House of the Dragon Star Defends the Show’s Pacing, Was “Grateful to Die”

In the series premiere of the Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon, audiences saw that Paddy Considine’s King Viserys Targaryen contracted a disease that was initially dismissed, only to fester over the rest of the season, leading up to the character’s death in Episode 8. Fans knew from the moment we saw the wound that it was only a matter of time before Viserys met his demise, with Considine weighing in on the negative reactions fans had to the time jump in Season 1, as he recalled that those episodes would have just further explored his character’s decaying state. 

“There’s none of that wondering what is going to happen in Season 2, you know?” Considine revealed to Deadline. “There were some comments from people who felt that the show moved along too quickly. They wanted to live with the younger versions of Rhaenyra and Alicent, but for my character, I just think he would’ve gotten too drawn out. He would’ve become quite a boring character to spread out over a season. So, I was quite grateful to die.”

In addition to being grateful to exit the series before he wore out his welcome, Considine confessed that he received encouraging words from franchise creator George R.R. Martin.

“His words to me were you played Viserys better than he ever imagined. ‘Your Viserys is better than my Viserys,’” Considine recalled to the outlet.”To get a nod from a creator like that, for him to say that he wants to go back and rewrite Viserys history, that’s really flattering. There was a bit of jealousy when Season 2 started filming and I wasn’t part of it anymore. But at least I made an impact.”

Throughout the history of Game of Thrones, audiences have seen their fair share of brutal harm, but Considine himself previously pointed out how the disease served more as an opportunity to show the ways in which being king could eat away at a man in a more literal sense.

“He’s actually suffering from a form of leprosy. His body is deteriorating, his bones are deteriorating. He is not actually old. He’s still a young man in there. He’s just, unfortunately, got this thing that’s taken over his body,” Considine shared last year with Entertainment Weekly. “It becomes a metaphor for being king, and the stress and strain that it puts on you, and what it does to you physically, what it does to you mentally.” 

Stay tuned for details on Season 2 of House of the Dragon.

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