Defenders of Berk Episodes 13-20

A recurring theme in most, if not all, my previous blogposts is my disbelief in making it so far into the show. So yes, up to now I am still surprised I got to sit through and watch all the episodes of seasons 1 and 2 of the DreamWorks Dragons series. I will admit that it has not been the easiest for me to do so, given that this series is so different structurally and plot-wise from the usual TV shows I religiously watch. That being said, however, does not mean I did enjoy Riders of Berk and Defenders of Berk at all. The latter most especially was a treat for me. They upped their game more by making use of better graphics (or maybe it was just a better DVD copy?), writing a more complex and multi-layer narrative, and creating new dragons that make Toothless seem like he is a mere rabbit going against a lion. Now that we are down to the last 8 episodes of the show, we see all these different elements cohere together, with additional humor added in to the mix, to create a dynamic, exciting, fun-loving, action-packed children’s cartoon.

One other difference I had noticed between Riders of Berk and Defenders of Berk is the difference in the build-up of the overarching plot. I will discuss this further in my next blog post on the season synthesis for Defenders of Berk, but basically in season 1, the episodic and continuous episodes were more equally spaced out compared to season 2. Among the final 8 episodes of the former, half of them contribute to the Alvin and eventually the Dagur story. As for the latter, however, only the three episodes among the 8 are part of the continuous plot. For this reason, I can’t discuss episodes 13-20 in my usual style dividing the two kinds of episodes. Instead, I’ll go about ranking them in pairs.

Least favorite pair: Episode 14 “Frozen”, Episode 18 “Bing! Bam! Boom!”

I was rather disappointed with these two. Judging from the titles, especially “Bing! Bam! Boom!”, I thought these would have been more explosive or thrilling. They ended up not meeting my expectations at all which is why they’re my least 2 favorites from the 8.

My problem with “Frozen” is Trader Johann. Generally speaking, I am not fond of his character. Ever since his appearance in season 1 I get the feeling that he is not someone to be trusted. Despite him never really having done anything wrong, I just can’t seem to find it in me to get excited whenever he shows up. The things is, he does not become at all involved in the story but is only used as a tool to introduce problems or conflict just as in this episode.

“Bing! Bam! Boom!” became one of my bottom 2 for this set because Thornado was my favorite dragon among all. I was honestly rooting for Hiccup to successfully train the three Thunderdrums. It would have been amazing to see perhaps Gobber, Mulch and Bucket ride the dragons using them to help defeat Dagur and his armada. Unfortunately, this was not the case and the outcome of this episode had really devastated me. I understand why they had to do this though, because the fans of the series might have expected Stoick to have Thornado in How to Train Your Dragon 2.

Second least favorite pair: Episode 15 “A Tale of Two Dragons”, Episode 16 “The Eel Effect”

The show has more recently been, for lack of a better term, appetizing to watch. No one character steals the spotlight from the other during the entire season. Everyone gets their fair share not just of having their own episode, but of being the hero who saves the day. It was not always Hiccup and Toothless, or Astrid and Stormfly who I feel are the secondary leads, that were the main characters in the episodes of Defenders of Berk. In these two particular episodes, Fishleg and Meatlug were the ones who solved the problem in “Tale of Two Dragons” and saved Hiccup and Toothless in “The Eel Effect”.

This, however, is not why these two episodes are my second least favorites. They are my second least favorites because I have become so sick of seeing Hiccup attempting to fix everything and eventually failing or needing help. It makes question his character because in some episodes it is so obvious that he’s a team player, but in others such as these two, he tends to have a hero/savior complex.

Second favorite pair: Episode 17 “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” and Episode 19 “Cast Out Part 1”

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is another perfect example of the show using Trader Johann as an instrument to introduce conflict in the story though in here the way the problem unfolded or was caused feels natural and appropriate than in “Frozen”. Why I liked this episode has something more to do with the plot and the rest of the elements of the show. In the end when Hiccup came up with the idea to use the Smothering Smokebreaths to defeat Dagur’s incoming armada attack, I felt myself smiling out of satisfaction.

