Then we get the third film. Every one of Toothless's actions has shattering impact on the story as a whole. It was fantastic, but also kinda scary! He isn't a speaking character, so often times we are left to interpret how much he knows and what he is thinking. I am going to address some instances in the third film where I think it is critical to look at Toothless's actions in the proper light if all the themes are going to be woven together... and more importantly, these areas need to be viewed properly for Toothless to feel in character.
There are probably three major areas of concern that I want to analyze. I've seen these buzz around the fandom, and I've spent a good while discussing them with Inhonoredglory, Toothlesslove, and my younger brother.
The issues are these:
1- Toothless does not seem to miss Hiccup at all when he is with the Light Fury. While Hiccup feels a clear pain of loss and anxiousness, Toothless seems blissfully unaware. He seems whole and content.
2- Toothless and Hiccup agree to part ways after the death of Grimmel. This is unusual, as it appears the threat to Dragonkind has suddenly been removed, and yet they still leave. It makes you wonder if this choice is made primarily because of the Light Fury.
3- Does Toothless miss Hiccup when he is gone? After he has left for the Hidden Wolrd, it almost could feel like Toothless forgets Hiccup. After all, he lands on the boat and menacingly glares at him for a moment. Did the dragon not think of him during that long time they spent apart?
I think all of these questions are legitimate. It's very hard to parse out exactly how Toothless is feeling or what he is thinking. We don't have the benefit of hearing him vent or explain... we just have to watch and guess.
To answer the first issue, I believe Toothless does not miss Hiccup while he is off on his trip with the Night Fury. Hiccup, on the other hand, clearly goes through an arch of growth here. He feels insecure without the dragons, and he is worried that Toothless will stay away. This is a fault on Hiccup's part, but it is a fault we can all certainly relate to! I believe Toothless does not miss him because Toothless is fully planning to return. He doesn't worry because he knows he is going back. He is on a mission: win the Light Fury's heart, earn her trust, then bring her home. He's loving every moment of it, but that doesn't mean he doesn't plan to return. In the end, despite Hiccup's actions putting everything in jeopardy, Toothless is successful. The Light Fury does follow him back. More than that, she SAVES Hiccup's life. Toothless wins her heart, and she begins to value and trust the people who Toothless values and trusts. It's really actually a beautiful story of faithfulness on Toothless's part, and an amazing story of change and trust on the part of the Light Fury.
A piece of evidence for the fact that Toothless plans very clearly to come back is that his goodbye to Hiccup is extremely excited and silly. He's over the moon. He wants to blast off and find the Light Fury. The way he says goodbye is a big hug and a slobber bath. That's not how Toothless would say goodbye if he wasn't coming back. That's an "I'll be right back! Thank you thank you thank you!"
For the second issue, I think Toothless and Hiccup's motivations make a lot of sense. It's terribly hard and painful for them to part, though the promise of starting families does help them bear through the dreadful loss of being together. Though Grimmel is dead, he appears to be just one of many, many wicked men. I think it is interesting that there were more than one evil-warlord. There is a whole group of them... probably even more than the ones we saw. The idea that Hiccup had that all people could be convinced that dragons should be treated like equals has been hideously disproven by Grimmel, a man who sees dragons as moral beings (accusing them of murder, something you don't say about an animal), and yet Grimmel sees them as competition for the future. Hiccup has found someone who understands dragons, but hates and fears then none-the-less. Hiccup's method of winning people to his side has been so simple: "Let me show you." But what do you do when the person already knows, and yet they still lash out? So, I believe meeting Grimmel is more than enough reason for Hiccup to make the choice, but what about Toothless?
Keep in mind, this film happens maybe a little over a year after HTTYD2. So little time has passed. How fresh must the memory of Drago and his Bewilderbeast be! It's been just one year since and Alpha was used to kill Stoick, to destroy Berk, and to bend hundreds of dragons to the will of one wicked man. And now, suddenly, Toothless is the Alpha being used to harm his fellow dragons. Grimmel manipulates him, uses him. He watches as Cloudjumper walks into a cage... and he is the one ordering it! The weight and horror of that must have shaken Toothless to his core. He's the weapon now, he's the one giving commands. He might could justify the death of Stoick by thinking it wasn't his own will, but how can he justify this? He can he be the same Alpha that destroyed so much one year ago. Unlike anything Toothless has experienced thus far, this event would make it terribly clear to him that HE is a liability. He must either protect the dragons in a different way or risk being the tool used for their ultimate destruction.
And if that sounds too logical for a dragon... it might be. But I do think Toothless is smart (HECK he can DRAW). I think he would also get a very strong feeling about what all of this means for dragons and their future. I believe he suddenly sees the sacrifice of being an Alpha. Hiccup felt the weight of being chief at the end of the second film, but Toothless seemed to embrace his role. Perhaps this is because Hiccup could foresee how costly this authority would be... while Toothless was not fully aware.
This final one might be my favorite (mostly because I ADORE THE END SCENE). Why doesn't Toothless recognize Hiccup? If he missed him, would he not quickly identify him? Probably not!! The person Toothless would mull over in his memories would either be a small boy or a young man. He knew Hiccup for 6 years... that's not enough time for him to fully grasp human development. Hiccup sails up decked out like a chief and sporting an (epic) beard... he looks nothing like the boy Toothless left. Dragons clearly don't change appearance that much over-time, so it would take a moment for everything to click in Toothless's head. (Also, if you watch some online videos of owners coming home to their dogs years and years later, I always love how many of the dogs start off by barking at them! Then they suddenly realize who it is, and the animal's heart melts). Aside from all the reasons why his lack of immediate recognition makes sense, it also just works so well. We all have sorta missed the wild, deadly, mysterious Toothless from the first film. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE when he acts like a big puppy... but it works best when we also get to see that he is still a dragon, a Night Fury, a creature that deserves respect. He's not safe, he's never truly been safe, but loving him and being loved by him was worth the risk.
I think Toothless's reaction proves that he missed Hiccup, not the opposite. The dragon goes berserk. He is ecstatic. Honestly, I think it is the happiest we have ever seen him. If he wasn't missing Hiccup, if he was satisfied living without him, then I don't think he would react how he did. That is not to say Toothless has been miserable. I don't think he or Hiccup were crippled... but they did lose a big chunk of their hearts. The lyrics of the credits mesh overtly with this: they are friends from afar. Even if they don't see each other, they are still always in one another's hearts. Toothless just about bursts for joy when he sees Hiccup again. It's like he's living out something he had only dreamed of.
I think the mentality of both Hiccup and Toothless in this movie is so, so well handled. Toothless and Hiccup both display a real maturity by the end. They find love, accept responsibility, and sacrifice what means most to them for the sakes of their people. It's genuinely the most selflessness moment in the franchise. Not Toothless diving into the exploding body of the Red Death, not Hiccup forgiving the dragon who killed his father, not Toothless standing all alone against the Alpha, not even Hiccup falling to his own death so that Toothless can be safe. This is it. This is the thing they so clearly valued most. They valued this friendship more than their own lives, and suddenly they are called to sacrifice it.
Happily, the test of the years they spend apart doesn't dampen their love to one another. They soar off into the sun, into their futures, once again together.
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