KentuckyWildcat

08 May 2014, 21:10

I'm not sure I agree with that assessment based on what we've seen so far.

First off, I don't think she was ever primarily motivated by violence so much as a sense of honor and a desire to be the best at everything. Sure she was really eager to kill dragons when we first saw her, but that was what the Hooligans did at the time. The dragon slayers were among the most esteemed citizens of Berk, and given her natural athleticism, she wasn't going to let anyone be a better dragon killer than herself, especially the village screw-up who prior to the start of training had caused far more problems than he ever solved. I never got the idea that she had a bloodlust to satisfy. They expanded the idea further in the TV series by revealing that one of her biggest motivations was to regain her family honor after her uncle was unfairly labelled a coward long ago, which I thought was a really nice touch.

Now that things have moved forward five years, I don't see that she's fundamentally changed very much, her situation is just different. Killing dragons is no longer the order of the day, so she's moved on to being the best dragon rider possible as evidenced by her apparent dominance of the dragon races. It is possible that being in a more mature relationship with Hiccup will bring out her soft, caring side a bit more in certain instances, but she's always been capable of such emotions. I find that to be a believable maturation. Finally, judging by the Eret clip and the various photos of her brandishing an axe, it still looks like she's more than capable of getting her hands dirty if need be. I have some concerns about some things in the sequel, but Astrid's characterization isn't really one of them.