Review – Dragons: Defenders of Berk “Appetite of Destruction”

Spoilers!

Astrid and Hiccup are trying to tag dragons that belong on Sorrow Island.  That goes well, so they go check up on the twins on Crescent Island. That went smashing, until Astrid notices green tagged dragons. The meet up with Fishlegs and Snotlout on Dragon Island. They head to Tall Tree Island to find out why the dragons are migrating, but when they get there, there is no island. They notice another dragon from Sunstone Island migrating away too. Next up on the disappearing island list are Boar Head and Thor Rock Island. They land on Thor Rock, just in time to find the Screaming Death.

They put two and two together, and realize that it has been destroying the islands by tunneling underneath. Hiccup and Toothless get chased off by the Screaming Death, but Astrid saves the day by blinding the Screaming Death with her paint, then flies off. Hiccup decides to make their stand on Dragon Island, and sends for the twins and Snotlout. The twins are scared by the Terrible Terror hatchling, and run away, only to have Snotlout get the airmail from Hiccup.

The Screaming Death is making a bee-line for Dragon Island, and is distracted by Hiccup. He tries to distract it with his shield again, but the Screaming Death wasn’t going for it. Astrid shows up, then Fishlegs, with an army of Gronkles. It flees, and Hiccup follows. Then it realizes that the Screaming Death is sinking the islands from within. Everyone gets an army of their dragons, to fight away the Screaming Death, and they succeed. However, the island was still sinking, so Fishlegs and the Gronkle army stablilize the island with lava blasts.

At this point, I am pretty much ok with every episode having the Screaming Death. I don’t care much about Alvin, because that dragon is such a badass. Again, the animation doesn’t miss a beat, especially when Hiccup gets blasted by the Screaming Death, stabilizes right before splashing into the water, and flies away. The water splashes the camera (or what would be a camera) like it was there. It’s the little nuances that makes it work. This episode was fantastic, and really pushes the envelope of what a good show can mean to a network like Cartoon Network.