LJF

kingofthewilderwest Answer:

It’s interesting to see peoples’ thoughts regarding Astrid and the chiefdom! You’re not the only one for sure who’s wanted Astrid to take the chiefdom rather than Hiccup. 

Personally, for me, I am very thankful she is not. You are totally one hundred and ten percent free to disagree with me, but I’ll yammer below some of my personal thoughts of why Astrid should not be chief. While you feel like Hiccup becoming chief is a cliché ending, for me Astrid becoming chief would be a cop-out to Hiccup’s character development. The very fact he doesn’t want it actually appeals to me more… it’s quite a bit like how the real world works.

Also check out this analysis by astridthenadderqueen. I agree with it wholeheartedly and will likely bring in some similar points here, too. 

Astrid’s Role as a Supporter

Ever since Hiccup and Astrid were teenagers, Astrid has demonstrated she is not just a competitive, athletically adept young woman, but also someone with the capabilities of being a great supporter. She is someone capable of listening to another individual, encouraging them to grow and follow their path, and stands behind their decisions - even when she would have not made that decision herself. 

For instance, in HTTYD, Astrid at first scoffs at Hiccup for not telling Stoick about the Red Death’s nest just “to protect [his] pet dragon.” However, as soon as Hiccup states very affirmatively, “Yes,” she decides to go along with his convictions. Instead of arguing, she asks, “Okay. Then what do we do?” She consciously chooses to go along with his plans and his course of action, even though it is exactly what she would not have done. Astrid would have told Stoick about the Dragon’s Nest had she alone found it. However, instead, she lets Hiccup come up with his own plan and stand up for his own beliefs, for she realizes that the dragons mean so very much to him.

Thus we see her again encouraging him to do well right before he enacts that plan in the Kill Ring scene. And even when Hiccup’s plan fails, she does not say, “I told you so,” but talks to him again with the intent to encourage him. Astrid points out Hiccup is extraordinary for being the first Viking to ride a dragon, and that it was not a personal failing on his part not to kill a dragon. She never gives him the solution to his problem, but is right behind him when he decides to do “something crazy”.

And ever after, this is how Astrid rolls. She has a lot of intelligence and a very strong will, but she also has the incredible ability of bringing out others’ potentials, particularly Hiccup’s. Astrid’s personality is not one of a leader in the forefront (though she can lead, as we have seen in the television series and the second movie). Rather, Astrid’s personality is the supporter, the confidante, the confidence builder. What she does is just as important, if not moreso, than actually taking the lead. But Astrid is not the one whose abilities best match taking the wheel directly.

Even in How to Train Your Dragon 2 when Astrid hears Hiccup has been asked to be chief, she tells Hiccup it is “an honor.” She is not expressing she wants to be chief at all; rather, she is seeing Stoick’s decision to make Hiccup chief as the honor it is. She emphasizes to Hiccup that he is missing the point when Stoick tries to get his son to be Berk’s next leader, and rather than sounding bitter or at all upset about Hiccup getting the position rather than she, she tries to find a way to make the transition easier for Hiccup. Astrid mentions she can fly Toothless for Hiccup because he will be so busy. So Astrid is trying to help her boyfriend become the chief. She is being the supporter she has always been. 

It is true Hiccup does not at all want to be chief. But just because Astrid sees the honor in being chief does not mean she wants it for herself. Rather, all evidence points to the fact she thinks that Hiccup will be a good leader and that she is willing to help him get there. She sees in him his potential even when he does not.

Astrid is the supporter behind the chief, and she is far stronger in her abilities here than as chief herself. I will talk a bit more about what makes a good leader later… but first… let’s get to Hiccup’s character arc.

Hiccup’s Growth into a Hero

The book series describes Hiccup’s journey as “becoming a Hero the Hard Way.” What is interesting about Hiccup is he is not only reluctant to become the king he is destined to be, but in many ways, he is completely unwilling. However, Hiccup becomes a leader even though, in his ideal world, he would never become it. Hiccup realizes that he has to stand up to his moral convictions, and through that grows to be an amazing man.

Ever since I heard fan theories before HTTYD 2 came out, and people postulated either Hiccup or Astrid would be chief, I prayed fervently it would not be Astrid. It would eat away at the central theme of the book series, and it would throw in a huge rough spot of movie!Hiccup’s character arc as well. However, the storyline of HTTYD 2 does not do that at all; so many points of Hiccup’s life, from meeting Valka to confronting Drago to everything in between, is a wonderful channel toward Hiccup becoming chief in the end.

Here comes a long explanation of how the plotline is all completely about Hiccup becoming chief, and why the storyline would suffer if that were turned aside.

The writers set up in the early Hiccstrid scene the seeds of the becoming-chief plot. Hiccup expresses that he does not know who he is as a person, and that he does not want to be chief because he is not into giving speeches and running the village. This suggests that, during the course of HTTYD 2, Hiccup will find out who he is, including his role into the chiefdom. Even him bringing up not knowing his mother is hugely important.

Never forget the line, “ I’m not like you. You know exactly who you are. You always have. I’m still looking. I know that I’m not my father… and I never met my mother…. so, what does that make me?” It is so very much the key to Hiccup’s growth. 

Hiccup lacks a bit of responsibility early in the film. Okay, a lot of responsibility. He might have revolutionized Berk for the better, being key in building the underground dragon stalls and the aqueduct system, but at the same time, he has no problem running away as soon as his father even suggests he be a leader. Hiccup literally flies off Berk to avoid his father talking about being chief. And he completely skips work with Gobber, which frankly does not seem like a first-time occurrence. 

