Serving as an intermediary between the different factions of his family, King Viserys managed to bring about a temporary peace between the Greens and the Blacks, but according to House of the Dragon director Geeta Patel, this is only “the calm before the storm.”
As the fandom braces for the unleashing of this storm, eight episodes in the making, Paddy Considine says goodbye to one of the greatest roles in his career and looks back on the king’s biggest mistake. This is your daily Game of Thrones roundup.
All the new ‘House’ cast members after the latest time jump
There are two things House of the Dragon loves to do above all else: Introduce new actors for already established characters, and make jarring time jumps that, without proper visual cues, continue to confuse the entire fanbase. Not that you’ll have too much trouble keeping up, mind, but you might find it difficult to tell who’s who every time we fast forward ten years in the Fire & Blood timeline. As ever, we’ve got you covered, and this article will give you a breakdown of every new addition to the cast in episode eight.
This is Viserys’ one big mistake according to Paddy Considine
Falling in love with Viserys at some point in the first House of the Dragon season is a given. Even if you resisted his charms until the latest eighth episode, his final performance will have at the very least moved you close to tears. Will he be remembered as a good monarch? I guess we’re going to watch more of the prequel show to determine that for certain, but whether or not you cared for his kingship, Paddy Considine himself thinks that Viserys made only one grave mistake, and that was accepting the title in the first place. Perhaps given his temper, the man was better off abdicating the throne and going off on his own adventures, riding dragons and sculpting statues.
Episode 8 was basically the ‘calm before the storm’ according to its director
This week’s House episode felt like the calm before the storm, in a manner of speaking. The deep breath before the plunge, as another fantasy author would call it. According to director Geeta Patel, the tone was a deliberate choice and not just a result of the king slowly withering away. We’re finally preparing to get into the Dance of Dragons, and for however long the prequel series runs, this is the moment that kickstarts all of it, so “everything had to be tentative, in a way.”
In eesence, the forthcoming penultimate episode will have no such compunctions, so get ready for the royal stool to really hit the wings when House returns next Sunday.