Welcome to The DRAGONS TV recap! It’s a new Rotoscopers series in which we will recap and discuss the DreamWorks Dragons television series. With Dragons: Race to the Edge set to premiere in June, I took it upon myself to give a detailed summary of both Riders of Berk and Defenders of Berk.
While you are free to avoid reading this if you don’t want to be spoiled, this article is simply to allow fans and readers to catch up just in time for Race to the Edge!
Without further ado, let’s delve into the first 10 episodes of Riders of Berk (from “How to Start a Dragon Academy” to “Heather Report Part 1“).
The Origin of the Dragon Academy
Humans and dragons are now at peace thanks to the unlikely friendship and heroism of Hiccup and Toothless. But not all is perfect on the Isle of Berk, as the natural behavior of the dragons causes problems that threaten to destroy the harmony.
Amidst the growing anger and villager complaints (stoked by Mildew, Berk’s resident elderly town grump), Hiccup and Toothless begin several on-the-spot attempts to try and control the behavior of the dragons (which go about as well as you would expect).
Spurred on by the multiple requests to fix the problem, Hiccup then comes up with a more solid plan involving the rest of the gang (Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut): to train the dragons inside the abandoned arena where they were once killed for sport. It seems like a good idea (even as Hiccup goes behind his father’s back in order to make it happen).
After a few rough scrapes and close calls (and the dragons nearly getting sent away from Berk), Hiccup and company manage to bring the dragons under control and dissolve the situation. And, while Stoick is very much ticked off that all this happened without his knowledge, he and Gobber nonetheless give the gang permission to re-purpose the arena as a training ground, appropriately re-titled the ‘Dragon Training Academy.’
Keeping the Peace
With the academy open, Hiccup and the gang are tasked with the job of solving everyday problems involving dragons. These ordeals include finding Gobber a new line of work (“Viking for Hire“), getting the animals of Berk to overcome their fear of the dragons (“Animal House“), and reuniting a baby Typhoomerang with its mom (“The Terrible Twos“). Their efforts are continuously challenged by Mildew, who is still stuck in the mindset that dragons don’t belong on Berk.
A Win for Mildew
Mildew’s attempts to sabotage the Academy finally pay off when he is able to pin multiple cases of vandalism on the dragons and get them banished to Dragon Island. He then throws away the tools used to fabricate the crimes, but not before Hiccup finds out that Mildew is responsible for the destruction.
Alvin and the Outcasts
This all happens as Alvin the Treacherous and his Outcast Tribe plan an invasion on Berk to capture the ‘Dragon Conqueror’ and learn of his secrets (the “Dragon Conqueror’ being Hiccup obviously, although the Outcast Tribe has no knowledge of his true name and identity).
With the armory destroyed and the dragons gone, Berk scrambles to arm themselves before the Outcasts arrive. Hiccup tells Stoick that it was Mildew who caused the destruction and not the dragons. While he believes him, Stoick tells his son that he must see the evidence before he can take action.
Before this happens, the Outcasts arrive on Berk. After surviving an encounter with Alvin, Fishlegs tells Hiccup (and later Stoick) that the Outcasts are indeed after Hiccup himself.
In an attempt to save the lives of everyone held hostage by Alvin (Mulch, Bucket, Snotlout, Astrid, etc.), Hiccup reveals that he is the ‘Dragon Conqueror’ (to the mocking surprise of Alvin and his gang). He tells them that the dragons their looking for are not on Berk, but on Dragon Island (where they were exiled to).
The gang then manages to overtake the remaining Outcast soldiers back on Berk and mount a rescue mission to bring Hiccup home. Meanwhile, Hiccup preforms a demonstration of his skills to the Outcasts on Dragon Island, giving him an opportunity to rescue Toothless and strike back against Alvin and his men.
A battle ensues against the Outcasts with Hiccup, Toothless, and the gang on their dragons. Eventually, the dragon riders are able to sink their ship and drive the Outcasts away (for now).
The villagers welcome the dragons back to the island of Berk. Despite the fact that the evidence of his crimes is gone, Hiccup lets Mildew know that he’s aware he framed the dragons (Stoick is also convinced of this fact).
Finding Stoick a Dragon and Other Activities
From there, Hiccup and the gang continue on with their adventures in dealing with not only dragons but also with secrets and mysteries that abound on Berk itself. These include finding Stoick a dragon of his own (“How to Pick Your Dragon“), finding the lost treasure of Hammish the Second (“Potrait of Hiccup as a Buff Young Man“), and finding an antidote for a flower Mildew plants all over Berk that causes the dragons to become deathly ill (“Dragon Flower“).
A Girl Named Heather
After a while, a mysterious individual washes up on the shores of Berk: a beautiful woman by the name of Heather. And it’s not too long before her looks and charm capture the interest of most of the gang, especially as Hiccup starts to put an unbelievable amount of trust in her. Of course, Astrid does not buy into Heather’s charm.
Heather begins to ask a lot of questions about the riders’ dragons and how they train them. Later on (and unbeknownst to Hiccup and the gang), Heather drops her innocent personality and looks for the Book of Dragons. As soon as she finds it, she is caught by Astrid. She then forces her to explain to Hiccup what she’s was doing. Heather makes up a lie right on the spot. As Hiccup believes Heather’s lie, this gets her off the hook (to Astrid’s annoyance).
Hiccup then hides the Book of Dragons under his bed (again), after which Heather takes the opportunity to steal the book (again). She then makes the decision to try and steal Stormfly away from Astrid. She is caught by Astrid (again), but successfully gets Stormfly to show loyalty to her.
Heather then tries to steal the Book of Dragons a third time, but can’t because Hiccup is using it. Meanwhile, Astrid destroys things with her axe, only to find Heather and proceed to follow her. It’s only then Astrid discovers that Heather is working for the Outcasts.
Astrid tries to convince Hiccup that Heather is an agent for the Outcasts, but finds that Heather is in his room and (pretending to be) asleep.
On Outcast Island, Savage explains to Alvin that the Book of Dragons is the key to fully understanding the dragons and controlling them. Alvin puts pressure on Savage to bring the book to him as quickly as possible.
Back on Berk, Hiccup, and Astrid find that both the Book of Dragons and Stormfly are missing. Now convinced of Heather’s connection with the Outcast, Hiccup and company form a search party to look for Heather before she goes to Outcast Island.
Eventually, the riders catch up to Heather, who is having trouble flying Stormfly. Astrid jumps onto Stormfly and engages in a fight with Heather for control of Stormfly. As they get close to Outcast Island, Alvin’s men intervene by firing catapults. Astrid then manages to wrangle Heather off Stormfly, but the Book of Dragons falls with her.
Snotlout and Hookfang go for Heather, while Hiccup and Toothless go for the book. However, they only manage to rescue Heather, with Hiccup forced to retreat.
With Heather in tow, the dragon riders fly back to Berk with Hiccup relating the bad news that he was unable to retrieve the Book of Dragons, which is now on Outcast Island.
And that does it for this installment of the DRAGONS TV recap! Join us next time where we recap episodes 11-20 of Riders of Berk!
DreamWorks Dragons: Riders of Berk is available on DVD (Part 1/Part 2) and all digital platforms.
What do you think? Any thoughts on what’s presented in the article? If you’ve seen these episodes, be sure to discuss them in the comments below!
(Images courtesy of Berk’s Grapevine and the How to Train Your Dragon wikia).
Edited by: Hannah Wilkes