fires, he’s electrocuted. The riders manage to trap and refreeze the Skrill.

The Flight Stuff is lighter-hearted. True, Snotlout thinks he may be dying for part of the episode, but no one else believes him. He insists on training Gustav as his replacement. Gustav finds another Monstrous Nightmare that he names Fanghook (wherever could he have come up with a name like that, we wonder). Snotlout teaches Gustav what he knows and the boys struggles a bit, but it’s rather funny. And Hookfang demonstrates who is really in charge of that partnership. Hiccup is more concerned about Dagur and gets word that the Berserker is planning on test firing a new weapon. This turns out to be a trap, but Snotlout talks confidence into Gustav so they can save Hiccup and Toothless. “You want experience, this is how you get it.” “You can do it and you will do it.” Shows some more depth to Snotlout. And turns out it was the twins pranking Snotlout into believing he’s been seeing the give sign posts of Valhalla. The riders agree that Gustav will be their junior apprentice backup replacement rider. He’s to send Fanghook away until he’s better trained, which Gustav does, but we see the dragon return once the other riders have left.

Ruffnut manages to befriend a trapped Scauldron in Free Scauldy. The Scauldron is trapped on Changewing Island with the run rising and drying it out. Scauldy likes the smell of the fish oil in Ruffnut’s braids, so she keeps him calm while Hiccup, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs free his wing. Then they attempt to splint it while Changewings move in. Ruffnut cuts her braids to be the last piece of rope so she can save Scauldy. While those four are having an adventure, Snotlout bugs Astrid, so she gives him a taste of his own medicine and flirts back, which just scares the young man.

Berk goes through their worst freeze in Frozen. Hiccup is going nuts inside and when Stoick informs him that Johann is lost at sea, he begs his father, “if you care for me as your son, let me leave.” Hiccup quickly takes off on Toothless and they notice that the sea has frozen all the way to Berk. Johann is stuck on his ship in the ice. When they fly back to Berk, the village is deserted. Well, Fishlegs scares them. He stayed because Meatlug was frozen on his roof. The ice bridge has let Speed Stingers onto Berk, who are small, flightless dragons, but incredibly fast and their tails are able to paralyze Vikings temporarily. The rest of the village takes refuge in the cove where Toothless and Hiccup bonded. Stoick was paralyzed while protecting the food supply. The riders, with Snotlout aided by Gustav, plan to capture the leader of the Speed Stingers and lead the herd away from Berk. Toothless is fast enough to dodge the little dragons and Hiccup’s metal leg comes in handy, as well as his shield. Stormfly is stung during their escape, so Barf and Belch are to keep watch while Hiccup takes the Stingers. They burn the ice bridge to keep them from coming back.

Astrid and Snotlout argue during a Screaming Death attack drill, which causes damage in the village. Stoick orders the riders to get Mildew’s cabbage field ready for planting in Tale of Two Dragons. The two continue to argue during this task and worse, Stormfly and Hookfang get involved. Even Toothless joins in their fight, Hiccup pulling back on his friend, remarking “you’re supposed to be breaking up the fight, not winning it.” Hiccup goes to Stoick for advice on how to settle things between Astrid and Snotlout. The chief advises tricking the two into working together; the alternative is letting them beat each other into submission. It starts off fine, until the dragons attack each other again. Hiccup has the two switch dragons. Both Snotlout and Astrid learn some strengths of their temporary companions. When they try to work together again, they stand in front of their dragons to keep them from attacking. Fishlegs figures out there is dragon root in the field, which Meatlug is immune to, but it makes the other dragons aggressive. Astrid and Snotlout work together while Fishlegs removes the root. They learned things but are happy to switch back to their dragons.

There is an outbreak of eel pox on Berk in The Eel Effect. The teens are tasked, since Stoick is sick, with getting the ingredients for the cure. Unfortunately, it involves an eel, which most dragons hate. Hiccup volunteers him and Toothless to get the eel. Toothless has to dive into the water and eat an eel in order to save Hiccup. Which in turns makes Toothless sick and increases his shot limit. Hiccup tries to reason with his friend, but Toothless runs off, though he does show concern after he knocks Hiccup out. Fishlegs is sent after Hiccup and helps capture Toothless while wild Typhomerangs move in. The rest of the riders get sick on Berk, with the twins conducting science experiments and Snotlout starts demanding dragon rights. Fishlegs and Hiccup make the remedy for Toothless, which makes him barf up the eel and seems to cure him. They return to Berk with the remedy.

Trader Johann brings a shipment of scrap metal to Berk for Gobber in Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, along with a mace that Tuffnut falls in love with. Except, metal starts disappearing overnight in Berk. There is an odd smoke and it tries to carry Hiccup off. This clues the riders in to the fact that they now have a nest of Smothering Smokebreaths from Breakneck Bog on Berk. With their weapons carried off, Stoick fears an attack. Which proves right when Dagur arrives with an armada. Hiccup and the riders set a trap for the dragons and lead them over Dagur’s armada, dropping the metal and the dragons also take all the metal on the boats, including the nails, destroying the fleet just in time. Dagur calls out to Hiccup at the start of the battle “pucker up Hiccup, you’re about to kiss my boots!” Then shouts at the end of the battle “You will kiss this boot!” [Yup, still obsessed with his “brother.”] Hiccup makes Johann take the metal back to Breakneck Bog.

The riders have to deal with three adolescent Thunderdrums in Bing! Bam! Boom! They cause mayhem in the village and only Thornado is able to make them obey. But Stoick has him busy with chief business. The teens struggle to train the young dragons. Stoick then orders them to find a new home for the Thunderdrums. When they finally get them left on an island, the other wild dragons move in. Stoick realizes he has to leave Thornado behind in order to let the adult dragon protect the youngsters. He does what any father or chief would do, though he will miss his companion.

The season ends with another two-parter: Cast Out. The riders are continuing their training, this time with Gobber helping out. Hiccup calls for a retreat, but Snotlout won’t listen. He causes a catapult shot to go wild and hit Astrid. Hiccup manages to catch her before she’s really hurt, though she wants to punch Snotlout. Hiccup has had it with the flippant rider, so he suspends Snotlout from the academy. They can’t count on him. Hiccup once again asks his father for advice, while they both have ice blocks to their head. Stoick points out “someday you will be chief” and he can’t always be a leader and a friend. Snotlout has flown off and manages to find a wrecked Outcast ship. Along with the Screaming Death. Snotlout ends up rescued by Alvin the Treacherous, who flies the lad back to Berk, only to be imprisoned. When Hiccup visits Alvin, the man offers the teen a proposal. He’s willing to change and help Berk take on the Berserkers.

