RttE: Dragon Eye of the Beholder Part:1

Ok, I don't have a ton of time to do this, but I'm gonna give my opinion on this episode! Yes, I have now gotten Netflix and I am working through the episodes. Been pretty fun so far! Sadly, I can't take screenshots, so I won't be able to make gifs or have many pictures in my reviews... sorry.

So, I don't want this to be long. So far, I've actually liked the episodes! Granted, I've only seen one. The graphics are better than last time around... though Stoick needs some work done on his eyebrows. Let me just give a quick list of negatives and positives about the episode.

Negative:

Stoick's beard.

Quite a lot of the humor is stuff we've kinda seen before.

I don't think Hiccup or Toothless would have been that phased by dragon bones. Recall... they did once live in two societies that were at war. Toothless has seen the charred remains of humans, and Hiccup has seen dragons ripped open and chopped apart ever since he was little. They'd be grave, but they wouldn't be quite so unnerved. Still, it is a minor complaint.

The fighting is just not on par with what happens in the films. I understand that it is hard for them to do that, but I still noticed it.

Positive:

Astrid's job seems to really fit her!

There were a lot of good moments where we just had Hiccup and Toothless quietly working together/comforting each other. That is a BIG plus.

Dagur has always been the more interesting villain, and his trap at the end of this episode actually made a lot of sense.

Hiccup is giving us some great HTTYD-conflict vibes. He doesn't know what to do with himself. He longs to explore, to find the unknown, and he's disappointed when he has to do that without Astrid. He's awkward talking to Stoick about this sort of stuff, and as a whole he felt very in character... at least on my first watch through. That's important. One of the main things I think the last two seasons got wrong was Hiccup's personality. They made him arrogant at times, and I haven't seen that yet in this season. This first episode gives me hope that we will be getting a lot of solid, movie-like moments with Hiccup, and that is one of the biggest factors in the series. The fact that they've gotten a lot of things right with Hiccup, even subtle things, is just fantastic.

It does feel nice to have the whole group of riders back together... though I like it both ways. I'm happy to see Hiccup and Toothless flying out and just being together, but I do like seeing them interact with their old team. I suppose it is good preparation for them, considering one of them will be a chief and the other will be an alpha in about a year.

Also, nice intro! I think that worked well.

I did think a couple parts were funny.

Overall, there was some good stuff in this. I was really happy to see Hiccup and Toothless just being together in a simple episode... in a simple adventure. I know the series wants to make it out like this is a huge deal, but compared to HTTYD2, this is a pretty small part of Hiccup and Toothless's life. Since it remained in-character, I'd call it fully canon, and because of that, I am super happy to be glimpsing yet again into the lives of Hiccup and Toothless yet again. It is good to see them back... even if they are not nearly as grand as they were in the last film! 

Overal rating of part one: 4/5 (we've got some potential here!)

Feel free to discuss or disagree with me in the comments!