Defenders of Berk 204 Review

PLOT A: "The deadly dragon with skin as white as snow"

While trapped down in the caves beneath Berk, Hiccup discovers not only the whispering deaths the Outcasts put underground, but a mysterious white dragon called the screaming death.

We all saw this plot coming…mostly because the advertisement for this season was hardly subtle about the fact that this dragon was going to be a major problem this season.

So ladies and gentlemen I give you the screaming death. Is it as big and bad as the Red Death in the movie…? Is the pudding worth the price?

…..Yeah, actually it is. I was really impressed with this new dragon as I wasn’t extremely moved by its design in the promotion poster, but seeing it move and be in action makes it at least 10 times more intimidating. It’s mean looking, creepy, but still looks like a dragon. Like they went for the mean look but it doesn’t look like they just piled on a bunch of extra stuff to make it look as scary as possible. The design just happens to work very well in its favor.

And it’s whole role seems rather interesting as well. Another “queen bee” dragon with a bunch of loyal whispering death hatchlings.  Oh, the possibilities…though hopefully not possibilities that’s just an exact rehash of the movie’s plot….

But, onto the actual plot behind the dragon, it’s good that they didn’t wait too long to have Hiccup find out that the Outcasts were planting dragons under the village, cause it would’ve been kind of lame to have him trying to figure out “who done it” for the whole first half of the season. But now that he knows, what is he gonna do? There’s a lot of “let them/it go” going on for these first few episodes…so something has to come to a boil eventually. And usually I’d be skeptical about big climatic battles as last season’s battles were rather…lackluster. But this season continually provides exciting battle after exciting battle so I’m feeling strangely optimistic that whatever battle is looming forth will deliver some solid action. Though I hope I’m not putting the prosthetic tail before the dragon here.

And speaking of said battle…it really deserves a shout out because not only did this episode do something I’ve been hoping it the show would do, but it did so very well.

As many of you know—and as I keep reminding so how could you forget?—pacing was one of my biggest complaints about last season, especially within the second act. The ending action would always be rushed to make up for the spare time the middle part of the episode, more or less, wasted. This season seems to have fixed this problem if the first four episodes are anything to judge, but this episode in particular was a shining example in how to utilize proper pacing.

How, you ask? Well, this episode was a tricky one, because the entire second half of it was nothing but a continuous battle. To do over ten minutes of nothing but battle and strategy you have to keep things moving and keep it fresh, both are extremely hard. But this episode seemed to pull it off. I think the main reason has to do with the fact that they allowed for so much time. The battle started in the middle of the second act, so they had the second half of the second act and all of the third to do nothing but battle. So it didn’t feel rushed or cut short.

This episode knew what to focus on and it was the battle, all the beginning was just set up and nicely paced set up at that. It didn’t linger too long with keeping Hiccup and Toothless underground, they found out what they needed to and then joined the fight.

But, whew, this is getting long…I liked the battle, and I didn’t even mind that the ending solution was obviously a callback to the movie with shot similarities and the whole nine yards. But I guess it’s just the right way vs. wrong way to reference the movie that makes it work (like in this episode’s case or 113’s case) or not work (*cough* 107 *cough*). But, like I said, I hope this isn’t foreshadowing that they’re going to rehash the plot of the movie as well.

And Hiccup’s doomsday senses are still tingling and we all know we haven’t seen the last of snow white dragon. Only question is…what it’s gonna do? I’m actually very exciting to find out.

So, good battle plotline. It had a tough job in being a plot that was 90% battle scenes and it was the main plot of the episode and it was only a two-plot episode so it had to carry more weight and it succeeded on all four ends.

Well done. My only slight nitpick might be that the ending conversation between Hiccup and Astrid seemed like rushed dialogue…it just felt like “oh we’re almost out of time, cut out some of the silence between the words” kind of thing. But it wasn’t episode-ruining. Just a nitpick for the sake of nitpicking. And there were just a few tiny little scenes where they slowed down the action and took too long of a pause—and almost unrealistic pause—like mostly when Astrid and Hiccup were strategizing how to defeat the screaming death…with the screaming death right behind them. Everything seemed a little too calm there, which kinda broke the tension since they did have this giant dragon still actively chasing them. Having them dodge something while trying to talk probably would’ve helped.

PLOT B: "Water we gonna do without water?" (okay that’s a lame title, sorry).

Berk’s well has dried up, leaving the village with a low water supply and no answers as to what happened.

So one of those “normal day on Berk” problems comes up. Gobber stinks, needs a bath, but oops there’s no water.

This plot was definitely just used as a reason to have Hiccup go underground to find the eggs, and the Gobber needs a bath gag was just put in for a laugh or two. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, it was just blindingly obvious.

Since this plot was just a “in the beginning and in the end” kind of thing, I can’t really say too much about it. The entire episode was really just heavily reliant on plot A. Luckily it did it’s job to deliver, but, to be honest, I feel like this “the water level is low” plot could’ve been replaced with just about any other plot that involves Hiccup somehow getting trapped underground and it still would’ve worked. So…it was pretty dispensable.

But, that doesn’t make it a bad choice, given that a choice had to be made. It just would’ve been nice to have a bit more of a seamless tie between plot A and B.

Though, once again, I did like how the flight club/academy was used effectively to help out a village problem. So, they still kept the group “doing something” with the academy before the big fight scene.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This episode was….(wait for it)….rock solid. (Couldn’t resist using that awful pun).

It was a big risk to have an episode put its supporting weight all on a ten-minute battle scene, but somehow it pulled it all together and kept the battle moving and interesting to watch. Not at any point can I say I was bored or wanting the fight to “just be over with already”, so they kept my attention on a continuous battle. Nice work.

Also, on a random note, I really enjoy watching Hiccup in so much action this season and, strangely enough, I love seeing him get thrown around (don’t know what that’s about, people do tend to have a sick obsession with liking their main characters to get hurt to a certain degree?). Now if only he’d get a scratch or two, because he had some really nasty falls in this fight, I don’t know how he didn’t dislocate his jaw or something.

But did I like this battle more than the one in the previous episode….?

Well, this one was longer and a lot more strategic so I should like it more. But there was something about the appeal of going out of the norm and having Hiccup fight off of Toothless that still makes me find the fight in 203 just a hair more entertaining despite it paling in comparison to length when put up against this fight.

Still, this episode was filled with lots of good stuff and an excellent usage of pacing techniques. I’m really liking how many of the season 1 flaws are getting fixed this season. I hope it keeps up!

Defenders of Berk 203 Review

PLOT A: “DoB: Brotherhood”

While out on a nighttime training mission on Dragon Island, Hiccup stumbles across Dagur who has been on the island for days hunting dragons. To keep him still under the impression that Berk is still killing dragons, Hiccup plays along, but he can only keep it up for so long when Dagur has his sights on killing Toothless.

I must’ve let out a thousand fangirl screams because this was the triumphant episode where Dagur returned! At last year’s comic con, they said Dagur was going to play a bigger role in season 2, and by the looks of this episode…this is completely true.

This episode set up a big, fat, juicy (yes, juicy) plot for Dagur to be in, and I’m loving every second of it.

In 115, Dagur basically stole the entire episode—that he wasn’t technically supposed to be the point of—but this episode was all about Dagur and rose to the occasionally wonderfully.

He seemed even more nuts in this episode, as apparently he spent his time between 115 and this episode trying to learn about dragons and going to dragon island to basically kill everyone he finds. And I do love the little added touch of Dagur’s complete disregard for people’s personal space. If he lived in modern times he’d definitely diagnosed with something….but in the 11^th century he’s just “deranged”, but still shows all the classic signs of being crazy…like the no personal space thing. And it’s not just Hiccup’s personal space, it’s everyone’s. (Why did he touch Fishlegs’ cheek like that, anyways?)

