As humans, we crave control. We want to conquer every available resource, every patch of land, and every being on the planet. And to fill our greed, we are ready to go to any extent. Netflix’s German film, Firedrake the Silver Dragon fables a similar tale of human greed and blindness.
According to the fable, long ago, humans and dragons lived in perfect harmony. Until humans decided to take over the world consuming everything in their path. The mythical dragons tried to stop human madness, but instead, our ancestors waged war against them. To save their lives, the dragons scattered and started living in distant lands away from human wrath. But nothing remains hidden forever, isn’t it?
‘Firedrake the Silver Dragon’ Plot Summary
The film begins in modern times with a spirited young dragon, Firedrake. The silver dragon lives a mundane life in secluded woods with his tribe. The tribe leader, Bottleneck, doesn’t allow any dragon to breathe out the fire or fly to avoid unwanted human attention. But Firedrake, fascinated by dragon tales, wants to live a free-spirited dragon life.
The oldest Dragon in the tribe, Slatebeard, informs Firedrake about the legendary Rim of Heaven. A paradise for dragons on the other side of the world, where dragons live freely without human fear. An enchanted Firedrake dreams of discovering the Rim of Heaven one day. And his moment of adventure arrives when humans infiltrate the valley. A large team of construction workers arrives at the wooded valley for industrial development. Bottleneck orders the tribe to stay low and wait for the human to pass by. But a passionate Firedrake initiates a secret adventure with his best friend, Sorrel, forest brownie, to find a new haven for his tribe, probably the mythical “Rim of Heaven.”
On their quest, Firedrake and Sorrel land in a city to know the whereabouts of their destination. Near the docks, they encounter an orphan, Ben, running away from the police for stealing from a jewelry shop. Firedrake finds Ben dressed as a Dragon Rider and believes he could help him find the Rim of Heaven. The police arrive at the dock looking for Ben, and thus to save himself from an arrest, Ben flies away on Firedrake back with Sorrel. Slowly and interestingly, the lives of these three misfits become an enthralling adventure and unfold in unimaginable ways.
The threat of the Adversary – A Dragon Eating Monster “Nettlebrand.”
After humans declared war on dragons, an evil alchemist, Petrosius, created a dragon-killing monster, Nettlebrand. However, Petrosius failed to control the beast and was killed by his own creations. Nettlebrand began hunting dragons all over the world. The dragon monster was immune to dragon fire, and thus the dragons had no choice but to retreat into hiding. After losing their tracks, Nettlebrand took shelter in Petrosius’ castle but never dropped his desire to devour dragons.
In modern times, a dwarf, Gravelbeard, encountered Firedrake in the woods. The dwarf, spellbound by the presence of a dragon, quickly disclosed the information to his master, Nettlebrand. The dragon eater looking for some adventure and taste of Dragon, commanded his slave homunculus, Twigleg, to find the silver Dragon. The quest became intriguing as the dragon nemesis began hunting for Firedrake and his friends, Ben and Sorrel.
‘Firedrake the Silver Dragon’ Ending Explained
While on the hunt, Firedrake, Ben, and Sorrel crashed into a desert where they met an archaeological professor, Barnabas Greenbloom. Barnabas told them about “the Djinn with the thousand eyes,” who had the answer to any question in the world and would probably know the location of “Rim of Heaven.” The Djinn, however, played tricks and only revealed the flashes of the cave to Ben, who quickly forgot it in the nick of time.
Helpless and clueless, the gang arrived in India looking for Barnabas’s dracologist friend, Subisha Gulab.
Subisha revealed that Varin, the only human ever to ride a dragon, led the creatures to the Rim of Heaven when they were in retreat. Therefore, he sealed them with a unique key that was later stolen by their nemesis, Nettlebrand. Subisha also helped Ben remember the flashes of the location, and fortunately, the team found a spot in the Himalayas, called the crown peak.
However, when the team arrived, they found nothing except drawings of dragons on the walls. Irritated by the revelations, Ben deserted Firedrake and Sorrel. And to add drama to their emotional trauma, Nettlebrand attacked them. Ben found a piece of Nettlebrand’s armor and decoded the prophecy that had been underlined many times since the beginning of the film.
“When the rim of heaven is discovered, silver will be worth more than gold.”
According to Ben, Nettlebrand was a gold dragon eater, and Firedrake was the silver Dragon, and inside the Rim of Paradise, silver was worthier than gold. Using the fact, Ben convinced Firedrake that he could beat Nettlebrand. Finally, Firedrake realized his ultimate power and breathed out a silver frame that melted Nettlebrand into liquid.
Nettlebrand left behind a red diagonal gemstone that Sorrel picked up and inserted inside a mechanism. The gears shifted and revealed the paradise they had been looking for all along. Inside the heaven, Dragon flew freely and soared fire graciously, the way Firedrake heard in his folklores. Though Firedrake finally found his home, Ben, the orphan, felt lonely. Firedrake asked him to stay in paradise with them, or he could return to the human world. But in the human world, Ben had no one to look up to except Professor Barnabas Greenbloom. Professor had earlier offered to stay with his family, and Ben finally made the right choice.
After Ben found his closure, Firedrake and Sorrel returned to the wooded valley and stopped his clan from attacking the humans. The dragon tribe flew to paradise, and they met Ben with Barnabas’ family on their way to the Rim of Paradise. A happy ending and closure for each one, at last.
Firedrake the Silver Dragon (also known as Dragon Rider) is a 2021 German Animated film directed by Tomer Eshed. It is based on a novel, Dragon Rider, written by Cornelia Funke.
