Dragons: Riders of Berk

So is there gonna be a new episode this week, or is it gonna be put off for Thanksgiving?

"Here in Berk, we have another Holiday that starts just as the autumn leaves disappear into winter snowfall. We call it... Turkeywoggle."

According to Wikipedia no, we don't get an episode this week. But apparently next week we get a back to back two-parter introducing a skrill.

Wow, OK. I learnt something today. In that case I change my minor criticism of this episode to "the writers give terrible reasons for Hiccup refusing offers of help". If I thought my island burning down would be on my head, I'd want all the help I could get.

Forest fires can be just as common beyond the tropics as they are within 'em.

It's why Russia, for example, has a sizeable force of firefighting aircraft and paradrop firefighters (as in, they parachute into key locations of forest fires). They've gotten pretty good at it and have even sent said aircraft to combat serious fires in other countries as aid before.

edited 28th Nov '13 7:00:52 AM by Malchus

^^^ Wow! Finally...

I really enjoyed this two-parter. The skrill looked amazing and it actually managed to keep me guessing at some points. I really wasn't expecting the last five minutes in particular. One thing that really impressed me was the final fight with the skrill, it made me feel like it was something that could have come out of the movie.

I can't believe Dagur killed Alvin. Not only that, I can't believe that Dagur straight up betrayed Alvin "The Treacherous" (Of course they were planning on betraying each other after Berk was conquered anyways, but Dagur decided "Eh, screw it", and decided to betray Alvin early). This makes Dagur a very serious threat, although he's always been a somewhat credible one, and it also puts him leaps and bounds over Alvin, who constantly screwed up. I'm pretty sure that the Outcasts will not like being Berserkers, and that Dagur's going to be renamed, fron "the Deranged" to "the Vile" or "the Cruel".

They were very good episodes indeed.

I doubt Alvin is actually dead, most likely hiding and waiting until a golden opportunity presents itself.

Yeah, I'm definitely calling Never Found the Body on Alvin. Especially the bit where the fish bob up, but he doesn't. Plus, we still haven't really gotten a payoff for all the set up we've gotten with him - I"m guessing he's going to come back and hijack the plot right at the end Darkseid style.

All of the above, and also I love how what seems to bother Dagur most is the size of Hiccup's hands.

So was this season finale or mid season finale or what? .-.

Mid-season from what I can tell.

Oh okay.

And yeah, I kiiiiinda doubt Alvin would die almost offscreen like that, even with existence of that trope where they cut away from moment of death. Especially with all fishes

edited 7th Dec '13 10:34:03 AM by SpookyMask

According to wikipedia there won't be a new episode until January 22. Also according to the synopsis of the episode after that one Alvin is still alive.

Lol, and so soon too. Well, there goes all tension over that.

I'm actually kind of surprised the Skrill was locked away with no little means of returning like that - I was so sure either Alvin or Dagur would get their hands on it (speaking of which, I like that Dagur had no intention of riding or training it - as Alvin might - just locking it up and controlling it).

It was also pretty interesting that the Skrill wasn't evil or antagonistic like the Screaming Death or Toothless' rival Whispering Death, but more like the Frightmare: antagonistic because it was trying to mind it's own business and these humans kept interfering and confusing it. I really got the impression that if it wasn't for Dagur or Alvin, Hiccup might've been able to train it. Pretty sad.

edited 11th Dec '13 12:10:23 PM by KnownUnknown

I sorta got the impression that it's been through this before. Since Dagur's tribe was mentioned to have harnesed them in the past, it seems likely that same Skill had been shackled before it was frozen (and maybe got frozen trying to escape). Then it wakes up to more humans pissing it off and trying to catch it.

Looking at it like that, it's no wonder it despises humans so much.

edited 12th Dec '13 6:03:09 AM by Malchus

Was I the only one who found the way Dagur was 'riding' that dragon absolutely hilarious. I mean, it's a terrible idea strategically but he just looked like he was having so much fun. I really wanted him to keep that Skrill just so we could see that again.

Either Gustav is voiced by a kid who went through Vocal Evolution, or he's got a new actor.

edited 8th Jan '14 5:05:46 PM by KnownUnknown

I actually really enjoyed this episode. It's nice to see them finally dealing with the fact that they're supposed to be running an 'academy'. I was surprised to find myself actually rooting for little Gustav. The only problem I think I had was the overuse of the phrase 'fire it up', but looking back I think it was probably intentional.

This was a pretty interesting episode. I like how the Twins have been getting a lot of Hidden Depths moments this season, after being fairly undeveloped last season.

(On a related note: ever notice that Tuff never seems to care about Ruff's well being, even in comparison to Ruff herself doing vice versa?)

This episode also really made me notice how far this show has come in terms of rendering the characters - their detail on their facial expressions is awesome.

edited 15th Jan '14 5:35:05 PM by KnownUnknown

I have to wonder if her Important Haircut will stick now.

Did Tuffnut get an episode? I know there's been a twin's focus episode to two, but I can't remember if there's been any on a single twin before this.

He had Zippleback Down, but even episodes that aren't strictly about them have been using the twins in more varied ways - though, granted, mostly Tuffnut. Like how Tuffnut was the one to take care of the dragons in The Night and The Fury.

Anyway, the next episode is called "Frozen."

I just had the mental image of Astrid singing "Let It Go," while Ruffnut sings "For The First Time In Forever."

edited 15th Jan '14 6:52:55 PM by KnownUnknown

For a twin-centric episode, that was surprisingly sweet. But... Hiccup had first pick... and second pick... and he chose the twins over Astrid? I'm guessing they have a "one competent rider per team" rule, so she had to be the other team's leader, but their whole romantic tension thing seems to have just dissolved. Normally I wouldn't complain about a lack of romantic subplots, but it's weird that it's never so much as mentioned. Did they have a relationship off-screen for a while and then an amicable break up? Addendum: I also love how everyone casually mocks the fact that Hiccup lost his leg. Because thats what Vikings would do.

edited 16th Jan '14 4:11:48 PM by attercop