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.
Enemy of My Enemy starts with Astrid catching Hiccup and Toothless sneaking out, intending to go on a recon flight alone. She tells Hiccup it’s far too risky and points out it’s been months since the Viggo episode (bit of fourth-wall leaning there, love it). Hiccup appears to agree and let Astrid come, but as soon as she goes to get Stormfly, he and Toothless fly off alone. Hiccup is eager to test out Toothless’ new tail and really enjoys the flight, until they come across a ship with seemingly unconscious men. More like a trap. Toothless gets hit with an arrow, but Hiccup manages to get them to an island. He has to hide his dragon and keep him safe. Hmm, maybe Astrid had a point.
Someone is secretly helping Hiccup. And to everyone’s surprise, it’s Dagur. Who swears he is not there to hurt Hiccup. We’re all a bit skeptical. Hiccup remains calm, though weirded out and wonders if he’s in an alternate archipelago. Turns out, Dagur went through a major learning experience, discovering he was dispensable to Viggo, then getting stranded on the island for months alone. All that alone time has given him time to think, though he’s still got his crazy laugh. Dagur is calmer for the most part and also wants to do right by his sister. Heather is blood, which makes her closer to Dagur than even Hiccup (still weird). Dagur continues to be helpful to Hiccup, with knowledge of the antidote to Dragon Root.
It’s Dagur who counsels Hiccup on seeking revenge and obsession. It’s a dark road to go down. Paranoia is a terrible existence, the older boy tells his ‘brother,’ and it’s not Hiccup. However, the guards discover the young men. Dagur protects Hiccup and Hiccup even defends himself with a mace, lifting it with ease (remember back at the beginning of the first movie and he could barely lift an axe?). But Hiccup is still mistrustful of Dagur and when it appears that the antidote may not be working, Hiccup attacks Dagur. They fall in front of guards again and again, Dagur tries to protect Hiccup, especially when it looks like the Hunters will brand the younger man. Dagur manages to get free and has to leave Hiccup. The younger man shouts after his adversary “I hate you!”
But Dagur holds to his word to help Hiccup and comes to the rescue on Toothless. And now he understands the crazy stunts the two pull and is impressed, and queasy. The two shake hands and go to destroy the Hunters’ ship. They’re separated and Dagur sails off alone, eager to find Viggo himself and rid the archipelago of the man.
The Fireworm Queen arrives on the Edge, looking for Hookfang in Crash Course. She persuades the dragons to come to Fireworm Island. But it’s not a hunter threat, it’s a creepy new dragon that’s eager to destroy her nest. Fishlegs pulls out his dragon cards to figure out what the new dragon is (similar to fantasy cards…I guess. Not quite into that), calling is a Cavern Crasher. This thing oozes mucus out of its body to allow it to squeeze through impossibly tight cracks; it’s also wicked fast. All accurately pointed out by the twins; they do have their moments. Hookfang and Snotlout stand with the Fireworm Queen to defend her nest while the other riders try to figure out how to get rid of the new dragon. They dry out its mucus and it runs off. Hiccup even praises Snotlout for his actions, this after he encourages the twins. He’s becoming a good leader.
This gets tested a bit in Follow the Leader by Fishlegs, who was put in charge of the twins and Snotlout. But they walk over him and he doesn’t put up much resistance, instead daydreaming (in a different animation style) of being renowned by Berk and Hiccup and named the next leader of the Dragon Riders when Hiccup starts training to be chief (by a more Scottish sounding Hiccup). When Astrid and Hiccup return to the Edge and find things on fire due to the rambunctious riders, Hiccup expresses his disappointment in Fishlegs. This sort of thing can’t happen out here; they’re on their own and Viggo is certainly a threat.
So Fishlegs wanders off and discovers a new cave with some interesting finds, such as a sword and writing on the wall. He also discovers albino Night Terrors, who seem to make him their new leader when he closes an opening that was letting too much light into a big cavern. They like him so much they don’t want him to leave. Meanwhile, Hiccup is feeling guilty, that maybe he was too hard on Fishlegs. Meatlug alerts the other riders to Fishlegs’ plight. Fishlegs helps all of them get out of the cavern, with a little help from his favorite Terror, Darkvarg. They close up the hole, so the Night Terrors can’t get out. Then Fishlegs and Hiccup both apologize. Fishlegs points out that Hiccup leads by example, not fear. Hiccup also admits he struggles with containing the twins and Snotlout as well. The friends then eagerly geek out over Fishlegs’ discoveries.
