#rtte writers

"Yo what if Toothless vs fighter jet?"

"Bet"

Race to the Edge was originally supposed to have 4 seasons. Not 6. But what one can presume is that it garnered enough popularity that the extra two seasons were added. Hence why we got a Dragon Eye 2, Krogan was given more screentime, the King of Dragons came into play, Mala and Dagur became a thing, but what was outlined more to me, that Viggo was brought back.

With the show originally intended to be four seasons, Viggo was meant to be the main villain of the series. Dagur being a threat in Season 1, then 2 leading into the Dragon Hunters, then 3 and 4 centering around Viggo and Ryker.

Then I think about, what the end of RTTE was supposed to be. Shellshocked Pt. 2. In the final minutes of the finale. Viggo threatening Astrid, and Hiccup throwing the Dragon Eye into the volcano. Viggo chasing after it, and the rock crumbling beneath him, last words crying out, “HICCUP!”

And frankly wanting to admit, that is really the only way it could have ended. Viggo needing to be eliminated because he would never surrender, and the Dragon Eye destroyed because it was too dangerous in any hands.

I don’t think that at the point they stood at it would make sense for him to have been redeemed as he was in Triple Cross.

But I reflect upon what the ending was meant to be. Viggo meeting his end in that way. Imagine if we hadn’t been given two more seasons. That would’ve been an extremely grim ending. Like imagine going from that to HTTYD 2. And here’s me wondering, if Hiccup’s reaction after Viggo fell into the volcano was always planned, wasn’t altered even after they got the green light for two more seasons. 

How he reacted, he looked remorseful, the way he worriedly stared into the lava. The saddened tone of “Viggo. It didn’t have to end this way.” And I will be honest, even if it was brief, Viggo was the only villain which Hiccup actually looked shocked was gone. He did that for no one else, not for Grimmel, Drago, and not even Alvin when he got struck by the Skrill’s lightning. That scene, of how he stares down at where Viggo had fallen, and Astrid comes up to him and asks him if he’s okay. Just a mere minute ago Astrid had been threatened by this very man holding her own axe to her throat, and she’s asking Hiccup if he’s okay. I literally yell at the screen at this part. To comfort her, she’s the one who just endured something traumatic. Yet, there’s a moment of silence, where Hiccup stares morosely downward. And he says he’s okay. But he doesn’t check on her wellbeing, if she’s okay after what Viggo had done. 

But to me, in showing his shocked expression, displays some sort of mourning over Viggo. Reinforced by the sentence he says afterward. I say this again, this was meant to be the last episode. Had it ended like this, we would have gotten that Hiccup demonstrated some regret in how Viggo came to pass. The writers wanted to leave us with that kind of impact for the end. BUT, it didn’t end like this. Once the next season came we were given a reveal of him having survived the fall into the volcano, but not emerging unscathed. 

The writers of RTTE really had the capacity of making him a villain all over again. We see the scars on his face, the marred eye. They worked to reveal his new change ever so nicely. I for one would have completely understood if they had made him vengeful, because of how harshly the Riders struck him down. It would make sense for him to regather forces in attempts to strike them down, even with Hiccup in specificity. Yet, they didn’t. In Wings of Disaster they wished to show us he’d partnered with another villain, that he still had an obsession in obtaining the Dragon Eye. He spoke in reverence of Hiccup, not how he wished to be close enough to him to drive a blade through his heart. We were showed how out of their way they went to show Viggo was not vengeful. 

Then, I feel obligated to point out Triple Cross. The very last episode we get with him. Where we get a very short-lived redemption. A redemption I do not think, was originally planned. It was the direction went down because they decided not to make Viggo vengeful for the final two seasons. It was even outlined for us too, in that episode. Krogan so helpfully points it out: “Why do you want him alive? He scarred your face, destroyed your brother and, decimated your empire.” Literally showing us how he was capable of this, yet did not take this path. This was even testing the chance of his redemption too. There wasn’t enough time for Viggo to react, maybe he could have changed his mind, told Krogan that as he spelled it out, why not let Hiccup be killed. 