But, the interactions were probably my favorite part. Dagur and Hiccup had a wonderful dialogue chemistry in 115 and this episode was just as good, even better! Dagur keeps growing more and more unstable and Hiccup keeps getting more and more uncomfortable with it. Though, I have to admit, at the end of the episode it was hard to see Hiccup ditch Dagur and pretty much cast him off after Dagur did show—in his own “Dagur” way—a genuine interest in them being brothers. But Hiccup has his agenda, and Dagur’s got his…which by his line at the end of the episode of “no one hurts Hiccup but me”, I fear for the future.

But, this episode does address a rather important factor about this show’s lineup of villains. More specifically Dagur and Alvin. It was mentioned a lot after 115 that Dagur was a more intimidating villain who, even though he had only been in one episode, managed to get us more revved up and worried about what he was going to than the series’ regular villain. And I can only agree. But here’s why: we know Dagur’s motivations. We know his back story. We know Dagur.

Dagur’s only been in two episodes but we all feel more attached and able to make logical conclusions about him because the show has taken those two episodes to the fullest and given us formidable information about this villain, while still keeping him “mysterious” enough that we can always expect surprises.

Alvin, doesn’t have that….at least not yet. He almost got it when the first introduced him in 106 when they teased at a potential Alvin/Stoick dilemma but that never came into fruition. So when everyone wonders why Dagur is such a more intimidating villain, is because we know him, we feel attached to him, and definitely after this episode, we’ve seen him in action. He’s not afraid to really beat the crap out of Hiccup as he was basically doing at the end, and that scene alone provided—in my opinion—the best fight scene we’ve gotten in the whole show.

It was great to see a villain finally get up in Hiccup’s face and make him physically fight. The choreographing was great and so was the pacing so that didn’t hinder the fight whatsoever, but it was the first time we really saw Hiccup get in a physical fight someone, and I enjoyed seeing him be confident yet still look a little unsure of how to stand, how to use his weapon, and when to jump in and out of battle. He’ll get better with that over time, as long as he continues to have these battles to polish his skills.

But, yeah, Dagur’s the villain I’m looking at to mess stuff up as I’m sure he’s polishing his weapons and getting his armada ready to invade Berk…? Get Hiccup…? Steal Toothless…? All of the above? Yeah, Alvin needs to step up his game this season. But with this “screaming death” plot he might just be stepping it up.

Honestly, I really can’t find a thing wrong with this plot. The dialogue was brilliant, the buildup was great, and the ending fight didn’t disappoint whatsoever. And since this episode only had two main plots, both had to carry the weight of the episode more and this plot more than carried the entire episode and then some…

PLOT B: “Just some teenagers in the woods…alone…at night…”

The teens go on a nighttime training mission to Dragon Island, looking to polish their stealth skills as well as being to defend themselves without the aid of their dragons—leaving Tuffnut in charge of making sure the dragons stay out of the way.

So I’m sure everyone got that fanfiction vibe from this plot, mostly cause if you were around during the “early stages” of the fandom like I was then you know that there was fanfiction galore on this very subject: the teens going on missions without their dragons to learn how to protect themselves or a rite of passage hunting trip, etc. So it was cool to see it actually come up in the actual franchise.

And I did like the little touch of Astrid’s ideas always being complicated and difficult. That just seems legit to me.

But it was an interesting thing that they had Tuffnut actually using his brain in this episode. When he was picked to watch the dragons I knew it was gonna be a bunch of jokes (funny jokes) and stuff but there were some actual times where Tuffnut was doing his job, staying on task, and being active in correcting issues on his own. (But the “you can lightly massage my shoulders and neck” line…oh my gosh…TJ Miller is truly hilarious).

That’s kinda…at big step for his character, because he’s pretty brain dead most of the time.

But this plot, on the “minor nitpicks” side, did have some weird transition, cutoffs, and overall random choices in displaying characters. But it didn’t have pacing issues which I’m extremely proud of this season for having such a good three act pacing system!

Still, I can recall three times where there was just something extremely weird in one of those areas. One where Fishlegs was alone and walked past the Typhoomerang, another where Snotlout said “wait you mean…” and it just cut off and went to the next scene, and another when Astrid came into the “Dagur and Hiccup hunting” scene and basically jumped in, shushed Snotlout, and jumped out.

I could be missing something in these three scenes but they just struck me as extremely off putting because I just didn’t get them. Why were they chosen to be displayed that way…?

And just a mini-shoutout to the fact that Ruffnut is actually getting a personality—or just lines in general—in this season. The poor girl needed it because she was basically non-existent last season.

But anyways, this plot was a good lead into find Dagur and then letting him steal the show—as he always does—but offered some good character moments—especially for Tuffnut. And I’m glad that this season is still continuing with making the dragon academy’s “training” actually have a point. Last season some of the things they did had a point, but most of the time we didn’t even know what they were doing. They were just “training”…training how? At least now we know the motivation and purpose behind everything they’re doing in this season, which is always nice.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This episode was such a joy to watch! I can barely criticize it because it really did have such a good premise, pacing, and power to it.

But then, I can’t say it was all because Dagur was there—though that always helps, they just nail his character every time—but it seemed like a lot of good risks taken in this episode paid off. It didn’t stay in the comfort zone. It went the extra mile to have that good fight, to make the comic relief character have a few cerebral moments, and make a villain that we’ve only know for two episodes more interesting, relatable, and intimidating than the regular villain.

I’m glad Dagur’s going to be in plenty of episodes this season as he’s a welcomed addition to plot and always managed to bring the best out of the writing. Though I do wonder when his secret source of information will come back in, because if that has ties to Alvin then maybe Dagur can help out our “main villain”…? It just might be crazy enough to work.

Still, wonderful episode! Can’t wait until Dagur comes back!

Defenders of Berk 202 Review

PLOT A: How Fishlegs got his Groove Back

While the Groups desperately patrols the waters to make sure the Outcasts aren’t coming back, they realize Fishlegs and Meatlug have been slowing them down, so “gently” suggest that they carry on without him.

So this was another expected Fishlegs plot to come up. After last season’s “Fish-centric” episode of Fishlegs dealing with asserting himself more, and the little foreshadowing bit of him saying “not comforting when you’re on the slowest dragon” just in the previous episode, it was clear where this was heading.

In this one instance I can understand Snotlout’s outburst on the matter (though he said it very harshly), but being slowed down when you “gotta go fast” (I have officially quoted that in two reviews….ugh) is worrisome. 

In a lot of cases this one of my worries last season, that Astrid’s line pertaining to the twins of “you don’t have to bring them every time” really did make sense. Certain missions really don’t need all five of them and I think they should take that into consideration. But they were going for that whole “team work involves the whole team doing everything together every time cause….teamwork!” moral so…yeah. Maybe next time.

But, back to the plot. I can understand how that conclusion of ditching Fishlegs that particular time was drawn to, so it didn’t seem like “wow you jerks just kicking Fishy out for no reason” but it was still kinda sad to watch.

Still, as far as being another “Fishlegs learns a new social tactic” episode this one was pretty solid. It presented the point, paced it out well, was able to bring in side plots without this main point getting buried, and managed to actually have a Fishlegs plot without him spending the whole 22 minutes continuously whining about the same mistake that he made over and over…and over…(I’m looking at you 118).

As far as the apology from Hiccup went, this episode showcased another shining example of slowing things down in order to present important information. Apologies are considered “important information”, in which even in the midst of a chaotic and/or fast paced chase scene they were able to break the stride and make it feel organic and present a few moments of slow time for Hiccup to give a decent apology that felt genuine (and even managed to slip in some comedy and not have it dull the effect of the apology…very important).

Fishlegs was accepted back into his group and happy sword raises into the sunset.

What I probably liked the most about this plot was that it wasn’t about Fishlegs changing…it was about everyone else accepting Fishlegs for his faults and quirks, disadvantages and strengths alike. Which I like that kind of mix up. As far as smashing morals into the viewers face this one was subtle enough to work on a much grander level than the actual moral they were trying to stress which was “go team go!”. Sometimes accepting people for all their bumps, lumps, and elephants trunks (don’t ask) is just…I don’t know, it’s good stuff. Well done.

