Apparently, then, Stoick’s greatly increasing Hiccup’s authority and responsibilities. Fishlegs’ and later Snotlout’s reaction somewhat implies this is Hiccup’s first time receiving that honor. In Dawn of the Dragon Racers, though, Stoick voluntarily places his son in charge. Afterwards, Stoick remarks that Hiccup will be a great chief, but we know there is much more Hiccup needs to develop, and they both probably realize that, too. While we’ve seen Hiccup as an Acting Chief once before in the Defenders of Berk finale “Cast Out Part 2,” that was forced and unplanned, and Hiccup seemed hard-pressed to handle the duties of chiefing over the entire village. Stoick’s support in Hiccup at the end of Dawn of the Dragon Racers I find quite significant, for it solidly shows his father trusting him in a huge position of authority, binding together the timeline between the untrusted teenaged Hiccup of HTTYD 1 and the “Pride of Berk” at the start of HTTYD 2.ĭawn of the Dragon Racers connects the dots in the timeline, and it’s very noticeable when Hiccup takes his position as Acting Chief. However, this is not simply variation upon what we’ve seen before, but an expansion, supplying us more details on the father-son interaction. The short hits on several elements of Stoick and Hiccup’s relationship we’ve seen many a time before - Stoick’s growing pride and trust in his son, as well as Hiccup’s desire to hold up to his father’s expectations. But what sticks out the most to me are the father-son moments of Dawn of the Dragon Racers. There are many things I could bring up - some of my favorite humorous moments, what the story tells us about characters’ competitive natures, the cute Hiccstrid lines, and how fun it is to see the characters as late teenagers. We are incredibly blessed to continue receiving new material… and I for one can appreciate a number of elements within the new short. It never ceases to amaze me how much material we Dragons fans receive. Hiccup and Stoick’s Relationship in “Dawn of the Dragon Racers”

Dragon racer choice of games