In the meantime, Dagur puts dragon root in the dragon academy and lets the dragons out. Guards try to surround Hiccup and Dagur demands the Night Fury. Stoick comes to the aid of his son and Alvin comes to help Stoick (let out by Snotlout). Dagur manages to capture Stoick and makes off with the chief. Alvin now acts as advisor to Hiccup, warning the backing Dagur into a corner will not end well. With Stoick in enemy hands, Hiccup is now the acting chief, backed up by Astrid. Gobber even helps Hiccup and explains how Alvin and Stoick used to be friends, until Stoick became chief and Alvin didn’t agree with how he was doing things. Alvin disobeyed an order and so Stoick cast him out. Their relationship is similar to the one Hiccup has with Snotlout.

Fishlegs then brings word that the Screaming Death is on its way. Hiccup orders the riders to take care of the Screaming Death while Hiccup will go after his father. Alvin will show him a secret way on to Outcast Island, helped by Mildew. Hiccup realizes that the Whispering Death Mildew is taking care of is the mother of the ones from Berk, including the Screaming Death. He sends word back to Berk. The riders will lure the Screaming Death to Outcast Island with dragon root.

Toothless ends up captured, but Alvin and Hiccup work together to free him. The arena begins to collapse; Toothless saves Hiccup and the riders arrive. Dagur realizes what Hiccup intends to do and tries to hold the mother Whispering Death hostage. Snotlout fires the right shot and frees the mother to reunite with her offspring. They roar at Hiccup, but leave. The exit narration returns for the first time this season, with Hiccup summing up that sometimes being reckless is courageous. Alvin and Stoick make peace and Alvin takes Dagur to the prison on Outcast Island. Hiccup and his friends will continue to train, learn, and protect dragons.

This season we see the teenaged characters come into their own more. Snotlout does actually care about his dragon and he even cares about Stormfly when he rides her. We peek beneath Astrid’s warrior exterior and see her as a small child. We also see her support Hiccup. The twins are still primarily comic relief, but they also start to branch out. Tuffnut bonds with Scorch, mainly cause he’s willing to roar back and even talks to Barf, the head his sister tends to ride, so they may form a bond as well. When they’re sick they do proper science experiments, though they still want to throw each other off a cliff. Fishlegs is the one who keeps them organized and is incredibly knowledgeable about dragons. He helps develop Gronkle Iron, even if it’s not perfected yet. Whenever there is dragon root, Fishlegs takes charge.

Hiccup grows as a leader. The village starts seeing him as a leader of his peers. When Stoick is concerned about fire weather, he passes responsibility of the riders to Hiccup to keep in line. Stoick gives him the chance to train adolescent Thunderdrums, and ends up allowing Hiccup to run attack drills with the riders that involve the village. He straight up tells Hiccup he will be chief one day and during airborne attacks, follows Hiccup’s lead. Hiccup also asks and accepts advice from his father and other adults. He doesn’t dismiss Alvin’s warnings once his father is captured by Dagur. We know he already listens to Gobber and sees him as a mentor.

Even the antagonists are fleshed out. Savage actually has ideas, though he will cower and let whoever is in command take credit. While Dagur is certainly deranged, he has actual goals (that we don’t want accomplished) and sees Hiccup as an actual adversary rather than a nuisance or target practice. Alvin even is redeemed. He’s not a perfect man, but he comes to see a better way to accomplish his goals. It’s better to ally with Berk than with Dagur. He saved Snotlout and could have easily left the young man to be eaten.

I love the depth this show demonstrates. These are more than one dimensional characters. We see teenagers start to become adults and work towards a future. They are leading the way in showing that humans benefit from having dragons in their lives.

Next Time: We dive into Race to the Edge

“It’s a great day for lugging sheep!”

Riders of Berk

The first season that continues the story of the How to Train Your Dragon movies. Dragons are now on Berk. And Vikings have to learn to live with them. This is not something solved overnight, as Hiccup as the other teens discover. Most of the teens’ voices are back, though Ruffnut and Snotlout have new actors, as do Gobber and Stoick. Tim Conway (from the Carol Burnett Show) voices one of the villagers, Mulch and David Tennant does continue to voice Spitelout when he appears.

Since it is now a television cartoon, the animation quality is lower (and really noticeable at times). All of the episodes also echo Hiccups opening and closing narration from the movie; usually highlighting what the lesson that is to be learned (make your own call on how cheesy they are). As Hiccup lays out in the first episode How to Start a Dragon Academy, Vikings now have to learn to not battle dragons and learn to take the good with the bad. He starts with his friends riding dragons and training them. They do a little trick competition. We continue to learn that the twins get very excited about nearly dying. Astrid is the second-best rider after Hiccup.

One villager staunchly dislikes dragons being on Berk, Mildew (and he is as pleasant as his name and is constantly accompanied by a sheep…best description of him is why did they bother to spend a week digging him out of a snowbank). He’s able to stir up crowds and loudly demands that the dragons need to be put in cages, or better yet, off Berk completely. Hiccup volunteers to help solve the problem of dragons being in the Vikings’ business. It’s his chance to prove himself a man (at fifteen). Mayhem ensues and Stoick sides with the villagers and order the dragons off the island. Hiccup realizes they need to work with the dragons’ natural instincts…like using their poo as fertilizer. In response, Stoick grants Hiccup and the teens the right to use the former kill ring as a new dragon training academy.

Another consequence of no longer fighting dragons is that Gobber finds himself without much of a job. There is not as much need for weapons and he struggles to find purpose in Viking for Hire. He even tries to help Stoick out one day, but he makes a poor chief, such as naming a baby girl Magnus. Eventually, Hiccup tries to have Gobber build the other teens saddles, but they’re filled with weapons and not the most useful. However, it’s Gobber who takes on Hookfang, Snotlout’s Monstrous Nightmare, who’s going berserk. Turns out, he had a bad tooth and Gobber extracts it. He turns his attention to dragon dentistry.

It becomes dragons versus animals in Animal House; the animals on Berk, such as the chickens and yaks, are not used to the dragons being around constantly. It puts them off milk production and egg laying. Hiccup tries to show the animals that dragons aren’t so bad…it doesn’t go as well as he hopes. A big snowstorm rolls in. The teens are tasked with bringing the last animals in, but they bolt. Their dragons follow them into the snow and end up cocooning them in the wild weather, even the animals. (They had shown this protective instinct earlier in the episode when Astrid and Hiccup get stuck in an avalanche after sledding.) Trust is gained.