But what the heck was up with that berry scene….? Just…what…?

PLOT B: Pound it while it’s Hot (not to be confused with “drop it while it’s hot”)

After eating a bunch of rocks, Meatlug gets sick so Fishlegs takes her to Gobber, only to find that she vomits up a mysterious lava that’s perfect for making a lightweight and extremely strong metal the likes of which no Viking has ever seen before.

Side effects plot in a nutshell, would be this.

So here’s where the misguided plotting thing slipped in again. A few episode descriptions and even some pre-premier articles stated that this was going to be a “Fishlegs becomes the most popular guy in town” episode, and this really only got a few minutes of screen time, and, honestly, felt a tad unnecessary. It would’ve been enough to have everyone excited about the new metal, that part was fine, it was those few extra stresses of “Fishlegs is a star” that just felt rather odd and random to me, even though that was the main plot point the descriptions stressed. I don’t know what was weirder, the fact that it wasn’t very present in the plotline and it should’ve been or that it was kind of haphazardly thrown in to give that vibe…?

Where this plot did shine, though, is the Fishlegs/Gobber interactions. Gobber can easily take a pretty distant backseat in this show as the one minute advice guy or one side of the “Hiccup’s Dads” couple. So it was good to see him active in this episode outside those two roles, but mostly was just there to present Fishlegs with the support and companionship he needed when all his friends—more or less—ditched him.

Their interactions were great to watch and it was pretty—dare I say—heartwarming to end it with Gobber giving him the sword and giving him those last bits of self esteem building words. It’s been all over tumblr that there’s parallels between Gobber seeing Fishlegs as how he saw pre-movie Hiccup: dejected, alone, and needing some guidance and a way to feel important again, which I connect to on a personal level so maybe that’s why I took a lot more from this then an average person would?

Still, despite this excellent character arch, the weirdness of the imbalance in plot stressing still remains, but the light shines through pretty brightly regardless.

In the other half of the plot—where Meatlug turns into a giant magnet—I’ll give them points for originality cause I was not expecting it to go that way. The chase scene was a good way to liven up the third act and I think we can all agree that Hiccup getting stuck on Meatlug was the comedy prime of the episode (and possibly the whole series…though I did enjoy Tuffnut’s comment of “I like pound cake, I like measuring my weight in pounds” line as well).

Meatlug was just a plot puppet most of time here, though, which I would’ve liked to see a little more…character in her—especially since she has so much character—than just “dance puppet dance”, but…well that didn’t happen so, oh well. There was so much other character stuff going on here I can understand how she got the boot but, it still felt somewhat uneven at some points.

PLOT C: The Outcasts check on their Precious Little Darlings

Craftily avoiding getting caught by the patrolling group, the Outcasts return to the underground caves to check on the Whispering Deaths they planted there, only to find that one is especially bigger than the others.

Hey look, continuity between two episodes that isn’t a “part 1 and 2”! What a splendid surprise!

Not but seriously, the previous episode and this episode were technically stand alone from each other, but there were some good loop moments that made them feel very “one after the other”, this plot being one of them.

Even though it was a very short plot, simply Savage and his band of merry idiots going to check on their precious rays of swirling death, it did its job to set up that obvious storm cloud of plot that is the screaming death. It was as subtle as a flying brick, but then I guess we can blame Cartoon Network for perhaps revealing one too many plot details in their endless spillage of previews (though after last season where we got almost no previews, I can’t really complain whole-heartedly).

And the ending “battle”—I guess if you wanna call it that—never really set itself up to be taken seriously, so it wasn’t really a letdown that it wasn’t on a episode 106-type battle level.  We all knew they were gonna lose, so we just wanted to know how they were going to achieve it. Sinking the boat seems like a novel idea…..!?

But we all know they’ll be back even if they have to swim home. Who knows, maybe they’ll pick up Sven who’s been floating in the water since episode 109….?

FINAL THOUGHTS:

It’s pretty surprising to me that this episode ended up with better scoring than the first, but this one clearly took a more “character-centric” approach and really focused well on it and drove all the points home.

It did it’s job to establish Fishlegs’ going through the motions of being rejected, picking himself off the group, finding a new groove, and then deciding to go back to what he really loved after his friends simply accepted that by him being himself—flaws and all—he was useful in ways they didn’t even notice until he wasn’t there anymore.

That’s pretty good for this show as sometimes it struggles with developing characters effectively.

The side plot of the gronckle iron easily could’ve been replaced with something else but it wasn’t a waste cause it offered some good moments with Gobber and Fishlegs bonding which was very entertaining to watch. Though the whole “Fishlegs’s the star” moments could’ve been dropped with little to no effect. But at least Hiccup’s shield is shiny now.

All and all, this was a solid episode, simple yet effective. Good pacing, still activating those slow moments to give out important information, it had enough time for an effective aftermath to the problem introduced, had good comedy, and everyone was—more or less—in character. This episode had one job and, you know what, it actually did it.

But points off for Gunnar not getting his earrings. No forgiveness on that one. 

Defenders of Berk 201 Review

PLOT A: "Let there be no Dragons"

Convinced that it’s too dangerous to fly with an attack from Alvin looming over the horizon, Stoick puts a ban on dragon flying for the riders to ensure their safety.

This was an…..interesting turn to take for the beginning of the season. I, for one, was expecting, more of a “let’s train a lot more now that an attack is sure to come” but instead it’s just “let’s halt all training”. That seemed a bit odd to me, but the episode constantly hammered that Stoick was doing this to protect the kids from flying into a potentially dangerous situation, so I guess you can put it in the “misguided parenting” files.  

And there was a good vibe of Hiccup/Stoick head butting—which is always amusing to watch—but I loved Hiccup’s reaction to the whole thing. He knew it was wrong, didn’t back down, and delivered some wonderfully sassy dialogue. This is a lot better of a reaction than when he’d mope and dope around about how he’s never going to get his father’s acceptance and blah blah blah, but then, it’s just showcasing Hiccup being more comfortable with himself, I’m guessing. (Either that or they accidently did character development and didn’t even know it).

That and I do enjoy Hiccup's new weapon. The extensive amount of trailers gave us better looks that his shield also turns into a crossbow. So, at least one of the developments I wanted to happen from last season--that being Hiccup realizing he needs a way to defend himself on his own without the aid of Toothless--is coming to a head. I can't wait to see Hiccup kick some butt with that thing!

Though I can see how this plot might rub certain viewers the wrong way who were annoyed with the first season’s constant over usage of the “let’ banish the dragons” plot. While this plot didn’t mirror that exactly, it had certain similarities that can leave a bad taste in your mouth if that’s something that bothers you. But, at least, there wasn’t a direct attack on the dragons, just a “don’t fly” thing…Though I couldn't shake the notion that the initial "ban" part of this plot was more of a plot point than a necessary advancement, while I liked the compliment to having a secret society of sorts, I feel like more thought went into the other plots and this one was perhaps an afterthought. 

PLOT B: “Insert pun about how there is no Dragon Flight Club here"

The teens go all rebel on Stoick’s rules and decide to create a secret flying club called the “Dragon Flight Club” so that they can still train even with the ban on flight.

Okay so the flight club element of this plot seems eerily familiar to episode 105 of Riders of Berk: “In Dragons we Trust”, in which D.U.M.B was founded and lasted all of 5 seconds within the episode before, I guess, disbanding. The flight club, however, seemed a little more well thought out as towards its purpose. 

And, to be honest, the flight club seems to have done more of what they should’ve been doing in season 1. 

That being going out and watching dragons in their natural habitats, studying their mannerisms, and reading the trails they leave behind. They actually showed this montage of learning in a pretty well paced way. The learning scenes were broken up between the Stoick’s plot well enough that it didn’t feel like dead weight—which was common for last season—so at least that’s an improvement. I do hope this new way of training sticks because it actually feels like they’re learning something that they’re supposed to…you know…furthering dragon knowledge…what the franchise is supposed to be about….

