Ep 117: Breakneck Bog

[Berk]

This thread is for the discussion of Episode 117 of the Riders of Berk, entitled "Breakneck Bog".

This thread, obviously may contain spoilers, so beware and take care before reading on.


___________________


So obviously we begin with a mystery... obviously the setting of this episode... mystery and fogginess and the creepy bog... personally I am a fan of those types of stories, so my attention was drawn. We have Stoick completely secretive about everything, and next thing you know, Trader Johann's floating on a plank. We get this mysterious story about how his ship was stolen by the fog of this ominous Breakneck Bog.. the setting is set.

Then, we are hit with a real shocker. Trader Johann is carrying something to Hiccup... from his mother. This brings up a host of questions...Is this some old relic from times past? What is it and why is it being introduced? What will we learn about Hiccup's past?

Then of course there's the trip to the island. Because obviously no mystery must go unsolved and the possibility of a family relic cannot be ignored.

So... creepy swamp... bam! Johann's ship is up in a tree.

I don't know about any of you, but if I wasn't in such a situation I'd be extremely curious about exploring Trader Johann's ship... all the stuff he has in there!

Then of course we get the scratching and the rain of bones (anyone else think Boneknapper?). I'm curious to see where they got those bones. And then... fog monster!

Fog is definately an interesting foe/mystery... mostly because you can't see. It envelops you, then, bam, you're gone. Of course, the bog isn't as dark and creepy as one might imagine... but it's decent for RoB standards. Then we have the high speed chase and then we discover the Smothering Smokebreaths! Small little swarm dragons which are fiercely territorial, hiding in smog, and hoard metal in their caves. A rather interesting, though unfriendly little thing, no?

To direct a comment towards Fishlegs... I don't possibly see how you can still not believe in certain dragons. Has your adventures taught you nothing???

I thought it was very sweet that Astrid was the one solidly backing Hiccup in his quest. Possibly because she knows his feelings (waiting for that Astrid-homelife episode..) perhaps because of her own feelings. In any case they all seemed to play their roles as normal.

Luckily through some swift manuevering the gang is able to escape with the chest. But Vikings... vikings have metal. A lot of it. So we see the wave of metal flying back to stop the chase. It was funny seeing them go for Hiccup's leg. A nice touch. Of course there was some other metal (like the connecting rod, helmets..) but eh. Small details.

And then we get back to Berk. Johann's going to have a hard time not only restoring his boat, but, I'm guessing restoring his cargo (the man must have had a ton of metal... I wonder if this will play in to the plot).


And of course the ending. Honestly, the ending was the best part. The cute little child toy. The fear of dragons. The love of his mother... It was just absolutely and completely heartwarming and sweet. The message, the feeling, everything.

Personally, I was a fan of this episode. Sure, some parts could've been done better, but that ending I think takes the cake.

[timberjack]

Feb 27, 2013 20:46:54 GMT -5 Berk said:

This thread is for the discussion of Episode 117 of the Riders of Berk, entitled "Breakneck Bog".

This thread, obviously may contain spoilers, so beware and take care before reading on.


___________________


So obviously we begin with a mystery... obviously the setting of this episode... mystery and fogginess and the creepy bog... personally I am a fan of those types of stories, so my attention was drawn. We have Stoick completely secretive about everything, and next thing you know, Trader Johann's floating on a plank. We get this mysterious story about how his ship was stolen by the fog of this ominous Breakneck Bog.. the setting is set.

Then, we are hit with a real shocker. Trader Johann is carrying something to Hiccup... from his mother. This brings up a host of questions...Is this some old relic from times past? What is it and why is it being introduced? What will we learn about Hiccup's past?

Then of course there's the trip to the island. Because obviously no mystery must go unsolved and the possibility of a family relic cannot be ignored.

So... creepy swamp... bam! Johann's ship is up in a tree.

I don't know about any of you, but if I wasn't in such a situation I'd be extremely curious about exploring Trader Johann's ship... all the stuff he has in there!

Then of course we get the scratching and the rain of bones (anyone else think Boneknapper?). I'm curious to see where they got those bones. And then... fog monster!

Fog is definately an interesting foe/mystery... mostly because you can't see. It envelops you, then, bam, you're gone. Of course, the bog isn't as dark and creepy as one might imagine... but it's decent for RoB standards. Then we have the high speed chase and then we discover the Smothering Smokebreaths! Small little swarm dragons which are fiercely territorial, hiding in smog, and hoard metal in their caves. A rather interesting, though unfriendly little thing, no?

To direct a comment towards Fishlegs... I don't possibly see how you can still not believe in certain dragons. Has your adventures taught you nothing???

I thought it was very sweet that Astrid was the one solidly backing Hiccup in his quest. Possibly because she knows his feelings (waiting for that Astrid-homelife episode..) perhaps because of her own feelings. In any case they all seemed to play their roles as normal.

Luckily through some swift manuevering the gang is able to escape with the chest. But Vikings... vikings have metal. A lot of it. So we see the wave of metal flying back to stop the chase. It was funny seeing them go for Hiccup's leg. A nice touch. Of course there was some other metal (like the connecting rod, helmets..) but eh. Small details.

