Berk's Grapevine

Race to the Edge: Story, Characters, and Dragons


With Race to the Edge coming out this Friday, it’s time to hear a little more about it! I was invited to the DreamWorks campus last week to see behind-the-scenes into how the show is produced and to talk with the artists, directors, writers and producers of Race to the Edge. And they have some pretty amazing things in store for us.

With a show as amazing as this one, it’s hard to know what will be coming out on Friday.  Here’s what I’ve learned about the show while I was there:

Upcoming Episodes

  • Episode 1: “Dragon Eye of the Beholder, Part 1”

    During their search for the escaped Dagur the Deranged, Hiccup and the Dragon Riders discover a mysterious object... one that hold their destiny.
  • Episode 2: “Dragon Eye of the Beholder, Part 2”
    
Hiccup and the Dragon Riders journey to Glacier Island in search of the Snow Wraith, a fearsome dragon that holds the key to the Dragon Eye’s mysteries.
Race to the Edge Cheat Sheet

  • There will be 52 episodes in 13 episode chunks, spanning 2 years.
  • About half the episodes will contain completely new dragons.
  • Almost every episode has potatoes… if you can find them.
  • Expect references to Norse mythology.
  • The Dragon Eye is a slide projector containing information about dragons.
  • The Snow Wraith was first called the Snow Fury, originally being related to Night Furies.
  • We will hear the story of how Stoick and Gobber find their dragons.
  • We will follow Hiccup as he creates the dragon blade and flight suit.
  • There may be a musical episode.

A Dragon’s Eye View

Although originally, the dragon eye was called a “mysterious object,” it was never designed to be something supernatural or magical. The intricate cylinder is simply a (very difficult to open) projector that uses dragon flames instead of light.

By finding and collecting new lenses and using different dragon flames, Hiccup and the others use the Dragon Eye to explore beyond Berk. In a way, the Dragon Eye is the “Book of Dragons 2.0.” Though the Vikings of Berk may have been the first to train dragons, they were certainly not the first Vikings to come in contact with dragons. The Dragon Eye is meant to suggest the existence of Vikings in the past who also studied dragons, and recorded their knowledge for future generations.

And of course, a device that reveals new dragons and maps out the world beyond Berk would be pretty useful in the hands of Hiccup’s enemies, wouldn’t it?


Living on the Edge


In their interview with Berk’s Grapevine, executive producers Art Brown and Doug Sloan talked about how Race to the Edge would be the college years for Hiccup and the others as they explore outside of Berk. And if they’re in college, then the Dragon’s Edge is one big dorm room.

Each of the dragon riders builds their own hut, and each is somehow related to the rider’s personality or to their dragon. They also build a clubhouse for meetings in the center of the island. The clubhouse serves a similar purpose to the Great Hall on Berk as a important place on the island where the riders can talk together.

Check out Berk’s Grapevine tomorrow for visual development images and more descriptions of the Dragon’s Edge clubhouse, stable, and Hiccup’s hut!


About the Dragons


We encountered new dragons in the previous two seasons, but most of them were known dragons in the universe of the story. Now that Hiccup and the others have exhausted the book of dragons, they turn to the Dragon Eye to find dragons that they have not heard of so far.

This means the dragons in Race to the Edge will be as new to the audience as they are to the dragon trainers. Race to the Edge is very much centered around new dragons: about half of the episodes introduce a brand new one. You can imagine that it may be difficult to come up with names for these dragons and use them for the remainder of the episode without sounding forced or awkward. The Viking characters switch off, each of the main six characters being responsible for naming a subset of the new dragons.

The Snow Wraith is a particularly interesting new dragon. It was originally conceived as the Snow Fury, a dragon related to and somewhat similar looking to the Night Fury. Later, the name was changed to Snow Wraith (having multiple “Fury” dragons is not the best idea from the perspective of the franchise), but its character model and possibly its phylogeny are still related to Night Furies.

Often times, a new dragon will drive a Race to the Edge episode. Other times, the story of an episode will lead Hiccup and the others to a new dragon. We can expect a wide selection of dragons on the show, ranging from cute to deadly. Sometimes, the design process for a new dragon involves inspiration from the animal kingdom, while other times, dragons are created by combining the abilities or characteristics of existing ones.


About the Characters


How to Train Your Dragon 2 begins with a Hiccup who is trying to find a place for himself in his tribe and among his friends. Race to the Edge expands on this theme, especially in the first two episodes. The season begins with Hiccup and his friends having found all the dragons they can from the Book of Dragons, and as a consequence, have slowly moved on and found new jobs around Berk. All except Hiccup.

