Personally, I’ve never really been for or against it once I found out it was going to be a series targeted to a younger audience that didn’t include the original cast at all. But I do find the petty protests over that announcement silly (and yes there had been people big mad on ig), because it’s not for us and that should be ok. It’s ok for the next generation to have something for them that’ll hopefully get them into dragons and keep the love of the franchise alive. And that’s a good thing. Not to mention it looks very different from what we have had. It has completely different characters, its not “canon” so it’s quite harmless.
This is mostly because of Rescue Riders but… AU where the Dragon Riders (aka my OT6) lives in a lighthouse.
AU where it’s originally Hiccup going up there by himself to get peace and quiet to think (Stanley Hudson-style) but then everyone keeps following him up there to ask him questions so it just becomes the new clubhouse.
SO ANYWAY I’ve finished Rescue Riders (thanks to this gross cold I have) and I feel pretty good about it! Obviously, obviously it is for young children.
Some notes:
- The town of Huttsgalor is deliberately and noticeably multicultural! We’ve got an inexplicably Latina pirate with all kinds of spooky information, a Black serial entrepreneur with a flat top who “sailed here and decided to stay”, and a bunch of background characters with a multitude of skin tones!
- Magnus Fink, the local villain, is a very silly man.
- Hannar the Blacksmith is great and I love her
- Chief Duggard has a VERY AGGRESSIVELY SCOTTISH ACCENT, I cannae stress this enough
- All the main dragons are new species we’ve never seen previously in RTTE or the movies.
- The characters do mention Cavern Crashers, Sea Gronckles (!!!) and Foreverwings.
- There are “Slinkwing” dragons, or as I call them, Disco Changewings.
- There are a lot of baby dragons in this show! IT’S CUTE
- We only find out a little bit about Dak and Leyla’s past, sprinkled throughout the season.
- Dragons being afraid of eels comes up a fair bit.
- There’s a great bit about “Humans riding dragons? When did this start happening?” where the humans just respond, “We’re kind of a special case.”
- It doesn’t seem like Huttsgalor was ever seriously attacked by dragons in a major way, as evidenced by a) their general chillness toward dragons after some initial skepticism, and b) everyone generally having all of their limbs.
- The island where they live is described as being veeery remote, and on the .very edge of the Viking empire.
- I didn’t spy any major easter eggs or tie-ins beyond the names of a few dragons.
All in all, it’s a sweet show with decent thematic writing, albeit very low-stakes, formulaic stuff making it super appropriate for younger demographics. Once you make peace with the dragons talking (and accept that, hey, it’s only the other dragons and the twins who can understand them anyway) it’s a decent wholesome cartoon to throw on for the sleepy or otherwise intoxicated adult, and probably pretty solid material for any actual children you may have around.
Most importantly, though, a lot of the same people who made Race to the Edge made Rescue Riders, and while they’re obviously going for a different crowd, I’m still happy to see them bringing their A-game and making high-quality stuff for lil baby dragon nerds too. Let’s keep that in mind!