Hiccup is working on his ‘Dragon Fly Two’ in Turn and Burn. Toothless is not amused, even when Hiccup talks about the precarious situations that it gets his rider into that he also has to rescue him from. Snotlout and Hookfang want to help their leader, but end up lighting Hiccup’s hut on fire. Before Snotlout and Hiccup can truly get into an argument, Stoick arrives, to speak to Snotlout. Spitelout is driving the chief nuts, now wanting to improve everything. Stoick feels they are out of Spitelout’s place in the tribe, or station in life. His relationship with Spitelout is very similar to Hiccup’s relationship with Snotlout [a lot of the fandom hold that Snotlout and Hiccup are cousins, which is inspired from the books, from what I’ve heard]. Spitelout’s main idea is an off-Berk secret cache. Now that man hasn’t been seen in a month. Stoick has come to get Snotlout to help look for his father. Hiccup joins them.
The men find Spitelout’s building and dragon traps, but not Spitelout immediately. They do discover a new dragon, a Singetail, which Spitelout appears to save them from. Stoick and Spitelout argue and Stoick appears to have a double standard. “Stoick is allowed to take whatever ridiculous chances he likes. It’s the rest of us who have to stay in line.” Hiccup tries to get everyone back on track; they can work together to drive the Singetail off and save the storehouse. His suggestion, since it is an unconventional dragon, is to fight it unconventionally. They soon discover the dragon can also fire from its belly.
Fed up, the chief lays down the law and both sons hesitate to follow their fathers. Hiccup talks to his father, pointing out that Snotlout and Spitelout both just want to prove themselves to the Haddocks. They fly back to the storehouse to find more Singetails. Hiccup realizes that the fires the one has been setting have been a call for back up. Spitelout agrees to give up the structure, though Stoick does save the ‘S.’
In Buffalord Solider, Astrid is checking the perimeter and comes across an abandoned ship. It’s filled with bodies, mostly dead. One that still has a bit of life in it scratches her arm. She and Stormfly quickly fly back to the Edge. Her description of the bodies reveals that they died from the Scourge of Odin, a deadly plague that “swept through the archipelago centuries ago, wiping out entire Viking villages.” Tuffnut’s solution is moldy bread [which is technically how penicillin was discovered.] Astrid doesn’t mention the scratch. It’s Stormfly who gets Hiccup in the middle of the night when her rider becomes very sick. Astrid still protests there’s anything wrong with her, until she faints into Hiccup’s arms (we love Hiccstrid!)
Everyone works together, Snotlout having flown to Berk and back with Gothi’s notes. There is a cure for the Scourge, a solution made from the saliva of a Buffalord dragon. Except, those were hunted to extinction during the last plague. The twins start seeing a pattern in Dragon’s Eye notes and help discover a map to the Buffalord. The team sets out to find the dragon, Hiccup using Flightmare Algae for tracking and Deathsong amber glasses he was working on to see in the bright sunrise. There’s one dragon left. Pretty calm, but when the riders try to fly him back to the Edge, it freaks out and puffs up. Very well, they’ll get the solution and take it back. But it evaporates too quickly. Thanks to the twins, they also figure out that the saliva must be mixed with the herbs that the Buffalord eats. Snotlout retrieves Astrid.
She falls into Hiccup’s arms (and we hear a quiet, slow version of Romantic Flight) and he pleads with her to hold on. “I can’t imagine a world without you in it.” Hiccup is prevented from getting the cure for Astrid by the arrival of Viggo, Ryker, and other Hunters. This was all part of Viggo’s plan, to create supply and demand; Astrid just stumbled onto his test ship. Hiccup at first refuses to let them take the Buffalord dragon, until Viggo and Ryker are willing to kill it. Hiccup then begs for enough of the cure to save Astrid, “that’s a loss I’m not willing to take.”
Hiccup is able to cure Astrid and keeps his word that Viggo may take the dragon. But Hiccup also knew that the dragon would not travel with Viggo. The Hunters are forced to release the dragon, who flies back to his island and peacefully eats his herbs. The riders give the boat a proper funeral [which echoes a scene that comes up in How to Train Your Dragon 2, so if you’ve seen that movie first (which came out before the show), this is a very poignant scene]. Astrid then tells Hiccup, “I can’t imagine a world without you either.” The couple is well on its way to becoming an official couple.
