Breakneck Bog

Breakneck Bog is the 17th episode of DreamWorks Dragons: Riders of Berk. It aired on 27th February, 2013 (8/7pm Central on Cartoon Network) and featured a new dragon, the Smothering Smokebreath.

Overview
When Trader Yohan is attacked and shipwrecked by a mysterious 'Fog Monster' while on his way to deliver a lost gift for Hiccup, the gang visits a haunted bog in order to retrieve it.

Plot
The episode opens with a scene of Stoick and Gobber riding on Thornado, and Hiccup following behind them on Toothless. As they fly over the ocean, Stoick scans the water, searching for something. Hiccup then tells his father that it would be easier to search if he knew what they were looking for. Stoick tells his son that they are looking for Trader Yohan, who was supposed to deliver something very important. Eventually, however, the group gives up and returns to Berk, although Hiccup, seeing that his father was upset that they did not find Yohan, gathers the other Viking teens, and they themselves set out on their dragons to search.

Eventually, they spot Trader Yohan floating in the ocean, clinging to a piece of wood. They take him to a small rocky island and ask him where his ship is, and what happened. Yohan tells them that he had sailed too close to Breakneck Bog, and that the 'Fog Monster' had attacked him. Hiccup then asks him where the delivery for his father is, and Yohan tells him that he lost it with his ship, and that what he was supposed to deliver was a gift for Hiccup, that had come from his mother. Hiccup then decides to go look for the gift, but Yohan becomes terrified, stating that he will never return to the bog. Eventually, though, Yohan decides to tell the Vikings where the bog is, and they take him along with them.

The teens then arrive at Breakneck Bog on their dragons, with Fishlegs, Astrid, and Hiccup being in one group, and the twins, Trader Yohan, and Snotlout being in the other. As Hiccup's group investigates, they discover that by mysterious means, Yohan's ship has become stuck in the branches of a large tree. In search of the gift, the trio enters the ship while their dragons wait below. At first, the ship appears to be perfectly safe, but once they go below the deck, strange things start to occur. The group is startled, but Hiccup tries to remain positive, and quickly finds a chest that contains his gift. However, just as he states that he has found it, an eerie, skeletal hand touches Fishlegs on the shoulder from outside a window, scaring the group. They all quickly go and hide in a closet, with Hiccup telling them not to make a sound. However, when the strange presence opens the door, it is revealed to be Snotlout and the twins, who were pulling a prank on them.

Snotlout laughs at the three, and tells them that they kept screaming, while they notice that he is wearing a golden necklace. Astrid asks him where he got it, and he says that he found it, before trying to flirt with her and saying that he can get another one for her. This does not appear to work, and Astrid remains somewhat angry because of the prank. Hiccup then asks where Trader Yohan is, and is told that he was left behind for safety. The episode then cuts to a short flashback of Snotlout and the twins leaving him stranded in the ocean for a second time, before returning to the present. Just as the group discusses that Hiccup found the gift, fog begins to pour into the ship, and the group, now aware that the 'Fog Monster' is real, flees from below deck and calls their dragons, barely escaping as the ship falls out of the tree and lands. Hiccup asks if everyone is okay, and is relieved to see that nobody is hurt. However, he then discovers that the chest containing the gift has been taken from him, and decides to chase after the 'Fog Monster', which is rapidly vanishing in a cloud of fog.

The teens get on their dragons and fly after the cloud of fog, and discover that it moves much faster, and with an extremely unpredictable pattern. Eventually, the cloud splits in two, and seems to try to attack them. However, once they are cut off and blinded by the fog, their dragons begin to hover in the air, flapping their wings to dissipate the fog. It is then revealed that the attacker was not a 'Fog Monster', but a large group of Smothering Smokesbreath dragons. The Smokesbreath dragons attack, and the group is forced to hide.

A little while later, the vikings peer over a rock and use binoculars to examine into the cave that the dragons seem to live in. They see the dragons welding metal objects together with their fire to form a nest, and Hiccup's gift is also shown to have been taken into the cave. Fishlegs then tells the group that they do this because it protects them from larger dragons. Eventually, however, they decide to enter the nest and get the gift, deciding to use Snotlout and his shiny gold necklace as a distraction. They give him a few moments to lure the Smokesbreath dragons away, before flying in and grabbing the gift. Just then, however, as they begin to leave, the dragons arrive back, with Snotlout in tow. Hiccup turns back and rescues him, and the group begins to fly away. However, the dragons continue to chase them, because of various metal objects they are carrying. They first try to take Snotlout's necklace, which he is forced to leave behind, and they then try to snatch Hiccup's gift, before also trying to take his prosthetic foot. Eventually, the group is forced to drop all their metallic possessions, revealing that they had been carrying a large amount of weapons. Catching the metal, the Smokesbreath dragons leave to weld it to their nests.

The episode then changes to Berk, with the teens towing Yohan's Ship to the docks with their dragons. Yohan thanks Stoick for his help, and then angrily states that he would like to have a word with the three that dropped him back into the ocean, directing this at Snotlout and the twins. The episode then fades to late in the evening, where Hiccup is opening the chest containing his gift. It is revealed that the gift was a stuffed dragon, that his mother had made for him. Hiccup loves the gift, but Stoick tells him that originally, when his mother made it, it had given Hiccup nightmares because he had been terrified of dragons. His father then tells him that one day he threw it into the ocean, and that it had turned up in a fishing net. Hiccup then tells his father that he loves it.

The scene then changes to Hiccup's bedroom, with Hiccup placing the stuffed dragon in the hollow carving at the foot of his bed, and then looking at Toothless, still seemingly amazed that he could have ever been afraid of dragons. With this, the episode closes.

Trivia

 * The Smothering Smokebreaths appear in the episode.
 * This is the first time that Hiccup's mother is mentioned since the brief comment about her in the film.
 * Toothless has the red tail with the skull Gobber made for him despite it being destroyed in the previous episode, though one could argue that Gobber just made a new one.
 * This is the first time that Toothless has been seen hovering without Hiccup.
 * It is revealed that when Hiccup was a baby, he was afraid of dragons.
 * The toy dragon given to Hiccup resembles a Deadly Nadder with four legs.

Gallery
Coming Soon!