Terrible Twos introduces a new dragon to the teens, who are practicing evasive maneuvers (and Hookfang doesn’t like to listen to Snotlout). It’s at first equated to a flaming squirrel, but they eventually name it a Typhomerang for how it spins and fires up. Toothless dislikes the new addition to the house, particularly when Torch steals his dinner. Toothless is also the first to realize that Torch is a baby and the mother is looking for him. But Hiccup doesn’t understand what Toothless is pointing out, until he sees the parent for himself and realizes his mistake. He vows to listen to his dragon more.

We continue to see Toothless direct the other dragons on Berk. The riders go through trust exercises with their dragons and unfortunately crash into Mildew’s house in In Dragons We Trust. Stoick orders Hiccup to rebuild the roof, without Toothless. The chief explains to his son that all eyes are on Hiccup in regards to the dragons and his actions reflect on Stoick. (In other words, keep the dragons under control. Dragons, Hiccup can handle. It’s the twins and Snotlout in the mix that chaos erupts.) Overnight, dragon prints appear, seemingly Barf and Belch and they stole all the Vikings’ boots (an odd tradition [to an American] they have of leaving them outside overnight.) So Hiccup starts a night patrol, named “DUMB” for “Dragon United Monitoring Brigade” (and yes, it is a rather dumb name, and is pointed out several times in the episode) so they can prevent more dragon accidents. Except claw marks, possibly from Hookfang appear in the Great Hall. Toothless goes to investigate a noise while Hiccup defends the dragons. The armory explodes before Toothless can find his prey and he is instantly blamed, loudly by Mildew. Which makes Hiccup suspicious. But Stoick orders the dragons off the island to keep the peace. Hiccup vows to return for Toothless. While he is fixing Mildew’s roof later, he sneaks in and confirms his suspicions when he finds dragon props. Except Mildew returns (Hiccup hides) and throws the evidence into ocean.

With the armory gone, Gobber points out to Stoick that this would be an extremely bad time for an attack, namely by someone called Alvin the Treacherous (voiced by Mark Hamill; he’s got a thing for bad guys) in Alvin and the Outcasts. While the teens are searching the beach for the evidence to exonerate their dragons, Astrid and Hiccup spot an odd ship. The Outcasts have arrived. Hiccup sets off to retrieve the dragons, while the rest of the village take to the caves and woods. Fishlegs comes across Alvin, who declares he is looking for the “dragon master.” Fishlegs is tossed into the ocean for his trouble, but he comes back ashore and finds Hiccup. Astrid keeps Alvin occupied, particularly when Mildew intends to give the boy away. But Hiccup still steps out to protect his people, claiming to be the dragon master. Alvin points out that the teen is “Stoick’s little embarrassment,” but Hiccup persists in his claims and manages to get Alvin to take him to Dragon Island.

Still on Berk, Stoick and Gobber handily take on the Outcasts they come across (despite no official weapons). Stoick soon discovers why Alvin has come and worries for his son. But on Dragon Island, Hiccup finds Toothless and sneakily gets his saddle on, then corrects Alvin. He’s not a dragon master, he’s a dragon trainer. Stoick and the other teens have come as reinforcements and the teens take to the sky to launch dragon attacks against the Outcast ship. They work together to burn Alvin’s ship, but even in defeat, the Treacherous Outcast leader lets out a demented laugh, eager to get his hands on the boy again. These episodes reinforce that Vikings and dragons can trust each other, especially the duo of Toothless and Hiccup.

Hiccup attempts to sway his dad from the traditional, hard Viking way and learn to do things the dragon way in How to Pick Your Dragon. Stoick is stubborn, but Gobber manages to talk him round. Stoick agrees to ride behind Hiccup on Toothless and witness cheifing from a dragon. Now he’s eager for the idea and takes Toothless out the entire next day and exhausts the poor Night Fury. So Hiccup has to find a dragon for his father. They eventually come across a wild Thunderdrum that initially resists being trained and does not trust Stoick. When the Vikings find out that this one is protecting an injured friend, Stoick stays behind to aid the Thunderdrum, finally gaining the dragon’s trust. Stoick is slowly coming around to some of his son’s ideas.

Portrait of Hiccup as a Buff Man is self-explanatory. There is a portrait being painted of the chief and his heir; a tradition going back generations. Stoick is initially fine with Hiccup not looking as brawny as some others, but when the portrait is revealed to show Hiccup as a more typical Viking and Stoick loudly praises it, Hiccups is dejected. Stoick points out that the picture is Hiccup, just bigger and stronger. A villager openly remarks that it looks like the son of a chief. The teens have found a treasure map that stumped even Gobber and Stoick back in the day. After hearing everyone’s comments and pointing out that Viking tradition is to name the runt of the litter “hiccup,” the lad decides to try his hand at the treasure map. They start finding pieces and Gobber and Stoick soon figure out what Hiccup and the teens are up to. Gobber has to spell it out to Stoick that Hiccup is upset about the painting and then points out that the younger generation has gotten further in one afternoon than the two of them got in a month.

Eventually, Hiccup and Toothless fall into a cavern after getting the last piece of the puzzle. They discover the treasure, but that cavern soon collapses, scaring his friends and father as they search for him. He chose wisely and gets out and is greeted by a large hug from his father. He admits he just wanted to prove to his father that he was his kind of Viking. Stoick assures him he already was and orders the portrait redone.

Trader Johann is introduced in Dragon Flower, with the Vikings of Berk eagerly lining up to look at his exotic items. This is how Hiccup gets squid ink, instead of his charcoal. Mildew gets a strange order, but no one follows up immediately. Until their dragons start getting ill. Gothi, the village elder who scribbles in the sand since she is mute, determines the dragons are allergic to something new on the island. [The animation quality is particularly poor in the beach scene, where everyone throws things away.] The teens eventually work out that the new flowers they’ve been seeing across the island is poisonous to their dragons. Mildew claims innocence, but he is forced to come along to retrieve the antidote from a Scauldron. As usual, the plan doesn’t go exactly as they figured (Gobber eventually has to go scream in the forest after witnessing Mildew’s bare backside), but they do get the antidote and save the dragons. Stoick does not immediately jump anymore to wishing to be rid of the dragons; he’s even worried about his own dragon.

