King Viserys Has So Many Problems, But Will This Be The Straw That Breaks The Dragon’s Back?

Spoilers for House of the Dragon will be found below.

The fifth House of the Dragon episode, “We Light The Way,” saw King Viserys I continue to fall apart in a few senses. The most obvious one, of course, would be his declining physical health. The matter is so dire that Otto Hightower (recently ousted by the king) urged his daughter, Queen Alicent, to prepare accordingly because Viserys isn’t long for this world. The next episode will time jump a decade, and it’s hard to conceive of how he could still be alive. He’s lost fingers (the maggots and leaches aren’t doing a damn thing) and can’t heal the nasty sores on his back, and Otto’s absence can now rule out the possibility of this all being down to poison. And as we discussed last week, his chronic health problems could very well make the case that the throne is rejecting him.

The subject grows ever more complicated due to Targaryens supposedly being resistant to disease, but then again, King Aerys II, the Mad King, was known as King Scab, possibly because of wounds that he acquired on the throne. Viserys’ problems appear to be terminal, and this week, his nose bled during the feast, and he collapsed immediately after Rhaenyra and Laenor said their wedding vows. Ultimately, Viserys’ illness appears to be foreshadowing for what we already know: the Targaryens aren’t meant to hold onto the Iron Throne, and interestingly enough, the show’s also dealing with this messy king through a hefty dose of humor. Because although Viserys has serious problems (impending death and hanging onto the throne and Ser Criston beating Laenor’s boyfriend to death, right at Rhaenya’s wedding), one of them irks him most.

Viserys is so exceedingly frustrated and incensed with his brother, Daemon. The rogue prince refuses to stay exiled. He refuses too stop courting his niece (which is partially due to genuine attraction but more by Daemon’s own ambition), and the whole brothel visit debacle put Rhaenyra’s virtue in serious jeopardy. No matter what the king does, Daemon keeps putting his foot over the line in the sand, and even Rhaenyra’s own wedding feast (which ended in comparisons, fair or not, to Game of Thrones‘ Red Wedding) didn’t stop Daemon from flirting in Valyrian on the dance floor. Viserys had already flown into a rage last week over Daemon’s intents toward Rhaenyra, and this week, there’s a huge “Ben Affleck sighing for the paparazzi” vibe at work.

Poor Viserys can’t even eat his lobster in peace! Maybe this is what will actually put the king into an early grave, and this is high comedy, y’all. Social media agrees.

And even during the mayhem sparked by Ser Criston, Viserys appeared to be irritated more than anything else. Then there was Alicent’s Green Dress Manuever (essentially a declaration of war), which also threw a wrench into his entire plan, even if he didn’t totally process his wife’s power move.

Overall, it’s wild that this king is clearly dying, and his loved ones don’t seem to give a sh*t. It’s hard to conceive of how he could actually stay alive long enough for next week’s episode. See you then!

HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’ airs on Sundays at 9:00pm EST.