Snow Way Out

Snow Way Out is the seventh episode of Season Two of Dragons: Race to the Edge. It was released on Netflix on January 8, 2016.

Overview
Ryker is determined to create a key to the Dragon Eye, so he head to Glacier Island to find the Snow Wraith that the Dragon Riders are protecting.

Plot
This episode starts with Hiccup riding Toothless, who is wearing his new Gronkle Iron armor. It is too heavy, and they get aimed at by nets and arrows. But the armor breaks, and rider and dragon get hit. It is then revealed that the arrows are paint-filled. Snotlout then proceeds to hit Hiccup with an arrow.

In the night, Fishlegs got upset that the armor failed, and Hiccup reassures him. The twins begin accusing Fishlegs of trying to kill Hiccup, which is certainly not possible. After Snotlout gloats about nothing being Snotlout-proof, Astrid arrives and Stormfly butts him with her head.

It is revealed that Astrid was going to Berk, but was unable to because of urgent news from Trader Johann. She proceeds to tell the teens that Heather, Ryker, and the Dragon Hunters went to the northern markets, buying all the cold gear they could get. They also needed the gear right away, and Trader Johann only heard that they were searching for a bone, or a claw, but something that was rare. Hiccup correctly deduced that the Hunters were after a Snow Wraith tooth. Since the Dragon Eye used to belong to the Hunters, they must know that the key is a Snow Wraith's tooth. Snotlout is relieved that the Hunters are not attacking the riders. But Hiccup assures him that if they do get their own key, they would be coming for the Riders next. Hiccup tells the teens they are leaving next morning.

Tuffnut asks if he could ask a stupid question, and he gets permission from his sister. He asks if the riders are seriously trying to save a dragon who tried to kill them the last time they saw it from Dragon Hunters, who try to kill the riders every time they see them. Ruffnut also points out Heather and Windshear, but Astrid assures Heather won't be a problem since they outnumber her. Hiccup tells the Riders the plan is to find the Snow Wraith before the Dragon Hunters, and relocate it to another island.

The Dragon Riders make their way to where they found the Snow Wraith last time, but no luck. The twins try to keep warm by hugging Snotlout, which they call the Thorston Sandwich. Hiccup advises the others set up camp while he and Astrid, search the area.

The two struggle in the search, and Astrid suggests they split up to cover more ground. Though Hiccup is against it, he immediately loses sight of her in the blizzard, forcing him to return to the campsite. Snotlout had set up the tents quickly to get out of the Thorston Sandwich. Fishlegs, now caught in it, asks where Astrid was. Hiccup replies they were separated in the storm. Snotlout points out she ditched him, which Hiccup questioning why she would do that.

Astrid and Stormfly continue searching, until they notice a fire with others around it. The two sneak up, revealing the one by the fire are Heather and Windshear. Astrid confronts her, asking if she was surprised to see them. Though Heather is not, saying she's been listening to them stomping through the snow for the past five minutes. The two Viking girls pull out their axes, with then and their dragons facing off.

However, Heather quickly replies what took Astrid so long, and the two hug. Astrid says she had trouble sneaking away from Hiccup, and Heather tells her that Ryker thinks she's off scouting. It is then revealed that it was Heather who told Astrid about the Hunters. She also sent Dagur out on a fool's errand to find a second Dragon Eye. Heather explains to Astrid, that the Snow Wraith hibernates in the summer, which is why they Dragon Riders couldn't find it and why the Hunters were in a hurry to get it. Heather tells Astrid about a cave she found up the mountain. They plan to get Hiccup and the others up there to check it out while Heather tries to keep Ryker as far away as possible. At this point, Astrid tells Heather she wants to let Hiccup know what they're doing, though Heather is against it. Astrid tries to reason that Hiccup could help, but Heather knows that he cares to much for others, and if he knew that she was really spying on the Dragon Hunters, he would try to pull her out. Heather assures Astrid that she's close to getting to Viggo. Astrid hopes she's right, worried that the Riders or Heather might get hurt if she held back the truth. Though Heather assures nothing will go wrong.

After meeting up again with the Dragon Riders, Astrid tells them about the theory that the Snow Wraith might be hiding out or hibernating since they can't find it. Fishlegs and Hiccup agree, but the latter wonders how Astrid got so far when they were scouting the other side of the island. Astrid tells him she just got carried away. Hiccup tells her she can't go off on her own like that, as he relies on her. Astrid, with some guilt, replies okay.

Meanwhile with the Dragon Hunters, Heather tells Ryker that they should check the coast, but Ryker choices to search the mountains. Heather says she didn't see anything up there, though Ryker prefers to search on the ground. Knowing she can't keep arguing with him to keep her cover, she agrees.

Back with the Dragon Riders, they continue to search, when they hear something behind the snowbank. Getting ready to fight, it is revealed to be a small herd of boars, which gets scared away by Fishlegs' screaming. The gang finds the cave and proceed to search it. They soon hear a noise from the outside, realizing the Dragon Huntrs are behind them. They immediately fire back in defense.

Ryker is frustrated, as the noise was Windshear's tail scrapping on the ground. Heather defends her dragon, since she's covered in spikes, walking on ice. Ryker sends three men into the cave. Some arrows are fired, but they are soon pushed back out from Barf and Belch, as one arrow struck Tuffnut's helmet. The Riders wonder what Ryker's next move is, when comes into the cave demanding to talk to their leader. Astrid suggests she goes out, but Ryker is already aware that Hiccup is the leader. Hiccup decides to meet Ryker on his terms, but has Toothless stay back, knowing it could be a trap.

