Thawfest (Dreamworks Dragons)

"Thawfest"
This episode really has to thaw out the winning in favor of relationships.
Series: Dreamworks Dragons Part of Season: 1 Episode Number: 13 Air Date: November 28, 2012 Writer: Jim Cooper Art Brown Douglas Sloan Director: John Eng Previous episode: Heather Report Part 2 Next episode: When Lightning Strikes

Thawfest is the 13th episode of Dragons: Riders of Berk.

Plot

Hiccup and the gang participate in the Thawfest competition, but Snotlout wants to win in honor for his family. However, Hiccup counters back at Snotlout by winning the competition, causing his friends to get disgusted by his changing behavior.

Why It's Thawed (In a Good Way)

1. This episode talks about Hiccup and his friends competing in Thawfest. At first, Hiccup is determined to compete in the Thawfest so that he can win, but when Snotlout wins three times in the first act, he stars acting out of character. Fortunately, he set things even when he sees Snotlout wanting to win in the race, which causes Hiccup and Toothless to cost the race in order to let the latter win.
2. Everyone is likable, except Hiccup in the second act, in this episode.
3. At first, the characters are training for the Thawfest games, which is a nice touch considering that they are determined to become the winner of this event, but it turns out it is meant for Snotlout to win in order to maintain his family's achievement and motif.
4. Interesting games found in this episode:
   • Sheep Lug: A racing game where Vikings must reach the goal while carrying a sheep.
   • Axe Throwing: Vikings must throw the axe to hit the target directly, not hitting it would lose the game.
   • Log Roll: They must balance on the log to win, but you lose when anyone falls or loses balance.
   • The Hurdles: They have to ride a dragon to fly under hurdles.
   • The Freestyle: In order to impress the judges, they must perform a trick of their choice.
   • Fly and Shoot: Shoot the enemy cardboard cutouts while innocent cutouts must be spared.
   • Obstacle Course Race: In this tiebreaker challenge, the rider and the dragon race to the finish line while avoiding the obstacles.
5. Hiccup's personality changes when he sees Snotlout winning thrice in the first day, resulting in a character derailment in the second half, but when he hears Snotlout stating that he cannot lose because of his family's honor, the former costs the challenge by hitting the brakes on Toothless and landing in the forest so that Snotlout can win, because his friends do not want to see Snotlout losing or Hiccup winning due to his behavioral change; this shows an emotional moment when Hiccup stated that friends are important than winning.
   • Astrid seems to be right about Hiccup's changing behavior because of how he horribly treats his friends and mocking Snotlout for losing, thus calling him a "lousy winner".
6. Good Ending: As mentioned before, when Snotlout does not want to lose, Hiccup and Toothless land in the forest in order to let the former win. As a result, Astrid kisses Hiccup for losing and he states that friends are more important than winning, which is a good moral.

The Only Thawed Out Quality

1. Hiccup is unlikable in the second act of this episode, as he wins three challenges there, he gloats to Snotlout for losing. To be fair, Snotlout and Hookfang have been losing sense in the second half, such as hitting the hurdles, being unaware of the hoops of fire, and accidentally shooting the innocent cutouts; however, these actions are not excusable.

Trivia

• This is the first episode to feature Astrid kissing Hiccup.
• This episode references one of the How to Train Your Dragon book, Thors'day Thursday, but with Hiccup getting disqualified in the tiebreaker instead of costing the game by landing him and Toothless in the forest.

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