In Cast Out Part 1, I was taken aback by Hiccup’s dilemma with Snotlout. I never knew he had it in him to suspend Snotlout from the Academy but when he did, I felt really proud of him. Making that move affirms what kind of person he is and clarifies his questionable personality as brought up earlier. This means that Hiccup is maturing as a leader, which also might be a set up for the movie sequel, or for his future in general as the next chief in line.

Top two episodes: Episode 20 “Cast Out Part 2”, Episode 13 “Free Scauldy”

Cast Out Part 2 is kind of a given to be part of the top episodes since it is the season finale after all. Just as it had happened in season 1, Hiccup was again forced to work with someone he knows he shouldn’t trust. And while I knew this would eventually have to happen in order for them to defeat Dagur, I was still pleased when my prediction came true. What made this episode extra heartwarming was Hiccup, his friends, and Stoick settling all their differences and working together with Alvin to defeat their common enemies: Dagur and the Berserkers, and the Screaming Death. All the different layers and build-ups from the Riders of Berk and the previous episodes were finally woven together in this very fulfilling season finale.

Finally as I weighed out what I liked and did not like from the pool of episodes, I did not expect “Free Scauldy” to be one of my most favorites. Nothing else drew me for it to be my favorite other than Ruffnut. Tuffnut already had his “own episode” so I’d been waiting for his twin to have hers. Her character in Free Scauldy was so raw and pure that it makes it difficult for anyone to dislike her. Not only that, when the rest of the riders decided that maybe it’s best for them to leave Scauldy, she really insisted they stay. This was so opposite from her usual sadistic personality always seeking for destruction or suffering or chaos that we actually got to see her more feminine side. And when she sacrificed hair for the splint, it felt very empowering especially because I know how difficult it is to let go of long hair.

 

Defenders of Berk Ep. 17-20

I don’t that have much to say about episode 17 because I didn’t get to watch some parts of it due to being late for class, but from what I saw it wasn’t as impressive as the previous episodes. This is because it was a little bit predictable. In their world of dragons, it really isn’t much of a mystery when all metal objects available start disappearing for no apparent reason. It’s always going to be a case of Smothering Smokebreaths gone wild. It also wasn’t a big surprise that this was all due to Dagur and the Berserker’s efforts to invade the isle of Berk. Another thing that wasn’t a surprise? It failed (obviously). In the end the Smokebreaths take all the metal from Dagur’s all too present Armada and thus ends the attempt. Episode 17 could not have been more cookie cutter in my opinion, but maybe the fact that I did not get to watch it fully affected this judgement on my part.

Episode 18 showcases some nice dragon dynamics to its viewers. Basically this episode tries to explore the parent-child relationship between dragons and is represented by Thornado and the three young, troublemaking thunderdrums: Bam, Bing & Boom. The three “thunderdrumlets” are depicted to be too rowdy and chaotic with no regard for authority. This changes when Thornado is around to pacify them as needed which really gives off this fatherly/motherly figure type vibe going on (I’m not really sure of Thornado’s sexual orientation, so I’ll keep it open for now). Eventually Stoick releases Thornado from his possession so that the young thunderdrums have a protector/ role model/ parent to care for them as they develop further. It is also seen on dragon island that older dragons like to prey on young ones for some reason and this is one of the main reasons why they need Thornado. I feel like this is a much needed exploration or expression of the dragon psychology since the series is partly about them. I would also like to point out that most of the educational underpinnings of the show in this particular season have been more deep or somewhat more nuanced than the usual good vs bad type of moral dilemma which is quite interesting.

Episode 19 & 20 marks another two part episode and also serves as the season finale for Defenders of Berk. The episode starts off with Snotlout being suspended from the Dragon Academy after nearly killing Astrid due to his antics. I immediately recognized this as a set-up for more plot developments within the episode and was confirmed once Snotlout manages to get himself in trouble after coming across the screaming death. This sets the stage for Alvin’s return as he saves Snotlout from certain death and comes back to Berk with unknown intentions. As expected he is met with animosity and anger despite saving Snotlout and is imprisoned until a formal trial for his treacheries can be done. It is then revealed that Stoick and Alvin were once the best of friends kind of like how Hiccup and Snotlout are (but not really). This furthers hypes up the impending showdown with Dagur and his ever-present Berserker armada and the Screaming Death. I admit this was getting quite intense and the stakes are even higher than ever. Everyone has an interest in this conflict as the Berkians seek to preserve peace, the Berserkers wanting to encroach on this peace and subjugate Toothless, Alvin wanting his outcast island back and finally the Screaming Death in a crazy revelation wanting to be reunited with its mother. The episodes culminate in one big crazy showdown on outcast island with (obviously) Dagur on the side of the losers and the Alvin-Berk coalition on the side of the victors. The SD is reunited with its mother and Stoick is set free after being previously captured by Dagur. Thus concludes the Berk vs Berserker with the Screaming Death on the side saga.