But we reach that point. Left to believe Viggo met his end. The final scene of Triple Cross? Astrid saying it felt weird he was gone, Hiccup saying he taught them a lot. Hiccup takes the piece that represented Viggo during their game, and knocks it over. Signifying the fallen player, then sealing the Maces & Talons board. Once again, bearing a saddened expression with slumped shoulders before steeling himself and exiting.

To think. Hiccup reacted in that way back in season 4 when they were still enemies, but yeesh how they did it when he sacrificed himself and left a parting gift. 

You do you… you actually CAN believe what you want. That’s why it’s called personal opinion :)

But I won’t because I believe the writers just pull shit out of thin air to bring unnecessary and unbiased drama to a show that ALREADY has/had a good premise. They turned HTTYD into a joke. A sad undeveloped joke.

In my point of view they took what I adored about HTTYD and smashed it into pieces. They may try to be creative but they’re already wasting good storylines and potential development that could’ve happened in the show because of their greedy need to make audiences gasp at the content. Hence create drama for the sake of drama WHILE forsaking my favorite characters in the process. Hiccup, ASTRID AND TOOTHLESS, etc. AND completely disrupting HTTYD’s timeline.

So no, this is not canon for me and it never will. I CAN enjoy what’s good in this show and that is Snotlout, maybe new dragons because I love dragons and maybe the twins. Heck I even adored Viggo but even he got trashed and died? in the most stupid way.

See, the saddest thing is the wasted potential. So yeah the whole rtte fandom can believe what it wants but I won’t.

YouTube did the wonderful thing of recommending me an interview video from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice involving Alfred Molina. And of course he was in his Horvath costume. I came to hit pause, realizing that he looked incredibly familiar. So I popped open Netflix, and I clicked on an episode that I knew Viggo was in.

I literally kept switching tabs for the comparison. Well, just look at this:

Not the most perfect images I know but I did what I could. Anyway, I at least hope it was enough so you guys can see my point.

Guys the freaking writers of Race to the Edge had to have watched The Sorcerer’s Apprentice to have done this. Viggo looks uncannily like Alfred Molina when he’s in his Horvath character design! The same styled goatee and shaped hair! Though admittedly you can tell Horvath’s is slicked. And oh my gosh, the same dark brown hair and brown eyes. Viggo shares a direct appearance to a role played by his VA in a live-action. I would also like to point out, utterly convenient that the design comes from a project where Jay Baruchel and Alfred Molina acted together.

It led me to think of something, and I’ll think it true until told by the writers otherwise. As far as we know, Alfred Molina was first choice for Viggo Grimborn. I remember talking to a friend and being told that there was different concept art for Viggo before Molina signed on, but well they needed a starting point. I remember learning of how Viggo was created to be a foil to Hiccup, someone who would challenge Hiccup intelligence-wise.

It just made me think of what was possibly the writers’ line of thinking, when considering who could voice someone like that. Given that Viggo and Hiccup were going to have continuous engagement after the villain was introduced at the end of Season 2, and also keying in how Hiccup really can be considered just like Jay Baruchel, they thought about how they needed someone who would interact well with Jay.

It truly may have been because someone on the crew had seen The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and realized that Jay and Molina worked well together. Hence they invited Molina to voice Viggo, he accepted, and the design then came to change to resemble Horvath.

Because in my personal opinion, well they truly do work well with one another. It was certainly such a hooking dynamic between Viggo and Hiccup. And we do know that the voice actors were allowed to improvise given they knew their characters best. I also would like to point out that the conversation in the bathroom scene in TSA also does parallel another conversation in Shellshocked Pt. 2 for RTTE. Both held were the villain taunted the hero for the love they held for someone else, even referencing to themselves.