Finding the Dragon’s Eye brings the team together again to search for new dragons. We will also get to see the creation of Hiccup’s inventions from How to Train Your Dragon 2, like the dragon blade the flight suit. One of the benefits of the TV show format is the ability to explore all six of the main characters and their dragons. As far as these stories go, we can expect a completely unexpected but adorable love interest, someone having attachment issues with poultry, and a lot of great rider-dragon moments, especially in the case of Snotlout and Hookfang.

There are some crazy character-based episodes in store as well. In one episode, Fishlegs is hypnotized into believing he is a hero named Thor Bonecrusher. In another episode, Tuffnut thinks he is becoming a weredragon. And it sounds like a musical episode where everyone sings is not entirely out of the question. But it is a mystery whether it appears in the upcoming season, in some future season, or will never show up at all.

This is the first in a series of articles on Race to the Edge. Check back soon for more images, concept art, and descriptions for Dragons: Race to the Edge that will show up on Berk’s Grapevine this week! The next part is about visual development and design.

119 comments:

  1. Oooh! This was on Rotoscopers too. I'm excited.

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  2. I'm not surprised, I met someone from Rotoscopers while I was there! And trust me, it's going to be awesome.

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  3. :D I'm SO hoping there's a musical episode. Just for giggles. XD

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  4. hiccupandtoothlesshybridJune 22, 2015 at 12:45 PM

    Hiccup singing will be a dream come true and as thor as my witness I will watch the episodes! It sounds like a lot of fun to see in a way that the staff know that we are out here and in a way are trying to put in our ideas. I hope like the 100th episode of mlp that the staff of dreamworks dragons dedacat an episode to the fans of httyd. The ideas of both tuffnut and fish legs having their own individual episodes to have funny moments in. I will be looking forward to seeing what else ice has to offer us in the up coming days as we come into the final stretch before the official release of dreamworks dragons race to the edge.

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  5. I would love a musical episode. It would be awesome! And we will get to see how Hiccup made his flight suit and his dragon blade! How cool is that! And 52 episodes! I've never been this excited for something till now! OMG I think I might just faint!

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  6. Since they never mention anything about Hiccstrid I'm guessing we are not getting much on that front :(


    I wonder who Fishlegs' girl is. It's obviously not someone we have seen before but I wonder if she is a Berkian or someone they come across while traveling.

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  7. Ziggerastica's KalevalaJune 22, 2015 at 1:44 PM

    Look out for potato Easter Eggs! And I see that Hiccup has made some festive tails for Toothless. The Dragon Eye hints at other Viking cultures. Yes! Yes! This is a lot to take in.

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  8. Ziggerastica's KalevalaJune 22, 2015 at 1:50 PM

    I will admit that I used to hate musicals as a kid. I'm used to them now. Phineas and Ferb redid an episode as an extended musical (Their first test episode, Rollercoaster, was the very first unofficial episode, and the only one that had to make up for not having a song). RttE might do that here, or make a recap episode, or they might create an entirely new episode for the musical.

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  9. Giovanna Wolf ClarkJune 22, 2015 at 2:01 PM

    If I see Astrid and Hiccup singing, I'll have a heart attack, it will be a dream come true, more if the hiccup sing for Astrid oh yes I will Fainting will be incrivel.e you should do a little hiccup care more with Astrid coo hold her in the cold as this episode

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  10. Giovanna Wolf ClarkJune 22, 2015 at 2:08 PM

    if they did an episode, the Head-Hot and Astrid are flying when the Dagur, capture and Spitfire will call the sob and he goes flying with pilots to the location .... the testo you make.

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  11. Giovanna Wolf ClarkJune 22, 2015 at 2:08 PM

    Depois disso tudo.

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  12. Musical!!!!!??????? Yes! I'm laughing from potential epicness!!! My cheeks are bright red from just thinking about it! Yes yes yes yes yes yes!!!! I want!!!
    It be hilarious if it was like a dream or something that a new dragon put them in.

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  13. Ziggerastica's KalevalaJune 22, 2015 at 2:15 PM

    Exhausted the Book of dragons? What about the snaptrapper and the timberjack? They'ven't seen the series.

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  14. If there actually is a musical episode I might shriek into the void for the next 90 years in absolute horror

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  15. OMG OMG OMG! I AM GETTING SO SO SO EXCITED!!! XDXDXD And adorable love interests...? Hicstrid...? *Squeals* XD And those new dragons sound so cool!!!;D And there might be a musical?! THIS JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER!!:D And we can look out for potatoes!! RACE TO THE EDGE IS GOING TO BE THE BEST THING EVER!!!!!!:D I can not physically stop smiling!!:D

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  16. hiccupandtoothlesshybridJune 22, 2015 at 3:55 PM

    Look at this I'm literally crying right know I'm so excited

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  17. hiccupandtoothlesshybridJune 22, 2015 at 3:55 PM

    Also...

