Hiccup is dismayed when he sees his and Stoick's father-son portrait has been altered to make Hiccup look more muscular. Desperate to prove himself to his father, Hiccup sets out to find a fabled long-lost treasure.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Hookfang gets easily distracted by a falling leaf.
- Bad "Bad Acting": Fishlegs's attempt at being a lookout.
- Be Yourself: The lesson of Hamish's treasure hunt. If you're smart enough to solve the quest, then you should be proud of being a Hiccup, like he was.
- Comically Missing the Point:Astrid: You heard what Gobber said. The bravest warriors in history have died trying to find that treasure!Snotlout: Yeah, and I'm next.
- Complexity Addiction: Hamish with his treasure hunt. Justified in that he was hiding a lot of treasure, and most Vikings, even a relatively smart one like Stoick, wouldn't be able to complete the puzzle needed. At some point, when facing another deathtrap Hiccup exclaims, "You're killing me, Hamish!"
- Convection, Schmonvection: Averted — being in a cave full of burning hot fireworms is life-threatening whether you're touching them or not.
- Don't Touch It, You Idiot!: Hiccup has to touch the right items on each challenge — if he touches something he shouldn't, the booby traps will do his friends in.
- Dumb Muscle: Averted. Hamish's clues and puzzles relied on the treasure hunter being smart enough to solve them rather than pure muscle like other vikings would.
- Durable Deathtrap: All of Hamish's booby traps have lasted in the several hundreds or thousands of years that he set them.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Astrid and Ruffnut do this with the portrait.
- Hidden Depths: Bucket is a masterful painter.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Stoick dislikes that Hiccup is going on such a dangerous treasure hunt, and looks extremely guilty that his words about the painting drove Hiccup to it.
- Mythology Gag: The general plot of the episode feels like a watered-down version of the Grimbeard the Ghastly quest that took up the majority of the original book series, involving a perilous quest involving symbols and riddles so complicated that only Hiccup could figure out due to his rational mind in a culture that prefers violence and machismo. Extra points for revealing Hamish II as a hiccup.
- Never My Fault: Astrid doesn't acknowledge that she's partly to blame for Hiccup going on the quest given she liked the painting better and said that Stoick did as well.
- The Pen Is Mightier: The final challenge of the death course.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: If Stoick (and Astrid) hadn't admired the buff portrait of Hiccup, Hiccup wouldn't have felt motivated to go on such a dangerous quest.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Hiccup spends the episode trying to prove to Stoick that he was the kind of Viking that his dad would appreciate.
- Women Prefer Strong Men: Astrid and Ruffnut admire the overly buff portrait of Hiccup.
