Finally had a chance to see How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. Like the first two, it’s pervaded with a sense of wondrous beauty and aching loss. The villain, Grimmel the Grisly, is a dragon hunter. As a boy, he killed a Night Fury in its sleep and was praised as a hero by his village. Ever after, he has devoted his life to the extermination of all Night Furies. He is aided by the Deathgrippers, a lethal breed of dragons he’s enslaved:
“They’re dragon killers, drugged into obedience with their own venom.”
That line keeps echoing in my mind. I’m already prone to melancholy, but the bittersweet climax followed and it’s joyous coda struck a chord . Then I sat through the credits, of course, watching as the names of dozens and dozens and dozens scrolled by. Dear friends, work friends, acquaintances, and people I only ever know by their login names.