Now let’s talk about the execution of the season finale. I personally think it was quite successful in ending the season with a bang as the producers of the show really uses a lot of the better elements of the show and matches it with good pacing and buildup. I like how everything started with a mini-quarrel between Hiccup and Snotlout which ended up mirroring what happened between Stoick and Alvin in the past. I also like the foreshadowing(?) or atleast the introduction of the idea of Hiccup as chief because it shows an avenue or opportunity for character progression, the big kind of progression. It kind of signifies that it’s about time to stop focusing on childish things and lets Hiccup put the big boy pants on. The humor is great again in these episodes, as usual and the high octane dragon action was also present. Overall it was a strong season finale and it was a treat to watch. Defenders of Berk has definitely impressed me and will be explained in depth in my synthesis blog post.

S02E01-03: Living up to the name!

As a new season opens, new expectations arise. Of course, even though things hasn’t change in terms of the way we view the show (i.e. still a classroom setting, binge-watching), there must be something new to the second season of DreamWorks Dragons that I couldn’t wait to start on the new one. Maybe because I was anticipating that the things I did not like during the first season won’t appear on this one.

Fortunately, my wishes have been granted on this one. I did not notice it at first, but things seemed to be generally better than it was than the last one. I mean, everything in Berk seems to be the same still, but the animation is brighter and cleaner, the start of episode 1 seems to pick up from the events of the last episode (hooray for more narrative continuity!), and there seems to be a kickstart in Live and Let Fly that seems to get me hooked even at the first scene.

Oh, crap, the voice-over!!! gone!!! This actually made me feel better, as if the series grew as much as its target audience did as well. I noticed that there’s no more buns of voice-over to sandwich the episode, so each one starts now with a kick of “HA! You don’t know what happens next” vibe.

Moving on to the plot:

Live and Let Fly – Aside from the fact that the voice-over is now gone, what I liked about this episode was the Fight Club reference. I instantly got it when they said “Flight Club.” By then, I did not know that the were referencing films even before season 2, so I found it cool. The story was kind of absurd though, as Stoick’s decision to prevent the dragon riders from doing their job was like preventing themselves from being the strongest they could be. The application then of the Fight Club reference was put into good and funny use (especially for the twinsane twins). This episode was generally good as a start of a second season.

The Iron Gronckle – I immediately thought of the Iron Man reference upon seeing the title of the episode. I was then caught off guard when it was revealed that it was Meatlug that spurts out Gronckle Iron. That was funny, in light of all the Outcast threat that Berk is having. It’s scary though, seeing the cliffhanger and how there was one big Whispering Death hole underneath Berk.

The Night and the Fury – Dagur is back! And more deranged than ever. Initially, I thought the main villain would still be Alvin, but seeing him now aware that Berk has dragon trainers because of his fight with Hiccup hooks me even more to watching. The way his character was made to look like really scares me even more than Alvin, so it’s a good move for the show to make things more complicated.

What I liked so far in watching these three episodes was seeing the series mature as well. Things got more complicated, the villains got smarter, and Hiccup (so far) has more things he has to do for Berk and for the Dragon Training Academy. Why the name then? It’s mainly because the subtitle lives up to its name as portraying the Berk-ians as its defenders, or protectors from any . While I only know more of Fishlegs so far in this season, seeing the improvement from season 1 to 2 has made me excited, I can’t wait to know more about the rest of Berk’s defenders.