Still, despite this rawness, despite this not-fully-responsible boyhood he is in, Hiccup shows the seeds of being a leader. People know he can do it from his teenaged years, yet Hiccup is incredibly caught up about the fact he is nothing like his father, which he feels translates into not being a good chief. And Hiccup still shows that he has the conviction to care about Berk and help them early in the film. He takes charge talking to Eret even when Stoick does not want him to. This shows that Hiccup might have some inklings of being a leader, but he is not yet there. 

So we see him grate against his father. This points back to the quote, “I know that I’m not my father.” In a deleted scene, Hiccup even balks, “If you want me to be chief, you’ve got to let me do it my way!”

That’s setting up his growth for sure. 

And then he goes to his mother. Seeing her is a dream come true. Though there is initial awkwardness in meeting her, Hiccup quickly gets exuberant to have a family member who is such a dragon lover, too. Mother and son see how they are alike, and Valka tries to encourage Hiccup to spend his life going around exploring the world and finding every dragon species out there. Hiccup thinks that sounds great.

Problem: as fun of a life as that would be for Hiccup, it is not who he is either. When Hiccup rambles he is not like his father and he has never met his mother, it is clear now that Hiccup is not his mother, either. He cannot just run away from Berk. That is irresponsible. And even while Valka’s offer is tempting, Hiccup in some ways know this cannot be the answer, either; he wants his mom to come and talk to Drago, too, who is Berk’s major problem at the time.

Hiccup finally finds the complete answer to who he is during his father’s funeral when his mother says, “You have the heart of a chief and the soul of a dragon.”

We finally answer the question, “What does that make me?” that Hiccup poses at the start of the film. Hiccup is the fusion of mother and father. He is both the chief his father is and the dragon his mother is. He is neither of them and both of them. He is the bridge between the dragon world and the human world.

He is Berk’s chief.

Hiccup is correct from the start he is not the type of chief his father is. He is more revolutionary and different. Hiccup does not want to be chief because he thinks he cannot be as great as his father… but the entire point is that Berk needs Hiccup, someone who is different, someone who is not a prototypical Viking.

So this entire movie is about Hiccup’s growth into being what he has always had the potential of being: a great leader. And every key point in this movie in Hiccup’s plotline is about him becoming that leader. For no one else can take the position except for Hiccup. 

Hiccup realizes that. The story is one of his personal growth and taking up an adulthood that he might not desire. That is important. Hiccup is forced to be chief… but this very forced situation is what makes him such a great and laudable man in the end of the story. He learns to take responsibility, to act according to his convictions of saving men and dragons, because he has to. He finds out who he is and becomes a Hero the Hard Way.

To take that away from Hiccup is to take away the very center of his characterization. Hiccup never becomes actualized as a hero if he does not take up the mantle of leadership. And it must be through leadership that Hiccup takes up the heroic mantle. This is because Hiccup otherwise would be flying around with Valka, finding dragons, or mapping the world. Hiccup needs an outside force channeling him into who he must be for him to truly grow.

What makes us grow, honestly, is often as not what we don’t decide to do as what we do decide. What is important is that Hiccup takes what he is forced to be - a chief - and takes the responsibility, blossoming in the process. If Astrid became chief, we cop out of Hiccup’s entire characterization plot arc… we take out the very meat and juice of the plot and the morals and the theme of the movie.

The theme of the movie is to become an adult. To stand up for what you believe in, even when you otherwise would not. To take on the mantle of responsibility whether or not you feel ready. The theme is becoming a Hero the Hard Way.

And even if it is, in some ways, predictable Hiccup becomes a chief, the very journey of it has many shocking and satisfying bumps. It is stronger a story, at the very least, than blocking Hiccup from that growth and installing a different chief instead.

What Makes a Good Leader

What Berk needs is someone to bridge the gap between humans and dragons. In a world where dragons can be a threat and men like Drago are a threat as well, the Hairy Hooligans need a man who can handle both species. As Valka remarks, “Only you can bring our worlds together.” 

Only Hiccup is qualified to be the chief.

Astrid is not honestly good chief material. She is too temperamental and far too quick to fight. Think about Astrid first hopping on Eret’s boat. She pulled out her axe. Rather than being diplomatic, Astrid wanted to fight. And when she is captured by Drago, she threatens him and provokes him… one of the major reasons he decides to attack Berk. We don’t want that in a leader.

She might be a good encourager and an incredible support for others, but she is far more a conventional Viking, not a revolutionary but an adept Viking within her society. As smart and as strong and as respected as Astrid is, she does not have the Vision Hiccup does. Even when she helps Eret like dragons, she is working under Hiccup’s Vision.

And truly great leaders have Vision. Hiccup sees a world of Vikings and dragons united, and he is willing to stand up for it. He is willing to think out of the box, stand for peace, but also fight as need be. 

We might want to go to Astrid because she has many great capabilities. She might have appeal and she might have some good leadership traits. However, she does not have the ability to stand up for a self-created Vision and build that as a rallying point. Astrid is better at taking an already-made vision and implementing it.

I do not think Astrid would be a horrible chief. And you can certainly still argue as you will about where she succeeded. But here is why I think that it is a very good thing that the authors never wrote her in as the leader. The entire plot is about Hiccup growing from a somewhat irresponsible, uncertain young man who does not know his identity… to someone forced into his identity and takes his convictions to become truly great.