Dragons: Riders of Berk

This show became surprisingly good since the riders actually moved from Berk. In no particular order...

• Dagur actually gets character development. Before that he was entertaining to watch because of how insane he was, but his newfound depth is really welcome. I love how he behaves when stranded with Hiccup on the island, fighting the impulses he succumbed to all of this life - 'twas heartwarming.
• Ditto with Snotlout, who is much more a Jerk with a Heart of Gold now
• I think Hiccup appears to be less competent because everyone becomes better - and as Astrid lampshades it, it is because he is an excellent leader
• Viggo might not be that fleshed out so far (why the hate towards dragons?) but as far as threats go he is by far the biggest the riders faced. You can expect to see an episode where the heroes lose now.

I haven't watched the last episode because as I understand it it ends on a cliffhanger, and I don't want that. I'll wait until the next season to catch up.

Viggo doesn't brutalize dragons because he hates them. He does it because he's a poacher with a huge smuggling empire, and dragons are his profits.

He's basically living the Terminus dream.

Another good way of putting is that he's Giovanni, and the Dragon Riders are (the game version of) Team Rocket.

edited 26th Jul '16 10:16:07 AM by KnownUnknown

The pokemon riff was the FIRST thing I thought of!

I would point out (and this applies to the previous season so I wouldn't call it spoilers), Vego only ever seems to get a win on Hiccup, when Hiccup assumes he's already one step ahead of him. It got to the point other characters are calling him out on the fact he's assuming he's one step ahead. So I don't think we are so much seeing a demonstration of Vego's "amazing" strategic thinking, we're seeing Hiccup fail to realize he can't keep underestimating someone just because he doesn't like them. I think Hiccups string of victories against Dagur and Alvin has him a little overconfident in his ability to out-think his opponent, he's still not used to someone who plays on the same field.

Is this show worth watching?

Yes, but start with the first movie and see if you like it. The animation is good, and was great for its day. The series uses all the same characters with a bunch of new ones, albeit replacing Gerard Butler with a less expensive voice actor. If nothing else, the series is worth it just to have Alvin the Treacherous voiced by Mark Hamill.

Wait, I thought the problem was Hiccup overestimating Viggo and ultimately psyching himself out.

Thanks for the heads up, and you were more or less right.

This series is still airing?

I thought after the second movie, it'd be done.

What's been going on? Is it post movie 2, or still taking place before it?

It's still between movies 1 and 2. What was going on the last time you saw it - cause a lot changed after the jump to Netflix.

edited 17th Feb '17 11:39:58 AM by KnownUnknown

I don't know. I didn't really watch it that much.

I suppose I'd have to start from scratch to get an idea of where I was last.

Just started watching.

I liked the Evil Twin episode more than I was expecting to. Ruff and Tuff vs Gruff was seriously badass. The game of bounty hunter hot potato was fun too. Hiccup having to kill the most dangerous one (who turned out to be okay in the end) to save himself was pretty tense.

I swear Spitelout gets worse every season. Meanwhile, I like Viggo's slow Villainous Breakdown over the season. And the Subma-ripper was awesome.

edited 17th Feb '17 11:10:41 PM by KnownUnknown

Finished, and can I say I called it?

edited 18th Feb '17 8:28:58 AM by Cross

Just finished it myself.

Viggo going out textbook "animated villain" style was unexpected, especially given how epic the way Riker went out was. I agree that it's pretty vague, especially with the volcano up and exploding in the last few seconds. He may well be back if there's another season.

I felt like both deaths were fitting, and all things considered it would it surprising if there's another season for Race to the Edge.

So here is a question about the brothers' plan in the 2-part finale... The narrative seems to lean towards what happened being part of the plan with the betrayals staged, but Viggo went out and handed Hiccup the means to destroy his fleet and his superweapon for real, rather than a ploy to draw Hiccup out of the battle on a wild goose chase. Now, was this Viggo underestimating the situation and did not think a single Submaripper could take out the weapon, or did he consider it an acceptable loss to guarantee to the deaths of the riders? Alternatively, maybe the brothers really did turn on each other; and the chance to kill the riders, get rid of his brother and mutinous hunters, and start over with the Dragon Eye was the plan that Hiccup foiled by surviving and letting go of the Eye. I think either would make sense, but it is never spelled out in the show-what do you think?

The plot doesn't make a lot of sense as all being Viggo's plan all along. He doesn't have anything to gain - or rather he does, but never makes any attempt to claim them. He's legitimately set up as having a lot to lose if Ryker wins, and he sacrifices a lot to keep that from happening. The final confrontation between him and Hiccup is even just him trying to get back what he just lost.

I was leaning that way, but a couple more lines sprinkled in towards the end to make it explicit would have been appreciated.

2 points of interest:

1) It seems like Death Is Cheap in this series, so I'd be more surprised if Viggo really is dead than not.

2) Am I the only one underwhelmed by Astrid and Hiccup's Relationship Upgrade?

Nobody has died and come back so far. I dunno about Death Is Cheap. I mean, Dagur never actually died. He just charged into battle and nobody saw him again until later

Yeah, I guess Not Quite Dead or Never Found the Body is more what they seem to do. Regardless, the point is any character "dying" at this point deserves serious skepticism.

Newest Trailer leaked a bit early, should be up soon. Release date is August 25th. Not much info, but we see the Edge blowing up, a Deathsong, a new dragon, and Hiccup wielding an improved version of his Inferno Sword.

[1] This is the only clip I found not to be taken down yet.

edited 29th Jul '17 9:01:22 AM by ViperMagnum357

Netflix just reminded me that he new season drops in a week, which is nice given their usual habit of dropping content with no fanfare whatsoever.

I'm pretty sure that this new season is the first part of the show that they ordered beyond the initial order. Because, IIRC, Netflix had ordered 52 episodes right off the bat and the last season ran out those episodes.

Apparently Dreamworks animated series do really well for Netflix.