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Recap / Dragons Riders Of Berk S 1 E 1 How To Start A Dragon Academy

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This is Berk. A war between dragons and humans has just ended. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third is a hero and his father's pride, and his dragon Toothless is his pride as his best friend and dragon. Now that no one has to worry about dying, things should be smooth sailing from here!

Yeah, right. For starters, for every tame dragon there are at least a dozen wild dragons stealing fish, raiding Vikings for supplies, and having bathroom breaks everywhere. Hiccup's only one boy, with one leg to boot, and he can't keep them under control. If he wants to keep the dragons from getting exiled, he needs to find a compromise.

Tropes for this episode include:

  • The Ace: Hiccup shows off the best dragon tricks easily by doing a stunt with Toothless, which involves them being separated for a short time.
  • Bait-and-Switch: Stoick looked like he was angry and was about to severely punish the Riders but as it turns out he was giving them their own dragon academy before Gobber spoiled it.
    Stoick: You took over this place without asking. You released the dragons against my wishes. Things are going to change around here. That's why—
    Gobber: You're getting a Dragon Training Academy!
    Stoick: Gobber! I wanted to tell them!
    Gobber: I'm sorry. You're right. Go ahead.
    Stoick: Well, you told most of it!
    Gobber: You can tell 'em the part about how proud you are of them!
    Stoick: GOBBER!
  • Body Wipe: Once with Hiccup walking backwards, trying to avoid the dragon's poop coming down. Again with some Viking chasing after a dragon who took his cart.
  • Good Taming, Evil Taming: Downplayed. The first lesson the group elaborates on in the Dragon Academy is how to get a dragon to drop something it isn't supposed to have. While Hiccup thinks scratching the dragon under its chin works, Snotlout thinks angrily shouting at them works. Demonstrating their techniques, Hiccup was able to get Toothless to let go of the bread in his mouth, while Snotlout winds up in Hookfang's mouth.
  • Jerkass: Mildew, the oldest member of the village.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Mildew does when saying that you can't change a dragon's nature. This leads to Hiccup's "Eureka!" Moment.
  • Misery Poker: Averted; although Mulch points out that a rain of dragon poop is better than a raid, the wild dragons stealing stuff is too much for the Vikings.
  • Mythology Gag: Snotlout's method of dragon-taming - yelling at it and showing him who's boss - is exactly how Vikings tamed dragons in the book series. While it is more effective in the books, it was also portrayed as cruel and unusual and therefore the wrong way to do it.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Mildew heckling Hiccup with his spot-on criticisms allows the latter to figure out how to harness the dragons' natural instincts to help Berk.
  • Nobody Poops: Averted, though dragon poop is colorful and glittery rather than the typical feces that other animals have.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Stoick about the dragons, and he does try to give Hiccup a chance.
  • Shown Their Work: Missing limbs do convey "phantom pains," which Hiccup mentions after spending a day chasing around the dragons.

 
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Dragons: Riders of Berk [Both]

In "How to Start a Dragon Academy", the riders play a game of Good Idea/Bad Idea. Good Idea: scratch the dragon's sweet spot and get them to drop what isn't theirs. Bad Idea: yell at the fire-breathing monster and hope for the best.

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Main / GoodTamingEvilTaming

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