I think I’ve done my bit of dark gritty stuff for the time being, so we’re going back to lighter stuff for this retrospective, let’s bring Dragons: Race to the Edge to a close.
Where we last left off it was revealed that Trader Johann had secretly been part of the Dragon Hunters and is looking to unlock the key to the King of Dragons through the recently recovered Dragon Eye.
In plain sight
Johann’s possession of the Dragon Eye isn’t doing him much
good, as he still needs lenses to fully reveal him. Krogan wants to send his
flyers to scour the archipelago for it, but Viggo believes they can get what
they need from Hiccup and rather than using another display of force, Johann
believes he be more persuasive.
Heather has decided to head to Vannaheim to pay final
respects to her father, I think Astrid went with her. Conversation talks to
lenses and Dagur reveals he had one the whole time, and Hiccup reveals his new
Dragon Eye, the Dragon Eye 2 – the one that works off magic or something. I assumed
with the previous one it was created as a means of documenting ideas, and
compartmentalised with lenses and whatnot to protect them, but this Dragon Eye
has information Hiccup doesn’t know, how’d that happen?
At this moment, Johann drops by and they seem to have done
away with the secrecy of the Dragon Eye 2 now. Hiccup still needs certain
gemstones to work it, and Johann offers to help him. They are at the Northern
Markets which have become quite dangerous over the course of the seasons.
Hiccup offers to go with Johann so Toothless can provide him protection. Johann
coaxes Hiccup into bringing along the Dragon Eye 2, and the lenses. The Twins
also want to come along because why not? [I’m sure I can think of a few
reasons]
Dagur, Snotlout and Fishlegs head back to Bezerker Island to
retrieve Dagur’s lens, unfortunately it’s currently the property of a bully
from his past, yup, we’re doing that old chestnut. Back to the A-plot, Johann
sends the Twins away as Hiccup walks into an ambush by the Hunters. Hiccup can
hold his own but they hold Johann hostage. They're saved as the Twins come back
surprisingly quickly.
Ruffnut hypothesises that for the Hunters to be able to
prepare an ambush, they must’ve known they were coming, implying someone’s
tipping them off. Hiccup dismisses their concerns, for now. The Hunters return
quickly, this time with Singetail support, they’re forced away from the market,
but could find it in the Sandblaster’s treasure lair.
They find the gems but at this point Johann makes his move.
But Hiccup isn’t stupid, he did take note of the idea of there being a mole,
then realised they asked for the lenses, something he doesn’t usually carry,
then he connects the dots in how Johann has been manipulating them in other
events. A fight ensues and the fight eventually wakes up the Sandblaster.
Johann escapes in the chaos.
Back at the Edge, Dagur retrieves his lens in the b-plot,
and Hiccup completes the Dragon Eye 2. They need lenses for the 5 classes of dragons,
despite their sizeable collection, they only have lenses for 3 of them. First
to 5 will learn the location of the King of Dragons. Game On
This episode does what any good season introduction should
do, the first of the even numbered seasons to do so. The Race is On and the
sides are lined up, game on
Rating 8/10
All Bark, No Bite
The Riders are heading to Berk to alert to Stoick about Johann’s allegiance, Hiccup is concerned he might react with fury and his
concerned are quickly vindicated. Stoick quickly gathers anything from the last
of Johann’s shipments, a lot of food, and has it burnt just in case any of it
was contaminated. He then heads to Gothi’s to destroy Johann’s willowbark, a
useful medical tool.
Hiccup quickly arranges for other merchants to arrive to
replace these supplies but none of them have Willowbark. Stoick has a plan,
apparently, to go and get some and Gobber convinces him to allow him to trial
one of the other merchants for everything else. Hiccup, concerned for his
father flies off after him but they’re both spotted by a couple of Dragon
Flyers.
Stoick soon notices Hiccup following him but Hiccup also has
a map with all the places Gothi marked for willowbark. They’re caught in a
dragon stampede and Stoick almost gets to take his anger out on a Monstrous
Nightmare, but Hiccup intervenes. The first Island they find is ablaze and although
Hiccup finding this suspicious, Stoick continues his quest.
