In House of the Dragon, HBO’s follow-up prequel to its wildly popular series Game of Thrones, the reign of House Targaryen is the series’ primary focus. As a result, Fans of GoT get the chance to explore the world initially created by George R. R. Martin almost 200 years before the existence of Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow. Still, despite the prequel’s success, series actor Paddy Considine (who plays the mild-mannered King Viserys) doesn’t think the show’s fans truly understood his character’s intentions. While chatting about King Viserys at the official Game of Thrones Convention in Los Angeles (recounted via ScreenRant), Considine shared his thoughts on the character and what he thinks fans misunderstood.
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According to Considine, the scene he believes fans don’t quite get is one of the King’s darker moments that occurred in the series pilot. In the sequence, Viserys first wife, Aemma, experiences complications while struggling to give birth to the couple’s baby. This leads King Viserys to make a shocking choice to save his potential heir over the mother of his child, who then experiences a pretty gruesome death.
However, despite the audience’s apparent disdain for Viserys actions, Considine says that viewers misunderstood the House of the Dragon’s tragic childbirth scene. The Tyrannosaur actor then offered fans clarification and noted that Aemma’s death was inevitable.
RELATED: George R.R. Martin Praises Paddy Considine’s Performance in House of the Dragon
Paddy Considine Says That Viserys Never Recovered From His First Wife’s Brutal Death
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Considine said, “[Aemma’s] death is… that’s his downfall, really. He never gets over that death. Which is kind of misunderstood by people early on. I think they think I killed my wife. But that wasn’t the case. They were both going to die. They had a chance of saving Baelon, but it meant putting her through a horrific procedure. So I think people misunderstood that he killed her, but he was trying to save the child or they’re both gonna die. And I don’t think he ever, ever recovered from that. And Sian Brooke, the actress who came in to play Aemma just for a few days, left such a massive impression on me with the work we did and that scene in particular.
The HBO star additionally stated that the King’s first wife was the only woman that Viserys loved despite his second marriage to his daughter Rhaenyra’s former companion turned rival, Alicent. Considine also added that his character’s health struggles (which significantly worsened over the series) acted as a sort of penance for his wife’s brutal death.
Considine said, “It just became the catalyst for his journey, really. He never recovered from it. He was only ever really in love with her.” \And if you watch the show… the sicker he gets, he’s never asking for a cure. He’s never the one asking for help. It’s like he’s accepting what’s happening to him physically as a punishment.”
