Breakneck Bog is the 17th episode of Dragons: Riders of Berk. It features a new dragon, the Smothering Smokebreath.
| Breakneck Bog | |
|---|---|
| Season 1,Riders of berk, Episode 17 | |
Vital statistics
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| Air date | February 27, 2013 |
| Written by | Unknown |
| Directed by | Unknown |
Episode guide
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| Previous | Next |
| Defiant One | Gem Of A Different Color |
Plot[]
"Everybody has lost something they thought they couldn't live without. Sometimes to find it again you have to be willing to do anything, even look fear right in the eye... just make sure you don't blink."
The episode opens with a scene of Stoick and Gobber riding on Thornado away from Berk, with Hiccup following behind them on Toothless. As they fly over the ocean, Stoick scans the horizon, looking for Trader Johann's ship as he is apparently very late. Gobber asks if he's even sure that Johann even has "it", to which Stoick relates that he heard 'through the grapevine' that Johann put "it" on his ship. Hiccup tells his father that it would be easier to search if he knew what they were looking for. Stoick only tells his son that they are looking for Johann, and that is all he needs to know. However as they've already covered a fair distance and should of already seen Johann's ship approaching, Stoick gives up and they return to Berk, although Hiccup, seeing that his father was disappointed that they did not find Johann, decides to search himself.
At the Dragon Academy, Hiccup packs some water and smoked salmon in a satchel, intending to start looking out at the west islands and work their way back to Berk, when Astrid overhears while flying in on Stormfly. Hiccup claims to just be going for a spin around Berk, but she points out he's packing enough food for Snotlout's whole family, of whom also flies in on Hookfang. He grabs one of the salmon and starts eating it on the spot. Hiccup sighs and only tells them that he's going to do something for his father; when they continue to look at him expectantly, he elaborates that Trader Johann is bringing something important for Stoick and that he should have arrived by now. Astrid asks when they're leaving, but Hiccup tells her that he needs to go alone; if they all go, Stoick will get suspicious (perhaps planning for it to be a surprise for his dad). Snotlout laughs and says Hiccup can't handle anything alone without the others to bail him out, then suddenly starts choking on the salmon head. When he asks, Astrid happily performs the Viking version of the Heimlich maneuver: a hard punch to the gut. Hiccup gives in and allows just the two of them to come, but that's it: he warns them to not even tell the others.
The next scene, and the unimpressed Hiccup is flying along when asked by Tuffnut over on Barf and Belch if there is salmon, as told to him by Snotlout. Hiccup recalls that he said to not tell the others, but Snotlout replies that he just chose not to listen. Fishlegs points out that Hiccup is always saying that it's better when they work as a team, but Hiccup asks that the next time he says that, to slap him in the face.
Eventually, they spot Trader Johann floating in the ocean, laying unconscious on a large piece of wood. They take him to a small rocky island and ask him where his ship is, and what happened. Johann tells them that as he was three days late, he was trying to make up time, had sailed too close to Breakneck Bog, and that the 'Fog Monster' had attacked him. Hiccup then asks him where the delivery for his father is, and Johann tells him that he lost it with his ship, and that what he was supposed to deliver was a gift for Hiccup, that had come from his mother. Hiccup then decides to go look for the gift, but Johann becomes terrified, stating that he will never return to the bog. Eventually, though, Johann decides to tell the Vikings where the bog is. Hiccup assigns Snotlout and the twins to take Trader Johann back to Berk, while he, Astrid and Fishlegs head to Breakneck Bog.
Hiccup's group arrive at Breakneck Bog on their dragons. As they investigates, they discover that by mysterious means, Johann's ship has become stuck in the branches of a large tree. In search of the gift, the trio enters the ship while their dragons wait below. At first, the ship appears to be perfectly safe, but once they go below deck, strange things start to occur. The group is startled, but Hiccup tries to remain positive, and quickly finds a chest that contains his gift. However, just as he states that he has found it, an eerie, skeletal hand touches Fishlegs on the shoulder from outside a window, scaring the group. They all quickly go and hide in a closet, with Hiccup telling them not to make a sound. However, when the strange presence opens the door, it is revealed to be Snotlout and the twins, who were pulling a prank on them.
Snotlout laughs at the three, and tells them that they kept screaming, while they notice that he is wearing a golden necklace. Astrid asks him where he got it, and he says that he found it, before trying to flirt with her and saying that he can get another one for her. This does not appear to work, and Astrid remains somewhat angry because of the prank. Hiccup then asks where Trader Johann is, and is told that he was left behind for safety. The scene then cuts to Johann, stranded on a rocky outcrop in the middle of the ocean, before returning to the teens. Just as the group discusses that Hiccup found the gift, fog begins to pour into the ship, and the group, now aware that the 'Fog Monster' is real, flees from below deck and calls their dragons, barely escaping as the ship falls out of the tree and lands. Hiccup asks if everyone is okay, and is relieved to see that nobody is hurt. However, he then discovers that the chest containing the gift has been taken from him, and decides to chase after the 'Fog Monster', which is rapidly vanishing in a cloud of fog.