The first half of the season ends with a two-part episode: Heather Report. Snotlout and Hookfang come across a young girl washed ashore from a shipwreck. The rest of the teens are eager to help the girl, Heather (voiced by Mae Whitman, who voiced Katara in Avatar: The Last Airbender), though Astrid is suspicious. Heather is eager to learn about dragons and asks several questions, even inquiring about their Book of Dragons. Again, Astrid doesn’t trust the newcomer and doesn’t think they should be sharing so many secrets with her. It is also possible Astrid is a bit jealous. She eventually witnesses Heather speaking to Alvin’s second-in-command, Savage, promising to get the Book of Dragons. Afterward, Hiccup can’t find the book. Heather has taken Stormfly and is off to Outcast Island. The riders go after her, Astrid even fighting the other girl on the back of Stormfly. Unfortunately, the book lands on the island.

In the second part of the episode, Heather is trying to break out of jail so she can return to Outcast Island. Turns out, Alvin is holding her parents hostage. The teens begin to prepare to go against the Outcasts. Astrid dresses up as Heather in order to fool Alvin and get the book back. She has to demonstrate what she “learned,” and eventually tries to escape. The riders follow her and Heather successfully breaks out and follows on Stormfly. Hiccup has faith that Astrid will take care of herself and goes through with the plan. They’re briefly captured, but Heather arrives just in time, giving them the diversion to get free. Of course, the episode ends happily, with Astrid and Heather putting aside their differences, and the Book of Dragons back on Berk. But Alvin wants Hiccup even more now.

Thawfest is a lighter episode, highlighting the ongoing animosity between Snotlout and Hiccup. The Thawfest games have been going on for generations and the Jorgenson clan typically wins. [Apparently, in the books, Snotlout and Hiccup are cousins and fandom has accepted this. It doesn’t quite appose canon, though it’s never explicitly brought up.] We also see the Jorgenson chant of “oi oi oi!” (it will come up through the rest of the series.) Snotlout has won the past several years in a row, but this year, they’ve added dragon events, so Hiccup has a chance. He loses at the sheep lug, log roll, and axe throwing, with Snotlout taking the honors once again. But Hiccup excels at the dragon hurdles, freestyle event, and fly and shoot portion. He’s ecstatic and gloating, but Astrid warns him that he’s being a sore winner, compared to a gracious loser. It all comes down to an obstacle course and Hiccup has been modifying Toothless’ tail to increase their speed. He falls behind in the rock-climbing portion, but soon catches up to Snotlout, who begins to panic at the pressure his father has put on him to win. And Hiccup realizes he doesn’t want to win like this, so he purposefully crashes Hiccup. Status quo remains, but Stoick passes along that he’s proud of Hiccup and Astrid even rewards him with a kiss for being the better Viking.

When Lighting Strikes is my favorite episode of this season. Hiccup explains that life on Berk with dragons has its ups and downs. He helps design metal perches for the dragons so they stop landing on houses and crushing them. Then a lightning storm hits in the village, the first in many years. Fires start and the villagers believe that Thor is angry. Mildew instead blames the dragons, per usual, though this time, he targets Toothless directly. A Night Fury is said to be the ‘unholy offspring of lightning and death itself,’ thus, that is what Thor is upset about. Hiccup talks the villagers down for a minute and suggests a statue to Thor. His friends help him out, though make it out of metal again [which makes sense on the one hand, since Hiccup is a skilled metal smith, though we in the twenty-first century have figured out what’s going on.] Unfortunately, the lightning returns and strikes the statue, firing it at the metal perches that Toothless is hoping on. Mildew works the crowd into a frenzy and Stoick tells Hiccup to hide Toothless. Stoick doesn’t believe Toothless to be a threat and will now actively protect him. However, for their safety, he does suggest his son leaves with his dragon, until everyone calms down. They try to make it off the island, but the lightning in the sky hits the metal rigging on Toothless’ tail. They crash and that allows the crowd to catch up with them and lock Toothless away.

They make preparations to ship Toothless off the island. Except now they have to deal with the chief and Gobber, joined by Bucket and Mulch. Hiccup has also worked out that the lightning is hitting the metal specifically and he’s got an idea. Not a great idea, because it’s to stand at the top of a mast with a metal spear in his hand. Lightning strikes before he can lash it, so it travels through Hiccup, sending him into the water. Toothless breaks free and rescues his friend again. This echoes the ending of the first movie, even with Hiccup waking up in his bed and Toothless waiting for him. He looks down and dryly remarks “at least I didn’t lose another one,” regarding his legs. Stoick happily hugs his son. The villagers now believe that Thor is angry at the metal, so for now they take down the perches and the statue. Well, the male riders carry the statue up to Mildew’s house (Stoick’s instructions had been a high point on the island and technically…) The villagers apologize to Toothless and life goes on. I like that Hiccup continues to prove that he will do anything for his dragon. He used his analytical mind to solve the question, though some of his ideas are still a bit on the crazy, stupid side.

We’re introduced to another dragon in What Flies Beneath when large holes start appearing around Berk and animals are dropping away. When the riders go to investigate, they hear a strange whispering before a massive dragon erupts from the ground, a Whispering Death. Toothless orders the other dragons to back off and attacks the beast himself and won’t even let Hiccup help him. That night, he leaves on his own to hunt down the Whispering Death. Hiccup of course goes after him come morning and finds more holes, even jumping into one. Yep, the home of the Whispering Death, but no Toothless. Hiccup instead wants to attempt to train the beast. Luckily, Toothless is to the rescue before the teen gets bitten. Fishlegs and Hiccup have also discovered a bite mark on the tail of the Whispering Death, which matches the teeth pattern of a Night Fury; these dragons have a past and hold a grudge.

Hiccup knows that Toothless needs to be able to fly in order to really fight the Whispering Death, but Toothless continues to push him away. So, another crazy idea, he walks off a cliff, praying that Toothless will save him. Of course the beloved black dragon does, and now they can really fire away at the Whispering Death. They realize that the enemy dragon dislikes sunlight and use that to their advantage so Toothless can pin and roar at his enemy. The dragon slinks off. Hiccup remarks in closing “I will always have Toothless’ back and he will always have mine.”

Twinsanity focuses more on Barf and Belch and the twins. The riders are working on commands, and of course, Ruffnut and Tuffnut can’t agree on which signal to give their one dragon. They get fed up and walk away from each other. To throw a wrench into the works, a contingency from the Berserker tribe is coming to Berk to sign an annual peace treaty. Since Stoick doesn’t believe that other Vikings will react well to dragons in the village, he orders the riders to hide their friends. Only, Barf and Belch are still in the village when the visitors arrive. Instead of Osvald the Agreeable, it is his son, Dagur, who know goes by the Deranged, who leads the Berserkers. Hiccup’s not pleased because Dagur usually uses the skinny teen as target practice when he’s visited in the past. Hiccup tries to get Barf and Belch away, but Dagur spots the dragon and eagerly declares they should kill it; one head for each chief. Hiccup has to find the twins. He finds out that they’re tired of sharing everything, though he urges them that other items can be replaced and duplicated, but not Barf and Belch.

