PLOT A: "Frozen Fire"
Having found a skrill frozen in ice after
being attacked by the Berserkers, Berk tries to figure out why the Berserkers
have broken their peace treaty.
So, we all knew that it was going to
be some kind of plot like this eventually. Dagur clearly wasn’t going to pay
attention to the treaty, and while Hiccup
and everyone else knew about that since episode 203—and never told Stoick again—the rest of the village has
finally caught on.
A frozen dragon is certainly
interesting, but I do wonder how it got there. That’s an unnecessary detail to
the plot but does make you wonder….
Still, this plot really just took up
the first act of the episode as the second half was left for the action, but it
provided a decent set up for the second episode without a doubt. We have a
dangerous skrill awakened and wandering around, the Bersekers are after it, and
so are the riders.
But alongside the main plot set up,
the character interactions here were so good! I love how the main group of six
has broken down into lately. With, as I keep saying, Hiccup, Astrid, and
Fishlegs being the main problem solvers and plot advancers and Snotlout and the
Twins being more of the comedic side-characters who are the ones who usually
have a lesson to learn.
But definitely out of the two groups
Astrid, Hiccup, and Fishlegs are the ones with the most appeal, there’s so many
little moments of great interaction that call to their friendship and the three
definitely have natural chemistry. The way their dialogue is written really
makes me believe that these three spend time together off camera and have a
relationship that continues even after the credits role, which might sound easy
but it is a lot harder than it sounds. So, nice characterization as usual.
And I even didn’t mind how they
decided to have the skrill being released Snotlout and the Twins—though
probably mostly the twins—fault. It seemed very in character for them, but what
made it work was probably their reaction afterwards, as they were kind of
scared of getting in trouble with Hiccup because they knew he left them there
putting some kind of trust that they wouldn’t screw up. Which ties in nicely
with the previous episode’s outcome.
So yeah…this was a good set up to the
action that would happen in the second and third acts.
Also, Bucket and Mulch came back! They
haven’t been around much…
PLOT B: "Berk vs. Berserkers"
While the riders try to catch the skrill
before the Berserkers find it, they realize this dragon might be harder to
catch than anticipated.
Everyone’s been waiting to see a
skrill in action. At least I know I have,
and this episode really did not disappoint.
A skrill’s probably one of the few
dragons that can really go toe to toe with a night fury in a fair fight, and
it’s always nice to see the riders face a challenge in battle rather than come
out on top every time. Losing is essential to heroes, believe it or not.
But this episode heavily reminds me of
another great one this season: 204. Mostly because the action sequence took up
both act two and three, and it was good
action. The fight scene between the riders and the skrill were just great,
and once again, even though it was a long fight scene it didn’t lose my
interest. They kept it moving, and added appropriate pauses for the teens to
strategize and then get right back into the action. So, more nicely done pacing
in the action department.
And the special effects…oh man…they
were excellent. I know clouds and
whatnot are hard to render and light but those were some really amazing clouds,
some awesome lighting, and just overall good animation going on in that scene.
Well done for the team who worked on that, and on a tv show budget.
I also did like how Hiccup was using
the twins to help out here, and how everyone just seems to be coming together
as a formidable team, all working their strengths during battle and bringing
back techniques we’ve seen them working on throughout the season. (Like Fishlegs’
drop and hove trick…is that what’s it’s called?).
And…of course…the triumphant return of
Dagur! We haven’t really seen him leading a battle up until this point so it’s
nice to see him being the chief and not just running around going crazy (not
that seeing him like that isn’t enjoyable). But it makes him all the more
intimidating to know that he’s as insane as he is and still can strategize and
lead a fleet properly.
Though I wonder what really he wants
to do. Last time he seemingly wanted to capture both Hiccup and Toothless. Now
it seems he only wanted the skrill so he could capture just Toothless as a
means to simply take him away from Hiccup.
Does he want Toothless just to take
him away from Hiccup, or because he wants to have a night fury from himself…?
Both options are both equally exciting since it is Dagur, but hopefully the next episode will shed a little light on
that because I am a tad confused on that now.
Still, this episode set up a great
plot for episode two as well. The Skrill has been captured by the Outcasts—who
I figured would show up and it was a nice touch adding them at the very end—and
the twins are off on their own and actually doing something helpful by
following the Outcasts to see what their up to. Hopefully the next episode
plays it’s cards correctly and uses the twins to its advantage, because the set
up here is great!
FINAL THOUGHTS:
This episode was pretty near perfect
for me. I could barely find anything wrong with it. It was a great set up, had
great character moments, and nicely done and paced out battle scene with a
beautifully animated dragon.
And Dagur!
What’s not to like…?
If I had to get nitpicky maybe with
the twins a little too much of Tuffnut’s jokes…where I felt like some
non-joking dialogue would’ve made it a bit more…serious? But then that is simply Tuffnut’s character, but, like
I said, if I had to get nitpicky…then yeah. Cause in hindsight there really
isn’t too much wrong with this episode.
Though I am a tad hesitant to give it a
perfect score, though, but its came pretty darn close.
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