Comparative Analysis: Dragons and The End of the F***ing World

I found it quite challenging to find a good show to compare with DreamWorks’ Dragons. One, I don’t watch animated cartoons anymore; and two, I don’t even watch television shows anymore. I find it more entertaining to read and have my imagination take ownership of the novel I’m reading than simply absorb what the screen already has in stored for me. However; I found what I believe is to be the perfect to show to compare it. I recently tried and finished a television show entitled, The End of the F***ing World, which surprisingly has a handful of similarities and differences with Dragons.

The End of the F***ing World is a Netflix show released on October 2017. Unlike any ordinary romantic comedy show, it involves a psychopath boy who falls in love with his target for murder. From the description of the plot itself, it doesn’t seem comparable with an animation show like DreamWorks’ Dragons. With this, let’s start with the differences between both television shows and find the similarities given these differences.

In terms of the narrative structure of the shows, one (Dragons) is episodic while the other (The End of the F***ing World) is continuous.

Given that Dragons is episodic, each of its episode has its own plot. Although, some episodes contribute to the overall plot of the show that somehow ties all of the episodes together as mentioned in my previous blogs. Therefore, it’s quite easy to catch up on the show even without starting from the first episode since there’s also lack of character development. Lessons learned by the characters do not seem to be applied on the next episode. What simple kept the show continuous in a way were their random preparations and fights against Berks’ enemies, Berserkers and the Outcasts. Despite the lack of development however, the characters were able to have their own spotlight for an episode or two to emphasize their relevance in the show. However, it somehow makes sense on why it’s structured that way. It’s because its main target audience are children. Children have really low attention span and they need as much breaks as possible. That’s why even if each episode has its own plot and is only around 22 minutes long, it still has space for a commercial break in the middle given the short blackouts.

Unlike Dragons, The End of the F***ing World is continuous. Despite it being segmented into eight episodes, each episode is an hour long and is directly connected to the next episode. Character development is also very evident since we see the change happening to both main characters, James and Alyssa. Alyssa grew to be stronger and wiser as she thought of ways for her and James to survive independently from their families while James gradually let go of his need and want to kill then ended up wanting to save Alyssa’s life in the end. This is what makes people want to watch the show from the first episode in order to see that character development and plot development, which each event of each episode contributes in. Each of the episode doesn’t even have a commercial break in the middle of the episode. Even how the whole show was segmented into eight episodes, still makes people want to binge-watch the whole show since it usually ends with a cliffhanger. Such cliffhanger made me insane every single time! Especially at the end of the whole season, wherein it gave me an idea of a next season coming up.

Despite their differences, these are still similarities between the two shows. The breaks, may it be in the middle of each episode or between episodes, give the shows’ audiences their “breathing” and “thinking” space. What makes these alike and different from a full two-hour movie being shown in theaters is that we have a break to stretch, go to the bathroom, grab some food, and think to fully appreciate the story without having to miss anything and at the same time, be comfortable.  Another similarity from the differences mentioned is the character development, may it be lacking or not. Both shows were able to emphasize each of its main characters by giving them sufficient time to illustrate his or her strengths and weaknesses, which makes the characters likable and relevant to the show. They basically contribute to the show and make it as is. The shows are the shows the creators wanted to present us with given its characters, who greatly contribute to their respective plots.

Another difference between the shows would be my television experience with each. I actually watched seasons one and two of Dragons since they’re required in my monthlong class on television. Honestly, I think I enjoyed it even if I’m not a binge-watcher given that we watch four episodes in two hours. I feel like I get a bigger picture of the show, which gives me more insights to think about and consider especially in class discussion. However, I still find myself enjoying watching a show one episode at a time to fully appreciate all the hard work the creators put in that one episode. I find myself having time to not only absorb the episode’s events but also appreciate the cinematography of the show and acting of the cast just like my watching experience with The End of the F***ing World. This does not mean that I didn’t enjoy our class though. I actually found our class discussions after viewing very helpful in terms of reflecting on the episodes together and hearing other people’s thoughts on the progress of the show’s structures. I guess what I’m trying to say is, despite the differences in time allotment for reflection and absorption, both experiences still gave me a fruitful thinking process. Dragons may have given me a shorter time to think but it provided me with new perspectives coming from other people.