And thank Thor during the scene where they were being chased by the changewings they all finally grew brains and just flew up. Seriously, they could cut so many problems in half by flying up, I remember how much it annoyed me in “Gem of a Different Color” when they were being chased by the changewings that they didn’t think to fly up. Sometimes I think they confuse learning new things about dragons with ignoring common sense and then magically getting it back so that it seems they learned something.

But I think this plot would’ve benefitted more if the flight club had gotten more “secret time”, as in extended the plot of the secret flight club across a few more episodes, just because all of the teens secretly continuing their studies at night has a lot of appeal to it, and it would’ve avoided the D.U.M.B. repeat of having a group come and go within one episode, but that's really just my opinion. For a one episode secrecy thing, it did it's job well enough. Also with maybe cutting out the scenes of Hiccup and Astrid telling everyone else individually about how there is no dragon flight club. It would've been a better usage of time to just tell Snotlout, the twins, and Fishlegs all in one sitting than go through all of theme with their own scenes. It was clearly used to comedic purposes, but I'm always skeptical because wasted time in this show never ends well.

All that being said, though, the episode ending with Stoick asking about the flight club does imply that it’s going to stay…though there’s really no point in it being secret anymore. And does this mean it’s just going to be called “Dragon Flight Club” and not “Dragon Training Academy”?  I guess only time will tell. But seeing as how I was much more impressed with what they were doing with the flight club than the training academy, my vote goes towards the flight club. Oh but there is no dragon flight club whoopsie.

PLOT C: "Alvin’s latest Cliffhanger"

Making what seems to be a half-baked attack on Berk actually ends up being a scheme by Alvin to distract the riders while Mildew and Savage plant baby Whispering Death eggs underneath Berk.

I got a bit worried when I looked at the clock and saw that yet another ending battle was coming up and there was only 5 minutes left of the episode, but as far as the content of the fight went, it being short lived worked to the advantage of the late placement in the episode.

It didn’t have the characteristically slow paced action that Riders of Berk seemed to have the majority of the time. The fight kept moving, the short breaks where strategy was traded in conversation was fast and to the point and then right back into the action. And given that the fight probably only last 3 minutes tops…it did its job and didn’t feel rushed, in fact, it felt like a real fast paced fight. The camera kept moving, it didn’t stay on what one character was doing for too long, and the angles used to portray the mid-air fighting was pretty darn good—and big points for finally showing Stoick do some great fighting on Thornado! And, at the end, there was even time for some non-rushed aftermath and a cliff hanger.

Which, speaking of, I’m loving the show’s cliffhangers, if there’s one thing you can count on for this show is that when there’s a cliffhanger, it’s going to be interesting.

So now there’s little baby whispering deaths underneath Berk, and everyone’s in the dark about it as well as still in the dark that Mildew is working for the Outcasts and not held against his will—though I did enjoy Hiccup’s lack of trust that Mildew could keep his mouth shut when under questioning. I still hope we eventually get an explanation of why Mildew switched sides and, more importantly, how and when in season 1 did he do so? But it’s good to see all the villains working together and making advances in their schemes, and for staging a bogus fight just to distract them from the others planting dragons. That was a smart move, which is good, because in the first season I often questioned Alvin's intelligence. He's evil, sure, but if he keeps dishing out well thought out plans like this I might actually feel he's more of a threat than he seemed last season…

And I'm loving that this time the good guys aren’t even aware of the danger looming beneath, so that’s sure to be interesting.  

FINAL THOUGHTS:

So, to be honest, I wasn’t expecting magical fireworks in this episode—though ironically there were literal fireworks in this episode—and while there was nothing super special going on in terms of mixing things up, as an opening it was solid enough.

Points for the cliffhanger though, that was a good one, and extra points for the good fight scene, since keeping a consistent, fast paced, fight was a problem that kept surfacing in the first season as well.

But I can say that while this episode had smooth transitions and a decent pace to it, it lacked a focal point. In many cases the plot lost it's sense of grounding—no pun intended. The plot seemed to not know what it wanted to stress more, the flight club or the ban on dragons. While both plots are a result of the other the episode did a limbo a little too much between showing Stoick’s dilemma and showing Hiccup’s while mixing the conflict with the teens trying to start a rag tag secret club to continue training.

These two elements were evenly matched in screen time between the two plots, but then, that kind of contributed to the problem…it was all too even and what was the main point..? The family drama or the flight club? By what they choose to end it with—being a conversation between Hiccup and Stoick—I guess it was supposed to be the family drama, but then I would’ve liked that to be stressed a bit more and perhaps cut out the “going to each member’s house and telling them the same thing about how there is no dragon flight club” scenes as they just seemed like ways to add in comedy yet didn’t advance the plot or keep it moving.

But at least the problem wasn’t pacing in this episode, just proper plot stressing.

Though I will say something about this episode that is absolutely commendable is the fact that it was able to capture something I've been hoping the show would catch onto, and that's slow moments. What last season lacked was those slower moments to reflect on the events or feelings towards the events, which always gives a feeling of "gotta go fast" plots, and no breaks. 

Two moments that successfully did this was the scene where Astrid was talking to Hiccup after catching him flying, and the ending scene with Stoick and Hiccup. The scenes don't need to be long, but what all shows need are slower moment in between the plot to simply reflect on the situation or shed light on how a character feels/their motivations. In the conversation between Hiccup and Astrid, Hiccup revealed his motivations for flying that night by himself, and then Astrid offered a solution while agreeing with him and giving him a little reassurance with her backup. That's good. And I'm not talking about Hiccstrid, just about a solid moment for the viewer to be on the same page as the characters. 

As well as the scene at the end where Stoick tells Hiccup he was sorry and he knew he was wrong, as well as told him why he did what he was doing. And Hiccup offered a response that he understood, no hard feelings. That added a sense of closure to the issue, and released the tension. And that wasn't a very long scene either, but just cutting out that extra time to have a scene like that is what gave this episode a sense of finish to it. 

In season 1, these types of moments were much too sparse and the motivations behind characters was either never addressed verbally or given to the viewer in a rushed way. During a battle or during a fast paced scene in general is not when I want to hear Hiccup reveal why he's doing something, or apologize to someone...that needs to be before or after the faster stuff for the viewer to not feel like they got whacked in the head with a ten ton block of plot. 

But, moving on from that, this premier is simply going to feel different than the premier last year, as we already know the show’s weakness and strengths and are simply looking if they’re getting fixed alongside this new season.

It’s too early to tell if the pacing has been completely fixed, but this episode didn’t have that many blindingly obvious pacing issues so, at least they got lucky with this one. And the animation was absolutely beautiful! Such warm colors, especially for the sunset scene, and very fluent movements.  

It did its job and introduced the first obstacle the riders have to eventually deal with, which is the mini-herd of whispering deaths living underneath them and, I have to admit, that’s a really interesting issue to deal with. I just hope they pull it off just as interestingly as the premise sets up for. And kudos for making many multiple references back to season 1, something as simple as the characters mentioning past events from the previous season gives a great sense of a continual plot. 

But as an episode, it evened out to just being average. It was a good episode, but nothing that made it great. But it's nice usage of slower character moments did balance out it's misguided plot stresses every now and then.

S01E13 Transcript - "When Lightning Strikes"

Written by Justin Hook

Transcribed by BlackRose108

EXT. BERK - DAY

We see a nightmare flying into the camera, swooning over the rooftops and landing casually on a roof next to a gronckle who had the same idea.

HICCUP (V.O)

Living with dragons has it's ups...

Abruptly the roof beneath the nightmare can't handle it's weight, and caves in underneath him. 

HICCUP (V.O)

...And it's downs.

Unfortunately, the same thing occurs to the house the gronckle is resting on as well. Screams of the vikings who's roofs have caved in with dragons atop them echo through the village. 