With Gobber unable to decide between the 3 traders, they
propose a cooking contest. Good thing they don’t mind using up all their resources,
guess news of Berk getting its gold back has spread. Second Island, second
fire, and this time Hiccup and Stoick see the dragon flyers setting the fires,
but neither of them put 2 and 2 together to find out what they want.
Hiccup tries again to reason with his father as the dragons
rest but ends up saying something that gets Stoick even more annoyed.
Meanwhile, Berk comes under attack by Krogan and the Hunters and Flyers. Hiccup
and Stoick reconcile, realising that Johann’s betrayal has them both rattled.
Stoick reveals that all the traders came with no bark but the same fish, which
Hiccup thinks is pretty suspect, and when it’s revealed to be Ice-tail Pike
they were carrying, Hiccup realise that’s what Singetails eat and it was all a
trap.
The guys on Berk, all the ones in the main cast and… no-one
else are tied up, and Gobber’s hook hand is removed, but Hiccup installed a
secret knife into his pegleg for all the uses such as right now, where they
secretly cut the ropes, setting them free. They take out the guards but the
door’s been barricaded from the outside so it’s not done them much good.
Stoick’s plan is fairly solid, he diverts Krogan’s attention whilst Hiccup
frees the other dragons from the arena before the hunters can kill them.
The plan works, not much more to say but there is an
interesting bit in the aftermath. Stoick comments that they’re better together
on Berk. Being the end of the series, they’re gonna have to justify several
resets in the status quo. This is foreshadowing for one of them.
The traders ran off and left all their supplies, solving
that issue and Dagur was kind enough to send them some Willowbark. All’s well
that ends well, for now.
It’s another decent episode, enough said
Rating 8/10
Chain of Command
Hiccup has set up a meeting of all the various allies to
alert them to the threat. Snotlout and Hiccup are heading to the Wingmaidens to
deliver their invite. Chief Atali agrees to come to the summit but having heard
about Johann tasks her second in command, Minden, with protecting the island
from attack. Minden wanted to accompany her so is disappointed with this
development. Snotlout, being Snotlout doesn’t help and is tasked with going
after her
As they wait for the meeting to start, Mala and Dagur argue.
And if you think that cliché is about to happen, you’re absolutely correct,
give yourself a big pat on the back. Kill me now. A fire has broken out on the
west side of the Island and Minden decides this may her moment to prove herself
and sets off after it. You’ve been tasked with defending the Island, hardly a
demotion, is it?
She asks for all the guards to meet her there, and given the
emphasis on all of them, you can probably tell where this is heading. It was a
distraction to draw them away so the Flyers could attack. Atalia is hit and
knocked out and overwhelmed, the group retreats, taking the baby Razorwhips
with them. Hiccup asks whether they have a dragon eye lens and Minden says they
don’t, Snotlout can immediately tell that she’s lying.
Minden believes that by getting the lens herself, she can
redeem her past mistake. Snotlout agrees to go with her, as long as when it
inevitably goes wrong, she tells Hiccup that Snotlout tried to stop her. The
Flyers start attacking and when Hiccup and Toothless go after them, they ends
up ambushed and captured. Hookfang ends up injured in the fight also.
This latest setback has Minden’s confidence shaken. Minden
gives her razorwhip to Snotlout and gives up her title as a Defender. The
Razorwhip forces Snotlout to talk to Minden and he gives a reasonably inspiring
speech loaded with honestly, some of it a bit brutal. She thanks him for it and
kisses him. Moving on from that thought.
Trust exercises seem to be the twins way of mediating the
fight and them seem to be on better terms by the time the message comes about
the attack. Meanwhile, Snotlout and Minden have devised a plan. Snotlout uses
Minden’s razorwhip to get the Flyers’ attention, leading them into an ambush
where the other wingmaidens use their razorwhips to remove the flyers from their
dragons.
Minden meanwhile sneaks in on Hookfang to rescue Hiccup and
Toothless, which they do successfully, however it’s not all good news as
Krogan’s dragon seems to have bonded with him, and they stick together. Minden
is still underconfident but Atali tells her that whilst she may have rough
edges, she was very much like her in her youth and she will grow into a great
leader.
Hiccup tells Snotlout he did good, and that’s the end of the
episode
Another in a line of solid episodes. The action is solid,
the character dynamics are there and there’s a sense of a more continuous story
this season, so far…
Rating 7.5/10
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