:: httyd3 ending analysis::
It’s taking me a couple of days to come to terms with how the final movie wrapped things up. I think I needed to think for myself, read some criticisms and compare it to the books while slowly putting my thoughts into place. I’ve put it under “read more” because it’s long. If you wanna read and discuss it with me, I would be very excited because I haven’t had anyone to discuss this movie with yet. I also wanna know what other people think about it. So grab a snack and here we go! (Clearly spoilers👇👇👇both from the movies but also from the books) (There’s a tiny conclusion at the end if you don’t wanna read everything)
After all these years of wondering, theorizing and discussion we’ve finally reached the last movie. I can honestly say that I've never gone to the cinema that excited before. I cried, laughed and loved every second. I, as many others, have known about the outcome of the movie for quite some time. Not how it would happen or to what extent, but we knew - the dragons would disappear.
This happens in the books; Hiccup talks to dragon Furious and he accepts Hiccup as a friend of dragons. The dragon trusts him and understands that as long as Hiccup is in charge, dragons will be safe. Hiccup promises the dragon Furious that if humans haven’t changed their ways about dragons when he’s an old man, he will help them hide. This is what happens; over the course of Hiccup’s life dragons and humans live in harmony but more and more dragons disappear into the ocean and some stay while other flies back once in a while. Toothless (a green tiny dragon in the books) eventually stays away longer periods of times. Hiccup reflects in the epilogue that he’s waiting for Toothless to come back for the last time before he’s gone for good (Hiccup is an old man during this and Toothless has started to slowly forget). This is a beautiful written and bittersweet ending to the books; it grips your heart makes (at least my eyes) tear up just thinking about it. Hiccup wins the war in the books. He never gives up, he convinces Dragon Furious that he will make dragons and humans live in peace and they do. But Hiccup still makes sure that the dragons are safe before he dies because they can’t trust the people that comes after him to be as accepting.
This is why most of us expected a smilar ending in the movies. Especially since the trailer showed Hiccup saying “There were dragons when I was a boy-” which is the first line of the first book and the first line in the final book. In the movie, Toothless is drawn to this Hidden world. Hiccup sees that that’s where he belongs and it’s a place where Hiccup can’t follow. I read a criticism that said that Hiccup lost the war in the movie. That he gave up and stopped fighting. In the second movie he says:
“Bit by bit, we will change this world.”
What happened with him wanting to keep fighting for a world where dragons and humans can live together? Why did he just... give up? Why did Toothless agree to fly away? After all these years? In the books, they live together because dragons trusts Hiccup and know what they will be safe as long as he’s there. But in the movie nothing like this happens. So what happened and why?
I had a similar criticism when I watched it, a tiny part of my brain wondered what he was doing and why he didn’t keep fighting? Did he give up?
No. Hiccup never gives up. Hiccup is the opposite of giving up. He will fight for his dragons until the end of time. The difference between the books and the movies is that Hiccup can speak to dragons and they can speak to him. ( called Dragonese) Therefore, Hiccup and dragon Furious can share thoughts, ideas and struggles with each other. But because the movie chose to remove that, the verbal conversation between Hiccup and Toothless are one sided. Toothless is dragon, a wild animal. Even though Hiccup has trained him he’s still a wild dragon who probably have instincts to soar free. Hiccup can’t discuss this with Toothless the way he does with Furious. Hiccup can only see and read his body language. Which is why Hiccup have to be the way to release him and not the opposite.
There’s also another difference from the books. Furious is scared for his sake and the other dragons. He’s afraid for their safety. Toothless doesn’t show that (maybe if Hiccup could understand him they would discuss it) but even if he did, he would never leave Hiccup unless Hiccup set him free. I think we’ve seen enough of their relationship to know that these two would die for each other. Toothless is as loyal as it gets and always have Hiccup’s back. Therefore, Hiccup needs to be the one to let Toothless find his own way. Just like Hiccup says: “You’ve looked after us long enough.” Hiccup and Toothless found each other when they both needed each other. They protected, grew and learned from each other when they were both alone in the world. But just like that; they both grew up. Hiccup had his duties, he became Chief and Toothless found his calling- he’s alpha dragon. He’s suppose to look after all dragons and protect them. They both grew up and now have a duty for their “people”. Their bond will always be there, as we see in the epilogue.
So did Hiccup give up? In Race to the edge, Stoick tells Hiccup that it doesn’t matter if he loses the battle as long as he wins the war. Which is ironic since I just read a critique that that’s exactly what Hiccup did. But I don’t think he lost the war but he didn’t win it either, because the war didn’t end. Because there’s no winners or losers in an ending where two best friends have to separate. Stoick tells Hiccup that with love comes lost - you can’t have one without the other. Hiccup have defeated so many enemies throughout his life - many of them wanted dragons for themselves to use against other humans. He could change the mind of some of them (Viggo, Dagur, Stoick, Berk in general) but there was always a price to be paid because it didn’t happen without loss. I think that Hiccup at the end of HTTYD3 understood that he can’t keep fighting these violent battles because there will always be loss (The leg and his dad comes to mind). Someone (people or dragon) will always get hurt, even though they might win at the end. Which is a prince older Hiccup isn’t ready to pay anymore. He loves Toothless too much to see him or any other dragon get hurt because of them. His fear also comes from the fact that he doesn’t think he could be anything without Toothless but that’s clearly not the case. Just like Astrid tells him:
“You are the bravest, most stubborn, most determined knucklehead I know. Toothless didn’t give you that, he just made it easier.”
Which is why it was so liberating to see him releasing Toothless, not because he wanted too, but because it was the right thing to do. Toothless deserved to find his place in the world with someone he loves just as much as Hiccup. And Hiccup have every opportunity to continue to fight for a peaceful world - and I'm sure he did. I’m sure he had tons of adventures after Toothless. I’m sure he built fantastic inventions and made voyages across the oceans; a bit slower than at the back of a dragon but I'm sure he never stopped moving forward.
If the movie would have ended like the book, we wouldn’t be able to see a sweet good bye scene between them. Because there would have been an epilogue with older Hiccup after a big fight scene and then Toothless would leave? It would probably ruin the flow of the movie so from that perspective; their good bye scene worked better being placed there - even though it hurts.
(TL; DR) So in conclusion; I don’t think Hiccup lost a war but he didn’t win it either, because the war never ended. The most important thing is that he never stopped fighting for a better world and he never forgot his best friend - just like Toothless never forgot him.
