User blog comment:The Purple Orange XD/Mala's character/@comment-352641-20160701214045

Yeah, it was explained that they are able to survive on the island thanks to the Eruptodon, and presumably there was some sort of pact figured out at some point. But ultimately, Mala is simply too set in her ways and looks at it through the lens of a religious zealot - let's not mince words, it's not just view on if it's okay to ride dragons or not that separates them, but the Defenders of the Wing seem to practice some form of dragon worship, whereas Berk's vikings (and pretty much every character we've seen short of Drago's army) are Norse Pagan. I doubt that'll be a problem (even if I could see Mala pushing it), but ultimately the Defenders of the Wing are basically a crazy little cult, and have that cocksure certainty that they are right and those who are different are either misguided (probably most other vikings), or outright heretics/enemies on a matter of faith (Dragon Hunters for their hunts against Dragons, Berk's riders for more or less sacrilidge against dragons by riding them).

Not helping it is that Mala seems to be going out of her way to make first contact go horribly. Heck, Hiccup showed INCREDIBLE restraint. The others were NOT wrong in wanting to simply blast their way out after the trial because at that point it's clear that these guys, if they could have been friendly, are simply too stubborn to accept those who are different. FFS, before throwing Hiccup into a pit of speed stingers (AKA one of the most aggressive dragon species in existance) Mala even said that they were "touched by Hiccup's sincerity" before ignoring that and assuming the worst. Honestly at that point it'd be a matter of "Alright, you're obviously not interested in diplomacy. BYE!" [blast out of there], and given how quickly Heather and Astrid took care of their guards the Defenders seem to only be effective in ambush.

Mala has a LONG way to go to be anywhere near worthy of any kind of respect. As it is she seems like she's okayish when she's chief zealot, utterly terrible as a leader in any kind of world that does not conform to that worldview. And given that their idea of 'judgement by the dragons' is a glorified execution by Speed Stingers, honestly the Defenders are just bad guys from another view. FFS, the Eruptodon is captured by Viggo. What's her reaction? Should she try to save her people from the imminent lava flow? Should she go after Viggo to rescue the Great Protector? Nah, better kill some potential allies who've been bending over backwards to avoid starting a fight and declare war on the whole tribe. Because killing the son of Stoick the Vast and his entire party, who had come on a diplomatic mission is surely going to not see Mala's head crushed between Stoick's bare hands, right? You know, assuming she isn't blown to pieces by Toothless' plasma before it gets that far.

I mean to be fair to Mala, from another perspective you could argue that Berk has turned the dragons into pets... but really it's like dogs. It goes both ways - wolves became dogs in a mutually beneficial relationship. Berk's vikings gain obvious advantages. The dragons get the benefit of specialization that more settled life offers that they ultimately could not do in part due to limitations of their bodies - those claws aren't great for precision work, and we darn well hadn't seen a dragon dentist. But with Berk, vikings can do that kind of specialization. Plus look at Berk by HTTYD 2 - to quote Hiccup, "Dragons love it here, and really why wouldn't they?". But then that goes into Nature versus Civilization, which is probably outside the scope of the show.

But yeah, the cliffhanger was irritating because it's going to be a what, six month wait and the cliffhanger is right when Hiccup's got a sword to his throat? But it also means that if they intended Mala to mean well but ultimately be simply stubborn/misguided, they've left it to fester for a far too long a period of time. By the time the next season rolls around, people are not going to be looking at Mala wondering what the end arc is going to be, they're going to be looking at her as the crazy bitch that would rather let her people die just so she can kill a few dragon riders who are offering their help to her people...

I doubt Mala has much history besides 'fought Viggo's hunters a few times, raised with the Defenders of the Wing and all their tenets'. If she had seen the outside world she'd realize that no not everyone is like them and that there's alternatives... or she came home precisely because she's too closed minded to accept such.

Though if Hiccup was able to convince Mala not to be an idiot, that'd certainly explain his confidence for doing the same to Drago...