Viewers knew King Viserys’ days were numbered from the opening scenes of Dragon House. The king languishes week after week in a form of leprosy, losing parts of his body and developing grotesque boils. Meanwhile, his court’s displeasure grows over the choice of his heir: his daughter Rhaenyra Targaryen.
Viserys Targaryen was unlike any other Westeros ruler we’ve seen so far. Despite being an “unremarkable” king with no glorious wars to his name, King Viserys maintained peace and stability in a fractured kingdom that was quick to spill blood.
Paddy Considine’s role as King Viserys in House of the Dragon
Paddy Considine, the English actor who plays King Viserys in the HBO series Dragon Houserecently said that his younger brother, Prince Daemon Targaryen played by Matt Smith, is not someone he can trust to take over the kingdom of Westeros.
“Daemon is unpredictable; he’s like a drug addict in that you never know what he’s going to do next,” he said.
Not only his older brother, but also his closest advisers, including Ser Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King, were also against Daemon’s ascension to the throne, but for his own personal gain.
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“And Viserys having become king threw a huge chasm between them”, he added. Dragon House is a fascinating saga that immerses us in the extraordinary world of Westeros and delves into the Targaryen family at its peak, the all-powerful family of dragon riders who seem to be the invincible rulers of the seven kingdoms.
The biggest mistake made by King Viserys according to Paddy Considine
Of course, leave it to Considine to provide a thoughtful, nuanced, and heartfelt answer to the question. “I think he neglected to be a good father to his second family,” the actor told THR, instantly breaking my heart. He continued:
“I think he neglected to try hard for those kids. They didn’t like him. I was on set one day and one of the actors playing one of my sons said, ‘You hate. And I went, ‘What?’ What do you mean I hate you as people – as Paddy [the actor] hate you?’ And he was like, ‘No, Viserys hates us, because you hate your kids.’ I was like, wow, this is amazing. It was so deep for him to say that.
Viserys doesn’t hate his children, but he doesn’t care for them like he does for Rhaenyra. It is the tragedy of Viserys I, a man who did not want to be king. In his quest to do a good job in his responsibility, he was doomed to the whole kingdom.
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He married Alicent out of a sense of duty to the kingdom. But he did not consider the consequences of his actions, or how his actions would affect others.
Again, that wasn’t the biggest mistake. Instead, he gave a speech that made Alicent believe he was supporting his son’s claim to the throne on Rhaenyra when it was actually Aegon the Conqueror’s prophecy to defeat the White Walkers. Finally, the Dragon Dance was caused by the mumblings of a dying man, who also failed to understand how having multiple royals with the same name would cause problems. Nonetheless, the most “unremarkable” King of Westeros gave one of the most memorable performances of recent times, which is sure to get an Emmy nod as fans expected.
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Dragon House is streaming on HBO Max.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
