So, the last couple episodes focused on Hiccup and Stoick's much improved, but still flawed relationship. This episode takes a break from that and focuses on Hiccup and Toothless' friendship again. What does a flower have to do with it? Well, let's see.
Our opening narration tells us that Berk is a small Island right in the middle of nowhere and life is kinda repetitive. So when a taste of something foreign comes to the Island, the residents go a bit overboard in excitement. Basically, the opposite of US immigration policy. However, the narration goes on to say that New isn't always good, which sounds just like the mindset of US immigration policy, unless its foreign resources of course. Wait.
A ship is seen sailing into Berk, Bucket yells out that Trader Johann has arrived and wow, the animation in this episode is kinda bad. Even when compared to other episodes in the series the animation is bad. It does not look sharp and detailed, its looks plain and unrendered. I can't quite put it into words, but it's really noticeable.
So anyway, a ship is docking in Berk. It is owned by Trader Johann, who travels far and wide to bring exotic wares to trade with whatever Island he comes across, Globalization for the win. Johann docks and is open for business. He also seems to know everyone quite well and says Berk is his favourite of all the Islands he travels to. But he is of course a businessman, and their words are to be taken with a grain of salt. And god is this animation bad!
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| Do I have to show a screenshot from another episode for comparison, or is this good enough? |
So everyone conducts business with Trader Johann. Fishlegs buys a botany book, Snotlout buys a mirror so he can look at himself and praise his own looks, Astrid buys an axe, Gobber gets a new pair of pants and Hiccup trades a winch for a colossal squids ink. Stoick trades for a Sword as a gift for the Chief of the Shivering Shores, and goes off on his ThunderDrum, which he has named Thornado. But Thornado is a stubborn bastard and refuses to fly, but he gives in after a little bit. Johann comments on what a magnificent sight it is to see men on dragons.
Just after that comment, the most notorious dragon hater in the village shows up, very ironically. Mildew is straight to the point and asks Johann if he's got his,"Stuff". Johann shows a bunch of brown sacks. Mildew is satisfied and gives Johann cabbage. This is awfully shady. It's a good bet that he's probably up to something, but there's no way he can go any lower than framing the dragons for crimes they didn't commit. Just no way possible. Is there?
Just as Mildew leaves, a Terrible Terror is eating whatever is in Mildew's brown sacks. Trader Johann tries to get it to stop, but it just snaps at him. He grabs it by the tail and throws it. Toothless gets pissed and is ready to spill Johann's guts out. But Hiccup stops Toothless before he can fuck Johann up. And Hiccup's bottle of Squid ink gets broken. Johann assures Hiccup that'll he find another Colossal Squid and wrestle him another bottle.
At the academy, Tuffnut brings out a big ass statue that he traded his Grandfather's skull for. Hiccup praises Tuffnut for taking some pride in the academy, but it turns out he got it just so they could blow it up.
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| Just as I started to have such high hopes for you! |
All the dragons start firing at the Statue and blowing it up. But as Toothless tries to take a shot, he sneezes and completely misses. He sneezes again in Snotlout's direction. Snotlout asks Hiccup if he can get his dragon to cover his mouth while he sneezes. Because Snotlout, dragons can't cover their mouths when they sneeze. And besides, Hiccup finds it odd that Toothless appears to be sick, as he keeps sneezing and getting disorientated.
Just as Hiccup starts to examine what's wrong with Toothless, a certain Terrible Terror crashes by them and seems to be sick like Toothless is. And this very same Terror was eating whatever was in Mildew's sacks. Is Mildew resorting to Biological Warfare? That whore!
Gobber cooks up some soup for Toothless to drink, but the other dragons seem to have caught whatever is spreading around. Hiccup and Astrid are desperate for a solution, Gobber suggests they consult Gothi, the village wise woman.
Gothi inspects Toothless, and throws some bones on the floor in some kind of strange ritual. Astrid comments on how Gothi can tell when people will die just by looking at their finger nails. Fishlegs is terrified and hides his nails. Gobber corrects Astrid, saying she looks at their tongues. After that, Gothi starts drawing lines in some sand. Gobber translates, the dragons are reacting to something they're allergic to. Gothi continues drawing, but Gobber messes up the translation.
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| I did not say a moose wearing boots Dammit! |
Gothi goes on to say that the dragons are reacting to something new on the Island, and that they have to get rid of everything they got from Trader Johann. So the village heads off to throw everything they bought from Johann into a pit. They are all, understandably, not happy about this. Especially Snotlout who now can't bask in his own narcissism, and Fishlegs who can't finish his botany book.
Gobber hasn't thrown anything in, and he fights to keep his new underwear. But Hiccup demands he give it up. He gives in and throws his underwear into the pile. Hiccup comments that he could have gone his whole life without seeing that.
Hiccup wakes up the next morning, and Toothless hasn't got any better, as a matter of fact he's probably gotten shittier. The other dragons are doing pretty shitty as well. Stormfly accidentally shoots spines at Astrid, and Meatlug farts in Fishleg's face. Wait, what do farts have to do with a cold?
The teens tell Hiccup that the dragons are just getting worse. Hiccup suspects that some dirty snitch is holding out on giving up their shit. Snotlout is ready to kick the ass of whoever refuses to give their shit up. Tuffnut and Ruffnut say they're dragon's dead. Everyone gasps in horror, but it turns out they're just goofing around. But they're disappointed that he won't blow anything up.
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| They must be Michael Bay fans. |
Stoick returns from his trip to the Shivering Shores. He sees that the dragons aren't looking in tip top shape, and asks Hiccup what's going on. Hiccup informs Stoick that the Dragons are sick. Stoick and Hiccup check up on Toothless. But suddenly they hear Thornado sneezing. They only just got back and Thornado was just fine till then. This bitch spreads fast yo!
