Gold Rush

Gold Rush is the eighth episode of Dragons: Race to the Edge, Season 4. It was released on Netflix on February 17, 2017. The name of episode was first revealed in the Everything Geek Podcast Interview with Douglas Sloan and Art Brown.

Overview
Hiccup and the Riders, with help from Dagur hatch a plan to steal Berk's gold back.

Plot
The Riders are faced with an unexpected visitor, Dagur. Hiccup asks for the information Dagur has gathered from a 'wimpy dragon hunter', Dagur tells him the location of where Viggo hides his gold resources. With this information, Hiccup points out that by taking Viggo's gold supply, some of which are from Berk's, they could deal a crippling blow to Viggo's dragon hunters, so he orders the Riders to prepare their dragons. Before leaving, Dagur asks to acquire some of the gold supply for his own after the mission is over, so that he could continue his wide search for his father, Oswald the Agreeable, along with Heather. Heather thinks he is joking at first, but Dagur says otherwise in a serious tone.

While flying, Fishlegs assures the Riders that Heather would not abandon them and join Dagur, Heather, on the other hand, is troubled with Dagur's rushed offer but quickly decides to dismiss it and remain with the Riders. They approach the island where old viking ruins lay at the shore but find the place abandoned. As they observe the place, Hiccup and Toothless find cart tracks underneath some leaves and follow it. When they reached the end, they find a Dragon Proof gold storage, and the Riders assume that all the gold is stored there, Dagur lets Shattermaster do a 'Beserker style' move to destroy the door and also for Heather to learn. Unfortunately, the storage is empty, leaving HIccup confused how Viggo managed to transport the gold without a trace. Returning to the cart wheel tracks, Hiccup and Fishlegs observe it closely and conclude that the tracks mislead them and that the gold was unloaded and carried by hand at somewhere else in the island. Dagur proposes to split up, when Fishlegs hears that Dagur and Heather will take one area on their own, he quickly decides to join with them.

As the three travels, Dagur discusses their plan on Oswald once they acquire the gold they need to Heather, but Heather interrupts for a moment to tell Dagur that he is rushing things, but Dagur reasons that reuniting with their father and the Berserkers would make them feel complete as a Berserker family in order for Dagur to fix his terrible mistakes in the past, and asks for Heather the time to go home. When Dagur enters a cave alone to inspect, Heather and Fishlegs uses the alone time to discuss the situation, Fishlegs tries to reason with Heather to stay, as the Riders are her family now and needs her, then Fishlegs emphasizes he needs her.

On the other side of the island, Hiccup is growing frustrated how the Riders are having no progress but they soon spot the presence of two hunters from a distance and stealthily follows them. They find the hunters unloading a batch of pick axes and shovels on the ground, once the Twins and Snotlout give away their position, the hunters scurry away, the Riders give chase but are lured into a trap and are taken away.

Fishlegs, Dagur, and Heather remain the only hope for the captured Riders, Ryker reports to Viggo that their gold remains secure but is then ordered by Viggo to continue searching for the remaining Riders. Dagur suggests that they rescue them in the Berserker way but Fishlegs refuses and instead suggests they do it his way. Meanwhile, Viggo holds a discussion with Hiccup while the other Riders and their dragons are locked away separately, Viggo shows Hiccup the map of the island they were searching for the gold and tells Hiccup that finding it could take months and also telling Hiccup that rescue from the Riders is pointless as VIggo is equipped with 'added protection'.

The dragon hunter ships are met by an assault conducted by Fishlegs, at first the three are inflicting overwhelming attacks at the hunters, but as they attempt to finish off the ships with dragon fire, it reveals an unexpected turn for the Riders as the ships are reinforced with dragon proof armor. The dragon hunters then launch a fierce counter, having no other options, Heather tells Fishlegs to let Dagur do his Berserker style plan against the hunters. The plan involves Windshear carry Shattermaster with his tail and powerfully tosses him at a targeted ship as Shattermaster engages in full force in a move known as the 'Flying Shatter Scatter', the results proved to be very effective as it destroys the dragon proof armor with ease. Dagur is overjoyed how the two of them were perfect for this and Heather is beginning also to enjoy it with him, while a worried Fishlegs watches.

Heather and Dagur repeats the same maneuver over and over on each ship, allowing the imprisoned Riders to escape and free their dragons. Hiccup and Toothless narrowly escape Viggo and Ryker and they rejoin the Riders to return to the island. There, Hiccup is now able to pinpoint where exactly the gold is hidden, as he elaborates that the pick axes and shovels they saw earlier indicated construction, but ultimately, when he was with Viggo he analyzes the map of the island and finds it to be clear of any indication of Viking ruins. Toothless reveals it for them to see by shooting the ruins with plasma blasts, finally exposing the gold being hidden inside it all along.

Hours later, the Riders are almost finished harvesting the last pockets of gold inside the ruins, while Heather sadly tells Fishlegs for her decision to now join his brother and find their long-lost father, but Fishlegs is fine by her decision and assures her that the Riders and himself will be always with her. Enlightened and thankful by his extreme affection towards her, Heather embraces and kisses him on the cheek, Dagur then approaches them to ensure Fishlegs of Heather's safety.

Heather and Dagur begin their departure as the echoes of their Berserker war cry signifies their bondage to search for their father as brother and sister. Fishlegs watches as Astrid assures him by saying Hey, she'll be back. ..

Characters

 * Jay Baruchel as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
 * America Ferrera as Astrid Hofferson
 * Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Fishlegs Ingerman
 * Zack Pearlman as Snotlout Jorgenson
 * Andree Vermeulen as Ruffnut Thorston
 * T.J. Miller as Tuffnut Thorston
 * Mae Whitman as Heather
 * David Faustino as Dagur the Deranged

Enemies

 * JB Blanc as Ryker Grimborn
 * Alfred Molina as Viggo Grimborn

Dragons

 * Toothless
 * Stormfly
 * Meatlug
 * Hookfang
 * Barf and Belch
 * Windshear
 * Shattermaster

Transcript
The transcript for this episode is here