The following article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon and Fire & Blood.
If there’s one thing Game of Thrones fans always loved doing was taking sides, so it’s really no surprise to see that 11-year-old tradition live on in House of the Dragon. However, something many viewers might be wrong about is that King Viserys I Targaryen was in fact pretty good at preventing the realm from falling apart.
Social media buzz and memes for House of the Dragon tends to focus on viewers expressing their preference for either team green or black yet, for the most part, both sides tend to agree that Viserys was doing a terrible job. Nevertheless, to judge his reign in such a black-or-white manner is ignoring the very lessons George R.R. Martin tries to push in his literature: that politics is often made up of varying shades of grey; that the world of A Song of Ice and Fire is rooted in the most archaic medieval traditions; and, -of course- that half of all Targaryens are kinda nuts.
The House Of The Dragon Is Built On A Stack Of Cards
Game of Thrones' clever political mind games, scheming and its never-ending betrayals always made it possible for the audience to admire or connect with even its most despicable characters because, well, game recognizes game, and the same holds true for House of the Dragon. Think of Daemon who, as cool as he appears to be, is undoubtedly Viserys’ first political headache when the show kicks off, as his brother’s ambition and thirst for blood is incompatible with the King’s beliefs; similarly, for all her good traits, Rhaenyra is far from being the perfect daughter.
When the series starts, the House of the Dragon has narrowly avoided the biggest government crisis threatening the Targaryen dynasty by doubling down on its policy that women are not fit to sit on the iron throne. Funnily, enough the woman who was never queen, Rhaenys, learned to accept the cards fate handed to her; she understood Jaehaerys risked triggering an all-out war for the throne naming her heir, a point she has no problem explaining to both Rhaenyra and her husband.
The Targaryens' grasp on power relies on them and the Velaryons being the only families able to command the might of dragons, which is why a divided house is its biggest nightmare, but unfortunately some rifts are impossible to avoid. If destiny made it possible for Viserys to become king, then fate also plays a part in the house's inner conflicts after his death because he has no say in many of the moments that swing the political tides in King's Landing, such as Larys Strong's going after his own family.
Queen Aemma’s brutal death scene and Baelon’s subsequent parting came off bad decisions from Viserys that were largely motivated by the impeding mess he knew would follow by naming Rhaenyra heir. His quest to father the prince that was promised led to him losing the woman he loved, but regardless of that, the tragedy does something rare in Game of Thrones: it made him a better man.
A Progressive King
The Dance of Dragons is a Targaryen civil war caused by many factors, but at the heart of it (Aemma’s death aside), it can be attributed to Viserys’ refusal to marry a child and his willingness to push forward equality for his daughter and women as a way to atone for his guilt. Sure, he ended up marrying Alicent and falling prey to Otto Hightower’s manipulative ways, though even then he persevered out of love for his first wife and Rhaenyra.
From the sight of a drunk Viserys lamenting his poor decision-making to Alicent, all the way to the last supper he shares with his two families, there is a lot of character growth taking place, which sadly goes unseen due to House of the Dragon's time jumps — he's arguably an absent father figure to his sons, yet with Targaryens, it can't be said he could have made any difference. Surely, Paddy Considine shines the most in House of the Dragon’s episode 8, however, this is a man who in the years prior did his best to try to unite the two Targaryen factions until his body gave away control to the Hightower green.
Martin himself has spoken highly of Considine’s performance, saying it elevates Viserys to a new level he would have liked for the character, which rings true given how he is written in Fire & Blood. In the novel, the iron throne harms those unworthy of its stature and Viserys is depicted as such, but House of the Dragon shifting the nature of his disease helps drive home the point that being king (like any modern political office) takes its toll on people. Contrary to his book counterpart, this Viserys behaves closer to a modern politician than a power-hungry Game of Thrones figure.
The idea that good men don't necessarily make for the best rulers has always been promoted by Martin, as he's famously challenged Tolkien's assertion that Aragorn simply went on to become a fine king, all without going into how he handled basic government affairs. Viserys is the perfect example of this, as it's not his character that ends up tainting his legacy, but rather the circumstances he was put in.
What ultimately makes it impossible for Rhaenyra to inherit the throne are her bastard sons, a byproduct of her own decisions and not something her father had any say in. Viserys starts off as a weak king, later learning the value of seeking the right alliances and political compromises as he ages, unfortunately, his entire life lasts less than his grandfather's reign and poor health forbids him from fixing his mistakes.
A flawed king indeed he was, his story is incredibly sad throughout all of House of the Dragon, with his biggest failure being his blindness to see the political ploys revolving around him. However, his failed succession boils down to the inherent character flaws of his descendants, and as far as Targaryens go, he's still far off from the worst this show has to offer.