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This is the page for the Riders of Berk episode. You may be looking for the annual festival and games.


Every year on Berk, we come together to test our strength and courage in the annual Thawfest Games. For some of us, it is not such a great time of year. In fact, I've lost every single time to that guy. But this year, all that could change. This year, I finally have a chance to win! Because for the first time ever, this year, the Thawfest Games will include... Dragons!
  Hiccup  

"Thawfest" is the twelfth episode of Dragons: Riders of Berk. It aired on the 28th of November 2012.

Overview[]

Hiccup challenges Snotlout during the Thawfest Games, but when beating him, his victory starts going to his head.

Major Events[]

  • Spitelout Jorgenson is officially introduced as Snotlout's dad.
  • The Thawfest Games are introduced.

Synopsis[]

Hiccup trying to pull a tree out of the ground

Berk is preparing for the annual Thawfest games, which will test the Riders' strength, courage, and endurance. Some of the Riders feel it isn't a great time of the year, especially Hiccup. For years, Hiccup has lost to Snotlout in every single game, but Hiccup feels confident that this year's Thawfest will finally give him the opportunity to beat Snotlout, because this Thawfest now includes dragons.

After Gobber announces it to the Riders in the Academy, Snotlout and Hookfang arrive and Snotlout shows off all of his prior Thawfest victory medals, gloating to the Riders and especially Hiccup. Snotlout explains to them that each of his family members, the Jorgensons, have won every single Thawfest game for generations and Snotlout is confident he too can conquer the competition with his dragon, and they leave.

Hours later, while Hiccup is gearing up Toothless for the Thawfest games, Stoick comes upstairs to check on him and they have an awkward chat, but the two of them are focused on dominating the competition over the Jorgensons.

As the race is about to start

The next day, Stoick commences the Thawfest games and hundreds of Berk's spectators cheer in excitement. Bucket and Mulch, who are the score recorders of each contestant, commence the first game, the Sheep Lug, which requires the Riders to race to the finish line while carrying a sheep on their shoulders. Snotlout and Astrid make an early lead, with Hiccup falling behind, who watches behind Fishlegs and the Twins struggling to race. Snotlout comes in first place, with Astrid as second, and Hiccup tries to go for the third but is unable to lift the sheep any longer and collapses. As a result, Snotlout scores a point, with none of the other Riders gaining one. Snotlout then begins to mock Hiccup with his defeat.

The second game, the Log Roll, requires the Riders to stay on a rolling log as long as possible with the winner being the last one still on the log. Very quickly, Fishlegs knocks out Astrid causing them both to fall, while Ruffnut and Tuffnut also fall off. Hiccup and Snotlout still remain but Hiccup gives in and falls off leaving Snotlout the victor.


Ready for the axe throwing contest

The third and last game for the Riders, Axe Throwing, requires the Riders to take an axe and accurately throw it at a target barrel. Snotlout quickly throws his axe, in a perfect shot. Astrid and Fishlegs both throw their axes at the same time causing them to collide and fail. The Twins both miss wildly, throwing one axe at Stoick, the other into the crowd. Hiccup, barely managing to uphold his own axe, attempts his throw which seems to glide straightly but does not have enough power for the axe to make it to the target and falls short. Snotlout then single-handedly throws axes at some of the remaining targets while turned backwards, and all make a perfect shot, impressing his father and the crowd. Hiccup bitterly mutters: "show-off". The point is awarded to Snotlout, and Snotlout's father, Spitelout Jorgenson, mocks Stoick's son to give up the medal and avoid embarrassment by his son, but Stoick counters by commanding that Spitelout take a seat; the latter is left speechless. Gobber advises Stoick to just ignore him.

Hiccup looks at the rankings and finds himself, as per usual, in last for the physical challenges. As Snotlout sees him looking, he begins to mock him for his lack of ability. Hiccup responds back by saying that tomorrow's Thawfest dragon events will change everything, to which Snotlout replies that he can't wait. Astrid then asks Hiccup why he is so caught up in defeating Snotlout. Hiccup explains that he always comes last in everything, and it would just be nice, now that he has an actual talent in Dragon Training, to be able to defeat Snotlout just once. Astrid shrugs and remarks that it might be nice to see someone else claim the victory medal. Even so, she narrows her eyes as she sees how Hiccup has started gloating, and expresses a warning to him not to get too caught up in the whole competition.

