(House of the Dragon spoilers ahead.)
Even though his body was essentially decaying throughout the first seven episodes of House of the Dragon, Paddy Considine’s portrayal of King Viserys was spot-on. And even though his character was miserable from the get-go, Considine showed off the bizarre family dynamics that have only gotten weirder for the Targaryens.
In the most recent episode of House of the Dragon, the Targaryen family tragically lost their severely ill patriarch, and fans said goodbye to Considine’s portrayal of the king. Even though he’s left quite a mess among his family, Considine is really happy with how Viserys’ journey went… and so is George R.R. Martin!
Considine recently opened up to GQ about his role as Viserys which he described as a “joy” to play. “He was the only person in this kingdom who had any f*cking morals whatsoever,” Considine says. “He holds everything together as long as he absolutely can,” He really did hold out until the last minute there. But his character was praised by the one person who really matters: the guy who wrote the thing.
“I got a text message that simply said: ‘Your Viserys is better than my Viserys’. It was from George RR Martin,” Considine explained. “And I thought: that’ll do it. Thanks for trusting me.” Coming from someone who is genuinely opposed to hearing any type of feedback about his characters, this is a very good sign!
We will miss Viserys gracing our screens with his silly little facial expressions, but who’s to say he can’t show up at some point later on? Maybe in a flashback where he’s healthy and not picking maggots out of his flesh?