Paddy Considine is speaking out about his character Viserys Targaryen (Picture: HBO, 2022 Home Box Office, Inc. Al)
*Warning: Spoilers ahead of House of the Dragon episode 8*
His death is about to spark a brutal civil war, but House of the Dragon’s Paddy Considine says his character Viserys Targaryen has been largely misunderstood.
The eighth episode of the Game of Thrones spin-off series, which aired on Monday, sees King Viserys finally lose his battle with illness, dying in scenes that have prompted fans to call for Considine to be nominated for an Emmy Award.
Now his character has met his demise, Considine has said that Viserys was ‘the only person in this kingdom who had any f***ing morals whatsoever’ as he tried to keep the peace.
‘He holds everything together as long as he absolutely can,’ he added to GQ Hype. ‘I thought he was a joy to play. He believed in duty above everything. I don’t know if people fully understood that correctly.’
While noble and powerful, Viserys was also considered to be boring by some fans, a claim that Considine pushed back against.
‘There’s this perception that he’s weak, which I think is absolutely nonsense. He’s just too compassionate for the job. I think the sense of duty is what got to him,’ he said.
Paddy’s character has divided opinions (Picture: AFF-USA/REX/Shutterstock)
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There may be divided opinions on Viserys, but there is plenty of support behind Considine, who also revealed that Game of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin had paid him the ultimate compliment for his portrayal.
‘I got a text message that simply said: “Your Viserys is better than my Viserys”. It was from George RR Martin. And I thought: that’ll do it. Thanks for trusting me”.’
Since the beginning of the series, the king’s health had been deteriorating and his last hours saw him hallucinating on pain medication and mumbling about Aegon the Conqueror’s ‘song of ice and fire’.
In his final moments, his wife Alicent misunderstands his wishes, and believes that he is proclaiming that their son, Aegon II, succeeds him, rather than his daughter Rhaenyra.
As he took his last breath, the episode cuts to black, with fans of course flocking to social media to voice their shock at the plot twist—and the bloody battle for the crown it is set to spark.
Another Twitter user commented that ‘the civil war that resulted in all of the dragons being killed was caused by a misunderstanding because there’s like 11 Aegons’, joking about the recycling of the name in the incestuous Targaryen clan.
Despite their strained relationship, the final wishes of Viserys to see his daughter take the Iron Throne had many fans incredibly emotional as he put his support behind her.
One wrote ‘Viserys supported Rhaenyra till his last breath and she didn’t even know it.’
He may have avoided a bloody death like many of the other characters in the Game of Thrones franchise, but the end of Viserys is about to unleash a bloody battle for succession that will lead to the killing of countless others.
Read the full feature online at GQ Hype now.
Watch House of the Dragon on Now TV and Sky Atlantic.
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Spoilers ahead for episode eight of House of the Dragon.