Stoick stalls Dagur, and the riders arrive just in time to prevent the chief from putting an end to the visiting Berserker. The riders stage a dragon attack (using their hand signals) to drive the Berserkers away. The tribes remain at peace.

Hiccup ends up working with Snotlout in Defiant One. Snotlout dislikes having to take directions from Hiccup and attempts to go his own way in a search and rescue mission. Hiccup doubles back to help him, and they get caught in a waterspout. Hookfang goes flying and Toothless’ tail is damaged, again. They land on an island and Hiccup sets to work replacing Toothless’ tail. Snotlout is not much help, though he points out that Hiccup should be more prepared with proper provisions. He also whines about how great everyone thinks Hiccup is now; he killed the Red Death, he trained the dragons, he’s got the metal leg. When he steps in to ‘help’ with a connecting rod, he breaks it instead. Now they’re truly stuck. Hiccup eventually figures out they’re on Outcast Island…and Snotlout has left Hiccup’s satchel with the Berk crest lying around. But to get off the island, they have to sneak into the blacksmith shop. Hiccup is captured and Snotlout has to work with Toothless in order to rescue him. Alvin still wants the boy to train his dragons, though when Snotlout gets Hiccup out, he groans “how does that ninety-pound boy repeatedly defeat an entire army of blood-thirsty savages?” After this adventure, Snotlout and Hiccup begin to get along better.

Stoick sends the dragon riders out to search for Trader Johan, who is late. Apparently, there is something important aboard for Stoick. They eventually find the man adrift at sea, without his boat. It was lost to the titular Breakneck Bog. And the item aboard isn’t for Stoick, it’s for Hiccup, and further, it’s from his mother. Well, that just means that Hiccup is more determined to find it. Led by the twins and Snotlout, there is the tale that there is a fog monster within the bog that scrapes the skin from your bones. Hiccup orders Snotlout and the twins to take Johan back to Berk; he, Astrid, and Fishlegs (who is now not eager to potentially run into a fog monster) will search for the boat. They ultimately find it oddly in a tree. Along the way, Fishlegs warns the others “you don’t go towards the weird, scary sound.” Astrid points out, “yeah, we do. We always do.” But both will follow Hiccup on this important task.

There’s a strange bone shower and the noises increase. Turns out, it’s the twins and Snotlout, gleefully scaring Fishlegs and the others. Astrid then gleefully beats Tuffnut with a bone for the scare. They left Johan on a rock in the middle of the sea. But Hiccup finds the chest and is ready to leave. The boat falls out of the tree and then a strange fog rolls in. It takes the box and doesn’t behave as typical fog. That’s because they’re dragons, called Smothering Smokebreaths who steal metal to melt down to make their nests. Hiccup of course wants the chest back, so Snotlout gets to be the distraction. All the riders manage to make it out and back on Berk, Hiccup opens the chest. It’s a stuffed dragon toy his mother made him as a child. He was initially scared of it and accidentally dropped it in the water while fishing many years ago. Hiccup is now happy to have it back.

Fishlegs leads the story in Gem of a Different Color; he skips out on hand-to-hand combat (most would want to avoid Snotlout in that training. Hiccup is recommended to play dead when Astrid pins him) and ends up finding a glowing rock on his excursion. Gobber claims it to be a stone of good fortune and the villagers clamor to touch it. And Snotlout desperately wants it. Stoick lays down the law that Fishlegs found it. But Fishlegs doesn’t like all the attention, so he returns it overnight. Except he finds more glowing rocks and determines they’re dragon eggs. The eggs of an invisible dragon that spits acid; the Changewing. Unbeknownst to Fishlegs, Snotlout followed him and has nothing against taking the eggs. He auctions them off to the highest bidder, even getting a child Gustav Larsen in the deal. Fishlegs demands that Snotlout takes the eggs back; he refuses. The Changewings come to Berk to find their eggs, leaving destruction in their wake. Fishlegs gathers the courage to properly confront Snotlout and gets the last egg. Hiccup sums up the lesson: having courage isn’t the same as having no fear. It’s being afraid and pushing forward anyway.

The two-part episode We Are Family ends the season. Stoick has instructed the riders to put together a parade of dragons for their annual Bork Week celebration. Bork was the man who compiled the Book of Dragons and is Gobber’s ancestor. In order to gather all the dragons, the teens work on dragon calls. It’s then pointed out that there are no other Night Furies nearby. Hiccup’s a little sad about it, but Astrid points out that Toothless doesn’t seem to mind. Hiccup is also granted all the notes from Bork in order to continue his own study of dragons. In his reading, Hiccup finds there is a legendary Isle of Night, filled with Night Furies. So the riders set out to find Bork’s cave for the map. Snotlout hilariously gets taken by a Changewing and smacked against the pillar. And Toothless demonstrates the ability to use echolocation to find his way in the dark. On the map, Hiccup reads, Night Furies don’t get along with other dragons (bit odd, considering Toothless gets along fine with the rest of the dragon herd on Berk). So, of course, he sets out on his own. He thinks he’s found the island, but it’s soon apparent it’s a trap, set by Alvin to capture Hiccup, with Mildew’s help (he was too interested in those notes).

The second part of the episode has Hiccup breezily telling Alvin and his men that they don’t understand the dragons they have. Alvin locks up Toothless and Hiccup separately until Hiccup agrees to train their dragons. Mildew’s put in the next cage because Alvin is Treacherous. The other riders and Stoick follow Hiccup’s path and discover he was taken, determining that it was by the Outcasts. Meanwhile, both Toothless and Hiccup separately get free, Mildew even ‘helping’ Hiccup. In return, Hiccup shows Mildew how to gain a dragon’s trust. Reinforcements arrive and Hiccup’s new friend helps them out when Alvin releases the wild dragons. Hiccup does ultimately escape with Toothless, but Mildew gets left behind. And that was all part of the plan. Mildew now has tricks to teach the Outcasts.

Hiccup flies with Toothless in the parade and realizes they are each other’s family. Family is also the friends who stand by you. Sadly, we’re left with Alvin gaining the trust of a Whispering Death (of all the dragons to befriend!) and his maniacal laughter.

