PLOT A: The Dragon Flu
After the esteemed Trader Johann docks on Berk
to supply the island with more new and foreign items, the dragons fall
mysteriously ill and it’s believed that something new that’s come on the island
is the cause…..or is it?
This has been a plot that’s been predicted
by a lot of fans as soon as the mention of at TV show was announced. Why wouldn’t
they have an episode where the dragons get sick? But I really appreciated that
they didn’t have the dragons have chicken pocks or some kind of weird skin
thing going on, but that they were just weak and uncomfortable.
I think this episode really milked the
sympathy and emotional moments between the dragons and riders dry, but….I didn’t
mind, because it was well done. Especially the newly added moments featuring
our newest pair: Stoick and Thornado! It’s nice to see Stoick being
affectionate towards his dragon and not be embarrassed about it! The scene
where he called Thornado his “Dragon Warrior” got a genuine “awww” out of me!
Though I can say that I didn’t feel as
much urgency as I wanted to. They played the sympathy card more than the urgent
one and it just left the air of “what’s gonna happen?” completely out of the
picture. At least for me…there were too many cute scenes and not enough “our
dragons might die” scenes.
Still, having weak and sick dragons
and plenty of emotional bonding moments was definitely the shining spot in this
episode!
PLOT B: Mildew’s being a “butt” again….
Mildew gets something “special” when Trader
Johann docks on Berk, and when it’s found out that the flowers making the
dragons sick were planted by Mildew, its payback time yet again.
So, the “triumphant” return of Mildew
after two episodes of being dormant. I’m guessing he didn’t take this time off
to make more dragon boots and claws, but was eagerly awaiting Trader Johann to
come with his special supplies to once again try and get rid of the dragons.
But, despite the obvious comedic strategy
used in this plot, let us not overlook that this is the first time Mildew’s
tried to kill the dragons and not get them banished. He’s playing dirtier now.
Moving on, we all knew Mildew did it,
everyone in the main group knew Mildew did it, but the old man is good and he
can never be pinned for his schemes cause there’s never any hard hitting
evidence of his intentions. I do like how Stoick made Mildew come along just
because if they’ve all got to be on a boat in the middle of the night so does
he.
And….Mildew’s butt. I didn’t cheer as
much when Mildew got bitten in this episode than I did when Astrid punched him
in the nose in episode 106, but he got what was coming to him for running
around the boat like an idiot with a flower in his belt and seeing him get what’s
coming to him always puts a little smirk on my face.
All and all, Mildew’s definitely not
going to stop trying to get rid of the dragons but I wonder how far he’ll go?
Seeing as how he left his home defenseless in episode 105 and practically tried
to kill the dragons in this episode, I’d say pretty far. I can’t wait to see
what he’ll be back to do in another two or three episodes.
PLOT C: The Scauldron is the key!
Finding that only one dragon can ingest the
blue oleander and that its venom can be used as a cure, Hiccup, Gobber, Stoick,
and Mildew are off to go find this dragon.
I was impressed how they snuck in
another new dragon in this episode. I’ve been waiting for the scauldron and it
was pretty awesome in this episode! And although the dragon was not the point,
its appearance and purpose was meaningful and didn’t feel forced. I did like the boat scene a lot…it had its
good moments…though I do wonder why Sven’s beard was different….and why no one
seemed to care when he got thrown overboard and never came back.
But…some people can complain (cause
people always find something to complain about) that this scene had too many “Titanic”
moments. And yeah…but that last episode had an “Indiana Jones” feeling, so I’m
fine. Now if Mildew and Hiccup had an “I feel on top of the world” moment, then
that would be kind of a rip off, but luckily all Mildew got was a bite to the
butt.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
This episode is okay to me. It had
great dragon/rider interactions but….there was just no “spark” to this episode.
It felt a tad flat to me even with all those great character and dragon interactions.
As I said before, there was no sense
of extreme urgency in the dragon’s sickness, which dulled the impact. It was
just like if Hiccup got a cold…we know he’d get better, so it’s just something
that’s making him out of commission for a while rather than “Whoa, we’ve gotta
do something!”.
But, since the dragon/rider moments
were so good, the dulling effect was brightened.
And the newest character Trader Johann
is definitely a keeper! He’s obviously not a Viking, and it reminds us that,
yes, the HTTYD world has more going on beyond Berk. But we’ll probably have to
wait until the sequel to fully find that out.
But then there’s the main fan
complaint about this episode, which was the animation quality…which, even I
(who has an extreme appreciation for this series’ excellent TV budget
animation) have to say that the animation was more off in this one than in any
other episode. Did it ruin the episode? No….at least not for me. Did it not
help the episode? No…it didn’t really help at some points. But, hey, limited
money and limited time is a pain, so I’m just glad we get half way decently
animated episodes in the first place.
All and all, this episode was just average
for me on the curve of the last three good episodes we’ve been getting, but
with the infamous episode 110 coming up, we all have other things to worry
about.
I wonder if Heather’s debut will cover
this episode’s weak spots or add to them with cheesy teen drama….we shall see
(if the next episode is even the Heather episode to begin with…).
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