HICCUP (V.O)

You need to stay calm. Keep a clear head. Not always easy with Vikings.

INT. HICCUP'S ROOM - DAY

Hiccup is sitting at his desk, drawing some designs for a "dragon support system" of sorts.

Gobber appears to be in the room with him, observing his work. 

HICCUP

More supports?

GOBBER

Eh...well, they are dragons.

Hiccup shakes his head fondly and turns back to his design. 

HICCUP (V.O)

In our own way, we're very reasonable. 

EXT. BERK - DAY

Soon after, the village is abuzz with working on Hiccup's designs. Metal perches being put up around the village, over houses, in the plaza, and even at the docks. Vikings and dragons alike all helping out to get the perches and made and assembled. 

Once they're all up, the group surrounds one perch in particular. Stormfly flies up to it cautiously, hesitant to land on the new and unfamiliar object. 

ASTRID

(to Stormfly)

It's okay, girl. Just take it easy. 

Motivated a bit by Astrid's words, Stormfly does land on the perch, settling on it before showing that she's fine with it. 

Everyone cheers, happy that Hiccup designs have proved to be successful. 

HICCUP

Yes it works!

GOBBER

Way to go!

TUFFNUT

So we built these things so stuff wouldn't break?

RUFFNUT

I don't understand you people.

TUFFNUT

And they tricked us into helping them build them. I feel so used...and sweaty. 

Both Ruffnut and Tuffnut drop the hammers they were holding and stomp off in annoyance. 

HICCUP (V.O)

But when a problem is caused by something Vikings don't understand, they lose all sense of reason...

INT. HADDOCK HOUSE - NIGHT

HICCUP (V.O - CONT.)

...And that can become very dangerous.

Hiccup, Stoick, and Gobber all sit around the table and toast their glasses in the success of the day.

STOICK

Perches for Dragons! 

(to Hiccup)

Some of your best work.

Stoick takes a look in his mug and realizes there's nothing in there. He sighs.

STOICK

Although we may need to move the one over the well. 

HICCUP

(rambling)

And the perches are just the beginning, we can build landing areas for them, maybe even stables in the caves underneath the village and-

Stoick puts Hiccup's cup down just as he's taking a drink.

STOICK

Easy son, remember Berk is still for people.

A clash of thunder bellows in the sky, alarming Toothless as he's eating his fish. 

GOBBER

Vikings before dragons.

Toothless looks at Gobber questionably.

GOBBER

(sassy)

Yeah, I said it. Deal with it.

A louder clash of thunder booms and Toothless rears back, finally abandoning his fish and going up the stairs. 

EXT. HADDOCK HOUSE - NIGHT

Outside, Gobber, Stoick, and Hiccup run outside, investigating the loud thunder. The lighting around the village seems to be striking all around the village, hitting the perches.

HICCUP

The lighting is hitting everywhere...

STOICK

It usually doesn't strike here in the village.

GOBBER

Thor must be angry. The only other time I can remember lighting ever striking Berk-

Gobber and Stoick share a glance of the same thought.

GOBBER AND STOICK

Barnstat.

HICCUP

Barn-who?

STOICK

Jorgen Barnstat, drifter, sailed into town. He was stealing from windows and old men.

GOBBER

To punish him Thor gave him a lightning bolt right to his helmet when he was fixing the mast on his ship to make his escape.

(he laughs)

STOICK

By the time Thor was finished with him, our whole fleet was on fire!

GOBBER

We shipped him off the island and Thor hasn't hit the village since. 

HICCUP

Threw him off the island...? Pretty harsh.

Hiccup, Gobber, and Stoick all turn back to looking out at the village when more loud booms of thunder and crashes of lightning occur. Striking the perches and soon igniting the houses near them. Flames engulf a few houses and screams can be heard.

Stoick turns to Gobber in alarm.

STOICK

Gobber.

Gobber nods and they both run down to the plaza, Hiccup runs after them, Toothless quickly following. 

EXT. PLAZA - DAY

They all get to plaza and stare as the lightning begins to strikes the rooftops of more houses. In the plaza a lone terrible terror runs around, avoiding getting struck and screaming horribly before Astrid and Storm fly pick it up and fly off. 

STOICK

Gobber, organize a bucket brigade. I'm going up to Great Hall.

Gobber nods and the two go their separate ways. Hiccup stands there for a moment, a bit lost on what he's supposed to do to help until another loud crash of lightning strikes behind them and Toothless runs off, scared witless. 

HICCUP

Toothless!

The night fury continues to run off. 

Near a burning house a bucket brigade is throwing as much water as they can over the fire but the flames are to big. Stoick comes in unexpectedly, though, and throws the bigger water basin over of the flames, putting them out immediately. While at another burning house Fishlegs, Meatlugh, Stormfly, and Astrid fly down with buckets and put out more flames. 

Near the Great Hall, Hiccup still looks around in worry, wondering where Toothless has run off to in such a fright.

HICCUP

I gotta find Toothless.

The lighting continues to strike and Ruffnut and Tuffnut stare and awe and amusement on the steps of the Great Hall at the flames and lightning. 

TUFFNUT

Yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!

RUFFNUT

I've always liked Thor.

Snotlout flies in, along side Fishlegs.

SNOTLOUT

Oh, I love these storms! When it rains I cancel bath night and just stand outside with nothing but a sponge and a bar of soap. 

FISHLEGS

(disgusted)

We know, the village has had meetings about it.

Astrid and Stormfly fly in and land; Hiccup runs up to her quickly.

HICCUP

(quickly)

I-I need you help, I need to find Toothless!

ASTRID

I just saw him by the Great Hall.

Hiccup wears a serious expression as he holds out his hand, and Astrid assists him up onto Stormfly before they take off towards the Great Hall's entrance. 

EXT. GREAT HALL - NIGHT

Stoick is walking up the stairs of the Great Hall, carrying two wounded men over his shoulders before placing them on the ground gently. 

STOICK

Don't worry, men. You're gonna be alright.

MULCH

It's striking throughout the entire village. It's like we're under seize!

BUCKET

(quivering)

I've never seen Thor this angry.

Hiccup and Astrid fly in on Stormfly, landing to find Toothless sitting atop one of the perches. Lightning cracks behind him yet again, and, terrified, Toothless runs flys shakily off to another perch. 

HICCUP

Toothless!

MILDEW

Did you all see that?

Some more villagers walk up, witnessing Toothless jump from perch to perch as the the lightning continues to ironically strike each new perch he lands on. 

MULCH

Look! The lightning is following him!

HICCUP

Toothless!

Hiccup jumps down from Stormfly and goes over to Toothless, examining him slightly with worry in his eyes to make sure he's not hurt.

MILDEW

Don't you all understand? Thor is mad at all of us! And I'll tell you why. Because of-

(pointing his staff to Toothless)

-him!

Toothless shrinks back and bit and Hiccup looks at Mildew with disbelief. 

MILDEW

As you all know, the night fury is the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself! We've let him live among us, and now we will all pay the price!

MULCH

Well it did seem as though the lighting struck right at the dragon...

MILDEW

Yes! Right at the dragon! And a lighting storm the likes of which we've never had!

The village talks among themselves, agreeing with Mildew, little by little.

MILDEW

There is but one thing for us to do....banish the night fury! It's the only way!

The villagers, of course, agree with Mildew, all repeating the banishing Toothless seems like the best alternative. 

Stoick looks around the overreacting villages with lidded eyes and Hiccup and Toothless simply stay to the side, looking worried. 

MILDEW

Thor is angry at us because of the night fury. You all saw it!

The villagers continue to agree. 

HICCUP

What!? No! This is ridiculous!

MILDEW

If we don't act now, well, need I remind you of....Barnstat!

The village exclaims at the mention of Barnstat, all obviously remembering or knowing the event. 

STOICK

You're right, all of you! Thor is angry, but I don't believe he's angry at Toothless.

HICCUP

That's right!

