#rtte criticism

Hi, and thank you for asking!

My overall opinion of the character: I enjoyed seeing this character in the show. I didn’t expect her to return after Defenders of Berk ended, but I had no complaints for when she became more of a recurring character. 

One virtue they have: Heather is very clever, able to come up with an idea for Toothless's prostethic tail to help him fly faster, manage to infiltrate the dragon hunters with Windshear when having the dragon hunters flying on dragons wasn't yet implemented, and find out that singing calms a Death Song hatchling. 

One flaw they have: She doesn't always let her friends know when she needs help, or even helpful things like how she's infiltrating the dragon hunters and it would be nice to avoid shooting her and Windshear down should they run into each other while she’s undercover. She only tells Astrid, but only because the two ended up fighting against each other, and she immediately makes her swear not to tell the others. This might've been to reduce the chances of her being caught, but that almost wasn't a problem due to how Hiccup was chasing after her and Windshear, determined to stop Heather at any cost, and it was only Astrid's intervention that saved her.

Favorite moment from their arc: Seeing her actually want to join the other dragon riders on Dragon’s Edge instead of her and Windshear remaining alone was nice, given how many episodes she’d spent with only her dragon helping her, if that. I do wish she’d been more involved in finding the solution to Windshear’s protectiveness, however. 

Least favorite moment from their arc: Her "forgiving Dagur" arc. The writers did not at all address that despite his change of heart, he still killed everyone else in her village, including her adoptive parents, and then painted her as the villain for still being upset about that because "he's good now, honest, so you absolutely have to forgive him for everything he's done to you and everyone close to you." They don't even mention the fact that he murdered her family and everyone she was close to, if I'm remembering right (I haven't watched Race to the Edge in a while, especially the later seasons). The way that the writers handled writing their friendship felt extremely rushed and trying to ignore the fact that Dagur was ever a villain in the first place.

One relationship they have with another character: Her and Astrid have come so far since they first met, from Astrid distrusting her to Astrid being the one she has the warmest farewell to in the end, to Astrid being the most cheerful around her than most of the other dragon riders on Dragon's Edge whenever she visits, to Astrid being Heather's sole confidant when she infiltrates the dragon hunters, not even trying to tell Hiccup when he and Toothless were trying to kill her.

One relationship I'd like to see explored from this character: I don't remember  seeing much in the show regarding her and Windshear, surprisingly enough. I don’t think they ever really mentioned how the two met, if it was before or after Dagur killed everyone in her village. The one episode they dedicated to Heather and Windshear’s friendship, the problem with Windshear trying to protect Heather from the other riders was ultimately resolved by Fishlegs’s idea. Race to the Edge had less focus on the dragons than Riders/Defenders of Berk, but even so from what I remember Windshear really got the short end of the stick compared to the others.

I do think that there are a decent number of questions that could have been answered but weren’t. Some questions can be explained away casually by fans, such as what happened to Shattermaster, but it still would have been a lot more satisfying to see on screen, and actually get an answer during an episode. 

For something like a dragon’s abilities, I personally am fine not knowing all the details, given as those tend to be smaller things that aren’t so plot-centric and gaping-hole-creating. It’s just extra, nice information to know to make the universe feel more solid, and for the events interacting with dragons to make even more sense. But for other things, like Heatlegs, I’m with you all the way. That’s a notable plot element that could have been given resolution.

Heatlegs

You listed one of the big ones for me. Heather and Fishlegs’ relationship is something I wish had been resolved more concretely. Technically we do get a “resolution” or “end” to their relationship, but it’s not so clear that it’s obviously closing a romantic chapter. This moment is when Heather decides to follow Dagur on his adventures. The conversation goes as follows:

Heather: I have to go.Fishlegs: I know.Heather: He can’t do it without me.Fishlegs: And you need to find out about your family. Your heritage. You’ve been looking for a home since the first day I met you, Heather. And maybe this is finally your chance to find it. Just know that we will always… I will always be here for you.Heather: Thank you.Dagur: She’ll be safe with me.Fishlegs: She better be.

The thing with that is, Heatlegs still leave with an embrace and a kiss on the cheek. Fishlegs still demonstrates a desire to support her, saying, “I will always be here for you.” And while there is a sense of Heather moving from the dragon riders on Dragon’s Edge to Dagur and Berserker Island, it’s not like this means Heather and Fishlegs are now inseparable and incapable of continuing a romance.

I do think this is meant to be the send-off and “end” to the Heatlegs relationship, but since it didn’t feel like a firm “tie-off” for their romance, I would have liked something more explicit in addition. I would have liked something that felt more like a concrete “answer” to Heatlegs drifting on.

Oswald the Agreeable

Oswald’s history is explained, but I don’t feel like I ever completely connected the dots. At least, the dots I connected were never enough to satisfy me as a complete backstory. 

We know Oswald the Agreeable gave Heather and Dagur dragon eye lenses before he left Berserker Island. And we know that, after Oswald went missing and Dagur took control of the chiefdom, Oswald spent time studying dragons at Vanaheim. 

But why did Oswald have dragon eye lenses in the first place? Why did he give them to his children when they were so young, such that a shipwrecked baby girl would be holding onto hers when she was lost from Berserker Island? Why did he seem interested in dragons prior to most people in the Barbaric Archipelago? Why did he leave Berserker Island? Why didn’t he return? Was he unable to? We can piece together our own fandom theories, but they’ll remain on those… theories. There aren’t a lot of concrete facts about Oswald, and while perhaps that’s realistic to life, it’s not how one writes a story. I would have liked more answers.

And speaking of dragon eye lenses, here is one I really wish had been explained…

The Origin of the Dragon Eye

I’m fine if stories address that, “Maybe we’ll never know the answer to this,” but provide some speculative possibilities. I’m fine if I don’t learn all the details of major relics or props in fandom. But I feel like the appearance of such an advanced account of dragondom needed a little bit more background. In some ways, the most we get is from the end of Season 2:

Viggo knows about the Dragon Eye’s construction and its obscure unique features. But we never get any answers as to how Viggo knew about the Dragon Eye in the first place, how Viggo knew about the secrets of the Dragon Eye, who created the Dragon Eye, how the Dragon Eye came in possession of the captain of the Reaper in the ship graveyard, etc. None of these questions get answered, leaving everything about the Dragon Eye up in the air.