Both shows are also similar in a way that they introduce new characters to set up an event that would contribute to their shows’ overall plot. In Dragons, new dragons are introduced, which makes it fun given the stories they bring with it. In The End of the F***ing World, new characters are also introduced but quickly however to strengthen Alyssa and James’ relationship and character. However way these characters were introduced, they successfully made the show interesting and adventurous that us, audience, would feel thrill and a variety of emotions.

Given these two shows, I realized that television offers a variety of shows that differ in narration and structures, but all of these are dependent on their target audience. I honestly don’t think that I have the right to identify their strengths and weaknesses given that their continuous existence means that there are people who enjoy them even if I don’t, but I think that both of the shows I’ve mentioned were structured strong enough to have succeeding seasons to come.

People have their own preferences. Some enjoy binge-watching, while others don’t. Some can start a show on its tenth episode or so, while others don’t. Some adults enjoy animated shows, while others don’t. Some like the shows, while others don’t. One thing is for sure, there are or will be succeeding seasons for DreamWorks’ Dragons and The End of the F***ing World.

 

Defenders of Berk: Season review

I have finally finished the whole second season of DreamWorks’ Dragons!

Honestly, I have enjoyed Defenders of Berk more than Riders of Berk in terms of narration and structure given the following:

No voiceover involved.

We got to see the whole plot of each episode gradually unfold without having to hear Hiccup’s annoying voice telling us on what to anticipate for. We didn’t even have to hear him at the end of each episode to tell us what our own minds can already assume given the events that took place. Simply put, we got to enjoy the episode with our own imagination and television experience without any direct confirmation from the creators of the show through Hiccup. This made the show more open to mature viewers like me, who don’t have to be spoon-fed with every detail of the show.

More continuity

 Despite the season still leaning more towards the episodic side, the episodes were more connected to one another, which gave it more continuity compared to the first season. We saw more of Dagur and the Outcasts, which built up the overall plot of the show. There were also episodes, which showed the trainings of Hiccup and friends in preparation of their next possible encounter with the enemies. With this came more thrill and excitement being brought by the show!

Emphasis on characters

 Instead of focusing on Hiccup’s character development, the other characters were also given an episode or two to shine. The show was able to illustrate their strengths and weaknesses (which in the end, translates to their strengths), which made them relevant to the show. It also strengthened the characters characteristics in terms of humor and bravery as seen in the twins and Fishlegs.

Major change in plot

 There was a sudden change in Berk’s enemies. The Outcasts allied with the Berserkers but without Alvin’s involvement anymore. Dagur the Deranged became the new arch enemy of Hiccup and Stoick, and Alvin became their ally. What a change!!! I honestly didn’t see that coming but, I was really impressed with the fact that they discreetly geared the events towards such change to instill more thrill and emotions among its viewers.

 No cliffhanger

 Unlike the first season, the season ended on a good note with no cliffhanger that made us anticipate for the next episode. There was, however, a minor cliffhanger in which Silent Sven broke his silence according to Gobber. Gobber not saying what Silent Sven said exactly did make me curious about it and slightly excited for the next season.

Despite the differences between the first and the second season, I ended up enjoying DreamWork’ Dragons as a whole. I think I’m more interested with the show especially since I got used to watching at least eight episodes a week of it. I also got to hear other people’s thoughts and feelings about it given the discussions we had after every screening. Who knows? Maybe I will start watching the third season on Netflix when and if I have the time. I just hope I will.

DreamWorks Dragons (S2 Ep 17-20): Watching with an audience

I’m down to my last four episodes for the second season of DreamWorks’ Dragons! I smell the finish line. However, I will definitely miss watching this show with my class. It was such a great television experience, which I would like to share with you all.

Being in a dark room with around ten people doesn’t seem to be fun at all. Imagine watching in an almost empty movie theater without having as much people to react with if something unexpected happens to the film’s plot. However, I enjoyed my last television experience with the class as I heard the most number of reactions from all the humor and thrill the last few episodes provided us with. Through their voices and facial expressions, together with mine, I heard, saw, and experienced laughter, affection, frustration, and surprise, with a hint of satisfaction, especially for the ending. Don’t get me wrong though. I’m not speaking for everyone in class but, I’ll be describing the parts of the episodes, in which such reactions were obtained from.