Overall, it’s a good continuation from the movie. Not as high of a quality, but it has its moments. Hiccup struggles to learn how to cope with being the dragon expert and melding Viking and dragon in one new way of life. Stoick in turns has to learn how to trust his son and comes around to being more supportive and even gains his own mount. The teens’ characters are further developed: Fishlegs supports Hiccup in knowledge, though is more scared than one would think for his size. Astrid is an excellent second-in-command. The twins love to goof off and Snotlout struggles a bit fitting in with a new Viking way, since he rarely wants to listen to Hiccup. We get some villains that are a credible threat to Berk: Alvin and Dagur. Mildew is annoying, but every village has that cranky old geezer who wants everything done the old way and complains about everything, constantly.

We also see Toothless take a leading role with the other dragons and also seems to love being with Hiccup. It is a kids’ cartoon, but it’s something that the whole family can watch. The narration doesn’t beat the lesson over your head too hard. Overall, well-rounded.

Next Time: Defenders of Berk

“Trolls exist! They steal your socks! But only the left ones, what’s with that?”

How to Train Your Dragon

As with some other fandoms, I came a little late to this one. I vaguely recall the commercials advertising this film first coming to theatres and ignored them. Then, I was bored on a break from college and decided to give it a shot…and instantly fell in love. And, really, should we be surprised? It involves dragons (fantasy) and Vikings (history). I also utterly fell in love with the soundtrack. I can listen to it on repeat for weeks. [There will be a separate post about the soundtracks for all three movies.]

I have actually already notated this movie [and not sure where the notecards presently are], because I have started an essay on this film following the hero’s path as laid out by Jospeh Campbell. Still need to finish the essay…

The film is actually based on a series of children’s books by Cressida Cowell, inspired by her summers spent on an uninhabited island in Scotland. I have not read the books and considering that the films have deviated from the books and how desperately I love the movies, I don’t think I will go back and read the books at this time. The movie features the voices of Jay Baruchel (he was in Sorcerer’s Apprentice with Nicholas Cage) as Hiccup, America Ferrera (known now for Ugly Betty and the Barbie movie [neither of which I’ve watched, but I have seen her speech from the Barbie movie] as Astrid, Gerard Butler (starred in 300 and Phantom of the Opera [see my post on that movie for my opinion]) as Stoick, and Craig Ferguson (the late night comedian of Scottish descent, who also voiced Lord MacIntosh in Brave) as Gobber. The cast is rounded out with Jonah Hill as Snotlout, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (he makes a brief appearance in Pitch Perfect, as well as other comedy movies that I am not going to watch) as Fishlegs, and David Tennant (the beloved Tenth Doctor, Barty Crouch Jr in Harry Potter, Crowley in Good Omens, he voices Scrooge McDuck in the new DuckTales cartoon, and other countless roles) as Spitelout [Snotlout’s father]. This also means that the Viking adults are Scottish [Vikings did settle in Scotland and some clans could trace their ancestry to the Norse] and the teens are American.

Toothless actually makes an appearance in the DreamWorks intro; if you look closely, the shape of a Night Fury blocks out some stars for a second. Then Hiccup starts narrating that “This is Berk…” We learn that their pests are not like other places; they have dragons, who are in the middle of raiding their village. This is why the Viking tribe has been on Berk for generations, but every house is new. “We’re Vikings, we have stubbornness issues.” Hiccup rushes outside to help, but keeps getting told by the villagers to get back inside. Even the chief, Stoick the Vast picks up the scrawny teenager and orders him away from the action. Gobber, the village blacksmith, takes the lad to the forge, where Hiccup is his apprentice. Again, the teen is desperate to go out and attempt to kill a dragon so his life will get better, just like the other teens: Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, and Astrid (note the romantic swell in the music when Hiccup sees her in front of a fireball). As Gobber puts it, the lad has already made an impression, in all the wrong places. Hiccup uses mechanical inventions to make up for what he lacks in typical Viking toughness, but they end up backfiring. Gobber tells his apprentice, “you need to stop all this.” “You just gestured to all of me,” Hiccup bemoans. He’s then ordered to stay put while Gobber helps the village.

Once Gobber leaves, Hiccup sneaks out the back with his bola catapult and starts searching for the elusive Night Fury to shoot down. Hiccup is actually able to track the outline of the dragon in the fireball that the dragon sets off, pulls the trigger, and actually hits his target! But the only one to see him is a Monstrous Nightmare. Stoick has to rescue him from the large dragon, and once the beast has used up his shot limit, takes it on barehanded. But Hiccup has already caused enough damage and the chief is not impressed. Oh, and Stoick happens to also be Hiccup’s father. Gobber once again takes hold of the lad and leads him back to his house so the other Vikings can clean up. Hiccup is aware that he is a disappointment to his father (mimicked in a hilarious accent); all Hiccup wants to be is one of the Vikings.

Stoick plans to take several other adults to search for the dragon’s nest, to put an end to the raids once and for all. When they hesitate about joining their chief, he states that those who stay behind will have to look after Hiccup; then everyone joins in. Stoick asks his friend Gobber to remain behind and start training the teenagers. Gobber also insists that Stoick finally give in and allow Hiccup to train as well. Stoick points out that since the boy could crawl, he’s been different. Gobber comes back with the fact that Stoick can’t stop the boy, only prepare him. Hiccup’s probably already out there now, into mischief.

And in fact, Hiccup is out there, searching for the downed Night Fury. (Notice that the boy is left-handed.) What’s more, he finds the dark dragon. With his little dagger, he’s ready to kill the dragon and present its heart to his father, finally earning respect and acclaim. But the dragon’s green eyes pin on Hiccup for a minute, before closing and accepting its fate. After that, Hiccup can’t go through with it. He cuts the ropes that have entangled the Night Fury. The beast quickly pins him, once again glaring at the small lad. With a roar, he scares him, then takes off.

At home that evening, Stoick informs Hiccup that he is leading another expedition and Hiccup will finally get his wish to be put in dragon training. Only now, Hiccup knows for sure that he can’t kill a dragon. Stoick doesn’t listen to Hiccup, insisting that his son “walk like us, talk like us, and think like us (meaning the other Vikings). No more of this.” “You just gestured to all of me.” Stoick wheedles a deal out of his son and leaves.

Hiccup is not terribly enthused to enter training and the other teens aren’t enthused to have him, but Gobber attempts to put knowledge in their head. The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, are a few yaks shy of a herd; Snotlout is boastful and keeps trying to impress Astrid; Fishlegs is knowledgeable, but frightened; and Astrid just wants to complete training and join the fight. She even points this out to Hiccup; it is time he decides what side he’s on. But now Hiccup starts thinking. Gobber told them that dragons always go for the kill. So, why didn’t the Night Fury? Hiccup goes searching for the dragon again and finds him in a cove. The dragon is having trouble flying and Hiccup realizes, when he goes to sketch the beast, that he’s missing part of his tail. When Hiccup reads the dragon manual that evening, the only information on the Night Fury is that it’s believed to be the “unholy offspring of lightning and death itself,” and never engage this dragon. Your only chance is hide and pray it doesn’t find you. Meanwhile, all other dragons are termed extremely dangerous, kill on sight.