(he sighs towards the situation)

Have you all forgotten what Toothless has done for this village!?

MILDEW

Well then who do you suppose he's angry at?

STOICK

I don't presume to know Thor's mind, Mildew. But we will find a way to sooth his anger.

EXT. PLAZA - DAY

The next day, the skies are still grey and thunder is brewing up another storm in the clouds. 

Hiccup stays by Toothless, who is only mildly agitated at the moment, and offers him comfort. 

HICCUP

(worriedly)

Another storm is coming...

TUFFNUT

Thor tore a hole in the Great Hall. Maybe he's hungry? I know I am.

HICCUP

We need to make Thor happy. But what do you get the God of thunder and lightning?

FISHLEGS

In the past, I know Thor's enjoyed a sacrifice or two.

RUFFNUT

(snarky)

Let's sacrifice Tuffnut.

Tuffnut chews on the thought a bit before settling in calmness and crossing his arms.

TUFFNUT

(unfazed)

Okay, what time should I be there? There better be fire involved. 

HICCUP

Nobody's gonna be sacrificed!

SNOTLOUT

Not yet anyway. 

ASTRID

I had an aunt who was cursed by Odin once. She had to pay tribute to him by sailing to the end of the earth.

FISHLEGS

Did it work?

ASTRID

I don't know. I guess she couldn't find it because she kept showing up from the opposite direction.

FISHLEGS

(pridefully)

The Gods have never been mad at anyone from our family.

Fishlegs gasps for a second, realizing he probably shouldn't brag about such 'fragile topics'. He rears back, knocking his knuckle on the wooden step behind him.

FISHLEGS

Knock on wood.

(he hops forward on one foot up to Snotlout)

Hop on one foot. Slap a Jorgenson.

Fishlegs looks over at Snotlout and chuckles a bit, knowing better than to punch him but still gives him a light poke in the shoulder. Still annoyed, though, Snotlout shoves Fishlegs over to the ground.

SNOTLOUT

If I were Thor, I would want a giant statue. 

He gets up on Hookfang's nose and the nightmare lifts him up, while he strikes a post flexing his muscles. 

SNOTLOUT

Of myself, Snotlout, as Thor!

ASTRID

You do know we're trying to make him happy?

SNOTLOUT

Exactly!

Snotlout pays no heed and kisses his biceps. 

Astrid turns away from him as her gag reflex is triggered and holds her hand over her mouth.

ASTRID

I think I just threw up in my mouth

HICCUP

Actually, that's not a bad idea.

ASTRID

(annoyed)

It's not an idea, it's a reflex.

She obviously missed the point.

HICCUP

What-? No! I-I mean the statue.

Astrid throws up her mouth a little more.

ASTRID

There I go again.

HICCUP

No! Not Snotlout!-

Snotlout looks over at the mention of it not being about him and frowns, offended.

HICCUP (CONT.)

-Thor!

FISHLEGS

Hm, Berk has never given Thor a statue.

HICCUP

Well then it's high time we did!

EXT. GOBBER'S BLACKSMITH FORGE - DAY

The teens gather at the blacksmith forge to begin building the statue. 

Snotlout and Hookfang work on heating some metal while Ruffnut and Tuffnut are working on hammering some metal pieces together using their Zippleback as leverage. 

Ruffnut gets a bit distracted and finds comic relief in knocking Tuffnut's helmet with the helmet.

TUFFNUT

Yowch!

Tuffnut looks up and seems to enjoy the 'game' and does the same to Ruffnut. 

RUFFNUT

Ouch!

The two happily continue knocking each other upside the head. 

Astrid pushed a slab of metal up against another and Stormfly shots some spikes to pin them together. In reward, Astrid feeds Stormfly a cooked chicken leg, which she happily takes. 

Back in the forge Hookfang and Snotlout are now working on what seems to be one of the legs of the Thor statue. Hiccup walks up with his notes, examining the work.

HICCUP

Great job, uh, one issue...Thor's knee bends the other way. You know, like a knee, on a person.

Having said what he needed to, Hiccup looks back to his notes and walks away, leaving Snotlout to examine his work further. Wistfully he checks how his own knee bends and hums in thought. 

Outside, Fishlegs is apparently working on the pants of the Thor statue, and Mealug in wedged in the opening to keep it steady, though she keeps falling over, taking the pants continually with her. 

Hiccup walks up to see the madness going on, that doesn't seem anything like work to him.

HICCUP

What are you doing?

FISHLEGS

(innocently)

I'm making Thor's pants. 

(muttering)

I hope they're not too tight. I hate it when my pants are too tight, I feel so bloated. 

Fishlegs continues to hammer away at his work and Hiccup turns away, rolling his eyes bit fondly. 

He walks up to look at the open sky, thunder still brewing a storm and cracks of lightning can lightly be scene. They're running out of working time.

HICCUP

Okay guys, we better start welding these pieces together!

All the teens look proud of the work they've done, and Hiccup is satisfied as well. 

HICCUP (O.C)

Yeah, I really think Thor's gonna like this.

Later in the day, the village is gathered around the plaza and Hiccup stands in the center. A huge blanket thrown over a tall object behind him.

HICCUP

(stoic)

Attention! Attention everyone! Okay, so, I know we're not exactly Thor's favorite people right now. But I am confident that this beautiful statue will got a long way toward getting us back in his good graces! So...without further ado-!

Hiccup and Toothless both tug at the blanket, pulling it off to reveal the fully finished Thor statue. It's a marvelous rendition of the God made entirely of metal.

Everyone is equally impressed, and the teens are proud that they shared a part in making it.

STOICK

Well done! Thor will appreciate this tribute, and will smile upon us once again!

Everyone continues to cheer, except Mildew of course, who scowls in the background.

MILDEW

You really think this is enough to appease the mighty Thor, while you allow a night fury in your midst!? Your fools! All of ya!

INT. HADDOCK HOUSE - NIGHT

That night, the lightning storms are back, and sadly even more lightning strikes through the village than the previous night. Gobber, Stoick, and Hiccup all watch from the open front door.

HICCUP

Unbelievable, even more lightning than the last storm.

GOBBER

I don't understand, we gave Thor a giant statue!

They all close the door and walk back into the living room.

STOICK

It was a gallant effort, son, but it looks as thought this is not what Thor wanted.

Another crash of lighting sounds and Gobber--who's standing next to Toothless at the time--backs away from the dragon quickly.

HICCUP

Gobber, what are you doing?

GOBBER

I love Toothless, I'm just airing on the side of caution.

Toothless looks around as the lightning continues to strike, becoming unnerved again in all the excitement and looks to Hiccup for comfort. Hiccup immediately pets the side of his head affectionately. 

HICCUP

(reassuringly)

Hey, don't worry, bud, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you.

(to Gobber)

No matter what some people think!

Gobber looks away sheepishly. 

INT. FISHLEGS' ROOM - NIGHT

In the Ingerman house, Meatlug crawls over to the foot of the bed and snortly loudly enough to blow the covers up, revealing Fishlegs hiding under the bed. 

He smiles, embarrassed and climbs out. 

FISHLEGS

I know you're scared girl. If you wanna hold me...that's what I'm here for.

Fishlegs hugs Meatlug's nose and she licks his face affectionately. 

EXT. THORSTON HOUSE - NIGHT

Ruffnut and Tuffnut are sitting on top of their house, a bowl of nuts between them, as they simply watch the storm unfold. 

RUFFNUT

(awed)

Whoa. Look at all that damage and destruction. 

Ruffnut takes a nut from the bowl and hits it against Tuffnut's helmet, cracking it. 

TUFFNUT

(equally awed)

I know. It's so beautiful!

lightning strikes a few more houses, wrapping them in flames and people screaming can be heard in the background. 

The twins simple sit there and enjoy 'the show'.

RUFFNUT

(excited)

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

TUFFNUT

Whoa....

They high five excitedly.

TUFFNUT

Nobody blows stuff up like Thor. 

