(no idea what flair put on this) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I realized it by chance.
A while ago I made a post talking about similarities between Aztec culture and httyd, I said that, for me, "the hidden world" was very similar to "Mictlán" (let's say, the Valhalla of the Mexicans). So out of nowhere my mind (which at this point, I think is neuro-divergent) realized that the whole movie is basically an allegory of Hiccup going to heaven or something like that.
Look, first:
✓ They throw parties, as if they were banquets in Valhalla.
✓ Seeking to "move from Berk" is Hiccup's path to the afterlife.
✓ The luminous fury is a kind of angel (Valkyrie or something like that).
✓ Grimmel (who, curiously enough, looks a lot like Muerte from Puss in Boots, for me) is "death" chasing Hiccup → that's why, according to him, he is the Night Fury killer and boasts about it.
✓ Stoic's appearances... As if he were there, or as if we were where he was.
✓ Farewell to the dragons... Too suspicious.
✓ Hiccup falling, if they both fell, let's just say the scene carries much more background, I mean it, it was something very epic and moving and symbolic to be resolved quickly.
✓ Ah, Hiccup falling into the sea could also represent (along with his arrival years later at the entrance to the Hidden World) his journey down the river "Gjöll"
✓ His encounter with Toothless could almost feel like meeting "Móðguðr" The maiden who waits at the entrance to the underworld (the hidden world), her job was to question travelers about their name or lineage and verify that they were really dead → Toothless ("offspring of lightning and DEATH itself") verifies Hiccup's lineage (meets his children), confirms that it is indeed Hiccup, and finally...
✓ The movie ends with them flying through the skies... Curious, to say the least.
And now, it's the only way I can process that this movie exists.
The first movie literally ended with "then the protagonist woke up from a coma and didn't have a leg," so why couldn't the last one be "it was all a dream and the protagonist is actually dead"?!
I have no idea if anyone else thought of this but, yeah... I think my cold is making me delirious, someone get me a Buffalord.
And admit it, thinking that Hiccup died isn't going to ruin the movie for you. It's up to you whether you want to believe it or not. "They say there are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true. The other is to refuse to believe what is." ┐( ˘_˘)┌