Laughter

For some reason, I think the show made some characters funnier than usual to keep its audience happy and satisfied. The twins seemed dumber than they were first introduced as they just kept spatting out nonsense that just served as distractions and delays for Hiccup to continue on with his plans. They even wanted to name a baby dragon, Lloyd, on the 18^th episode entitled, “Bing! Bam! Boom!”

Affection

 On the same episode, people were touched with how Stoick let go of Thornado to take care of the three baby Thunderdrums on Dragon Island. Another similar episode was the last episode entitled, “Cast out, Part II”, which showed Screaming Death and its babies reuniting again in Outcast Island with the help of Hiccup and friends.

Frustration

 On the 19^th episode, entitled “Cast Out, Part 1”, Snotlout appeared to be very boastful, prideful, and selfish as he went against the plan of the group during training. He even got Astrid almost killed and never apologized for it. In addition to this would be the twins as mentioned earlier. The delay that they caused in solving the problem was really frustrating despite their remarks being funny. Sometimes, they just get too random and out of place that they cause worse things to occur such as the opening of the gate. On the 18^th episode, Hiccup screamed to Tuff to close the gate, but he ended up pointing at it. This led to the escape of the three baby Thunderdrums, which caused a bigger mess to fix.

Surprise

 On the same episode, people got surprised with the fact that Alvin the Treacherous was alive. We all thought he’s out of the picture. Well, at least I did but apparently, he got stuck on an island. We got even more surprised when Gobbler told Hiccup about his history with Stoick. He even helped them beat Dagur the Deranged. What a turn of events!  Speaking of turn of events, I got so relieved that the season ended on a good note without any major cliffhanger unlike the first season. It felt quite satisfying but not fully satisfying due to the minor cliffhanger of Silent Sven being able to talk again. They didn’t even tell us what he said exactly. How frustrating at the same time!

Being with other people truly made the show fun and interesting to watch. It felt like watching in a movie theater. Their reactions also strengthen or weaken the emotions I would normally feel when watching alone. Sometimes, they make a laughing part of the episode funnier than it should be when I’m watching alone since we all freely laugh goofily together and even less frustrating than it should be since we have one another to share the frustration with. It doesn’t just fill you up until you explode!

DreamWorks Dragons (S2 Ep 13-16): The heartbreak of letting go

I don’t know if it’s just me but whenever a new character gets introduced in a show, I feel nothing but anticipation for the episode’s plot. However, I was surprised to observe that the new dragons, such as the Speed Stingers and the Scauldron, that they introduced neither lasted an episode nor lasted the whole show after an episode or two of encounter/s with Hiccup and friends.

Speed Stingers

 I actually found the Speed Stingers pretty cool on the 14^th episode entitled, “Frozen”. They’re all fast and aggressive, which can be trained by Hiccup to utilize their skills against Dagur the Deranged and the Outcasts. However, Hiccup and friends only ended up fearing them and shooing them away to a faraway area. I do hope to see them in the succeeding episodes given that their characters were so creatively made. They even come as a cloud of mist to disguise themselves from humans and other dragons. I honestly don’t think they’re merely dangerous. They’re wise stealers, who can be trained to be weapons of defense. After all, they are all still dragons that are just ten times faster than an ordinary dragon.

 Scauldron

 The Scaludron was the dragon Hiccup and friends tried to rescue on Changewing Island. Tuff was assigned to train it enough to calm down then grew to love it enough to cut her long braids for. Unfortunately, it’s like the episode never happened when I anticipated the Scauldron to return. The next episode didn’t even pick up from where the 13^th episode, entitled, “Free Scauldy”, left off. Tuff’s hair was long again and my anticipation of seeing her in her short hair, which would’ve symbolized her maturity, was gone.

Aside from the characters introduced, items, such as the Dragon Root and red eels, which were related to the dragons, were also introduced. Unlike the dragons introduced, I see potential in these items as weapons against the dragons. Thus, I anticipate the time that these will be utilized by Dagur the Deranged and the Outcasts in plotting another plan of destruction against Berk.

