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It’s the end of an era for Viking chieftain Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his dragon buddy Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, the closing chapter in DreamWorks Animation’s epic animated fantasy trilogy. There have been tears, laughter, loss, adventure, and battles along the way, so let’s break down how the How to Train Your Dragon movies end - and what happens to the dragons and the Vikings of Berk.
Dean DeBlois returns as writer and director for How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, which finds Hiccup working overtime as Berk’s chieftain to create a haven for dragons where they can leave peacefully alongside humans. Unfortunately, the abundance of dragon hunters and dragons in need of rescuing means that Berk has become considerable overcrowded. When a new threat arrives in the form of the diabolical dragon-hunter Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham), Hiccup realizes that he must seek out a new sanctuary for the dragons of Berk - a legendary hidden world, where dragons came from, and where they can be safe from human aggression.
The trailers for How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World featured an older, bearded Hiccup and the heavy statement, “There were dragons, when I was a boy” - implying that the third movie in the series would finally see the human and dragon worlds separated for good. And sure enough, that’s what happens… but it’s not the last time that Hiccup and Toothless see one another.
- This Page: What Happens To The Dragons & The People of Berk Page 2: Hiccup’s Reunion With Toothless & The Ending’s Real Meaning
The Dragons Go To The Hidden World At The End Of How To Train Your Dragon 3
When Grimmel launches a direct attack on Berk, Hiccup realizes that his childhood home is no longer a safe place for either his people or his dragons. He leads a mass exodus across the ocean, in the direction where he believes the Hidden World can be found, until eventually the Berkians find an idyllic tiered island filled with the resources they need to build a new life. Though Hiccup tries to persuade them that it’s only meant as a temporary camping spot, it isn’t long before people begin building houses and establishing New Berk on the island - pleased with having traded up from their crowded old spot. Despite Hiccup’s dreams of leading his people to the Hidden World, after visiting it himself he realizes that it’s a world for dragons and dragons alone. New Berk ultimately becomes a permanent settlement, not a temporary one.
While at first it seems that New Berk is safe from Grimmel and the other dragon hunters, the villain soon catches up to them after Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig) inadvertently leads him to the Berkians’ new home. Though Grimmel is defeated in the ensuing battle, it’s clear that New Berk is not a safe place for the dragons, since humans will always eventually find them there. Hiccup makes the heartbreaking decision to let Toothless, now equipped with a tail modification that allows him to fly solo, lead the dragons of Berk to the Hidden World. Though it means saying goodbye to the dragon who has been his best friend since childhood, it also allows Toothless to fulfil his role as Alpha of the dragons, and start to build a family of his own with the Light Fury.
Hiccup Grows Up And Has Two Children With Astrid
Love is in the air throughout How to Train Your Dragon 3 - between Toothless’ awkward attempts at courtship with the Light Fury, and Gobber (Craig Ferguson) putting pressure on Hiccup and Astrid (America Ferrera) to get married so that they can lead the tribe together. However, the young couple aren’t quite ready to tie the knot for much of the movie, and the fight against Grimmel leaves little time for sorting out their feelings. It’s only after Toothless and the other dragons have left to start their new life that Hiccup and Astrid finally get married and begin their own new life.
We catch up with Hiccup and Astrid about ten years later, with Hiccup now sporting the beard that we saw in the trailer. He and Astrid have had two children together - a little girl and a little boy, who were born after the dragons left and therefore have never seen them before. In How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World’s final scene, Hiccup decides to fix that.
Page 2: Hiccup’s Reunion With Toothless & The Ending’s Real Meaning
Hiccup Is Reunited With Toothless
The Hidden World is essentially only accessible if you’re a dragon or flying on the back of one, since the only way to get there is via an enormous waterfall in the middle of the ocean. So, while it’s not enormously far away from New Berk, Hiccup isn’t able to go and visit Toothless whenever he feels like it - and perhaps preferred to make a clean break when he said goodbye. Hiccup and Astrid do see Toothless again, however, at the very end of the movie, when they make a journey with their two children to the waterfall that hides the entrance to the Hidden World.
Based on Toothless’ reaction to seeing Hiccup again, it seems that this is the first time Hiccup has been to visit his old friend since saying goodbye all those years ago. Toothless doesn’t recognize his old friend at first (perhaps confused by the beard), and seems to have grown more feral and wary of humans over the years. However, when Hiccup holds out his hand in a familiar gesture, Toothless suddenly recognizes him and is overjoyed to see him again, bowling him over in an excited greeting.
Toothless and the Light Fury have also been building a family of their own over the years, and have several baby dragons that are a hybrid of the two species with traits from both of them. Once Toothless recognizes Hiccup, he and the babies are introduced to Hiccup and Astrid’s own children. Though this might not be a journey that Hiccup and his family end up undertaking often, it gave him the opportunity to bring to life the stories he told his children about the dragons he knew when he was a boy - so they can pass down stories to their own children as well.
What How To Train Your Dragon’s Ending Really Means
The How to Train Your Dragon trilogy is, at its core, a coming of age story. It begins with Hiccup as a teenager who feels like he doesn’t quite fit in, has a troubled relationship with his father, and isn’t in any way ready for the responsibilities that will eventually be thrust upon him. How to Train Your Dragon was primarily a movie about Hiccup realizing that he doesn’t need to grow up to be the man that his father and the villagers expect him to be, and that he can actually forge his own path - making his mark by creating peace between humans and dragons.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 and How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World were both about Hiccup’s continued pursuit of this dream. In the second movie he was reunited with his mother, Valka (Cate Banchett), and realized that he takes after her in his love of dragons. However, he also encountered the monstrosity of mankind in their treatment of dragons, with fierce conqueror Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou) weaponizing the creatures for his own means. In many ways, Drago was a precursor to Grimmel and the other dragon hunters who arrive on the scene in The Hidden World.
While Toothless was an essential part of Hiccup’s journey to becoming a leader, letting go of the dragon was an equally essential step. It not only requires Hiccup to put others’ interests above his own desires and ideals - recognizing that the dragons are better off on their own, however much fun it might be to ride around on their backs - but also forces him to stand on his own two feet (well, his own foot and prosthetic leg) instead of using Toothless as a crutch. A moment of letting go is a common turning point in coming of age stories, and is symbolic of a farewell to childhood and an embracing of maturity.
Beyond bringing Hiccup’s character development to a satisfying conclusion, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World also has a more explicit final message. As Hiccup explains, the dragons had to leave because humans’ warring nature meant that they could no longer share the world with them, and they will only return when humans have learned to better themselves and stopped resorting to wickedness and violence. The How to Train Your Dragon movies are primarily aimed at a younger audience, and as a parting farewell they impart a parting moral message of cooperation and self-improvement to that same audience. And to be honest, it’s a message that adult audiences could benefit from listening to as well!
