A lot of viewers are comparing House of the Dragon to the early Game of Thrones seasons to determine the definitive Westerosi experience. While the prequel series has yet to stack up to all the brilliant storylines and potent characters in the first four seasons of the original show, creator George R.R. Martin has recently admitted that the new kid in town is even better than his Fire & Blood novel in certain ways.
As we try to wrap our head around how HBO could even outdo Martin’s own source material, other parts of the fandom wonder if we’ve grown too accustomed to morally base concepts like incest. And if needs must, just how much incest is too much incest? Here’s your daily Game of Thrones roundup.
Could modern medicine have saved Viserys?
Paddy Considine, the actor behind King Viserys, recently confirmed that what his character was suffering from in the first season of House was indeed a form of leprosy. It was a long and hard fight with the disease, though the king ultimately succumbed to it. Many fans believe that Viserys’ condition may have been inspired by a real historical figure in the form of King Baldwin of Jerusalem, who had to endure the same illness during his reign. But if Viserys had lived in our times, would modern medicine be able to help him? We try to answer that question in this article.
George R.R. Martin praises Paddy Considine: ‘Your Viserys is better than my Viserys’
Considine is probably going to go down as one of the greatest Game of Thrones actors in history, if not the graetest. Forget about Sean Bean’s nuanced performance as Ned Stark or Peter Dinklage’s revolutionary take on Tyrion Lannister. King Viserys is in a league of his own, and Considine definitely made that character his own. Even George R.R. Martin can’t help but agree with that sentiment.
According to what the actor himself recently revealed, “I got a text message that simply said: ‘Your Viserys is better than my Viserys.’ It was from George R.R. Martin. And I thought: that’ll do it. Thanks for trusting me.” You know you’ve made it when the man himself praises you like this. There’s literally no higher bar.
The big ‘House of the Dragon’ question: How much incest is too much incest?
HBO nor Martin may not want to admit this, but Westeros has an incest problem. Yes, real-world history is full of similar cases as far as royalty is concerned, but how is it that we, as a society, have come from absolutely abhorring the incestuous relationship between Cersei and Jaime Lannister to actually cheering it on when it comes to Daemon and Rhaenyra Targaryen?
While the spark was all too wrong on so many levels, House has now fully embraced their relationship and even depicts them as sort of a power couple. Meanwhile, Helaena and his brother Aegon have also married to honor the Targaryen legacy, which makes us wonder: Should we regard all of these developments as a matter of due course, or are we still collectively not okay with incest?