Dragon Root

 I honestly think that the dragon root was weird given that there was no explanation of its effects on dragons. There was also no brief history of its presence provided to at least give them an idea of what it is, where it could be found, and how it could stop increasing in number on the 15^th episode entitled, “A Tale of Two Dragons”. Given the said effects, dragon root seems to be a powerful weapon against the dragons. If Dagur the Deranged and the Outcasts are smart enough, they’ll use a lot of these roots in a future episode by discreetly planting this underground to distract the community of Berk and its dragons as they go on with their plan of killing The Night Fury and destroying Berk.

 Red Eel

 A red eel is another good weapon against the dragons given the Eel Pox it gives to dragons, in contrary to its healing effect to humans, as seen on the 16th episode entitled, “The Eel Effect”. Given that these aren’t poisonous to humans, Dagur the Deranged and the Outcasts can also collect these from the sea and discreetly have them eaten by the dragons in Berk.

I really hope to see more of these characters and items since they all seemed creatively made and thought out. Using all of these again would definitely make the show more interesting without its viewers having to see the new characters leave all the time. Besides, it’s hard to let go off something or someone you grew to love. What a heartbreak!

Defenders of Berk: Ep. 13-16

Episode 13 was pretty lit. Finally Ruffnut had some time to shine in the spotlight of the show. She was pretty instrumental in solving the scauldron problem and to top it all off, she cut her hair off (which is a pretty welcome decision imo she looks great). Another thing that I liked from this episode is the fact that they are exploring sexuality even for a bit with the dynamic between snotlout and astrid. Snotlout being the macho uber aggressive suitor of Astrid was the common sight of the show, but Astrid totally turned that around by being surprisingly sweet to him. This causes Snotlout to feel very uncomfortable and tone down his approach. Maybe this could be an allusion or reference to the stereotype that men are always the suitors and women are always the hard to get types. Given the target age of this show, I think it’s nice to see that they give children a chance to see woman-man dynamics in terms of romance or sexuality.

Episode 14 disappointed me mainly because Ruffnut’s hair has grown back. Continuity is not really much of an issue for the show, but man it would’ve been nice to see her hair grow back gradually as the episodes went by instead of just making it look like nothing happened at all. Continuity is quite important in any show because it places value on whatever happened in the preceding episodes and I thought that this was a major oversight from the writers/producers. Other than that, Episode 14 was probably my favorite episode in the whole season thus far. It has many of the elements that make the show great. The humor was spot on and hilarious, the pacing on this episode was neatly done, and the mystery behind the speed-stingers was quite interesting. The animation quality is also really good, I would even say superb.

Episode 15 sees the Snot-Rid rivalry reaching new heights in terms of development when the riders have to fix Mildew’s cabbage field. First things first, the episode was great mainly because it wasn’t so Hiccup-centric. This episode showcases crazy character development which was sorely lacking in the previous season and already being showcased in many of the episodes of Defender’s. I like the dragon swapping idea in a bid to lower Snotlout and Astrid’s animosity toward each other. In the process, they even find new qualities about each other’s dragons with Hookfang’s new wing blast and Stormfly’s new single spine shot. Very, very cool stuff.

Episode 16, eel-pox. This is one of those episodes wherein the world of Berk gets a little bit bigger. The village is stricken with eel-pox and its up to the riders to make the medicine to cure it with wild ingredients that include bloodbang(?) eel. This episode returns to the more Hiccup-centric format and feels nice after all these episodes that weren’t solely about him. Turns out that eels are somewhat of a dragon psychedelic when ingested as seen when Toothless starts trippin balls after accidentally eating one. It also functions as some sort of power source at the same time for dragons that can handle the trip e.g. the Typhoomerang (which still sounds cool as hell even after hearing it so many times). With the help of Fishlegs, they manage to get toothless back to normal and help heal the village. Hooray.

These string of 4 episodes have been some of the most enjoyable episodes I’ve watched thus far, but I didn’t watch them in class like most of my fellow viewers so it could have possibly been affected by that. In any case, I am excited as to what the final episodes can offer since the show has definitely reached a new level in terms of quality.

Season 2 ep 13-16

Approaching season 2 is very interesting. Being an athlete, watching episodes 13-16 were super solid, I could really connect this with my student- athlete life here in our university. Watching these episodes reminds me that having a team, we must understand each other and work together. On these episodes, there were many situation that they really have to work and understand together.

