History Headscratchers / HowToTrainYourDragon2

* All this being said, it does seem that Hiccup wasn't taking to her story right away and is visibly uncomfortable interacting with her for a good majority of their initial conversation. When his mother goes on about some of the dragons there that were injured by the vikings--specifically Toothless' injury--notice how Hiccup feels the need to pad the story of Toothless' missing wing by jokingly calling attention to his own amputation, as if he believes that his mother may not accept him if she knew he hurt a dragon. Her actions--or lack there of--do not seem to make her one hundred percent endearing to Hiccup, and Valka does seem to realize that there is some faulty reasoning behind her willingness to stay away from her family. When Stoick and Gobber walk in, they don't get to hear her story, and Stoick is clearly mesmerized by the discovery of his wife being alive, but had their reunion not lasted only a couple of hours it's possible that Valka's leaving her family would have been discussed with the possible [[WhatTheHellHero calling out of Valka's decision to permanently remove herself from Berk]] [[CassandraTruth all because she has discovered that dragons are actually capable of coexisting peacefully with humans.]]

* Valka is saved for me by the fact that neither she nor the movie consider her to be particularly heroic. She's a good person, like her son, but unlike her son she lacks the courage and strength of character to really challenge the way things are. She clearly understands this and constantly apologizes and offers weak rationalizations for her actions, and once the bad guy appears she is rather ineffectual.She's cool, knowledgeable and kind hearted, but she's not a hero like her son is. That is why she didn't go back (which in fairness Hiccup himself seriously considered in the first movie).

** Eret had failed to supply enough dragons before, he actually shows Hiccup a brand on his chest that Drago gave him as punishment for that. Drago basically just runs his army with [[IncrediblyLamePun draconian]] punishments it seems to keep order. Sort of like how the Romans had a very harsh discipline code. Basically, Eret had failed before, and this was just another failure since if Drago hadn't had sentries to ambush the Riders of Berk they might have been able to get away and warn Berk without him knowing he was revealed to an enemy who actually stood a chance against him.

** Eret had failed to supply enough dragons before, he actually shows Hiccup a brand on his chest that Drago gave him as punishment for that. Drago basically just runs his army with [[IncrediblyLamePun draconian]] punishments it seems to keep order. Sort of like how the Romans had a very harsh discipline code. Basically, Eret had failed before, and this was just another failure since if Drago hadn't had sentries to ambush the Riders of Berk they might of been able to get away and warn Berk without him knowing he was revealed to an enemy who actually stood a chance against him.

* It's pretty clear that his mother was never big, and yet his dad gives him a helmet and claims it's HALF of her breastplate? Or was she just big before Hiccup was born? This was HtTyD1 by the way, right after Hiccup's awesome flight test with Toothless.

*** That is entirely inaccurate, it's like saying that everyone in the USA want's to rule the world. The kind of Viking you describe where only a small part of the whole. Many Vikings where peacefull traders, farmers, craftsmen and what not. Those where normal people as well. The 'typical' Vikings we know, the one plundering and destroying villages where often considered criminals or at least far from normal people back home.

* All this being said, it does seem that Hiccup wasn't taking to her story right away and is visibly uncomfortable interacting with her for a good majority of their initial conversation. When his mother goes on about some of the dragons there that were injured by the vikings--specifically Toothless' injury--notice how Hiccup feels the need to pad the story of Toothless' missing wing by jokingly calling attention to his own amputation, as if he believes that his mother may not accept him if she knew he hurt a dragon. Her actions--or lack there of--do not seem to make her one hundred percent endearing to Hiccup, and Valka does seem to realize that there is some faulty reasoning behind her willingness to stay away from her family. When Stiock and Gobber walk in, they don't get to hear her story, and Stiock is clearly mesmerized by the discovery of his wife being alive, but had their reunion not lasted only a couple of hours it's possible that Valka's leaving her family would have been discussed with the possible [[WhatTheHellHero calling out of Valka's decision to permanently remove herself from Berk]] [[CassandraTruth all because she has discovered that dragons are actually capable of coexisting peacefully with humans.]]

** [[HornyVikings Why does nearly everyone forget that actual Vikings were like Drago? Real Vikings were power-hungry, cruel bastards.]] I praise HTTYD 2 for actually having a character like that. And Drago also serves as a reminder that had it not been for Hiccup, [[NotSoDifferent Berk could have possibly gone down that route]]. Honestly, the lack of [[HornyVikings crazy, immoral traits in the Viking characters]] irks me, because the [[Literature/HowtoTrainYourDragon Books]] handled those kinds of stuff better than HTTYD 1 did. The first movie just flicked away all those immoral traits of actual, historical Vikings. The second movie had those traits in the form of Drago and reminded us that Hiccup is the reason why Berk is so peaceful, just like the books. So yeah, Drago is like an actual viking, so I wouldn't call him a flat character. This is one of the reasons why [[EvenBetterSequel I view HTTYD 2 as the better film]].

I'd also like to point out she reminds me of another [[Disney/{{Frozen}} misfit of a young woman who ran away from home to find a place "where I can be who I am without hurting anybody"]], except no one followed her to drag her back and tell her she was wrong...

*** The Red Death and Bewildebeasts use a different form of mind control. The Red Death is basically a queen bee who enthralls other dragons to act as her drones(as pointed out by Astrid) while Bewildebeasts actively dominate and control the minds of their subordinates, much like an Alpha of a pack of wolves.

** That other young woman didn't leave ''her own baby'' or a loving husband behind.

** Or it could be that Cloudjumper was never a part of the Red Death's nest in the first place. He wasn't raiding berk but just scouting for food and resources for the bewilderbeast like a worker ant. Most likely he just happened to be there where a dragon raid is happening and that's where he met valka and took her.