He takes a nut from the bowl and cracks it against Ruffnut's helmet, eating it and whipping is nose. 

EXT. PLAZA - NIGHT

The lighting is striking all around the village, and some people gather around the statue, watching in terror as a lightning bolt hits it and it goes over into a house, setting it aflame. 

All the villagers gasp and scream. The statue is a failure. 

MILDEW

That's what Thor thinks of the statue! I told you what he wants, and we haven't given it to him!

More fires continue to burn.

MILDEW (CONT.)

Until we rid this island of that night fury, Thor's fire will continue to rain down upon us!

INT. HADDOCK HOUSE - NIGHT

In the Haddock House, Gobber and Stoick look out the door at the storm while Hiccup tends to Toothless, who gets more and more nervous with each crack of lightning. 

HICCUP

Y-You don't really think Thor is angry because of Toothless, do you?

STOICK

Of course I don't.

The villagers have seemed to congregate outside the house, angrily banging on the door and demanding that they give up Toothless.

MILDEW

Open up, Stoick! We've come for the night fury!

STOICK

(sighing)

But I'm afraid they do....

More banging.

STOICK (CONT.)

Get Toothless to a safe place, I'll try to reason with them.

Hiccup gets up and runs as Stoick walks towards the door. He grabds his arm, halting him.

HICCUP

(unsure)

But...

Stoick sighs and places a heavy hand on his son's shoulder.

STOICK

Just go!

Hiccup shares his sigh and frowns, turning back to Toothless who is being petted affectionately by Gobber.

GOBBER

(somberly)

Safe travels, old friend.

Hiccup points up to the upstairs window in his room, and Toothless runs up the stairs and jumps out, Hiccup following shortly behind him. 

Outside, Hiccup looks sadly and secretively at the crowd in front of his house, all of them angrily yelling for Toothless. His whole stature slackens in a momentary defeat before he stiffens up again and turns to Toothless, trying to be strong for him.

HICCUP

Don't worry, bud-

Toothless gives a saddened whine, his eyes full of sorrow in having caused the whole situation, but Hiccup simply pets his nose and placed a hand under his chin. 

HICCUP (CONT.)

-It's you and me.

They run off into the forest quietly, narrowing missing a bolt of lightning themselves. 

Back at the Haddock House, Stoick and Gobber have come before the angry crowd.

MILDEW

Give up the dragon, Stoick! Look at your people, we've had enough!

STOICK

You're too late. He's gone.

GOBBER

Stoick's already sent him off the island.

To go against their words, though, lightning cracks behind them and around the statue as well. 

MILDEW

Thor says otherwise. 

(to the crowd)

The dragon must still be on the island. Find the night fury!

The crowd walks off, chanting to find 'the night fury'.

EXT. HOFFERSON HOUSE - NIGHT

Hiccup has apparently made a stop at Astrid's house.

ASTRID

We can hide Toothless in the cove for now.

HICCUP

They'll just find him...no...we have to leave. 

Astrid's eyes widen a bit. 

ASTRID

(saddened)

We?

HICCUP

He can't make it on his own-

Hiccup and Toothless lock eyes as Hiccup gently cups Toothless's chin. 

HICCUP (CONT.)

-and I wouldn't want him to. I'm going with him, Astrid.

ASTRID

But you'll come back, right?

HICCUP

Yeah...eventually. When they all realize this didn't happen because of Toothless.

Astrid looks defeated. She doesn't want him to leave, but what else can she say?

In the background, the sound of the mob coming towards the Hofferson house can be heard. Astrid turns in alarm before turning back to Hiccup.

ASTRID

(accepting)

You better go.

They lock eyes for a moment in a goodbye before Hiccup turns and quickly flies off on Toothless. Astrid looks up sadly into the sky, watching him fly off. 

Soon, the mob is at her house, Mildew still leading the way. 

MILDEW

Where's that boy? And more importantly where's the dragon!?

Astrid stands her ground against him, and Stormfly comes up, guarding her rider and squalling at Mildew defensively.

ASTRID

I don't know, Mildew. But you got your wish, Hiccup and Toothless are gone. 

Mildew gives her a hard stare before giving up on the interrogation. 

MILDEW

Oh, ba! 

(to the crowd)

Find the night fury, all of you!

Astrid takes a short exhale of relief before turning back to sky, looking up as the lightning cracks and breaks in the clouds...where Hiccup and Toothless are....

EXT. RAVEN POINT FOREST - NIGHT

Hiccup and Toothless fly down over the forest, landing on a small cliff, and looking over possible places to hide. 

Toothless looks around, worried when he spots the mob now looking through the forest. Torches in hand and angrier than ever. 

Toothless lets out a small whine and Hiccup soothes him by petting the top of his head a few times. Hiccup offers a smile in spite of the situation, easing them both, and they fly off again. 

As they fly high over the forest and in the clouds, a moment of silence and peace falls over them, the skies are calm and all seems to be going well until lightning begins to crack once more. They narrowly avoid getting struck a few times until lightning strikes Toothless's prosthetic fin, sending them both spiraling down to the ground.

HICCUP

(shakily)

Toothless-!

On Berk, the mob looks up to see Toothless diving uncontrollably towards the ground, his prosthetic smoking. 

MILDEW

Ah! There they are!

Hiccup and Toothless's fall is broken by a tree in the forest, though unfortunately their one break leaves them breaking back and forth between two trees on the rest of their way down, finally smashing into the ground. Hard.

Toothless pops up first from the bushes, looking down to pull up Hiccup from the bush as well. 

HICCUP

(a bit winded)

Woo...You okay, bud?

Toothless looks over to his burnt tail, letting out a small moan. The fabric of the prosthetic is completely burnt off, and the remaining metal skeleton is hot and twisted. 

Hiccup examines it, touching the metal slightly before ripping his hand away at the heat. 

HICCUP

That's where the lightning hit...

Lightning sounds, illuminating the sky and Hiccup looks towards the village. Lighting is still striking the perches, one by one, each metal perch is hit, and then the metal statue of Thor.

Hiccup's eyes widen in realization.

HICCUP

The metal! I wonder...

Before any further thought can go into it, bolas fly through the air and land on Toothless, binding him immovable.

Of course it's Mildew and the mob behind it. They run up finally glad they've gotten their hands on Toothless.

MILDEW

Secure the dragon!

HICCUP

Toothless!

One of the villagers grabs Hiccup by the arm and leads him away. Hiccup tries to resist, reaching out for Toothless, but he's not strong enough to break free.

HICCUP (CONT.)

No! Leave him alone!

Hiccup is shoved in front of Mildew.

MILDEW

Don't try and stop us, you'll only make it worse for your precious dragon.

Some of the villagers are trying to restrict Toothless, they all gang up on him even though he's struggling to get away as peacefully as he can. Hiccup is disgusted and worried by the scene and tries to go up to Toothless, but is held back by other strong men all the same.

HICCUP

Toothless!

Toothless is forced onto a rolling plank where's bound down, restricted at all ends, similar to how he was in the movie. 

They roll Toothless away, the dragon admitting defeat and giving a helpless gaze to Hiccup.

MILDEW

Say your goodbyes.

Hiccup finally breaks free when the men's grasps slackens and he runs up to Toothless, holding onto the edge of the plank. 

HICCUP

Toothless!

Unfortunately he doesn't have enough momentum to stay with him and falls over, looking at Toothless sorrowfully as he rolls away.

HICCUP

(defeated)

Toothless....

EXT. BERK'S DOCKS - NIGHT

The mob is rolling Toothless onto a boat, getting ready to sail him off before Gobber and Stoick force their way through the crowd and Mildew, placing themselves between the mob and Toothless.

STOICK

I know you're afraid. But this isn't how we do things on Berk! These dragons are not the beasts we once thought they were. They're part of us now.

MILDEW

Not this one! Not anymore.

STOICK

(sternly)

Release the dragon, Mildew.

MILDEW

Open your eyes, Stoick. It's the only solution and you know it. It worked with Barnstat and it'll work with Toothless.