Getting stuck under the first hurdle

The next day, Mulch announces and commences the first dragon event, the Hurdles, which requires the teens' dragons to go under a number of hurdles and make it to the end with running into any of them. Snotlout still feels confident that his dragon can dominate the event. Fishlegs and Meatlug go first but fail to make it under the first hurdle, as they can't fit through. The Twins and Barf and Belch charge in without thinking it out first, and one head goes over the hurdle while the other goes under it. Astrid and Stormfly almost make it through but they hit one of the hurdles and fail. Snotlout and Hookfang are next, and Hookfang flies straight through, however, Hookfang is flying too low and Snotlout's head keeps hitting the hurdles. Hiccup and Toothless quickly show them how it's done as they glide under all the hurdles and do not hit a single one, earning Hiccup his very first Thawfest point.

As a result, Hiccup cheers happily for his first victory, and at first Astrid and Fishlegs are happy for him. Hiccup realizes he likes beating Snotlout and shows signs of gloating. Astrid and Fishlegs are left concerned for Hiccup. Snotlout arrives telling Hiccup to not get too excited as there are still two more events. But with victory in his hands, Hiccup now mocks Snotlout and Snotlout just leaves, and Astrid is a bit disgusted by Hiccup.

Astrid performing her trick

Mulch commences the second event, the Free Style, which requires the Riders to come up with an eye-catching and impressive display of their dragon, in an effort to impress the judges. The Twins and Fishlegs all struggle in showing their display perfectly and are only awarded a few points by the judges. Astrid and Stormfly put up a show by doing their Balance Dance, which impresses the judges. Hiccup and Toothless, however, give the judges a stunning display of a flight and astounding aerial maneuvers, and the judges are utterly impressed, awarding him a perfect score. Snotlout and Hookfang set up huge rings for their recently made-up display called the Rings of Deadly Fire. Hiccup expresses a bit of concern that if Snotlout wins this he'll take home the medal. Snotlout's display requires Hookfang to fly straight into the Rings as he sets them on fire, but Hookfang breaks as he cannot risk going into the flaming rings, causing his Rider to eject and collide onto the rings, burning his pants. The judges award him with no points. Spitelout now feels the same embarrassment and disappointment Stoick had with his son.

After a short break, Snotlout reflects as he is now close to losing the Thawfest games. Hiccup starts to mock him by informing him of his father's anger. Snotlout responds that he still doubts that Hiccup has a shot of beating him and the two argue. Astrid arrives asking what all the commotion was about, and Hiccup tells her that he was just 'rattling cages', which Astrid has never seen Hiccup do before.

Hookfang going crazy

Moments later the third event is introduced, The Fly and Shoot. This event requires the Riders' dragons to shoot wooden images of enemy Outcasts that pop up but must spare the friendlies that pop up along the way. Hiccup and Toothless take down their enemies and spares citizens swiftly and are in the lead. Snotlout and Hookfang encounter their first enemy and Hookfang puts it into flames, but also hits one of the flour bags, which gets powder all over Hookfang's nose, and causes him to sneeze, shooting unwanted bursts of fire, devastating the testing field as he burns anything that springs up. Consequently, Snotlout loses the final event, giving the third point to Hiccup, resulting for the first time ever, a tie.

To break the tie, the two contestants, Hiccup and Snotlout will have to participate in a special dragon and physical event that will determine who will take home the medal. Hiccup and Snotlout then continue their dispute with each other, but Hiccup wins over Snotlout by mocking his family's reputation of the possibility of their first loss at Thawfest, and Snotlout leaves. Hiccup continues to mock him, and Astrid is disgusted by his behavior, but Hiccup still fails to realize he is so caught up in beating Snotlout. Astrid just tells him that she'd always liked the old Hiccup better, telling him that he was a gracious loser and that she was surprised he was such a lousy winner.

Later at night in Gobber's smithy, Hiccup is improving Toothless' gear as much as he can while gloating to himself that he can be a great winner, failing to realize what Astrid meant about him being a 'lousy winner'. Hiccup finishes the new gear and attaches it onto Toothless and says that it will give him a tremendous boost of agility and speed for tomorrow's final event, and then says that Snotlout has no chance now at winning the final event.

Because it never happened

The next day before the final event starts, Hiccup is greeted by Stoick to wish him luck for the final event, and on the other side, Spitelout greets his son and warns him that no Jorgenson has ever come close to losing the Thawfest games and hints to Snotlout that he will not tolerate it if Snotlout becomes the first to do so. Snotlout is left deeply worried but presses on.