UNDERSTANDING one another

Having a team, all needs to understand one another; how someone can do it or what are their strengths and weaknesses. Like in the episodes, many of them did not know what was going on with their dragons until they found the dragon root– that causes their dragons to fight and they could not control them.

During the episodes, I learned that an individual needs to understands its strength. While watching the movie, I really saw how Hiccup and his friends know their own strengths. Like how Meatlug and Fishlegs pull out and put away the dragon root. This gave me a lesson that I should learn how to use conserve my strengths in everything I do. Given this example, they really know what are their strengths are.

Weaknesses were just one of the problem during the episodes. Everyone has their own weaknesses, but every single day they train and give more effort to improve and with the help of Hiccup, all of them were improving. Not only them has weaknesses but also the enemies. Like Dagger, even though his army outnumbered the island of Berk, his strategies were weak. He always wanted to capture the night fury without a good plan, all he thinks was having the night fury in his own hands. This example reminds me that I will be careful in every step I take.

WORKING TOGETHER

WORKING TOGETHER means that every member of the team needs to understand each other. Like in the episodes, working together at first is hard but when the team get used to it, it will just be easy keeping it up. There are many advantages if one team is working together, one can take the tasks easier and it will build up more character and chemistry in the team.

Having a good team, does not mean that there will be no problems, a good team means that they understand and work together. Having a problem inside the team means that, the team can overcome many obstacles even each member is fighting. A good team means that  the expression of a team’s values, attitudes, and beliefs about getting the work done. It determines whether, for example, the team’s focus is on fun, mastery, or winning or whether it promotes individual accomplishment or team success

All of these are just examples of what are going on during the movie. Without these stuffs, the movie would have be boring. Watching this amazing story of How To Train Your Dragon gives me an idea that in life we should really know what are our strengths and weaknesses. In real life we do not have any limitations, we just need to learn every single day from the movies we have watched.

Everyday we step forward, we learn, we commit a mistake, we stand up and get better.

Learning and Enjoying

LEARNING

It is true that learning is everywhere. How To Your Dragon is a film for children that they could get many lessons by just watching it. Like us, we were required to watch the film during class. At first, I thought it was a boring film to watch because the main target of the movie are the children but when we started to watch the movie on the very first day of class, I found it very interesting and started to learn many valuable lessons like being patient and have to listen to others opinions etc. Learning from a children’s film is one way how to communicate with children and by that we have to patient.

ENJOYING

Many teenagers thought that watching a children’s movie/film is a boring thing to do. Many teens, like us also watch and enjoy the film. While watching the episodes, it is true that we are entertained by the characters and the story. On the movie, I really enjoyed watching the twins  because they set the mood for me and they make me smile during the film viewing. Like how they just talk to Hiccup about non-sense things, bang their own heads and being the comedian of the group.

Enjoying the film means that you also appreciate the plot. While watching How To Train your dragon  it gives me aldrenaline because how the characters tell the story. Example of this is when Snoutlout went alone on a island and encountered not only the Whispering death but also he saw Alvin on the island with him. I got really nervous when I saw Snoutlout unconscious and almost got killed but Alvin saved him and returned him to Berk with his dragon. I really enjoyed these episodes because they really got me in my heart and it gave me tears.

It made me burst into tears when I found out that Alvin and Stoick were best friends before. It also got me because being one’s best friend, both of you should understand each other. Understanding means that no matter what is happening with the two of you, you should learn how to listen to each other no matter how hard it is.

We can also see that two of them could have history together because they are both good leaders but Alvin only knows much if compared to Stoick. Even though, they left everything in the pass, they still knows each other very well and took the opportunity to defeat the bad guy together.

To sum all of these,  we learn, enjoy and appreciate little stuffs like children’s movies. We all thought that we could not learn anything from the children because they are young. Like the movie How To Train Your Dragon, a children movie that we can all enjoy, laugh and sometimes feel a bit nervous because of the plot that we do not know. We all know that having the time to watch our movie series is enjoyable. But now, I know that we can all learn and have fun while we watch.