Okay I had an epiphany, and I think I’ve gathered enough evidence to support this. I haven’t been able to chase it from my head since I watched Triple Cross. I want to center this on Krogan, and so you can have an insight, it’s based on a headcanon I have where Krogan was in the same boat as Eret was. Both forced to work under Drago and their very lives threatened if they didn’t do as told. I would even wager that Krogan has a brand too somewhere that we were not shown. I guess I really came to think about this because I realized we never really got to know much about Krogan, the biggest fact being that he worked for Drago, and for a temporary time was in Johann’s service.
And thinking about it, I want to say that for he worked with Johann so he could buy his freedom.
Triple Cross did get me thinking about it the most. Johann held the biggest intention in wanting to find the King of Dragons for their buyer (Drago), and then becoming the richest person in the Archipelago. The scene I am thinking of specifically is when Krogan and Viggo argued about how to go about Hiccup’s “capture”. Krogan berates Viggo, saying:
“Have you forgotten about the King of Dragons, and our buyer? This will only slow us down.”
He says our buyer. In that instance not acknowledging that they were securing a dragon for his master. He also mentioned a time crunch, and to be honest I feel if they had gone thru with demanding the lenses for Hiccup they would’ve been able to find the Bewilderbeast all the more quicker. I do also see why Krogan shot down the idea though, since the last time he took Hiccup prisoner it didn’t work in their favor.
But Viggo’s previous statements did throw me off. He had told Hiccup that Krogan was employed by a mysterious buyer from the north. Then later on Johann’s base he threatens to tell that same “buyer” of his star pupil’s consistent failure. Which leads me to two lines of thinking. He implied that Drago had ordered Krogan to find the King of Dragons for him, but had also tied Johann into it as well, or Johann had extended the offer to Krogan and he in turn relayed it to Drago. But in Viggo threatening Krogan it also suggested that he knew more than what he let on, and didn’t bring Hiccup in light of it.
It also displays how Johann managed to keep both Krogan and Viggo under wraps. As Krogan so helpfully pointed out, Hiccup had decimated the Hunter empire. Which may have also been a family business, given that the Dragon Eye had belonged to an ancestor of the Grimborns. Viggo was technically at Johann’s beck and call and as also said, had Johann let him know the full details he would’ve struck him down to take the contract for himself. He relied on the pay that would come from helping to find a Bewilderbeast. It seems that Johann enlisted the two into his service, by promising a cut of what they would gain from the exchange.
For Krogan, it probably was the promise of freedom. Wealth that would liberate him, and that he no longer had to be afraid of Drago. We see that distinctly enough, when Viggo threatens him, and he comes close to strangling the guy. Disobeying Drago Bludvist meant death, and we also see this in HTTYD 2 when Eret is nearly killed for having led the Dragon Riders to them, or so he thought. Also in that single scene we see where Krogan disappears after the battle and is brought to Drago, we see that he begged for his life and that some of the Flyers were under Drago’s service. Possibly having been put into their ranks to keep an eye on Krogan and make sure he was completing what Drago desired. It does make sense in why Krogan mentioned the ‘only going to slow us down’. He already knew he was being watched.
And then I also realized that Midnight Scrum fits into this as well. Remember that extra heavy price Viggo was offering for Hiccup? The one person who delivered him to Sleipnir island, was Krogan. With how much gold Viggo was promising for Hiccup, and as we could guess alive, Krogan probably could’ve bought his freedom and been free of Drago’s hold with the amount written on that poster. Because if you think about from another viewpoint which wouldn’t follow this, it doesn’t make sense. We can think about how Krogan acquired dragons for Drago, but participating in the bounty, how would that benefit his master? I really don’t think he would’ve gone to the extent that he did just for a promised amount of gold. Then Ryker dumped that sack of rocks in front of him, and what does Krogan do immediately afterward? Tell them that no pay, no prize. And even after he defeated their men he tried to take Hiccup to Hunter Isle. With what we could guess, if he literally dumped the one person Viggo was desperate for at his feet, he would be able to get the gold he wanted from Viggo. But given that Johann expected to come into large wealth from selling the King of Dragons to Drago, that gold Krogan could’ve gained from the bounty wouldn’t have benefitted Bludvist. What one can deduce is that he meant to use the gold for his own means.
He was afraid of Drago, we saw clear enough evidence of that. Due to their unsuccessful final battle, he did come to face death. But we also surely saw that he did the most he could to have prevented it.