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  18. Ashley Nicole SheltonJune 22, 2015 at 4:02 PM

    This just keeps getting better and more exciting with every video, picture, interview and tid-bit of detail! I can not wait!!!

    And a musical episode sounds awesome!

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  19. Saviour of the DragonsJune 22, 2015 at 4:03 PM

    Oh, I wonder who it could be? *Sarcasm is obvious*

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  20. When I read that a musical episode is not out of the question, I immediately imagined Adam Levine doing the singing voice for Hiccup and kind of died inside.

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  21. Oh, I know, it's, um... Cousin Lars!

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  22. Please make the musical happen. Though I'm not sure how good their singing voices might be xD

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  23. Saviour of the DragonsJune 22, 2015 at 4:27 PM

    No, it's obviously Gustav. He just got coloured contacts. How he did is the mystery

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  24. VelocityTheSpeedStingerJune 22, 2015 at 4:35 PM

    She really looks like an assassin here. xD

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  25. This is fantastic!! :D

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  26. Omg she kind of looks like someone who can turn into a snake...doesn't she?

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  27. VelocityTheSpeedStingerJune 22, 2015 at 4:44 PM

    I just toured UCCS two days ago and hearing the word "college dorms" made me really envious of the riders. Just what will the others' rooms look like? We've gotten a sneak peak at Hiccup's room already, but I'd love to see everyone else's, especially Tuffnut's (which Ruffnut will likely be sharing 'cuz inseperable twins thing). xD
    We're already talking about the potential musical episode, the 52-episode span, the new dragons and the potatoes (lol!), but what I really want to see are those Norse mythology references! They better be accurate though....

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  28. It's not like we *h*av*e*n't seen those eyes before. It must be *a* brand new charac*t*er. I wonder w*h*at dragon it'll b*e* *r*iding.

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  29. WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT


    I have Netflix. I live in Australia. I GET TO WATCH IT EARLIER THAN YOU GUYS. YAS.

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  30. Ziggerastica's KalevalaJune 22, 2015 at 5:55 PM

    What was used to make that? It's like several origami combined to create a form, or something like the art style of The Book of Life drawn in computer.

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  31. It could be that Heather is Hiccup's cousin from his mom's side or something. Actually, I think that would be cool because then Heather can't get in between Hiccup and Astrid. Who knows what Heather's gotten into in the time she's been gone. But with what she's wearing in the picture, I'm not entirely sure she's innocent. Can't wait to see! :D

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  32. Musical? WHY?? No no no! Please! DreamWorks, you are not Disney! With a singing episode you destroy the coolness of the whole thing! "For the Dancing and the Dreaming" was beautiful, but it was one song. That's ok, but not a whole episode!

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  33. of course she is heather

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  34. OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH I AM GOING TO KEEP STARING AT THE NEXFLIX SCREEN REFESHING IT UNTIL THOSE EPISODES COME, THEY SOUND VERY PROMISING AND AWESOME

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  35. I know that I was just being sarcastic. :P

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  36. Oh my gosh I can't wait to see where this all will go! Thank you so so much for posting this! I really enjoy reading about this! :D

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  37. I'm sure it's not real. And even if it is, it'll probably be just for jokes.

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  38. VelocityTheSpeedStingerJune 22, 2015 at 10:05 PM

    We'll have to wait and see. They have made great musical movies before though, like The Prince of Egypt.

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  39. Sounds interesting. My hopes are higher than expected. We'll know soon enough what's all in store for us!

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  40. HiccStridForever92June 22, 2015 at 10:56 PM

    That is not actually the case. The show will be released at one specific time for the whole world. Netflix's headquarters are in Los Gatos, California, United States. This means the episodes will be released no earlier than 12 am PDT (pacific daylight time) around the world. That means mid to late afternoon in Australia depending on where you live.

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  41. Way to kill my good mood. Oh well. At least I have Netflix.

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  42. Haha, this made my day!

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  43. I can't even think of anything to say......just EKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK OMG OMG OMG! xD

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  44. Yes! That means on my last school day the moment I get home it should be available on Netflix within the few hours!!!! MUAHAHAHAHA

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  45. Heather looks prettier here lol

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  46. I've always imagined the dragon riders singing, I even found some videos of America Ferrera (who voices Astrid) singing and she's not bad. I can't wait it seems like it's taking FOREVER

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  47. The Whisperer of DeathJune 23, 2015 at 7:15 AM

    Musical episode.....?
    My god...
    DISNEY HAS INFULTRATED DREAMWORKS! REPEAT; DISNEY HAS INFULTRATED DREAMWORKS!