The riders work together in A Grim Retreat to produce Gronkle Iron. They have a production line going. Except, they keep at it all day, which drains everyone. Most of the riders want a vacation. Hiccup is more concerned about having the iron for weapons and defense against Viggo. Even Astrid counsels Hiccup that they need rest in order to perform better. She and Fishlegs find a nice island that they can visit and pick up more sandstone even. Stoick and Gobber arrive to keep an eye on the Edge, and babysit Tuffnutt’s pet ‘Chicken.’
The teens enjoy an afternoon of swimming. At night however, the dragons turn feral, except Toothless. They all have to hide from their dragons; Snotlout at one point annoying Astrid so much she tells him “if you don’t shut your piehole, I’m going to leap out and plead with them to eat us both.” Hiccup eventually figures out there’s something in the water that’s affecting the dragons. Tuff throws salt when he runs out of weapons against their attacking dragons, which actually causes the dragon to stop. Tiny bugs leap out of the dragon; grimora. They are parasites that affect dragons. Salt drives them out, so they have to find a saltwater source. Toothless gets infected for a second time and traps Hiccup on top of a cliff. They both fall off, into the water, but there is a plasma blast. Could Toothless have fired on Hiccup? A minute later, the grimora fly out and Toothless and Hiccup burst out of the water. Hiccup now agrees that they will take breaks as they need so he doesn’t work them too hard and have to repeat the incident.
When arriving back on the Edge, the teens find out that Stoick and Gobber both think that Chicken was eaten by the other and have found replacement chickens. Chicken is of course fine.
Everyone is suspicious of the notes that Fishlegs keeps receiving in To Heather or Not to Heather. They find out they’re from Heather and urge Fishlegs to have her stop at the Edge. Everyone also wants to ask Heather to join the dragon riders permanently. But Heather worries she has the Berserker insanity in her. Hiccup is quick to assure her she is nothing like Dagur. Heather also spends time with Astrid as two warrior women. Until Heather brings up the subject of Hiccup; she feels that the two are perfect for each other and they should stop wasting time and express their feelings.
Heather and Fishlegs are rather cozy; Heather was more open in her letters to Fishlegs and readily agrees to take a tour with the young man, much to Snotlout’s dismay. Their mood is ruined once Meathlug and Windshear start fighting. Windshear is not used to spending so much time around other dragons, or other people being so near her rider. Hiccup is willing to work with Heather and her dragon, again, in the hope that Heather will stay with the riders.
There is a skirmish between Hunters and Riders; Fishlegs and Heather end up switching dragons and that seems to work. Windshear will still protect Heather, but not attack the riders’ dragons. Heather decides to stay. The mood is ruined when Hiccup receives a letter from Dagur, asking for his help to find his sister. Hiccup promises that Dagur won’t find Heather.
Styke Out centers on dragon fights run by Ryker and other Hunters. The matches have low attendance since one champion outperforms the other. When Snotlout and Hiccup go to rescue dragons, Hiccup is trapped by a knock-out gas and ultimately taken to the dragon fights, where Toothless as a Night Fury will be a new star and drum up business. Hiccup is also chained alongside the dragons.
Hiccup ordered Snotlout to go get help and Snotlout is very keen to get Hiccup back. The twins decide to become Thorston and Thorston, Sleuths Extraordinaire. What works better is using Heather’s knowledge of the Hunter organization.
Hiccup watches Toothless’ match against a Razorwhip and urges his dragon not to kill. After winning that match, the Night Fury will face the Triple Stryke champion dragon. Ryker finds out about the match and warns his underling, who won’t call it off, that if the Night Fury dies, he faces an unhappy Ryker and Viggo. Ryker also wants Hiccup. Said Viking the meantime, befriends the other dragons, though very carefully. “Call my old fashioned but I prefer not to lose another limb.” (Yay, the lad has some self-preservation.) Again, Hiccup urges Toothless not to kill the Triple Stryke, though the dragons are evenly matched, and is freed by Astrid shortly afterwards. Toothless shows the other dragon mercy and the rest of the dragons are set free. Ryker is forced back and the other riders chase the crowd away.
