We’ve known for a while that Viserys I’s health was only going to get worse. Still, it was heartbreaking to see him as an unsound ghost of himself, kept alive by timely doses of pain sedatives. By the end of Episode 8, it was clear that the king was not going to make it through the night.
The show has had Viserys-death scares before. So is this final, is King Viserys I really dead?
After dining with his whole family for one last time, King Viserys I dies in HOTD Ep 8 in the year 127 AC. The cause of his death is presumed to be leprosy which has deteriorated his body.
Rhaenrya and family come to Kings Landing to rebut Vaemond Velaryon’s contentions about Lucerys’ legitimacy to the Driftmark throne in front of the King. When she and Daemon visit Viserys, however, she finds that her father has been rendered physically immobile and mentally dazed after being constantly fed Milk of the Poppy.
After failing to gain any further votes in her favor, Rhaenyra expresses how helpless she feels to her father. Her words get through his cloudy mind, and the next day, Viserys shows up to the court to settle the matter once and for all.
He reaffirms that Rhaenrya’s children with Laenor are legitimate, as is her claim to the throne.
With the Milk of the Poppy out of his system for a few hours, he sees things more clearly and expresses to have one last dinner with his entire family. At the dinner, he talks about how much he loves them and beseeches them to stop harboring any animosity against each other.
Hearing him, Rhaenyra raises her glass to Alicent for being a loving, dutiful wife, while Alicent once again accepts Rhaenyra as the realm’s next queen. Despite the kids’ quarrels, this could’ve been a happy ending that would’ve ensured the Targaryen civil war did not happen.
What’s truly laudable about House of the Dragon’s writing is how it capitalizes on tiny nuances and miscommunications to portray how the Dance of the Dragons escalated.
In this vein, a Poppy-drunk Viserys relays his faith in Aegon I’s dream to Alicent, mistaking her for Rhaenrya. Alicent, unfortunately, believes that Viserys is talking about a prophecy that is related to Aegon II being the true heir. (They should really stop naming their children after their ancestors!)
As these are Viserys’ last words, you best believe that Alicent will move heaven and Earth to fulfill it. For a king who tried so hard to stave off a civil war, it is Viserys’ death that will herald it. Be ready for the Dance of the Dragons to commence in HOTD Ep 9!
About House Of The Dragon
House of the Dragon is the prequel series to HBO’s blockbuster Game of Thrones based on George R. R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood.
Set three hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon will show Westeros under the Targaryen family’s rule before the dragons went extinct. It will follow the Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryen civil war between siblings Aegon II and Rhaenyra, who fought for the throne after the death of their father, Viserys I.
Directed by Ryan Condall and Miguel Sapochnik, the show stars Paddy Considine as Viserys I Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen, Tom Glynn-Craney as Aegon II Targaryen, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon, Eve Best as Rhaenys Velaryon, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, Fabien Frankel as Criston Cole, and Graham McTavish.
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