Not Lout
So, you remember me saying I thought Spitelout was the absolute worst, we’re getting the reason why on this episode.
It’s the day of the grand opening of the storehouse. Stoick is there and oh my, TV Budget animation does his beard no favours, I just noticed how stiff it looks. And honestly, it applies to everyone’s hair. Spitelout, because he’s a reprehensible ass, starts filling his son’s head with the idea that everyone’s laughing at him behind his back. And that he needs to take command of what’s rightfully his. So, how’s that coup against Stoick going? It isn’t? Well, it’s pretty hypocritical advice then, isn’t it?
His father’s words clearly get to him as he has a nightmare being taunted by the other riders as he’s been kicked off the team and replaced by Gustav.
He begins not listening to orders on their next patrol, putting himself at risk and Hiccup also when he tries to rescue him, and it turns out he put everyone else at risk as the team return to the edge, barely and loaded with arrows. Hiccup tasks him with destroying the arrows, and he just tosses them off a cliff because he’s an idiot. He then runs a fake drill.
Hiccup tries to talk some sense into him, telling about skills he needs, she he goes off in search of those skills. He tries stealth tactics with Astrid, which fails. He tries earning trust by returning things he ‘borrowed’ from the twins but he never actually asked for any of it, don’t feel sorry for the twins though, they did the same to him.
Fishlegs has noticed some missing flowers in his garden, and Heather was carrying flowers earlier. Snotlout offers to ‘help’ and it’s revealed he picked the flowers for the twins earlier. The complaints are brought to Hiccup again, and he decides the best way to shake him out is to give him a real shot at leadership, making him a leader on their next raid, to destroy the new spot where the Hunters are making dragon root arrows.
They do a practice run and Snotlout seems to have a panic attack and almost getting everyone else killed. He grounds himself as the others head out but Hookfang has other ideas, showing him the new dragon root growing from the arrows they dropped earlier, he sees the root likes the sun, so it can’t be growing under a tarp as Hiccup suspects.
He races to their rescue and arrives just in time, helping out with a new battle strategy to escape the trap. Unfortunately, he takes a hit for Hiccup, and falls to the ground, oh no, could he be dead? Oh yeah, he was in the second film, so no. They destroy the dragon root and head out.
It’s not a terrible Snotlout episode and the climax is decent, but just how it gets rolling bugs me a lot.
Rating 7/10
Saving Shattermaster
Mala and Throk are buying weapons at a local market but they’re all being purchased by the dragon hunters, they almost get in a fight but a cloaked figure comes to their aid and warns them it’s no longer safe there. The Riders are summoned and the twins are excited as the Island seems to be preparing for a trial by fire to choose the new king, and if you remember the subplot from episode 1, Good Luck Snotlout, I guess.
Hiccup and Heather wear Defenders’ ninja suits so the animators can save money by not animating their lips, I mean to ‘blend in.’ They see that the cloaked figure is in fact Dagur, and he’s talking to the hunters. They remove their masks for some reason, as Heather’s straight up willing to chop his head off but Hiccup persuades her to hold off.
Snotlout passes the first test, not falling into the lava, an idea so ingenious Netflix made a gameshow about it. Toothless captures Dagur but he seems to have no memory, aside from who Mala is and what her position is… Yeah, it rings as false to me as it does to Heather. The hunters spot them and although defeated, Dagur disappears in the scuffle.
Trial 2, walking through a maze of poisonous eels. Including some pretty big ones. Of course, Snotlout is a brute so this is more up his alley, even if he doesn’t like it. Heather sees Dagur waiting for some hunter ships and makes her way to attack. They capture him but in the air he reveals he’s been disguised because the hunters have Shattermaster, his dragon.
Having had no luck at the market, Hiccup deduces the Gronkles were likely taken to smelt iron and create weapons. They follow the trader to his forge and Dagur uses his Bezerker rage to free his and all the other Gronkles. Unfortunately, it’s not long before Viggo’s fleet starts catching up to them, Dagur offers to provide a diversion whilst Heather and Hiccup lead the other Gronkles away.
Trial 3 is to intercept an arrow heading for Queen Mala, he fails, though Mala easily dodges the arrow. With that, Snotlout isn’t going to be King after all and this subplot can be put to bed, for good this time.
It’s a pretty solid episode, I like where we’re going with Dagur coming back
Rating 7.5/10
Dire Straights
The dragon riders conduct another raid on a dragon hunter ship, and Viggo and Ryker are less than impressed. Viggo decides it’s time to make a stronger play.
Trader Johann and his brethren and soon encounter a ship-sinking vortex than only Johann manages to escape. The Night Terrors have been trained by Fishlegs to respond to whistle commands as Stoick arrives to warn Hiccup that traders have been conspicuously absent from Berk. Of course, since they don’t have gold, what they’re actually trading with I don’t know but…
The riders head out to sea and find a Scauldron, but as they’re about to extract they’re pulled into a water vortex, one strong enough to pull them in from the air. They manage to free the Scauldron and Fishlegs with a concentrated blast but it’s clear whatever’s causing that is what’s scaring away the trade. It’s a Submaripper, in waters not fit for them.
Without trade and without gold, things are looking pretty dire on Berk. Hiccup, Snotlout and Astrid take a closer look and find the dragon is chained to its location, likely by Viggo. Fishlegs has an idea for dealing with the chain, Changewing acid can burn straight through it without being dispersed by the water, but they’re gonna have to get deep enough to use it. Hiccup has idea, essentially a pod to lower him into the water. A few tweaks later, and they’re out of time to test it, they lower it right into the water and Hiccup begins using the acid on the chains
Unfortunately, the hunters arrive and begin riling the Submaripper, making Hiccups job harder, he’s still successful though but as the Riders pull him up, the winch is broken by a catapult shot. The legs are broken, giving Hiccup no way out. Toothless tries to save him with no avail but the Submaripper helps him to the surface.
The others head after Viggo, who’s suddenly becoming the aggressive one, don’t know when that happened but Ryker gives them a means of escape thanks to a boat pulled by sea shockers. Still, traders are returning to Berk and the day is saved, though Hiccup is concerned about the level of escalation.
I enjoyed this one, but Viggo feels a bit out of character at the end what was he even doing on that boat?
Rating 7/10
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