The Triple Stryke, which Tuffnutt suggest be named ‘Sleuther,’ follows them back to the Edge. All the riders are happy Hiccup is back, though Fishlegs points out that “Astrid would have killed you (Snotlout) if we hadn’t found Hiccup.”
I like that this episode focuses more on Toothless as a strategist and a glimpse what a Night Fury might be like in the wild. Hiccup still uses his brains to help dragons, but this wasn’t a problem to be solved from the air. It’s also a bit sweet that the riders all care so much about Hiccup that they get very angry when trying to find him.
The riders rescue a dragon egg in Tone Death. It’s a very cute dragon when it hatches. Until it starts screaming, and spitting amber. It’s a baby Deathsong. Hiccup still wants to train it. Heather figures out the way to calm the baby, named Garff now, is to sing to it. Commence all the different riders singing their lessons; it’s rather hilarious. But they decide it’s best to take the baby to be with its own kind. Things are a bit tense, hoping that the adult Deathsong will bond with a baby not its own. Garff has to echo that dragon’s song back and forget what the riders taught it.
Hiccup is also working on a new gadget; a flaming sword using Nightmare gel he calls Inferno. [Spoiler, this is a prototype to one he carries in the second movie.] It’s inspired by figuring out that a lit dagger will cut through Deathsong amber. He excitedly talks about modifications with Astrid, who comments “that will be the last we see of him for a week.”
Between a Rock and a Hard Place has the riders tracking a convoy of marble blocks. Turns out that the Hunters are using Catastrophic Quakens to mine the marble. Viggo is using it to create an impenetrable roof for his hide out. But the mining has made the island unstable. Hiccup does get to show off his different tails for Toothless, but Fishlegs is a big help. They free the Quakens, then use them to tear down Viggo’s roof (you can hear a bit of the battle theme in the background). Viggo is extremely displeased with Hiccup after that stunt.
When the riders return from a practice run at taking out a fleet, they find Dagur at Dragon’s Edge in Family on the Edge. He’s come in person to ask Hiccup for a dragon so he can find Heather. Hiccup and Toothless owe him; he saved their lives. Hiccup points out that Dagur also tried to kill them. Well, maybe deep inside, Dagur didn’t actually want to kill them. Hiccup eventually relents, mainly so Dagur doesn’t go wandering around. Dagur hugs his “brother,” and calls him “small and cuddly.” We agree with Hiccup, that Dagur should never say that again.
Hiccup on the side has to get Heather to leave so the siblings don’t see each other. He picks a sturdy and safe dragon for Dagur, a Gronkle. Also not terribly dangerous and less of a threat to the riders. Dagur still names the Gronkle ‘Shattermaster.’ Dagur is an enthusiastic student, but tries to do too much too fast. He ends up barreling into Hiccup and breaking his prosthetic leg. Hiccup takes Shattermaster to get a spare. While they’re gone, the other riders find Dagur with Toothless and fear he’s done something to Hiccup. Hiccup shows up to set them straight and admits he didn’t tell them about Dagur saving his life because he honestly doesn’t know how he feels about it.
There is still their plan attack on Viggo’s shipyard. Astrid finds it very strange that Dagur shows up right when they’re getting ready to strike. And unfortunately, Heather returns early and finds Dagur on the Edge. She is not happy. She calls Dagur a spy. Points out that he set her adrift as a child and killed their father. Dagur pleads that he is trying to change. He decides to leave since the riders don’t trust him. But he comes across Hiccup’s plans. He guesses what Hiccup’s attack plan will be and calls the young Viking gullible. Astrid sees them and Dagur agrees to be locked up, though he warns Hiccup that if anything happens to Heather on the mission, he’ll hold Hiccup personally responsible.
Dagur then escapes and heads out for the shipyard. Heather races after him, intent on killing him. Dagur starts the attack and reveals that it was indeed a trap. He flies alone into an ashy cloud where explosions go off. The rest of the riders have to hang back. Hiccup wants to go save him, but Astrid stops him. It’s too late. Hiccup is genuinely upset that Dagur is dead. On the Edge, Heather finds a letter her brother left for her. He has her “tell our little brother” (that is kind of sweet) to hit Viggo’s auction and release all those dragons. He also wants to set the record straight; he never killed their father. He just used his disappearance so the tribe would think he was tough enough to be chief. It starts to rain, but the letter gets wet from Heather’s tears. All accompanied by bagpipes and mournful music. I wanted to shed a few tears myself.
