now that i think about it
the whole "dragon eye" part of Race to the Edge was a little unnecessary. i think a better way to have RTTE handled the plot is to:
involve oswald's adventures a little bit more, therefore more grey morality on dagur's part
have not a dragon's eye in the ship graveyard but a book of new dragons not yet listed: and an indecipherable code left scattered in the book
so the reason dagur chases them is because he wants that fucking book that might be connected to his dad somehow
viggo just wants to sell some dragon parts in peace but also is very VERY interested in the new book hiccup has
like literally every episode that involved the dragon eye is easily swappable with any other object that can offer dragon knowledge --
DO YOU GUYS REMEMBER THAT BEWILDERBEAST SKELETON IN VANAHEIM
yeah that didn't go fucking anywhere
if the "dragon's eye" wasnt a thing i bet my ass hiccup would have been all over that goddamn thing the second time he sees it during dagur's life field trip.
i dont know how johann's betrayal would have come around...bc its either he's an actual traitor or he's not
like seriously the dragon eye, as cool as it was (i totally want one), was unnecessary
THEY DESTROYED IT ANYWAY
THEY ALSO WOULD HAVE DISCOVERED THE BEWILDERBEASTS
just
WHAT WAS THE FUKCING POINT
just make it a fucking book inscribed with puzzles and codes, god, even puzzles scattered around the archipelago would have been nice
that would have totally been a "race to the edge"
bc the canon race to the edge was less race and more capture the flag and hot potato
im serious
did you guys notice there wasnt any actual racing around
legit when i first saw the title i was expecting hiccup and the rest to go running around looking for clues and shit
nope
i love the dragon's edge, that one totally made sense
but like,,, all they did was sit around,,, bitch where was the racing there
and the dragons,,,, kind of barely got agency...mostly i just felt they were extensions of their riders. my favorite episodes were mostly stryke out and no dragon left behind because it showed dragons who thought for themselves (toothless in the arena) and dragon's inner turmoil (stormfly going through the five stages of grief.) other than that, though, there are like, brief instances of dragon's actually BEING their own character instead of just being attached at their rider's hip.
but!! notable episodes are midnight scrum, dire straits, longest day, and sandbuster (barely)
have you fucking seen longest day? dragons being so done with their riders is such a fucking mood oh my god
anyway my point is i always felt it was more the riders more than the dragons, which kind of made me...ih???
anyway,rtte is great but it wasn't perfect.
still is better than THW though