Review: Dragons: Defenders of Berk “Free Scauldy”
When you find a Scauldron, the obvious thing to do is nurse it back to health, right? The shenanigans continues after the jump!
Spoilers Below
So, Hiccup, the Twins, and Fishlegs are looking for the Screaming Death. However, the Twins decided to screw what was said at the meeting, and go off towards some inconspicuous rocks. Naturally, the smarter duo have to follow them. Meanwhile, Snotlout and Astrid aren’t faring much better, because Snotlout is dreaming into her eyes. Team Hiccup makes it to Changewing Island, and sees that a Scauldron. The dragon is stuck under the rocks. According to Hiccup, that’s bad. Since it’s a tidal dragon, it needs to be in water, or it will dry out and die. They give up with this after approaching it, and getting water on it didn’t work. They go to leave, but the dragons won’t let them go. Ruff and Tuff get thrown off, with Ruff getting thrown in front of the Scaldron.
The Scaldron doesn’t spit acid at her, just trying to feel her out. When Barf and Belch rush the Scaldron, it’s stopped by the acid mist, and Hiccup stopping them. They realize that Ruff uses fish oil on her hair, and that’s why the dragon likes her. It’s because the dragon is used to fish, and it reminds it of home. Back with Snotlout, he is still trying to get in Astrid’s pants, but to no avail. In fact, it didn’t work so well, he almost got a broken arm. Hiccup’s brilliant plan to help the dragon is to have Ruff train it. She actually went through the process, and trains Scauldy. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough time to help it yet because the Changewings are about to attack.
Astrid and Snotlout show up right on time, and they drive off the Changewings. They leave, but they’ll be back. Before they come back, they try to help Cauldy. Ruff keeps him occupied while they lift the boulders off. They’re off, but the wing is broken. As the wing is getting splinted, the Changewings return and in bigger numbers. The vine snaps, and they all give up again, except for Ruff. In the final scene, you see Ruff’s braids holding the splint in place as the dragon is swimming away. I can’t lie, but Ruff actually looks cooler with the short hair.
You know things are screwed, when the most hopeful person in the group gives up, twice. You see sides of Hiccup and Ruff that you don’t think they’re capable of. Hiccup gives up for the first time I’ve seen, and Ruff actually showed emotion, and a drive to achieve something. Snotlout tries to get with Astrid, who shows that she has a flirty side. This was a definite “What the hell,” moment. This episode was 100% filler, but it’s not the worst quality. There wasn’t anything much to laugh at, except for the first time Snotlout hits on Astrid. After the first time, it was slow and grating. Even when Astrid turns the tables, it wasn’t funny.
It was cool to see the changewings again, but what stole the episode was the Scauldron. That thing looked beastly, and the effect of the dryness was a nice touch. The end of the episode, where you saw Scauldy swimming in the water, and the attention to detail on Ruff’s new haircut drew the ending over the top for me. This episode hit hard on the feels, but if you’re looking for some sort of comedy relief this week, you’ll be hard pressed.