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  48. Ziggerastica's KalevalaJune 23, 2015 at 9:09 AM

    There are two ways we've gone this route before: Free Scauldy, and For the Dancing and the Dreaming.

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  49. Ziggerastica's KalevalaJune 23, 2015 at 9:11 AM

    Year-round?

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  50. Ziggerastica's KalevalaJune 23, 2015 at 9:13 AM

    I'm still up for Alexander Rybak.

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  51. Guys I can't seem to upload a picture. How do you do that? I was at Walmart yesterday and I found the HTTYD cereal! I couldn't seem to upload the picture I took.

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  52. I think hearing everyone sing in a musical number would be hilarious and super awesome. It makes me more and more excited for Friday.

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  53. For the Dancing and the Dreaming was a great song. However a whole musical episode seems contrary to the spirit of HTTYD. In my opinion, it almost seems like the creators of the series are starting to get desperate for new material.

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  54. Yeah, but that was just one song, whereas here (I assume) they're talking about continuous singing.

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  55. Something tells me a musical episode would be hilarious.
    Like:

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  56. Actually, I won't mind if they do a musical episode. I'm actually really excited to here Hiccup sing, I've been wanting to here him sing since HTTYD 2.

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  57. What if the new pairing was... Heather and Dagur?

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  58. Watch they'll do a musical episode and you'll be one of the people loving it. XD

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  59. Fishlegs? I'd rather see a pairing like... Heather and Dagur!

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  60. Nah, why kill the plot by making her related?

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  61. Her eyes are about the only thing her and Hiccup have in common. I am actually hoping for a bit of Heathcup/Hiccstrid rivalry, not for them to wind up being related.

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  62. Just a reminder for you Dragon fans.

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  63. "As far as these stories go, we can expect a completely unexpected but adorable love interest" I hope it's Fishlegs x Heather.

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  64. Can one expect to see Snaptrapper here? I, for one, wish to see one. It is the only dragon that so far, has only one appearance, in Book of Dragons. Boneknapper is also never mentioned anymore in anywhere in the franchise. These two are the forgotten dragons.


    A musical video? Really? I've heard Gobber, Valka, Fishlegs, Stoick and Ruffnut sing, but I can never think these vikings will suddenly burst into song. I think it would be hilarious :D


    And how Stoick and Gobber met Skullcrusher and Grump is definitely one of the episode I don't want to miss. And judging from the trailer, I'm Scauldron and Thunderdrum will still appear in this season. And... Berkians are not the first tribe to ever come in contact with dragons? Perhaps even trained them? Somehow I think this season will explore deeper to the origin of the dragons. This will be a rocking season :D

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  65. Heather! Oh gosh, please don't make her antagonist yet again

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  66. What time will Netflix be releasing this? I have an Aunt who told me that she thinks it'll release at midnight, but I don't know. I'm new to Netflix, too; so sorry for my stupidity.

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  67. If they were parodying Disney songs or how they can be obligatory at times, that would be hilarious.

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  68. I almost choked on my icy pop!

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  69. Ziggerastica's KalevalaJune 23, 2015 at 2:48 PM

    Eh, what about how Free Scauldy turned out? Don't tell Ruffnut there's a sing-along.

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  70. I don't understand the conversation going on that states she could be related to Hiccup because of her eyes! Like...nope...Just because I have five friends with the same colour of eyes doesn't mean we're related.


    It could happen, but I doubt it.


    Also, I don't think Heather is interested in Hiccup. They only knew each other for possibly a week or two? Hiccup and the gang have known each other their entire lives, and I'm sure Heather noticed the relationship between Hiccup and Astrid. People can be attracted to people, yea, and Hiccup, I guess, was kind of attracted to her at first.




    But, I don't want to start an argument, just wanted to state my opinion.


    She kind of looks like a bounty hunter or assassin. I love the looks of her outfit, and when we get to see the entire thing, I might cosplay her! It'll be easy for me; having dark hair and not needing a wig. xD Also, her dragon looks amazing! I can't wait to learn more about the dragons they discover.

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  71. VelocityTheSpeedStingerJune 23, 2015 at 3:47 PM

    DreamWorks has done musicals before (Prince of Egypt). ;D

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  72. VelocityTheSpeedStingerJune 23, 2015 at 3:48 PM

    I just want a moment for everyone to appreciate the details of Stormfly's tail.