Hiccup goes back to the cove again, with a peace offering of fish. The black dragon is imposing as it approaches the Viking teen and growls until Hiccup tosses away his dagger. Then sits there like an adorable black cat waiting for its treat. Hiccup notes the dragon appears to be “toothless” when it approaches, then teeth appear as it swallows the fish. When the dragon notices that Hiccup has nothing, it regurgitates half the fish and stares at Hiccup until he eats it, then even attempts to mimic Hiccup’s lopsided smile. But he scampers off when Hiccup attempts to touch him. So Hiccup patiently follows him, hoping to wear him down. Then Hiccup starts sketching again and the dragon is interested, again, mimicking the human. Hiccup carefully backs up over the large squiggle and ends up right in front of the Night Fury. Hiccup holds out his hand again, and turns his head away, hoping that the dragon will trust him. He hesitates for a second, but bumps his nose against the human’s hand. Then scampers away again. [All over the wonderful Forbidden Friendship track]

Training continues and Hiccup continues to get more ideas. When he’s told that a downed dragon is a dead dragon, he knows he needs to help Toothless fly out, so he designs a new tail for his new friend. More fish helps calm the dragon down on his first attempt to put on a tail fin. It works…sort of. It won’t stay open and they eventually crash. This does nothing to dampen Hiccup’s spirit; it’s just back to the drawing board. While he’s with Toothless, Hiccup learns more about dragons, which helps him in the training ring. They don’t like eel. They have a spot they loved to be scratched. There is grass that is like cat nip to them [it’s called dragon nip in the subsequent series]. The other teens are happy to hang out with him now, though Astrid is suspicious. Even the rest of the villagers are starting to pay attention to Hiccup, so he has to sneak off in order to work with Toothless. He eventually devises a rigging system, saddle, and vest so he can use foot movements on peddles to help Toothless’ tail.

Stoick returns with the other adults, unsuccessful. The villagers are pleased to tell him they don’t miss the nuisance Hiccup was. Stoick asks Gobber if Hiccup is gone. His friend eventually tells him that yes, Hiccup is gone most afternoons, but it’s to get away from his fans and his parenting troubles are over (because yes, Stoick probably wonders for a minute if Hiccup ended up dying).

Meanwhile, Hiccup is going on a test flight with Toothless [again, the soundtrack is amazing!] He’s got a little cheat sheet, which works until the wind tears it away. The two become separated, but Hiccup manages to get back in the saddle and now it’s up to instinct to fly together. And it works. They make a great team. Hiccup remarks to his friend when they take a break, “everything we know about you guys is wrong.” Stoick surprises his son in his workshop that evening, pleased that with Hiccup doing so well in the ring they finally have something to talk about. Except not really. So Stoick gifts his son his first Viking helmet [yes, they have horns, which historically they didn’t, but this is a fantasy world with dragons interacting with humans and a young lad creates a catapult, so we’ll forgive them], which had been half of his mother’s breastplate. That’s of course, after Stoick claimed that Hiccup had been the worst Viking for years and he’d almost given up on him.

Exam day comes for the teens and it’s down to Hiccup and Astrid. Hiccup really rather not win the competition because the prize is to kill a dragon in front of everyone. But he also won’t let Astrid hurt the other dragon, so he accidentally wins. Afterwards, Astrid comes across Hiccup, who is getting ready to leave Berk forever with Toothless. Astrid and Toothless frighten each other and Astrid gets ready to run back to Berk and tell everyone: “da-da-duh, we’re dead.” Toothless picks up Astrid and drops her on a tree while Hiccup attempts to explain. She’ll listen to him only if he gets her down. So she climbs aboard and instead of taking the Viking girl down gently, Toothless teaches her a lesson. Hiccup’s not pleased, at one point dryly commenting, “and now the spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile” [that part is my text notification on my phone]. Once Astrid apologizes, Toothless slows down and takes the pair up into the clouds (the soundtrack changes to Romantic Flight, and the artwork is stunning.)

Toothless hears something and they soon find themselves in a herd of dragons all flying somewhere…their nest. Which is ruled over by a gigantic queen that eats all the food that the dragons bring back to her. And the occasional dragon as well. She’s as large as a mountain and almost captures our heroes, who manage to fly away in the nick of time. This complicates matters. Hiccup manages to stand up to Astrid and tells her he’ll come up with an idea because he won’t kill a dragon, but he’s also got to protect the other villagers from the gigantic dragon at the nest. Astrid punches Hiccup first for kidnapping her, then gives him a quick kiss on the cheek “for everything else.” (This echoes her finding Hiccup earlier and twisting his arm for the lies and then dropping her axe handle on him for everything else.) She stands by Hiccup’s side when he gets ready to enter the ring the next morning. He pleads that she keep Toothless safe in case the worst should happen to Hiccup.

Stoick jokes to the crowd how Hiccup was a hiccup, though he’s the most surprised and most proud of his son. “Today, my boy becomes a Viking. Today, he becomes one of us!” Hiccup then enters the ring with his large shield, helmet, and pulls out a small dagger. But he soon sets them aside once the dragon is released and slowly approaches the Monstrous Nightmare, telling the dragon he is not one of the Vikings and trying to show everyone, including his father that these beasts are not what they think they are. But Stoick is worried for his son and shouts for the fight to be stopped. The loud bang sets off the dragon and Hiccup has to try to run away. Astrid manages to get in and distract the dragon. Stoick gets her out, but Hiccup is always a step behind. In the cove, Toothless hears Hiccup’s shouts and claws his way out, running to the rescue of his friend. He blasts his way into the ring and takes on the Monstrous Nightmare (remember, Toothless can’t properly fly without Hiccup to help with his tail). Eventually, the other dragon backs off and Toothless protects Hiccup. Then the Vikings start descending in and Hiccup begs Toothless to leave. Stoick runs towards the dragon and his son, armed and ready to kill the black beast, but Toothless takes him on. Hiccup shouts “no!” to his friend, and the dragon swallows his blast, but is soon pinned. Astrid holds Hiccup back from going after Toothless. Stoick throws his son into the great hall to have a talk.

