Following the success of How To Train Your Dragon, the production team put four years of work into a sequel to live up to the high expectations that grew from the first installment. After the exuberance of youth, the characters' journey should now go deeper and darker around the themes of mystery, loss and discovery.

Composer John Powell incorporated themes from the previous film in a way that aimed for a flawless evolution of the musical landscape. He saw his score as an opportunity to reflect on the maturation of characters in music. There are new themes for the villain Drago, the mysterious Valka and the alpha dragon. For the finishing touches, he co-wrote two songs with Icelandic back-up musician Jón Þór Birgisson ("Jónsi"): the Courting Song and Where No One Goes.