INT. GOBBER'S BLACKSMITH FORGE - NIGHT

Hiccup runs frantically through the forge, looking for anything that's easy to carry and metal. He finds a spear, about to take it and run until the other teens come in.

ASTRID

Hiccup! They've got Toothless! They're about to float him off to sea.

HICCUP

I know. Why do you think I have-

(he gestured towards the spear in his hand)

-this?

The others look questionably at Hiccup's motives. 

TUFFNUT

Oh, tough one. How many guesses do we get? Five?

Hiccup rolls his eyes. He doesn't have time for this.

HICCUP

(annoyed)

Oh, Gods...Astrid-

He goes up to her and grabs her wrist, pulling her with him urgently. 

HICCUP

-fly me to the docks!

EXT. BERK'S DOCKS - NIGHT

Back on the docks, the mob is still trying to get at Toothless, but Gobber and Stoick are standing their ground in his defense, not letting anyone get to him.

STOICK

If you want to get to that dragon-

He pulls out a sword and holds it to anyone who comes near Toothless.

STOICK

-You're gonna have to go through us!

Bucket and Mulch push through the crowd, going and standing by Stoick and Gobber strongly. 

STOICK

Thank you, lads.

BUCKET

(whispering)

I-if we're choosing sides, Mulch, uh, there's more over there. Lots more.

MULCH

(supportive)

We stand with the chief, Bucket.

All four men get ready to fight in defense of Toothless and the other villages start to come at them, but Stormfly swoons in, breaking up the fight just as it's about to start. 

HICCUP

Stop!

Stormfly lands on the docks, and Hiccup jumps off quickly, the spear still in hand. 

HICCUP

Stop! You could get rid of Toothless, you could throw him off the edge of the world, but it's not going to stop this lighting from destroying Berk.

The villagers still argue in disbelief, Hiccup frowns, holding up the spear over his head as more lightning cracks behind him.

HICCUP

It's the metal. The lightning is hitting the metal! Just think about it. We never had a lightning storm like this until we put up those perches, that statue, right? And they're all made of metal!

MILDEW

Oh, ba! You ever heard of anything so insane!?

The villagers are still favoring Mildew's outlook and Hiccup sighs, running to Toothless's burnt prosthetic and holding it up. 

HICCUP

Y-you see? This is where the lighting struck Toothless. On this connecting rod...this metal connecting rod!

They still don't seem convinced. 

HICCUP

Look if you don't believe me I can prove it!

Hiccup runs back over to Stormfly. Astrid lifts him up on the saddle behind her, awaiting their next destination. 

HICCUP

Fly me up.

Stormfly flies up to the mast of the nearby ship and Hiccup jumps on to the highest ledge, the spear still in hand. 

ASTRID

(worried)

Are you sure you know what you're doing?

HICCUP

Sure? Uh, that's a strong word. It's really more of a...hunch.

Astrid gives Hiccup a terrified look and Hiccup quickly covers up the potentially dangerous situation.

HICCUP

(reassuringly)

I'll be fine. Go!

Astrid and Stormfly fly off. And Hiccup remains on the mast.

GOBBER

Oh boy, here he goes again...

STOICK

He doesn't make it easy.

(to hiccup)

Hiccup!

HICCUP

You'll all see for yourselves! 

Lightning cracks loudly behind him.

HICCUP (CONT.)

When I attach this metal rod to the top of this mast, the lighting will be drawn to-

Out of the sky, lighting comes down to the docks, striking the metal spear that's still in Hiccup's hand. The lighting wraps around him, striking him.

STOICK

(horrified)

Hiccup!

The lighting continues to strike Hiccup until it gives out, Hiccup already unconscious and falls limply off the mast and into the water below, sure to drown. 

STOICK

Son...

The crowd screams in the background as he falls into the water and Stoick and Gobber push past people to go to the edge of the docks. 

Toothless, on the other hand, is tired of being bound and helpless as his best friend is two seconds from drowning and forces himself out of his bindings, immediately diving into the water after Hiccup who's sinking faster and faster to the bottom of the bay. 

Stoick and Gobber soon see Toothless pulling Hiccup out of the water and back onto the docks. The night fury nudges at his rider to wake up but Hiccup doesn't move at all. 

STOICK

(relieved)

Hiccup....

Stoick and Gobber run up to Hiccup and prop him up. Gobber checks hi right leg before turning his full attention to the boy, and Toothless looks between the two, confused and scared. 

STOICK

Son...

INT. HICCUP'S ROOM - DAY

The next day, Hiccup wakes up in his bed from what's probably a night of being unconscious, and holds his head, he doesn't remember anything. Luckily, Toothless is there to greet him at his bedside. 

HICCUP

Toothless! What happened, bud?

Alarmed for a moment and remember when he was in a similar situation a while back, Hiccup throws his legs out from the covers over the bedside, checking his right foot in particular. It's still here. Thank Odin.

HICCUP

(thankfully)

At least I didn't lose another one.

Toothless nuzzles against Hiccup's cheek, and Hiccup gladly leans in, placing a hand under Toothless's chin. 

Stoick and Gobber enter quickly, Stoick overjoyed that Hiccup's awake. 

STOICK

My boy! You're alright!

He grabs Hiccup and lifts him up, tossing him up and down in either examination or affection. Or both. 

STOICK

You took a lightning bolt to the head.

He pats Hiccup's head to emphasis. 

GOBBER

Just like Barnstat. Except we won't be throwing you off the island. 

HICCUP

So everyone knows Thor wasn't mad at Toothless?

STOICK

They do now.

GOBBER

Until we figure out why Thor was angry at the metal, we're all walking on eggshells. 

They all hear a loud noise outside and make their way downstairs.

EXT. HADDOCK HOUSE - DAY

Outisde some men are taking down the Thor statue. It's definitely required but Hiccup still feels a bit upset.

HICCUP

Oh, we worked so hard on that statue. Kind of a shame we have to just scrap it for parts.

Stoick offers a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

STOICK

Well, maybe we don't have to. Why don't you take it to one of the high points on the island and leave it there?

TUFFNUT

Good idea chief! I would've thought of it myself...but I'm not the chief.

SNOTLOUT

Oh we'll handle that for you.

Snotlout offers a particularly devilish look and a thumbs up as he and Tuffnut walk off. 

INT. MILDEW'S HOUSE - DAY

Inside his house, Mildew is eating something when he hears and awful lot of noise outside his door. He gets up to investigate and trips over Fungus in the process, muttering to himself in annoyance as he goes towards the door. 

Going outside to check it out he notices the Thor statue parked right outside his door.

Ropes drop from which Snotlout, the twins, and Hiccup transported the statue, drop onto Mildew. He's annoyed and shocked.

MILDEW

You'll pay for this!

The teens just fly away happily.

HICCUP

I'm not sure that's what my dad had in mind, guys.

Hiccup notes, but he's not particularly putting down the idea.

SNOTLOUT

Hey, that's the way I understood it.

They fly away laughing. 

INT. HADDOCK HOUSE - DAY

Hiccup hears a knock on the door and goes to open it, revealing a crowd, though a calmer one, all carrying various foods in baskets. 

HICCUP (V.O)

No matter how much things change around here Vikings are still Vikings. They're not afraid to admit when they're wrong.

Hiccup and Stoick kindly let them in, smiling at the offerings of food that are all being placed in front of Toothless.

HICCUP (V.O)

And when they do, watch out! Cause you'll be up to your ears in pie, and smoked fish. 

A little girl goes up to Toothless, handing him a fish which he gladly eats, and the girl pets him happily. 

EXT. MILDEW'S HOUSE - DAY

Meanwhile, back over at Mildew's House, a storm is brewing behind the Great Hall, and the lightning is attracted to the metal statue in front of his door--which unfortunately is left open--the lighting makes it's way right into his house.

Mildew screams and Fungus simply watches from the fields, letting out a dry "ba!"