In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, actor Paddy Considine (who played Viserys), revealed his character had a form of leprosy.
Viserys' actor, Paddy Considine, revealed on the West of Westeros podcast that the king is suffering from a 'form of leprosy'. But how close is this disease to leprosy in reality?
The first reason King Viserys Targaryen kept cutting himself on the Iron Throne is because that's what the chair is designed to do. No, seriously, when Aegon the Conqueror first used Balerion to melt a bunch of swords into the world's deadliest armchair, he deliberately made the throne uncomfortable.
"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.
Viewers see the illness slowly take over Viserys's health as he loses strength and is unable to heal from minor cuts induced from the razor-sharp edges of the Iron Throne. Over time, various extremities are removed from Viserys, including fingers, an entire arm, and one of his eyeballs.
According to lore, greyscale is spread by direct touch or by coming into contact with objects affected by someone with the disease. Shireen picked up the disease from a contaminated doll, however Viserys has been in direct and indirect contact with many people who have not succumbed to infection.
In the trailer for episode 9, which confirms Viserys' death, Alicent says it out loud: "He told me he wished for Aegon to be king."
EW got the answer. In the podcast West of Westeros, we learned that Viserys is suffering from leprosy.
According to Mirri Maz Duur, he was inhuman, hideously deformed and covered in dragon-like scales. He had the stub of a tail small leather wings, reminiscent of a bat. Rhaego was stillborn.
He never woke. He was fifty-two years old, and had reigned over most of Westeros for twenty-six years. The last people who Viserys spoke to, according to the history book, were his daughter Helaena and his grandchildren, and he died in his sleep rather than with one last vision of Aemma before breathing his last.
Succumbing to His Leprosy
In Episode Five, he was also shown vomiting, suffering from a nosebleed, and eventually passing out. He was being treated with leeches and other ointments, but the lesions were causing pain over nearly his entire body by the end.
In House of the Dragon, Viserys' mask is used to shield his condition from his family and his subjects, just like he shields himself from believing the truth of Rhaenyra's children's father. His mask is also a way to attempt to reclaim his status as king.
TARGARYENS ARE NOT IMMUNE TO FIRE! The birth of Dany's dragons was unique, magical, wonderous, a miracle. She is called The Unburnt because she walked into the flames and lived.
In fact, Martin outright said as much during a Q&A back in 1999, calling the idea that Targaryens were magically immune to fire a “common misconception.” “TARGARYENS ARE NOT IMMUNE TO FIRE!” the author emphatically stated. “The birth of Dany's dragons was unique, magical, wonderous, a miracle.
Literally — his body and face were crumbling. Viserys' deterioration happened slowly. First, it was a few festering cuts from sitting on the Iron Throne, then it was some missing fingers. After the 10-year time jump in Episode 6, he lost an entire arm.
It isn't explicitly stated in the show, but because we learn after episode six that all three boys have dark brown hair — and despite Rhaenyra and Laenor's matching blond color — it has been strongly implied that they are actually the children of Ser Harwin Strong, the Lord Commander of the City Watch.
Because of the prophecy, Daenerys believes she is barren. That's why she sees her dragons as her children and why Viserion's death affects her so deeply. As far as she knows, she will never give birth again, and her only family is a trio of dragons who came out of the fire with her.
In Season 1, Daenerys married Khal Drogo and became pregnant with their son, Rhaego. The child was stillborn, presumably due to Mirri Maz Duur's blood magic. The witch ultimately used Rhaego's life to help restore Drogo, who remained in a vegetative state and never recovered.
According to Paddy Considine, Viserys has a “form of leprosy” in House of the Dragon. During an appearance on Entertainment Weekly's West of Westeros podcast, the star discussed his character's illness and how it could affect the story going into the second half of Season 1.
The last and most recent case, presented at the end of the last season, was the brave warrior, Jorah Mormont, who developed a skin lesion within a day of skin-to-skin contact with a Stoneman. Greyscale is presented in Game of Thrones with an obvious evocation of Hansen disease, or leprosy.
Note that not all Targaryens have purple eyes: Queen Alysanne Targaryen's eyes were clear blue, and Prince Valarr Targaryen's eyes were also blue. Children of Targaryen/non-Targaryen marriages may also have eyes of a non-Valyrian color. For example, Prince Baelor, whose mother was Myriah Martell, had brown eyes.
At this point, Viserys, who is drugged on milk of the poppy only replies to Rhaenyra by calling her his only child. It's a tough look considering he has three other children with Alicent, but it's clear that, in many ways, Rhaenyra has always been his favorite child and the one he is closest with.
Daemon strangled Rhaenyra because he felt betrayed by Viserys. “It's a moment that I think is surprising and shocking for Daemon as a character, but I also think it's one of those things that's been set up over the course of the entire season.
Episode 9 of House of the Dragon validated our worst fears about Queen Alicent. Sadly, Alicent believes King Viserys' dying wish was to have their son Prince Aegon succeed the throne.