Grand Maester Mellos treats King Viserys and his illness in House of the Dragon
Dragon House episode 5 saw King Viserys bleeding from his nose and then fainting. In fact, audiences were left with a disturbing cliffhanger regarding his health. Fans are wondering whether the king is dead or not. We can dispel your doubts because King Viserys is not yet dead in House of the Dragon and will be seen again in future episodes. However, the show was quite vague regarding the king’s illness. That hasn’t stopped fans from theorizing about her ailment. Fans and Paddy Considine have found explanations. So let’s explore them.
Iron Throne Cups
As seen in previous episodes of House of the Dragon King, Viserys received cuts from the blades of the Iron Throne. This was a sign of the throne rejecting Viserys as king and deeming him unfit. However, what’s even more interesting is that these cuts don’t seem to heal. Instead, they get worse despite all the treatment given by the maesters. In fact, the cuts on his finger caused him to lose two of them and had to be amputated to prevent the infection from spreading to the rest of his hand. While fans initially thought that was the only thing King Viserys suffered from, we now know that’s not the case. It is something much more serious. The king also seems to become physically weaker, which cannot be explained by this theory.
Maesters treat King Viserys
Grand Maester Mellos treated the king in every possible way, but to no avail. In the first episode of House of the Dragon itself, we see the sores and scabs on King Viserys that haven’t diminished despite the treatments from the maesters. Instead, Mellos used leeches to give King Viserys some kind of relief. This treatment was also seen in episode 5. However, the new Maester Orwyle suggested medicine in the form of a mixture of herbs he had prepared instead of the leeches. But Grand Maester Mellos quickly shut it down. The king was also treated with maggots to remove infected skin. And finally, they amputated his fingers to prevent an infection from spreading.
Paddy Considine’s Theory of King Viserys’ Illness
During the West of Westeros podcast, Paddy Considine claims that the king is suffering from some kind of leprosy. He offers this as an explanation for the rashes and lesions on his skin. He goes on to say the following.
“He suffers from a form of leprosy. He suffers. His body is deteriorating. His bones are deteriorating. So he’s not really old. He’s still a young man in there. He just, unfortunately, had this thing take over his body. It becomes a metaphor for being king and the stress and strain that puts on you, you know? And what it does to you physically. What it does to you mentally.
We already know that his condition worsens with each passing episode. Otto Hightower himself says during episode 5 of House of the Dragon that the king will die soon. Since the 3-year time jump, King Viserys has become much weaker, and it’s not just the lesions on his skin that plague him.
King Viserys Illness Fan Theory
Fans believe they have solved the mystery of the King’s illness. They claim he has necrotizing fasciitis. It was especially bearing in mind that the king felt pain radiating throughout his body, physical weakness, infectious cuts and blackened scabs all over. Necrotizing fasciitis is a rare bacterial disease that is spread through cuts, scabs and burns. It spreads fairly quickly and can often require surgical removal of the infected parts in order to stop the spread. The symptoms of this disease are quite specific compared to those experienced by King Viserys, from blackened scabs to feelings of tiredness and tiredness. As mentioned earlier, the show took a similar approach using maggots and amputation to stop the bacterial infection.
