Grimmel is not a brute. He is a dark mirror of Hiccup—a genius who claims to have killed every Night Fury except Toothless. He uses a "deathgripper" dragon army and psychological warfare. His goal is genocide: to exterminate all Night Furies and, by extension, all dragons. His presence forces Hiccup to realize that Berk is no longer safe. The title The Hidden World refers to a legendary cavern deep beneath the sea—a geological wonder that serves as the ancestral home of all dragons. Hiccup discovers a map to this location after a rescue mission. The Hidden World is visualized as a bioluminescent paradise: endless skies inside the earth, glowing crystals, waterfalls, and millions of dragons living in harmony.
Their relationship mirrors a human friendship where one friend falls in love and begins to drift away. The movie beautifully handles this by showing that true love (whether platonic or romantic) means allowing the other to grow. Grimmel is not a typical cartoon villain. Voiced brilliantly by F. Murray Abraham, he shares Hiccup’s intelligence, patience, and strategic mind. But where Hiccup used his intellect to save dragons, Grimmel used his to exterminate them. He reveals that he killed a Night Fury by exploiting its loyalty—just as Hiccup relies on Toothless’s loyalty. How to Train Your Dragon 3 - The Hidden World -...
One day, while sailing with his children, Hiccup spots a familiar shadow. Toothless—now an alpha with the Light Fury and their three hybrid babies (Night Lights)—arrives for a visit. The final scene shows Hiccup’s children touching the baby dragons, while Toothless nuzzles Hiccup. They can never live together again, but they can reunite. Grimmel is not a brute
In the books, Hiccup becomes a king. In the films, he becomes a man who understands that some things are more important than kingship—like the freedom of a friend. The ending of The Hidden World is devastating and uplifting simultaneously. It works because it earns its tragedy. The film spends 90 minutes showing that every attempt at permanent human-dragon cohabitation fails: hunters always come, dragons get hurt, and the Light Fury is proof that not all dragons want to be tamed. His goal is genocide: to exterminate all Night
By letting them go, Hiccup ensures that dragons survive. If they had stayed, Grimmel would have eventually won. The Hidden World is the only logical victory.
Grimmel captures the Light Fury and uses her as bait. He knows that Toothless will come for her, just as Hiccup would come for Toothless. This leads to the film’s darkest moment: Grimmel’s deathgrippers inject Toothless with a paralyzing venom. To save his friend, Hiccup forcibly removes Toothless’s automatic tail fin—the one he designed to give Toothless independence—and tells him to flee with the Light Fury.
Throughout the film, Toothless becomes distracted by his natural instincts. He performs elaborate mating dances, creates a nest, and repeatedly flies off to be with the Light Fury. For the first time, Hiccup is not the center of Toothless’s world. This creates tension: Hiccup feels jealous and lost, while Toothless experiences an independence he never had since losing his tail fin.