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New poster design

I sat bolt upright a few nights ago and wrote this. Stay with me, because I think I’m onto something here!

Defenders of the Wing

The Grimborns are able to sneak onto the island and steal the Eruptodon with no one seeing them carrying a huge-ass dragon to their ship. There's no way that they did that without some kind of inside help. Throk is following Mala around, but he is captain of the guard (or at least second-in-command to Mala). He would have been capable of incapacitating the guards, or ensuring those loyal to him were 'on guard' at the right time. "There should be guards here," says Mala when they discover the Great Protector is missing – we never find out where they went. Likely they just abandoned their post or went with the Grimborns, on Throk's command.

The face of a guilty man

During a dragon hunters vs. dragon riders confrontation.

Hiccup (being sassy): There's less of you today. Where's Lars? Finally deserted.

Viggo: I'll have to apologise for his absence, my dear Hiccup. He had recently pass away. Struck by lightning while he was at the crow's nest.

Dragon riders:... *burst into laughter.

Tuffnut: Nice one Viggo!

Snotlout: But no one dies from a lightning strike.

Dragon hunters:...

Snotlout: Wait! You're being serious?

Fishlegs: People actually die from lightning strikes?

Ryker: Why wouldn't they?

Dragon riders:...

Viggo: Hiccup, please tell me your friends are only joking.

Hiccup: Well, none of us died from lightning strikes.

Tuffnut: Which means you are lying.

Ruufnut: You'll need to come up with a better lie, pal.

Viggo: (turning to Astrid) please tell me you have some common sense to know people die from lightning strikes.

Astrid: As we said. None of us died from lightning strikes.

Dragon hunters: (finally realising they were dealing with freaks of nature.)

Another established fact we see in action sometimes: Hiccup can dodge a blast from a Night Fury

Ergo;

Hiccup’s plan was to dodge. Stoick didn’t know that, but Hiccup did.

Hiccup’s plan was to dodge. His dad is dead because he didn’t know that.

Hiccup’s plan was to dodge. Stoick didn’t need to die, and Hiccup knows that.

Maybe the Barbaric Archipelago host an annual Thing and Viggo wanting an intel about the dragon riders (who are clearly from the Archipelago) managed to secure an invite via some other tribe.

He's there rubbing shoulders with Chiefs and heirs up when the Berk representative showed up. He doesn't know the Dragon Riders are from Berk yet.

He learned that:

Berk's Chief, Stoick the Vast is a 6'9ft giant weighing 400 pounds. A renown dragon killer and engaged dragons in hand to hand combat, no weapons or dragon root needed.

Their Viking adult initiation means the top student will fight a monstrous nightmare in a cage fight. (isn't that an execution method in other tribes? What do you mean initiation?)

The Chief's son is last year's winner, he didn't defeat the monstrous nightmare because he decided to go for something bigger. (What does that mean?)

Spitelout, one of Berk Chief's retinue bragged about his son acquiring the most Screaming Death scales out of his peers. And showed scales as evidence (Viggo's execution method literally involves pushing people into whispering death hole. What do you mean someone actually tunneled down there to steal some scales?)

Gobber mentioning that Spitelout's son use to be his apprentice in weapons testing. His apprentice (Snotlout) used to test catapults by launching himself to the sky to see if it works. (Which again sounds like an execution method.)

Gobber also complain about two troublemakers (Ruff and Tuff) who dedicated themselves to serving Loki. Which involves putting a cart of sharp objects on the apprentice's landing spot. (Which still sounds like a method of execution to him.)

There's also Astrid (that name sounds familiar) who was a strict drill sergeant who made everyone do push up until their hands fall off every time they mess up. (Not too bad compared to other things Viggo had heard.)