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  73. Ziggerastica's KalevalaJune 23, 2015 at 3:56 PM

    The Timberjack? Give that a proper introduction before the second movie.

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  74. I am too, but with what happened last time, I really don't want another Hiccstrid blowout again.

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  75. IF I SAW STUFF LIKE THIS PLEASE.

    PLEASE

    MAKE THE EPISODE FILLED WITH SONGS LIKE THIS.

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  76. .heather is said to show up in the dragon eye episodes

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  77. Yes I knew that but I was just being sarcastic. :P

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  78. Saviour of the DragonsJune 24, 2015 at 1:43 AM

    Imagine Hiccup and Astrid, romantic flight singing this.
    Looking through your eyes - YouTube
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHDkmINbefQ

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  79. Saviour of the DragonsJune 24, 2015 at 1:44 AM

    Imagine Hiccup and Astrid flying toothless at night and they start singing this.
    Looking through your eyes - YouTube
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHDkmINbefQ

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  80. Saviour of the DragonsJune 24, 2015 at 1:45 AM

    Imagine hiccup and Astrid singing this.
    Looking through your eyes - YouTube
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHDkmINbefQ

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  81. Saviour of the DragonsJune 24, 2015 at 1:48 AM

    Imagine Hiccup and Astrid singing this

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  82. Saviour of the DragonsJune 24, 2015 at 1:50 AM

    Hey Aurora. Remember me?

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  83. I think if Heather and dagur where to get together it would be like a Harley quin and Joker relationship, that's not necessarily a good thing /:

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  84. does anyone know where to watch the episodes before they come on tv

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  85. I....................... don't have netflix. It's not available in my country............. and I don't know why I'm not in Narnia someone tell me why.

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  86. No I meant last school day for the term, then starts after 2 weeks again :P

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  87. OMT AND IT'S ALMOST FRIDAY!!!

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  88. Someone started a rumor about Dagur and Heather being siblings

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  89. Yeah... But the real question is... Which episode?

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  90. Is anyone else not looking forward to the possible musical episode?

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  91. It's occured to me that I've never heard Jay Baruchel sing

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  92. I don't think so -__-

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  93. I had a feeling that Heather will be involved in the new pairing but seriously? Dagur? Isn't he too old for her?

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  94. ... then I would laugh out too loud, 'cause I've made a music video with that song! XD

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  95. ScaryDragonsAndNiceSpritesJune 25, 2015 at 11:00 AM

    They make the musical episode and it turns out to be dubstep and all they do is mimic the sound effects in dubstep...jk I'm being stupid I know.

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  96. Is there any episode about how Hiccup made his suit and why shirt's coulour change?
    (and me again will it be any ep. that Hiccup got no shirt?)

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  97. Saviour of the DragonsJune 25, 2015 at 4:48 PM

    Yay

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  98. Saviour of the DragonsJune 25, 2015 at 4:49 PM

    Yay!!!

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  99. I'm pretty sure that's heather, the resemblance is uncanny...
    plus DreamWorks were originally going to put her in the second series, but decided against. maybe they had decided they wanted to age up heather with the other characters therefore deciding to put her in series 3...

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  100. I haven't heard him sing either. sometimes if the voice actor can't sing, they'll get someone else to sing for the character.

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  101. she looks like heather from the first tv show

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  102. Yeah! Been a while hey? :D

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  103. Saviour of the DragonsJune 26, 2015 at 11:11 PM

    You on FB? If so, friend me. My name is Louis Rowan.

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  104. Oh right. Hiccup and Toothless did encounter some Timberjack at the beginning of the second movie, the former even mention its species name. Yup, Timberjack also needs to appear.

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  105. I went to wiki and checked out the episodes for season 3 it showed that all episodes were released on the 26th of june which I find hard to believe but since netflix is not available in my country and I don't know how it works I'm not too sure................ Are all the episodes already out?

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  106. Dagur and Heather ARE related

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  107. No, only 13 of them. I heard that there are supposed to be 52 in total.

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  108. Oh I see, will the rest be released this year as well? I've already finished watching the first 13 episodes haha.

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  109. I think the next set of episodes will be released in 6 months.

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  110. Does anyone know when the next 13 episodes will air because i am in desperate need of the next episodes :D

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  111. Please no, not a musical episode.

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  112. next dragon party in 0 days 0 hours 0 min 0 secs sounds good (next dragon party means next dragon episode rigght?)

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  113. OMG!!!! I would luv a musical episode. I luv musicals in general. :D

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