After exchanging some taunts, Ryker, with one of his men hidden behind a wall of ice, tells Hiccup he wants the Dragon Eye, as it belonged to his tribe but Hiccup refuses to hand it over. Ryker reminds the young Viking that the Hunters are in front of them and the Snow Wraith is behind them, leaving the Dragon Riders with no way out. Hiccup jokes about not having it, which leads Ryker to tell him if he surrenders, the Riders won't meet the same fate as their dragons. Hiccup offers Ryker to leave, and his men won't have to find out what burning flesh smells like. Realizing Hiccup doesn't have the Dragon Eye and he isn't going to surrender, he bends down, giving the hidden Hunter a chance to shoot an arrow at Hiccup. Seeing this, Heather has Windshear smack a nearby Hunter down, with his lantern blinding the armed one. The light reveals the Hunter's shadow, as well as the trap. The Hunter takes his shot, but Hiccup manages to block it with his shield in time. The Hunters and Riders confront each other, while Ryker pulls Heather aside, knowing she was the one who pulled the stunt. Heather berates him by telling him that Hiccup is more valuable alive than dead. This gives Ryker an idea, which he tells her to use Windshear to blast the cave, which she reluctantly obeys. The blast causes a small avalanche, sealing the Riders inside.

While the Dragon Riders are unharmed, Hiccup and Astrid realize that Ryker plans to use them to fight the Snow Wraith, and deal with whoever remains. Hiccup tells them that their own plan hasn't changed, and they set out to find the Snow Wraith. The twins are confident they can all handle the Snow Wraith, until they see that there are three of the Strike Class dragons sleeping in the cave, with one of them starting to stir.

Outside, Ryker points an area out to his men to prepare for. Heather tries to figure out what he's up to, but he won't tell her. Meanwhile, Tuffnut's talking causes the Snow Wraith to wake up. Hiccup grabs the arrow lodged in Tuffnut's helmet to try to put the dragon back to sleep, but he misses. The other two Snow Wraith wake up, and begin to burrow. They all take a defensive formation, waiting for the Snow Wraiths to strike. Toothless manages to stun one of them, causing the other two to grab their comrade and make an escape. The Riders soon realize that it could be their way out, when they suddenly hear the the Snow Wraiths' shrieking. Remembering the Dragon Hunters, they quickly take off into the ice tunnels. After some confusing turns, they manage to get out, but the Hunters and dragons are already gone. Hiccup realizes Ryker knew about the burrowing and used the Riders to flush the Snow Wraiths out. The Dragon Riders head out to stop the Hunters from getting away.

By the time they get there, the blizzard had stopped, leaving Riders with no cover. Fishlegs reminds everyone they need to stay out of the range of the Dragon Root arrows. Hiccup gets an idea for the twins to cause an avalanche, much to their enjoyment. They blast the ice sheet, giving the Riders a chance to grab the Snow Wraiths. Hiccup confronts Ryker, but he is picked up by Heather and Windshear. Hiccup and Toothless give chase, while avoiding Ryker's arrows. With an opening, Toothless gets ready to shoot them down, but Astrid and Stormfly try to block it. With no other choice, Astrid shout at Hiccup that Heather is on their side. Hearing this, Hiccup pulls on Toothless, missing Windhear and giving Heather and Ryker a chance to escape.

Back at Dragon's Edge, Astrid reveals to the Dragon Riders that Heather only pretended to joined Dagur to get close to him to avenge her family. But when she found out about his alliance with the Dragon Hunters, Heather got closer to him to find out more. Ruffnut points out that when Ryker captured them on his ship, Astrid and Heather fighting all the time. Astrid tells her that's what they wanted people to think. Snotlout is a bit disappointed that Heather is not evil, though Fishelgs states always knew she was good at heart.

Astrid tries to talk to Hiccup, but he is hurt that she kept this information from him. Astrid says she wanted to tell him and apologizes. She tries reassure Hiccup that if it wasn't for Heather, the Snow Wraiths would not be safe on another island. Hiccup still questions why Astrid didn't let him take Heather and Ryker down, as they could've captured the head of the Dragon Hunters. It is then that Astrid reveals that Ryker is not the head of the Dragon Hunters, and that their real leader is someone named Viggo Grimborn. From what Astrid had learned, Viggo works in the shadows and everyone is afraid of him, including Ryker. Astrid says that Heather hasn't met him yet, but she is the Riders' best shot for drawing him out. Hiccup hopes Heather knows what she's doing, for all their sakes.

Transcript
The transcript for this episode is here.

Trivia

 * The Snow Wraith makes another appearance. This time, however, there are three of them.
 * This is the first time Heather appears in an episode that doesn't consist of two parts.
 * This is the first episode where the Dragon Hunters appear but Dagur does not.
 * In some scenes, Heather's armor is a different color than Windshear, despite being made out of the Razorwhip's scales.
 * The Dragon Riders learn that the leader of the Dragon Hunters is Viggo Grimborn.
 * This is the first time Windshear is seen breathing fire.
 * Apparently, Ruffnut is a great shopper.
 * While the context comes out this is the first time Ryker and Hiccup have met face to face, they actually met in the previous episode.