| “ | Jun, hang on. I've been thinking about what your mom said, that you can't survive in the real world. You did more than survive today, you saved my life, maybe the dragons' too. So, the next time your mom comes at you about reading your stories, just pretend like you have your shield with you, and deflect her words. | ” |
| — Tom assuring Jun that her mom was wrong about her |
"Ride or Die" is the second episode of the third season of Dragons: The Nine Realms.
Overview[]
| “ | After a fight with her mom, Jun joins Tom on an adventure into the Fire Realm, where her knowledge of myths saves the day. | ” |
| — Rotten Tomatoes[1] |
Plot[]
May finds Jun reading up on the mythical Medusa and is frustrated her daughter is wasting her time on "storybooks." Jun protests that the myths have a real origin, but her mother disapproves of her interests, believing they won't help her have a successful life, and reveals she has signed up Jun for a junior CEO course. Jun argues that she doesn't want to live the same life as May, but May snaps that she can't survive in the real world if she doesn't live in it, deeply hurting Jun.
Jun heads to the Dragon's Lair where she discovers that Alex has finally perfected the fire suits using the Monstrous Nightmare Gel. Jun is eager to start exploring the Fire Realm, but only two suits have been completed and it'll take a few days for Alex to finish the rest. Seeing how upset Jun is and learned she wanted to explore the Fire Realm to clear her head, everyone agrees to let Tom and Jun explore on their own to help her out. Meanwhile, Olivia is trying to figure out what the crystal she found while exploring with Tom is and Sledkin convinces her to share what she knows. Olivia explains where she found the crystal and reveals it is harder than a diamond, leading Sledkin to scheme to find more for herself.
Tom and Jun and their dragons explore the Fire Realm and discover it is steaming with all kinds of wildlife adapted to the lava and heat. Tom asks Jun what's bothering her and Jun explains her mom's refusal to understand her. While taking a break, they see something shining and discover a metal shield; additional proof humans have been to the hidden world. Meanwhile, back at the Dragon's Lair, D'Angelo and Alex are just playing with their dragons, when they get an alarm and discover Sledkin leading a pair of miners to try and dig into the Dragon's Lair in search of more crystals. D'Angelo has Plowhorn blast the covered entrance to trick the miners into thinking the cave is unstable, but Sledkin pushes them to keep working when she catches a glimpse of a crystal.
In the Fire Realm, Tom and Jun decide to head back when they can't find anything else and begin running out of water to stay hydrated. Before they leave, they see a group of new dragons they name Flame Throwers hunting a Terrible Terror. Jun wants to help the Terror, but Tom isn't as sure, believing that it's the way of nature and they don't have the right to choose between which dragon gets eaten and which one starves. However, Jun points out that the Terror is from the Crystal Realm and not the natural prey for the Flame Throwers, giving them a reason to intervene. At the Dragon's Lair, Alex has Feathers howl to further scare the miners, but Sledkin remains undeterred and has them keep digging. Tom and Jun rescue the Terror, but the Flame Throwers give chase and Tom drops the shield on a ridge during the escape. The group gets stuck on a ledge and chase the Flame Throwers off, but Tom realizes the pack dragons will be back with reinforcements and Thunder and Wu and Wei are exhausted from the chase. Jun apologizes for putting them into the situation, fearing her mom was right about her, but Tom encourages her and asks her to tell one of her myths to pass the time while they rest. Reminded of the story of Medusa, Jun gets an idea of how to escape.
Alex and D'Angelo finally scare off the miner's using Feather's cloaking to frighten them away. After resting for a bit, Tom discovers Jun went after the shield alone on foot and the Flame Throwers return before they can go looking for her. When the Flame Throwers surround Tom and Thunder, Jun returns with the shield and uses its reflecting glare to hold the Flame Throwers at bay until they are called away by an unknown roar. They return to the Dragon's Lair where D'Angelo treats the Terror's injuries and Tom and Jun show them the shield. He asks Jun how she thought of using the shield and she explains she got the idea from the story of Medusa. The group decides to keep the shield in the Dragon's Lair and Tom advises Jun not to let her mom bother her and that she proved her wrong today by saving them.
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
- May Wong voiced by Lauren Tom
- Olivia Kullersen voiced by Julia Stiles
- Wilma Sledkin voiced by Carrie Keranen
- ICARIS Miners voiced by John Lavelle and Roger Craig Smith
Dragons[]
Dragon Species[]
- Night Light
- Mist Twister
- Gembreaker
- Featherhide
- Monstrous Nightmare
- Terrible Terror
- Flame Thrower
- Sky Torcher (sound)
Locations[]
- Kullersen Fissure
- ICARIS
- Jun's Dome
- Dragon's Lair
- Hidden World
- Fire Realm
Objects[]
Flora and Fauna[]
Trivia[]
- The introduction of a Viking shield in this episode is an inconsistency since no humans were supposed to have ever entered the Hidden World after the events of the third film.
- Alex states in this episode, that Tom’s Fire Suit is the first fully-functional Dragon Rider Fire suit. Unknown to her and the other Dragon Club riders, however, this is incorrect, as the Viking dragon riders of Berk designed their own fireproof suits centuries prior.
- The unknown roar that called the Flame Thrower away was later revealed to be the Sky Torcher.
- The Fire Realm seems to be similar to the Nether Dimension from the video game Minecraft. Both having:
- A sea of lava.
- Creatures able to withstand high temperatures and swim in lava, some also being hostile and neutral.
- Bright and colourful fireproof plants, some of which are both blue.