The teens get on their dragons and fly after the cloud of fog, and discover that it moves much faster, and with an extremely unpredictable pattern. Eventually, the cloud splits in two, and seems to try to attack them. However, once they are cut off and blinded by the fog, their dragons begin to hover in the air, flapping their wings to dissipate the fog. It is then revealed that the attacker was not a 'Fog Monster', but a large group of Smothering Smokesbreath dragons. The Smokesbreaths attack, and the group is forced to retreat.
A little while later, the Vikings peer over a rock and use a spyglass Tuffnut found on the ship (very likely one that Hiccup had made and traded to Johann on an earlier visit, mentioned in Dragon Flower) to peer into the cave that the dragons seem to live in. They see the dragons welding metal objects together with their fire to form a nest, and Hiccup's gift is also shown to have been taken into the cave. Fishlegs then tells the group that they do this because it protects them from larger dragons. Eventually, however, they decide to enter the nest and get the gift, by using Snotlout and his shiny gold necklace as a distraction. They give him a few moments to lure the Smokesbreath dragons away, before flying in and grabbing the gift. Just then, however, as they begin to leave, the dragons arrive back, with Snotlout in tow. Hiccup turns back and rescues him, and the group begins to fly away. However, the dragons continue to chase them, because of various metal objects they are carrying. They first try to take Snotlout's necklace, which he is forced to leave behind. Astrid tells the others to throw all their metallic possessions to them, revealing that trainers had been carrying a large amount of weapons. Most of the Smokesbreaths peel away, but then one tries to take Hiccup's prosthetic foot, which yanks it out of the stirrup and sends Toothless into a deadly spinning nosedive. Fishlegs swoops under and directly up at the Smokesbreath, with Meatlug ramming it away just in the nick of time. With their new booty of metal, the Smokesbreath dragons leave to weld it to their nest.
Back at Berk, the teens are settling Johann's ship onto one the docks for repairs with their dragons. Stoick tells Johann that he's glad that the trader is safe and ask if there is anything else that they can do for him. Johann says that there is, than angrily states that he would like to have five minutes alone with the three that dropped him back into the ocean, directing this at Snotlout and the twins. The episode then fades to late in the evening, where Hiccup and Stoick are at home, looking at the chest sitting on the dinner table. Hiccup appears to be slightly hesitant at what's going to be inside, but Stoick encourages him to go ahead and open it. When he does so, what he finds is that the gift is a toy for a small child, a stuffed toy dragon with his name stitched into each side. Although Hiccup's never seen it before, somehow he does remember it. Stoick is not surprised; Hiccup's mother had made it for him when he was just a baby, but the toy scared him half to death and he didn't sleep for a week. Hiccup is amazed to learn that he had been terrified of dragons. Stoick explains that they were out fishing one day, and Hiccup threw the toy into the ocean. It had then turned up in a fishing net in recent times, Trader Johann received it in a trade and had contacted Stoick. Hiccup reveals that since his mother had passed away when he was very little, he had begun to fear that he would forget her, but now he loves the gift. Stoick tells him that it would make his mother very, very happy to finally hear that.
The scene then changes to Hiccup's bedroom, with Hiccup placing the stuffed dragon in the hollow of his bed's headboard, and looking at it fondly. Toothless then gives him a nudge from behind and indicates that they should go out for a late night flight, and they slip out Toothless' roof door to fly out toward the full moon.
"Most people are afraid of things because they don't understand them. For me, it was dragons. Then one day that changed, and my greatest fear became my best friend."
Trivia[]
- The Smothering Smokebreaths appear in the episode.
- This is the second time that Hiccup's mother is mentioned in the series. The first time was a brief moment in How to Pick Your Dragon.
- Toothless has the red tail with the skull Gobber made for him despite it being destroyed in the previous episode, though one could argue that Hiccup just made a new one.
- This is the first time that Toothless has been seen hovering without Hiccup.
- It is revealed that when Hiccup was a baby, he was afraid of dragons.
- The toy dragon given to Hiccup resembles a Deadly Nadder with four legs.
- Toothless seems to be able to fly without Hiccup in this episode, though the regular position of his tail could just be for hovering.
- After they rescued Trader Johann, they talked about a fog monster. You can see that Hiccup's green tunic doesn't reach to his mid-thigh but is shorter for a moment.
- When the teens come to Breakneck Bog the dragons are walking behind them, but in the very next shot they are gone.
- When Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs are below deck on Johann's ship, we can see small windows but when they show the outside of the boat in other scenes there aren't any windows.
- When Stoick tells Johan they're glad he's safe the Smothering Smokebreaths' voice can be heard.
