House of the Dragon: Paddy Considine on the Legacy of Viserys Targaryen

Fans have been watching King Viserys Targaryen slowly die throughout the run of House of the Dragon, but the last episode finally has him center stage, taking the Iron Throne and putting to rest the conflict within his family.

With Viserys spending the season worrying about his legacy, actor Paddy Considine shares his two cents about the character and how he affects the story all the way to Game of Thrones. Talking during an inside look at the latest episode, Considine explains,
“I don’t think he wanted to be king. It’s a burden. He’s just doing a duty. He’s too human to be king.”

Though Viserys seems to have wrapped everything up by the end, one misunderstanding by Alicent could lead to the whole conflict with her insisting that Viserys wanted her son Aegon on the throne.

Considine continues:

“When he takes his last breath, he maybe feels he’s done all he can and he’s put his house right. He did his best. He kept this secret belief in the prophecy, and kept that with him until the day he died; and that’s all he could do.”

In some respects, he wasn’t the right man for the job, but in the history, he kind of was the right man for the job, you know? Two hundred years later. So he does have a legacy.”

For now, a lot of people are sad to see Viserys gone, but praise has been sung for Considine and the several layers he was able to give to Viserys’ personality, from the indecisive king to the loving father.

Catch the next House of the Dragon when it comes to HBO Max next Sunday.