They take Dagur’s advice in Last Auction Heroes and have Trader Johan steal a map for them to the next location. Hiccup goes to his father to ask for Berk’s cache of gold to get Snotlout into the auction. He tells his father, “Viggo Grimborn is the most ruthless Viking we have come in contact with…. No dragon will be safe and eventually, he will set his eyes on Berk.” Snotlout is the only rider that Viggo hasn’t seen. He’ll still go in disguise and Gobber will go to keep an eye on the gold. Snotlout enjoys his assignment of being a rich businessman a bit too much; he’s gleeful to order other people around. The riders sneak in in the belly of Johan’s ship, with their dragons as the bait.
Eventually, the riders are caught, though Heather and Astrid make a kickass double team. Viggo intends to sell Toothless, as the only Night Fury in existence. There is a stranger at the auction, keen to buy the rare dragon. Viggo brings Hiccup out so he can watch. Gobber comes to the rescue, with his new dragon, Grump. He fights Ryker to protect Hiccup. Astrid is the one to saves him, but Viggo still gets away with their gold. Hiccup thought they had a chance to get it back, but Viggo switched the chests. The other riders tell Hiccup to look on the bright side, they saved the dragons.
The season ends with the first of a two-parter Defenders of the Wing. The riders continue to rescue dragons. But now, Viggo wants to meet. All of the riders, even Hiccup, is aware that this can be a trap. He lets Heather and Astrid come to the meeting spot with him, which is full of blue oleander, which is poisonous to dragons. Viggo calls Hiccup a worthy opponent and wants to offer a truce. They divide the map. Everything north of the line, the Hunters will have free rein, the riders may stay to the south, and neither side will cross the line. Viggo even signs his name to the map. He has no desire to rule the world, unlike some [big old hint drop]. He’s a business man and all this fighting is bad for business.
After the meeting, Hiccup notices that there is an island he doesn’t recognize as Viking or Hunter just inside the line on Viggo’s side. Hiccup is trying to work out what Viggo is thinking. So, they need to investigate this island. At first, all seems fine, though there is a large statue of a dragon. Then, the riders start disappearing and getting drugged. They eventually meet Mala, Queen of Defender of the Wing Island and her right-hand man, Throk. (Ironically, Mala is voiced by Adelaide Kane, who plays Mary Stuart in Reign, along with Ivy Belfrey/Drizella in the last season of Once Upon a Time.) Mala thinks that Viggo sent the riders to their island, that they are Hunters. They’re enslaving their dragons.
But when her Defenders try to release the dragons, they don’t fly away. Instead, Mala holds a trial and asks Hiccup questions. Tuffnutt does not help matters when he points out things that Hiccup has done, like shooting down Toothless and crippling him. Hiccup tries to argue that they could be allies against Viggo. He is willing to earn their trust. But Mala feels that the map Hiccup carries makes him guilty. Hiccup again will do anything to save his friends and their dragons. He bets their lives he can train a dragon in front of Mala. Of course, there are three Speed Stingers, but Toothless comes to his rescue. Mala trusts the dragon and releases the riders.
She explains that their island is home to a volcano and their Great Protector. An Eruptadon eats the lava and keeps them safe. But they find the Great Protector gone, with evidence that Hunters had attacked. Now Mala is angry that Hiccup has led the Hunters right to their home and taken their treasured dragon. Mala vows to kill Hiccup.
And that is how the season ends!
I like how the storyline is advancing. There are new challenges for the characters. They learn to work together and everyone has a skill to bring to the group. I of course like that Hiccup and Astrid are growing closer. Astrid still is the voice of reason in their friendship and continues to act as his right hand. Snotlout, while still reckless, is tempering it a bit. He wants to be helpful. He listens to Hiccup more. The twins are crazy, but do we expect any different. Stoick listens to his son as a leader and again, as the future chief.
As I commented in Season 2, Viggo is a smart opponent. Hiccup has his victories, but he can’t easily outsmart this man. Viggo has to work harder to counteract Hiccup. I like that Dagur is now on Hiccup’s side. Honestly, the boy doesn’t need that many enemies, and a Berserker is a good weapon in the arsenal; he’s got crazy ideas and enough guts to back it up. As showcased by taking the suicide mission.
The Defenders of the Wing will be a great group to keep an eye on.
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
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.
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.
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.
Dreamer in the Mirror 