So the group searches the area for clues or anything unusual. Ruffnut and Tuffnut ram into each other trying to see stars. The group don't find this unusual. What they do find unusual, is a blue flower that a Terror is chewing on. Fishlegs comments on the flower, saying its a blue Oleander, that's poisonous to reptiles, and in extent, Dragons. Hiccup sends Fishlegs to collect his Botany Book.
After wandering where the hell these flowers came from, Tuffnut tells Hiccup that he saw Mildew planting the flowers the other night. That wrinkly old bastard. Stoick decides to pay Mildew a visit and most likely tan his worthless hide. But Mildew has the perfect excuse. He says he bought the flowers, not knowing they had special properties. Stoick realises that he's got nothing to convict him with, and backs down. Mildew comments on the poor dragons as they leave and gives an evil smile.
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| Mildew, Mildew, Mildew. Stooping to a low, no others will go. |
Fishlegs returns with his Botany book, but is crying. This can't be good. Fishlegs explains that his Botany book doesn't have anymore useful info, but he read in the Book of Dragons that the Scauldron eats the blue oleander. The Scauldron is the dragon that shoots boiling, skin-melting water that was mentioned in the movie. And we now get to see it. Sweet.
Fishlegs goes on to say that in a perfect world, they can use the Scauldron's venom as an antidote. But he says that they don't live in a perfect world, as the book says that Scauldron's don't have venom. But apparently they actually do live in a perfect world, as Gobber states that Scauldron's in fact DO have venom. Which I find questionable. Isn't skin melting water enough for it? What does it need Venom for? To hunt large animals like whales perhaps?
With that, Hiccup decides to take Stoick and Gobber and catch themselves a Scauldron. Hiccup checks in on Toothless, and Stoick checks in on Thornado. He places a pillow underneath Thornado's head and mutters a great line, "I spent my whole life trying to kill them, now look at me". Hiccup comes to get Stoick, and Stoick looks kinda reluctant to leave Thornado's side, which is a great development. But off they must go, for the dragons don't have much time left.
To lighten up the mood a little, they decide to drag Mildew along since he is the cause of all this, whether intentional or not (we, the audience, know it is of course). Mildew of course complains about it, but Stoick tells him to roll over and deal with it, since they're all out there because of him. But Mildew continues to complain saying they can't blame him everytime something goes wrong with the dragons.
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| Shut up old Fuck! We'll blame you for whatever we feel like blaming you for! |
Stoick and Gobber lay out the plan, they're going to draw the Scauldron onto the boat and wedge its jaws open. Hiccup will get the poison into a bucket. With the plan finalised, Hiccup throws flowers into the ocean to draw a Scauldron to them. Hours pass and nothing shows up. Mildew tries to discourage everyone, saying it was a stupid idea. But a Scauldron arrives, and Hiccup throws flowers onto the deck. Mildew objects, but everybody does the smart thing and does the opposite of what Mildew says. Or is it really that smart to draw a 60 foot oceanic reptile onto your ship? Maybe Mildew has a bit of a point. I can't believe I just said that.
The crew prepare to hoist the dragon in, but the Scauldron attacks the ship trying to get the flowers. Stoick and Gobber pin it to the ship and a redshirt named Sven tries to get the poison. The Scauldron smacks his ass 50 feet into the air with its tail. But Hiccup and the others manage to pull it on board and use the mast to wedge his jaw open. Mildew is standing behind the mast and now must get the poison. He refuses, but Stoick threatens him into doing it. But before he can, the Scauldron starts to spray its boiling water. The Vikings take cover, and have to let the Scauldron go. But it sees that Mildew has a flower on his back, and it bites him in the ass and leaves. Hiccup thinks the cause is over, but Mildew has poison in his ass, so its not lost after all.
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| Your suffering pleases me. |
Back at the village, Stoick and Gobber have to get the poison out of Mildew's ass. Mildew screams like a madman from the pain. Astrid says that's the sound of their dragon's getting better. Gobber is traumatised by the sight of Mildew's bare ass. He's seen Nadder's spines slice through men's eyes, a Monstrous Nightmare devoured his arm, but he's still never seen anything so disturbing as Mildew's ass. Must be quite the terrifying sight.
Hiccup takes the antidote to the Dragons. Stoick paces around impatiently, but the Dragons start to come around. A little too quickly of you ask me, but who cares, we get to see Stoick playfully headbutt Thornado and Toothless gets better. We then cut to Hiccup drawing Toothless, and Hiccups says in the narration that a Deadly flower, a venomous sea dragon and Mildew's ass are three things he never thought he would have to deal with in one day. But in the end, he'll do anything for Toothless.
Summary
This was another great episode! I really like the idea that Dragon's, while very powerful animals, are still vulnerable. And this was a great focus on Hiccup and Toothless' relationship. Hiccup will do anything if his best friend's life is on the line. And we also get to see some development on Stoick and Thornado's relationship, which is great to see. Trader Johann is a pretty interesting character, Mildew shows that there's truly no low he won't stoop to. But he gets some glorious comeuppance. And the action scene in the end was very exciting, the Scauldron is an awesome dragon, and it reminded me quite a lot of Jaws.
The only downside in this episode is that the animation is bad. Episode's 8 and 4 had not too great animation, but it was a lot better than the animation in this episode. I can't quite describe it, but you'll know it when you see it.
So another great episode that was kinda brought down by its bad animation, but still a great episode.
8.5/10
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