| “ | Whoever started the Norse myth about the Nine Realms was talking about the worlds of dragons! | ” |
| — Jun's discovery about the Hidden World's connection to the mythological nine realms |
"Heart of Glass" is the third episode of the seventh season of Dragons: The Nine Realms.
Synopsis[]
| “ | Thunder must wrangle and lead the Hero Dragons in a desperate attempt to save Tom and the Riders from a dangerous new dragon, the Glass Caster. | ” |
| — Hulu |
Plot[]
After Thunder fails to keep the other dragons from getting into the general store and stealing food, Tom tells him he will have to assert himself if he is going to lead the other dragons. Alex picks up an alert in the Nature Realm and the Dragon Riders go to investigate, believing it is Buzzsaw. However, they discover it is actually Sledkin and Linda digging for Dragonsite. Sledkin delusionally believes that because she discovered Dragonsite's properties (even though it was actually Olivia who made the discovery), all the Dragonsite in the Hidden World belongs to her and refuses let her work be interrupted. When the riders threaten to capture her, she hurls explosives at them to make a getaway. Everyone escapes the blast, but the riders discover the explosion opened up a cave that Sledkin and Linda escaped through and go after them.
They discover the cave leads to a new desert-like realm that is filled with sand and unusual structures, which Jun finds to be strangely familiar. While searching for Sledkin, the riders discover the structures are made from glass. They find Sledkin and Linda running from something, and Tom believes they are just trying to trick them until a hideous and large dragon called a Glass Caster attacks them. When the dragons try to confront the Glass Caster, all except Thunder are scared away, leaving him to fight alone. Thunder tries to organize the other dragons, but they don't listen to him and all scatter. The Glass Caster then unleashes a roar that causes the glass structures to vibrate, allowing the Glass Caster to echolocate the other dragons and land a direct hit on Feathers. The riders realize the structures are being used as a type of radar for the Glass Caster, which allows it to track prey and intruders, and they and Sledkin, and Linda are forced to run into a large glass structure when the dragon targets them. Linda drops her supply bag just before everyone gets inside the structure, but they discover it is a dead end. Thunder tries to divert the Glass Caster's attention but gets shot down with a fire blast that injures his wing, and the Glass Caster fires into the glass structure. Unable to keep fighting, Thunder retreats and the Glass Caster goes after him.
Inside the structure, everyone discovers that the Glass Caster's fire has melted the nearby sand into a glass wall trapping them inside. Tom believes that Thunder will rally the dragons to rescue them, but Eugene believes otherwise. While hiding from the Glass Caster hunting him, Thunder runs into Plowhorn and keeps her from giving away their position via the glass structures by taking charge. Back in the glass structure, Sledkin dismisses the idea the dragons will rescue them, believing them to be unintelligent beasts, and proposes coming up with a new plan, but the riders want nothing to do with her.
Meanwhile, Thunder and Plowhorn find Wu and Wei trying to pull out Feathers, who is still injured from the earlier attack, from a hole she's hiding in. Thunder shows he is still going despite being similarly injured and convinces Feather's to come out of the hole. He then rallies the dragons to go after the Glass Caster. The riders fail to find a way over the wall on their own and Tom comes up with a plan to build a human ladder so Alex can climb over the wall, retrieve Linda's dropped bag with contains climbing rope, and use it to get everyone out. The problem is that they'll need Sledkin and Linda to reach high enough and the others are against trusting Sledkin, but Tom points out that even though he doesn't trust Sledkin either, they have no other choice. Jun agrees with Tom's point, and they extend their plan to Sledkin and Linda. The dragons find the Glass Caster trapping Webmaster in a glass prison, and the dragons are spooked into scattering again, leaving Thunder to be cornered by the dragon.
Tom's plan manages to work, and Alex sends over the rope. However, a reminder alarm on Alex's phone goes off and the noise sets off one the glass structures and alerts the Glass Caster just before it can attack Thunder. Plowhorn frees Webmaster and the dragons go after the Glass Caster. Alex sends down the rope so everyone can escape, but Tom refuses to let Sledkin and Linda go first out of distrust and the riders being better suited to deal with the Glass Caster. Linda is worried the riders will leave them trapped, but Sledkin believes a "heroic type" like Tom won't leave them trapped, and that they can escape while the riders are dealing with the dragon. Sledkin is quickly proven wrong when Tom pulls up the rope before they can get out. Tom explains he doesn't trust Sledkin, and that he plans to come back for her and Linda once they have their dragons and bring them back to Rakke Town to be arrested. Sledkin is impressed by Tom's cunning, but she reveals that she has another plan and a piece of Dragonsite on her.
The riders find their dragons, who are being led by Thunder. Tom comes up with a plan to turn the Glass Caster's radar against it, by setting off multiple glass structures and disorienting it. Tom throws his sword at the Glass Caster's feet and Thunder blasts it, setting off an electric burst that melts the sand and traps the Glass Caster in a glass cage. When they go back for Sledkin and Linda, they discover they used the piece of Dragonsite, which is harder than diamond, to cut themselves out and escape. Eugene tries to mock Tom's failure, only to be quieted by Thunder, who has gained a greater role as a leader from the other dragons.
Back at ICARIS, Tom helps Jun search the latter's mythology books for something about the desert realm. Tom finds a picture of the desert realm's glass structures representing Svartálfheim, a realm from Norse mythology inhabited by trolls that forged weapons from fire and smoke. Jun realizes the Norse myth of the nine realms was based on the Hidden World and that the other realms correspond with the myth, seven of which have been discovered and two more remaining to find.
Characters[]
Humans[]
- Tom Kullersen voiced by Jeremy Shada
- Jun Wong voiced by Ashley Liao
- D'Angelo Baker voiced by Marcus Scribner
- Alexandra Gonzalez voiced by Aimee Garcia
- Eugene Wong voiced by Vincent Tong
- Wilma Sledkin voiced by Carrie Keranen
- Linda voiced by D'arcy Carden
- Pete voiced by Keston John
- Olivia Kullersen (mentioned)
- Buzzsaw (mentioned)
Dragons[]
Dragon Species[]
Locations[]
- Kullersen Fissure
- ICARIS
- Big Dome
- General Store
- Jun's Dome
- Rakke Town
- Hidden World
- Nature Realm
- Desert Realm
- The Glass Structure
- Fire Realm (mentioned)
- Ice Realm (mentioned)
- Giant Realm (mentioned)
Objects[]
Flora and Fauna[]
Trivia[]
- During their search through books of mythology, Jun and Tom make the discovery that the dragon realms and the Nine Realms of Norse mythology are actually one and the same. Additionally, they came across information about a total of seven realms. The desert realm was Svartálfheim.
- This episode marks the debut of the seventh realm of the Hidden World, the Desert Realm.
