In Game Of Thrones: House Of The Dragon we experience King Viserys Targaryen not only worn down by the political intrigues and personal strokes of fate, but also physically not in particularly good shape. The injuries he repeatedly sustained on the Iron Throne healed poorly or not at all – two fingers had to be amputated. And he’s also plagued by ulcers on his back that won’t heal. The good man doesn’t look all that fit either…
What about the ongoing Injuries to the Iron Throne we have already explained in detail in another article: This happened more often with the Targaryens, the throne “eats” bad rulers, so to speak. But why do the king’s wounds heal so badly? And why doesn’t he seem to be in particularly good physical shape in general, for example didn’t show himself to be in top form during the hunt in episode 3 and seems to be in pain? Viserys actor Paddy Considine explained this in the “Game Of Thrones” podcast West of Westeros from Entertainment Weekly.
“Viserys suffers from a form of leprosy. His body crumbles, his bones crumble. He’s actually not old. He’s still a young man here. Unfortunately, he just has this thing taking over his body. It will a metaphor for what it means to be king and the stress and strain of it and what it does to you physically and mentally.”according to Considine.
So while the cuts on the throne tell something about Viserys not being an able king, his health shows how strained his office is and that he is about to break under the burden – his body already is.
It shouldn’t be a secret that Viserys will ultimately die in “House Of The Dragon” – after all, the series is primarily about the question of his succession to the throne and the civil war “Dance of the Dragons”, which this will later spark.
While Viserys, having given up hope of a male heir, has named his daughter Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) as his heir, many inside and outside the royal court are clamoring for Viserys’s now-born son, Aegon, to be the next king . So Rhaenyra and Aegon will fight for the throne in the future. But does Viserys die of his illness? Warning, spoilers follow!
» “Fire & Blood”: The book template for “House Of The Dragon” on Amazon*
George RR Martin does not name a clear cause of death for the Targaryen king in the series template “Fire and Blood”. He does not suffer from any illness in the bookwhich was invented for the series to make Viserys’ suffering more vivid – although the injuries to the throne are also present in the book and they are even more severe than in the series.
Whether Viserys’ death was related to them is left open, but his condition worsens as the cuts begin to accumulate in his advanced age. In the book Viserys dies in his sleep – the exact reasons remain unknown.
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