The Obstacle course race, which Gobber explains, requires Hiccup and Snotlout to first race through the Log Dodge and the Cliff Climb before they can reach their dragons, who are waiting on top of the cliff. There they are to mount up and race around a prepared course, to which the finish line is back at the Academy, and the first to cross first is the winner. Hiccup and Snotlout prepare for their foot race, and when it starts, Snotlout buys himself some time by pushing Hiccup away for an early start. Snotlout quickly overcomes the Log Dodge and moves to the Cliff climb where two Vikings throw large rocks at them to thwart their advance, but Snotlout pushes through it, mounts Hookfang, and hurriedly flies away. Hiccup also overcomes the Log Dodge quickly but struggles to climb his way up the cliff, almost falling and only saving it because of his metal leg, and makes it to Toothless. Now, they have to catch up to Snotlout and Hookfang by using Toothless' racing gear.

Toothless' Tail in Thawfest

After flying past the marked ship, Hiccup sets Toothless' improved tail, and shoots across the ocean, catching up to Snotlout and Hookfang. However, as they go through the sea stack maze, Hiccup and Toothless are blocked by Snotlout and Hookfang in an attempt to halt their advance. Hiccup and Toothless attempt to move to the side, but the two dragons briefly collide with each other. When they regain control, they find themselves heading to an intersection, and they only have seconds to decide which path to take as they will collide into the sea stack. Snotlout and Hookfang manage to take the short route while Hiccup is forced to take the longer route. Hiccup and Toothless fly overhead seeing that Snotlout and Hookfang are closing in on the finish line, and they hurriedly go into a dive to catch up.

Snotlout and Hookfang's speed, however, is no match for Hiccup and Toothless' and they are about to be passed. However, Hiccup notices Snotlout worrying that he can't afford to lose, because of what his father might do. Hiccup suddenly has an epiphany and realizes what Astrid meant. Hiccup apologizes to his father to himself and closes Toothless' tail, forcing them to make a skidding but safe landing in the woods beyond the stadium. The crowd thinks Hiccup and Toothless are having difficulties, but Astrid recognizes with a smile that Hiccup threw the race. Meanwhile, with Hiccup and Toothless backing down, Snotlout and Hookfang make it to the finish line first.

Hiccup and Toothless follow, and the two dismount for a declaration of the winner. Hiccup commends Snotlout on his flying and Snotlout comments to Hiccup that he put on a good fight, but then he starts to mock Hiccup again by saying it wasn't enough to beat him. As Stoick announces the closing of perhaps one of the most unforgettable Thawfest games ever held, Stoick declares Snotlout the champion and the winner of this year's Thawfest and gives him the medal. Snotlout runs around cheering his name in victory and his father joins in. Stoick is not at all disappointed with Hiccup and gives his son a warm smile, clearly proud of his performance.

Astrid hiccup thawfest kiss

Astrid watches Snotlout and Hiccup, then approaches Hiccup saying she saw what he did. Hiccup pretends he has no clue of what she's saying and states that he lost as usual. Astrid tells him that she knew he threw the race, though Hiccup still denies it and says that Snotlout was just 'the Better Viking' today, Astrid tells Hiccup that no one was a better Viking than him today and then gives him a kiss.

Hiccup watches on as Snotlout and his father rekindle their father and son relationship. Hiccup accepts his defeat and states that being a good friend is more important than winning.

Some things never change. But I guess certain things are more important than winning–like being a good friend. Even if the friend is that guy!
  — Hiccup  


Errors[]

  • The first axe Snotlout threw in the axe throwing competition disappears during the rest of the scene.
  • The logs from Snotlout's run through the obstacle course disappear when it is Hiccup's turn.

Trivia[]

  • Astrid kisses Hiccup for the first time in the TV series
  • This is the first episode of the series where we see Spitelout Jorgenson
  • We finally see the rivalry of Hookfang and Toothless' relationship.
  • Bucket believes every day is a good day for lugging sheep.
  • According to Hiccup, Snotlout started their rivalry when they were five.
  • Thawfest bears some similarities to the Thors'day Thursday celebrations described in the How to Train Your Dragon books.
    • Additionally, in both of them, Snotlout and Hiccup are very evenly matched in the final score. In the book, however, this is due to Toothless getting the entire class disqualified and banished instead of actual skill on Hiccup's part.

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