I’ve been preparing myself for the How to Train Your Dragon 3 trailer since last week. This is a franchise on the merit of its first two movies and the mere prospect of the third could be considered Top 10 Film Trilogies of all time. And I still wasn’t ready when I clicked play on the trailer. I knew I was going to get emotional, but on this quiet Thursday moment in the office, my heart was suddenly racing at the sight of the dragons taking flight and my eyes got all misty as it hit me that this was going to be the end of an era.

How to Train Your Dragon started out simply as a coming-of-age story where a boy (Hiccup) and his dragon (Toothless) that won my heart over with its absolutely beautiful animation. How to Train Your Dragon 2 elevated the world building, up the stakes, and expanded the map and you know we’re escalating for the epic conclusion. There are three central plot points that The Hidden World will be covering:

There is a hidden world of dragons and the environmental design is as fantastical as ever.

Toothless is going to get a girlfriend and it’s going to be utterly adorable seeing the Night Fury and the Light Fury go through the dating process with Hiccup as the awkward wingman.

And finally after defeating a Dragon Slaver in the second film, Hiccup is about to go toe to with a Dragon Slayer who killed all the Night Furies in the world except one. And you know Hiccup isn’t going to stand for that.

It’s been such a joyous journey watching Hiccup revolutionizing Berk into a Viking/Dragon utopia. His character development alongside Toothless and Astrid has created a great example of an empathic action hero who surrounds himself with positive influences. Hearing his rousing speech near the end of the trailer just makes me giddy.

It’s sad to see such a beloved franchise come to the end. While there is still a chance for additional films and spin offs, the marketing feels pretty conclusive. An era is coming to the end. Dragons are going off the grid. Dreamworks is going out exactly how they entered: dynamic flight sequences, beautiful artwork, and a whole lot of heart.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World comes out March 1, 2019.

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