'House of the Dragon' director confirms death of major character in episode 8
- Warning: Spoilers ahead for "House of the Dragon" season one, episode eight.
- Episode eight appears to show King Viserys dying of old age.
"House of the Dragon" director Geeta Patel confirmed that King Viserys died at the end of episode eight.
Throughout the season, the monarch, played by Paddy Considine, has been slowly deteriorating due to an unknown illness. At the end of the most recent episode, it is implied that Viserys dies while lying in bed. The audience hears Viserys breathe heavily and call out "my love" while raising his hand. He then exhales before the screen cuts black.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Patel said the last scene was a "litmus test" for the producers to ensure the audience cared when Viserys died.
"Every time we'd watch or think it through, when we got to that last scene, did we feel what we wanted to feel there?" Patel explained. "Did we feel the loss? Did we feel that Viserys has told his story? Did we feel that he loved his wife who passed away? Did he love Alicent? Did he love Rhaenyra? Did he regret anything? All the complicated layers of Viserys, did we feel it for better or worse?"
The director continued: "So, for me, that was always a moment that I would check myself on and then I'd go back to the drawing board and talk to Miguel and Ryan. Even the actors just trying constantly to check that that moment at the end worked."
Now that Viserys has died, the civil war known in the "Game of Thrones" book series as the Dance of Dragons can begin. The impending civil war focuses on the battle for the throne between half-siblings Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney).
Originally, Viserys had placed Rhaenyra as the next queen. However, in episode eight, Viserys accidentally tells his second wife, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), about Aegon the Conqueror's dream. Alicent appears to take this as confirmation that her son, Aegon, should be king instead.
"House of the Dragon" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. E.T. on HBO.