Defenders of Berk 213 Review

PLOT A: Free Willy…I mean, Scauldy

On a scouting mission for the Screaming Death Hiccup, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut come across a scualdron that’s stranded on land because it’s wing is trapped under some rocks. While trying to free the dragons before it dries up, the Scualdron takes a particular liking to Ruffnut

Soooooo, it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for…

A Ruffnut-centric episode!!!

As all over-hyped episodes go, will it ever meet fan expectations? Will it reign with the over-hyped episode greats such as “Heather Report” and “Fright of Passage”? Well….yeah, actually it does.

This was a perfect episode to introduce what it’s like for Ruffnut to take center stage.

But before we get to that, we’ve gotta cover the set up. A scouting mission to see if the Screaming Death is roaming about, and that was also a nice touch. That little detail reminds us of the Screaming Death’s plot which might’ve been forgotten/not have really paid attention to anymore since it hasn’t shown up since episode 208. So that was a good and light way of reminding us without shoving it down our throats.

Now on for Scauldy himself, I do like the teens coming across a wild dragon and trying to help it but facing the problem of…it’s wild and it’s not too friendly or trusting of humans. And for once, Hiccup—our illustrious main character—couldn’t get this dragon to trust him. I guess he can’t always gel with every dragon he meets, luckily Ruffnut was there to pick up the slack.

And I know we were all glad that they decided to finally go with Ruffnut and not Tuffnut in this matter. Cause Tuff would’ve been the expected easy out for some comedy, but Ruffnut added a bit more of that serious tone that the plot needed at times, while still providing funny and light-hearted moments. (Because I still stand by her being the more level-headed of the twins). Her Hiccup impression as well as the lullaby were some of the funniest moments of the episode.

But, it was interesting to see how the episode would pull off Ruffnut and Scauldy bonding since the only had two acts to do it but, oddly enough, it was actually really well paced out! The different stages on bonding and trusting were well done and believable. Which does make me think back to a similar episode that tried to form a dragon/human bond in one episode, that being 107 “How to Pick Your Dragon”, and wondering…why that episode didn’t get it right but this one did? Probably because Scauldy and Ruffnut were together the entire time, while Stoick was mostly chasing Thornado trying to bond with him rather than…actually bonding with him.

But, moving on….the thing that really separated the boys from the men, the girls from the women, and a good episode from a great episode, was the ending. The sacrifice that Ruffnut made to ensure that Scualdy made it back to the ocean in time…in which she cut off her hair to finish making his prosthetic.

I gotta say, this show—or any show for that matter—rarely gets an audible response from me (like something will be funny, but I won’t actually “laugh out loud”) but I did let out a gasp when Ruffnut flew into the shot with short hair. I just wasn’t expecting that.

As far as shock value goes, this episode definitely delivered. And as far as emotional depth behind the shock value goes, this episode definitely delivered that as well!

Aside from the Ruffnut stuff, the other characters had good performances as well. Hiccup was his typical mix of bossy and sassy (never get tired of the “my leg didn’t fall off” line). Tuffnut offered a really nice genuine moment of non-comedic sibling love and worry. And Fishlegs…forbidden friendship. Nuff said.

This plot was pretty much spotless. Though just to nitpick I can say that the group’s—minus Ruffnut—quickness to leave Scualdy there and let nature take it’s course when the iron was hot did seem a little out of character. Especially since they all had dragons there that could defend them. I don’t know it seemed more like the group’s style to stay there and fight even if the odds were kinda slim.

PLOT B: The Final Testament of Snotstrid (not really…)

Forced to be with Snotlout on a two-person scouting mission, Astrid has finally had the last straw of his flirting and decides to end the charade once and for all.

So everyone’s noticed that this season the Snotlout/Astrid moments have been pretty prominent. One can even say *gasp* more prominent than Hiccstrid.

But by “moments” of course we mean Snotlout hitting on Astrid and clearly getting nowhere because she’s said again…and again….and again…and again….and again…and again that she’s not interested.

But the fact that there was so much Snotstrid this season begged the question of “is this building up to something?” to be asked. And, what do you know, it was building up to something.

So here we go, Snotlout and Astrid are alone on the other half of the scouting mission and Snotlout’s giving the term “flirt till it hurts” a whole new meaning. And I’m glad that we finally see Astrid having the last straw of it. We all wondered when she’d snap, but everyone—including me—thought it would be handled more in a “she yells and brings up some kind of valid point about how they’ll never be together blah blah blah” kind of scenario. I liked the approach this episode took a whole lot better, though.

Astrid was more in a manipulative mode and used reverse psychology to actually give Snotlout what he had been vying for since—probably—he was a kid. And “girlfriend-mode Astrid” wasn’t what he thought it would be.

I just really enjoyed how this was handled. And it was a perfect end to Astrid and Snotlout’s ongoing flirting and rejection plotline and it went out with a hilariously lovely bang. In terms of character development I’m pleased with both of them.

Though this plot did do something else as well, and that’s being one of the first—if not the first—honest to goodness side plot. As in a plot that has nothing to do with the main plot, but doesn’t take too much time away from the said main plot. This Astrid/Snotlout side not could’ve existed in any episode, cause it had nothing to do with Scaudly or that plot whatsoever. But it still stood on its own had a powerful effect to it. I’m more used to episodes having a real “A plot/B plot” set up, which RoB/DoB normally doesn’t do to its entirety, but with this episode they definitely did have a real B plot that was strong enough to stand on its own.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

So this episode was really close to perfect. It finally put some spotlight on a very underused and underappreciated character, and did so in a way that really added depth and virtue to her character. As well as gave us a really satisfying ending that was one of the biggest shocks the entire franchise had to offer.

The side plot of Astrid and Snotlout was also a really good landmark for both characters, and all the other teens brought something noteworthy to the table as well.

All and all, and like I said, it was a close to perfect episode. Though I am slow to award any episode with a perfect 30/30 this episode definitely is one of the closest we’ve gotten so far.

Though, writing this review, I do already have the knowledge that neither Ruffnut’s cut hair or Snotlout’s disinterest in Astrid will be carried over in future episodes…which does make the really big moments and character revelations in this episode come off a little more…lackluster. Not a lot but, just a little.

While issues of budget and difficulties in major character model changes can kind of answer and somewhat excuse the issue of Ruffnut’s hair returning back to normal in the next episode…I really don’t get why the whole Snotstrid plot end won’t be carried over. And to be honest, it seems just a little lazy to me. As I, for one, am sick of that being run as a continuous gag and the two character’s only means of communication. But…we’ll see what later episodes have to bring.

Still, this episode, not looking towards the future, brought forth a lot of really great revelations in character development!

29.9/30