And then we get back to Berk. Johann's going to have a hard time not only restoring his boat, but, I'm guessing restoring his cargo (the man must have had a ton of metal... I wonder if this will play in to the plot).


And of course the ending. Honestly, the ending was the best part. The cute little child toy. The fear of dragons. The love of his mother... It was just absolutely and completely heartwarming and sweet. The message, the feeling, everything.

Personally, I was a fan of this episode. Sure, some parts could've been done better, but that ending I think takes the cake.

And notice how stoick says "You mother would be proud to finally hear that", not "would have been".

He didn't imply that she had passed away, only moved on.

Anyone else thinking that ep19/20 will be something to do with that?

[Berk]

Hiccup did imply that she died though. "Before she.. uh... you know". It was his inflection and their kind of somberness that implied that she died. People don't really talk that way about the living.

The (movie) directors have said in interviews that for the purposes of the movies she's considered to be passed away to strengthen all the Stoick-Hiccup relationship things. Although, if she was to be alive in Riders of Berk, I'd like to think it's more because she's off fighting some distant battle or other sort of quest, rather than just have "moved on" from Berk.

[varthikes]

Mar 2, 2013 7:37:25 GMT -5 timberjack said:

And notice how stoick says "You mother would be proud to finally hear that", not "would have been".

He didn't imply that she had passed away, only moved on.

Anyone else thinking that ep19/20 will be something to do with that?

Actually, I figured the season finale "We Are Family" referred more to the team that the teens have formed--between themselves and with their dragons. It would seem to fit, at least partly, the title change in Season 2. But, that's another topic.

Regarding this episode, I really enjoyed exploring Hiccup's past and look forward to exploring more of it. It seems the writers are taking turns exploring each of the characters' family life. So far, we've got one for Snotlout, the twins (sort of), in Season 2 we're getting one for Astrid. We just need one for Fishlegs now.

About the dragon, it's somewhat interesting to note that the Smothering Smokebreath is the first hoarding dragons we've seen in the series, second if you include the Boneknapper's hoard of bones.

[dappie]

On the whole, Hiccup's mom thing. I think it is most likely that she died, but there is a small chance that she was taken captive by:Rival Vikings/Pirates/Romans/Mongols/Other antagonistic warrior culture, take your pick, or she could be missing in action, and presumed dead. It's clear from the body language and the way people responded to her being mentioned that as far as the Vikings are concerned she's as good as gone, but it's odd that the writers go out of the way of not stating it outright, it's not like they ever shied away from the topic of death before. Hmm. Well if she is alive I doubt they'll bring her back before the second movie at least. That one is already in development, so making too big changes would conflict with the story, but they can still negotiate on the Cannon of the third movie. Speaking of the movies, anybody else think Kit Harrington (Jon Snow from Game of Thrones) is gonna be Dagur in the next movie? Or do you think he'll be somebody else. Well that's about all for now.

[conay]

This episode all but confirms Hiccup's mother is dead – or at least presumed dead.

Simply for the ending scenes, that has become my favourite episode. It was soooo sweet.

[Shade]

Sorry I keep missing the threads for these, guys.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this episode. The plot was great, the new dragons were cool, and the ending was heartbreaking and sweet at the same time. I really liked Toothless in the end though cause he actually seemed like he was trying to comfort Hiccup.

The only thing i didn't like was the animation. It was by far the worst of the whole series. And that part when TOOTHLESS WAS FLYING BY HIMSELF WTF

[killjoy]

ys i thought the same what the hel toothless free flying O.o was strange

[varthikes]

We've seen Toothless fly on his own before for short distances.

[buckmana]

It was interesting to see Snotlout and Hookfang do their own version of the fish scene from the original movie.
Plus, Astrid style Heimlich, funny!

And apparently, it's a girl pranking episode.
You see Ruffnut smirking when they're scaring Fishlegs with a story and shortly afterwards, Astrid continues the prank!

Plus, dragon plushy is cute!


And yes, I never really believed that part about Toothless flying on his own.

When he flew in the movie without assistance, it was barely controlled and inevitably, he'd fall down after a short flight.

When he flies down from the tree and hovering later with the other dragons, it's like he's flying as normal.

[sannom]

Mar 7, 2013 9:15:31 GMT -5 Shade said:

The only thing i didn't like was the animation. It was by far the worst of the whole series.

You seriously believe that this episode has worse animation than the entirety of episode 8 and the beginning of episode 9? It's better than in most of the series!

I thought the stars of that episode were the Smothering Smokebreath, what with being the absolute opposite of all the other 'original' dragons featured so far in the series : smaller than Toothless, nasty and agressive to the point that none of the teens dared to try and train them, living in packs, etc.

The episode reversed a lot of the formulae used in the other episodes where wild dragons appear : Hiccup and Toothless are never separated, the Smokebreath are just that nasty. Also, they're the only species of dragon to have 'defeated' Hiccup and Toothless while they're in the air. I guess Toothless too has problems when facing someone smaller than he is.