Again, it’s one where they don’t really listen to each other, though Hiccup admits he should have told his father the truth earlier. He begs for his father to be angry at him, but spare Toothless. Stoick is more concerned about the Vikings who could have been hurt. Hiccup finally yells at his father that while dragons have killed hundreds of Vikings, Vikings in turn have killed thousands of dragons; they defend themselves. He also lets slip the knowledge of the nest and the queen, and that only a dragon can find it, but pleads with his father that this is not a dragon he can win against. “For once in your life will you please listen to me!” Stoick shoves his son aside and declares “you’ve thrown your lot in with them. You’re not a Viking. You’re not my son.” Both are shocked at the way the conversation went, but Stoick presses on, chaining Toothless and gathering the ships so they can wage war on the dragons’ island.

Astrid approaches Hiccup, not exactly giving him a pep talk, but demanding an answer on why Hiccup was the first Viking in three hundred years who wouldn’t kill a dragon. She points out he’s the first to ride one [some of this will actually play into the second movie]. Hiccup admits that when he looked at Toothless, he saw himself; the dragon was just as scared as the Viking. She asks what will Hiccup do now. “Probably something stupid.” He’s done that. Then something crazy. And crazy being getting one of the other dragons out. Astrid brings the rest of the teens who agree to follow Hiccup.

Stoick soon finds out, once the mountain is cracked open on the island and the other dragons have dispersed, that Hiccup might have been right about this dragon. Everyone starts to run, but the large dragon (the Red Death according to other material) burns their ships. He sends Spitelout with the rest of the Vikings to the other side of the island while he distracts the dragon. Gobber joins him. Then there’s a flash at the dragon; Hiccup has arrived with the teens to save everyone. He gives orders like a leader [note how the animation takes into account the wind in Hiccup’s hair]; even Gobber admits to Stoick that his son is as stubborn as his father. Astrid drops Hiccup to free Toothless, but the pair are soon sent into the water. Stoick dives down to save his son, then goes back for Toothless. The two eye each other for a second, but Stoick is able to break the lock. Toothless pulls them both up and goes over to Hiccup, who quickly sets about mounting the Night Fury. Stoick apologizes to his son and tells him he doesn’t have to go fight the dragon. “We’re Vikings, it’s an occupational hazard” (calling back to a line Stoick said earlier in the movie). Stoick admits he’s proud to call Hiccup his son, and lets him go.

They save Astrid from falling (the other teens are rather funny at this point) and set her down, then race into the sky, drawing the Red Death up. Toothless’ blasts in the dark clouds look like lighting down below. One of the Red Death’s blasts begins to take out Toothless’ new tail. Hiccup settles on diving down, tearing up the Red Death’s wings, then blasting into her open mouth at the last second. Which works…until they’re trying to escape the aftermath. Her large tail knocks Hiccup out of the saddle and Toothless’ tail isn’t working properly. We see Toothless dive after an unconscious Hiccup as he falls into the fire. [This sequence is all-around brilliant, including the soundtrack.]

When the ash settles, Stoick goes looking for Hiccup. He comes upon Toothless, eyeing the damaged rigging. With tears in his eyes, Stoick apologizes to Toothless in place of his son, admitting what has happened is his fault. Toothless opens his wings to reveal Hiccup wrapped in his legs. The boy is alive! Stoick is grateful and Gobber makes a comment about Hiccup being mostly there. We next see Hiccup waking up, with Toothless bounding around the house. When he goes to rise, something makes him pause. The bottom of his left leg is now a metal foot. Toothless helps his friend to the door (and there’s a poignant scene for a second showing that Hiccup’s loss now mirror’s Toothless’). He opens it to discover dragons have made Berk their home alongside Vikings. Everyone joyfully greets Hiccup. Turns out they just needed a bit of this, Stoick gestures to his son. Astrid even hits him again for scaring her, then a longer kiss. Gobber gifts his apprentice with a new saddle and tail for Toothless so Hiccup can continue flying. His new foot, which Hiccup may tweak a bit, hooks into the pedals to control the rig. The other teens cheerfully join Hiccup in flying around Berk (even mimicking the flyby scene from Top Gun with an adult Viking spilling his mug as they go by). Hiccup’s narration bookends the movie, recalling that “this is Berk,” though now it’s their pets that are different. “We have…dragons.”

Overall, this film is beautifully written and beautifully animated. The characters are very lifelike, particularly with the way they speak. I adore Hiccup because he’s utterly sarcastic. There are also so many depths to this film. It’s a film about family, about friendship, about discovering one’s self and accepting it. It’s an underdog story; the least Viking-like kid saves the day. His inventions are actually good; he just needed the chance to prove it.

There is the poignant friendship between Toothless and Hiccup. Just think about that; a dragon befriends a human. Befriends the human that shot him down. Then spared him. Then saved him. No wonder Toothless dives in to save Hiccup. And Toothless is utterly adorable. He has a lot of cat qualities. And by the end, you just want to hug him. A little tidbit…the hesitation Toothless shows in the “touch” scene was actually an animation error. But it looked so perfect, it was kept in the film.

There are other little shorts that follow the first movie, like “Legend of the Boneknapper,” where the teens go on an adventure with Gobber to save him from the scary and possibly mythological Boneknapper dragon. It ends well, with Gobber’s belt buckle being the missing bone for the dragon. There’s the “Book of Dragons” feature that explains how the Book of Dragons came to be written. The dragons they name will be shown in the subsequent series. There’s even a feature on “How to Find Your Dragon,” where the host shows that there is evidence that dragons are not as far-fetched as many people fear. Elements exist in nature and many cultures spanning the globe have myths and legends about dragons. [It’s a topic I want to research at some point.]

Then there is “Gift of the Night Fury,” which was actually released on DVD. It’s a cute Christmas-type special, with the Vikings celebrating “Snoggletogg.” It’s the first year with dragons around and everyone is excited. Until the dragons leave. Hiccup decides to make a tail for Toothless that doesn’t require Hiccup around. Toothless takes off and all Hiccup can do is hope his friend will return. Fishlegs hid Meatlug, but Hiccup discovers the dragon and is taken to a crescent-shaped island where the dragons have gone to lay and hatch their eggs. Back on Berk, the teens discover that Meatlug also laid eggs. Astrid decides to distribute the eggs to cheer everyone up. Then discovers that eggs explode (her just repeating “the eggs explode” several times is hilarious). Everyone is disheartened until Hiccup arrives with their dragons and the new babies. But Toothless wasn’t among them. Toothless sneaks in during the celebration and pukes up Hiccup’s helmet, that had been lost to the ocean. The next morning, Toothless also smashes his new tail and wants Hiccup back with the old style. Very heartwarming for the holidays.

Up Next: Cartoon Network started a series Riders of Berk (oh yes, we’re covering the whole fandom here)