If you're the king in Westeros, someone will kill you and take your place. It's inevitable! Yet, people still commit horrendous acts of violence just to sit on the Iron Throne. The looming threat of death often drives those in power into a paranoid panic, but King Viserys seemed a little too mellow in House of the Dragon. Right up until the very end. When he finally dies at the end of Episode Eight, the succession problem is at an all-time high. The realm was wide open for a takeover, and he was spending his time whittling a miniature model of the city and struggling to even stay conscious.
From the very first episode, we didn't kid ourselves—this guy was going to die. The only questions that remained were how and when. When he takes his last breath in Episode Eight, however, it seemed as if a lot more than old age went into his eventual death. Let's play detective and look at the clues given to us so far. If fans could figure out the "R + L = J" theory from Game of Thrones, this should be child's play.
Viserys Wasn't the Oldest of Men
If the HBO prequel series matches the same timeline as the source material, Viserys was only 52 years old when he died. Despite his appearance in Episode Eight, that is no age to be bedridden and struggling to speak. House of the Dragon characters may have way shorter life expectancies, but even Olenna Tyrell in Thrones lived to be 78 years old. And she was poisoned! Could Viserys have been poisoned as well?
Why Not Poison?
Viserys had a lot of ailments, sure, but House of the Dragon definitely had fun trying to get viewers to guess how his death would come. Even in his final moments, the series showed that he was constantly being offered various medicines—some that he would eventually refuse. Though completely bedridden, he is able to get up and come to court to resolve the matter of Driftmark when he refuses to take the medicine offered to him by Otto Hightower. Could it have been possible that the Hightowers were slowly poisoning him in addition to his illnesses?
Tetanus from the Iron Throne!
My prediction that Viserys would get tetanus after cutting his finger on the Iron Throne didn't come true. It was entirely plausible though! The chair is, after all, entirely made of pointy swords. There's also no Tetanus vaccine in Westeros circa 129 AC. The moment seemed to be purely symbolic, however, as the chair is rumoured to "reject" those that it feels unfit to rule.
Succumbing to His Leprosy
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, actor Paddy Considine revealed that his character was suffering from a form of leprosy, which would be incurable at the time. The nasty wounds and legions festering on Viserys's back and arms were likely his downfall, especially after it took one of his arms and eyes. In Episode Five, he was also shown vomiting, suffering from a nosebleed, and eventually passing out. He was being treated with leeches and other ointments, but the lesions were causing pain over nearly his entire body by the end. The King's death at the end of Episode Eight was confirmed by director Geeta Patel, bringing the succession issue front and centre. Paddy will be missed, but it's finally time for Targaryen civil war!
Josh Rosenberg is an Assistant Editor at Esquire, keeping a steady diet of one movie a day. His past work can be found at Spin, CBR, and on his personal blog at Roseandblog.com.
