Defenders of Berk Episode 2--Fishlegs Filler

[toothlessdaydream7]

It wasn't too bad, but honestly I want to get on with the Screaming Death and it's Whispering brothers!

(And what's with everyone being able to fly Toothless like a pro nowadays? This show is taking away Hiccup's special-ness!)

[sannom]

When has anyone flown Toothless like a pro, besides Hiccup? Stoick kept crashing into random houses, and Fishlegs was definitely less graceful than Hiccup. Also, if Hiccup does not want to feel guilty because both one of his human friends and his best friend couldn't get out of a tricky situation because Toothless can't do any flying without him, he's got to train the other riders to at least be able to fly competently on Toothless. He probably wants to avoid another disaster like when Fishlegs and Snotlout had to fill-in for the twins on Barf & Belch.

[toothlessdaydream7]

Fishlegs should not have been able to control Toothless so easily, though. I understand Hiccup made the simplified mechanical tailfin for Stoick, but you don't honestly believe that Hiccup kept that thing on, right? It originally had 6 positions for a reason, 2 will not provide the options Hiccup needs to properly control Toothless. Logically, Fishlegs would have had to have practiced the positions for weeks, as Hiccup did. However, this episode almost implies that Fishlegs has never ridden Toothless on his own, considering dialouge. And at the second half of Fishlegs' flight on Toothless, he was operating better than Hiccup was during the first half of the "Test Drive" scene.

Also, throughout Riders of Berk Hiccup is a largely less impressive rider than he has shown to be in Gift of the Night Fury and the movie, which makes his performances in the show so much more comparable to Fishleg's.

[sannom]

Sept 28, 2013 11:14:49 GMT -5 toothlessdaydream7 said:

Fishlegs should not have been able to control Toothless so easily, though. I understand Hiccup made the simplified mechanical tailfin for Stoick, but you don't honestly believe that Hiccup kept that thing on, right?

I was never under the impression that Stoick rode Toothless with a simplified tailfin. Hiccup just added a stirrup to fit Stoick's bigger foot and leg.

Sept 28, 2013 11:14:49 GMT -5 toothlessdaydream7 said:

It originally had 6 positions for a reason, 2 will not provide the options Hiccup needs to properly control Toothless. Logically, Fishlegs would have had to have practiced the positions for weeks, as Hiccup did. However, this episode almost implies that Fishlegs has never ridden Toothless on his own, considering dialogue.

Hiccup could have stayed with Fishlegs and the others for most of the lessons, like he did with his dad. And when going off alone, Fishlegs asked for a slow ride, and this time Toothless had no reason to disobey him.

[toothlessdaydream7]

Actually, if you watch the episode, Hiccup specifically notes that he simplified the design of Toothless's tailfin controls so Stoick could control him, going on to say: "Click back to open the fin, and Forward to close it." or something like that.

[sannom]

He actually does not. He says "Alright, I've made a new stirrup so you would be able to control Toothless". You look at that thing, he's not talking about simplifying but referring to the much bigger stirrup he's nailed next to his own stirrup, so that Stoick can fit his foot in it and control Toothless. And looking at it, I don't think that Hiccup's own stirrup is capable of finer control.

[toothlessdaydream7]

D:

[buckmana]

I wondered if the gronkle iron was actually formed by Fishlegs accidentally feeding Meatlug berry juice.
Think about it, by eating the berries, he would have been getting the juice on his hands, then he picked up rocks, transferred the juice to the rocks which were then eaten by Meatlug.
If this is true, the berries could have had some effect on the rocks, acting as a catalyst to make the gronkle iron.

I wonder why they expended so much Gronkle Iron in making items that weren't used by the Dragon Riders.
Given that it's a lightweight metal, it would make sense to let them get it first, to replace their weapons and armor.
After all, the less weight a dragon carries, the faster it would go.
In particular, it would have been very useful to replace all the metal parts of Toothless' saddle and Hiccup's prothesis.
Astrid would have gotten new shoulderpads, a new axe and replaced all the remaining metal in her clothes (the studs in her hairband and the spikes on her skirt).
As the twins mentioned, new helmets would also have been useful.
And whatever weapons the others used would also have benefited from gronkle iron retrofitting.


I'm also wondering about the Screaming Death egg we see (or what's left of it).
The Outcasts look at the remainder of the egg and say "one of them started out bigger then the others".
Surely if they'd had a larger egg, they've have noticed this when bringing them to the caves.

Which implies the egg grew larger in size after it was placed there.
That's impossible, because eggs are a set size after being laid.
What would happen is the Screaming Death would have had to hatch earlier then the others, because it would reach birth size faster and need to leave the egg ahead of schedule.
The reptilian equivalent of premature birth.