Many viewers are contrasting House of the Dragon with the first few seasons of Game of Thrones to establish what the authentic Westerosi experience is. George R.R. Martin, the creator of the prequel series, recently acknowledged that in some ways, the newcomer to town is even better than his Fire & Blood novel. However, the prequel series has yet to match all the brilliant storylines and powerful characters in the first four seasons of the original show.
Some fans worry if we've become too accustomed to morally dubious ideas like incest as we try to comprehend how HBO might even surpass Martin's own source material. And if incest is necessary, how much is too much? Here is your daily recap of Game of Thrones.
The actor who played King Viserys, Paddy Considine, recently stated that the condition his character had in the first season of House was in fact a kind of leprosy. The king struggled against the illness for a very long time before giving up. Many followers of the series think that King Baldwin of Jerusalem, who suffered from the same sickness while in power, may have served as an inspiration for Viserys' illness. But could Viserys have been helped by modern treatment if he had lived in our time? In this post, we attempt to respond to that query.
Considine is most likely going to be remembered as one of, if not the finest, Game of Thrones actors in history. Forget about Peter Dinklage's ground-breaking portrayal of Tyrion Lannister or Sean Bean's subtle Ned Stark Stark performance. Considine unquestionably made King Viserys his own, and he is in a class by himself. That emotion is one that even George R.R. Martin cannot resist expressing.
"I got a text message that simply said: 'Your Viserys is better than my Viserys,'" the actor recently stated. George R.R. Martin wrote it. That should finish it, I thought. I appreciate your faith in me. When the man himself gives you such high praise, you know you've succeeded. Literally, there is no greater standard.
Although HBO and Martin may not want to acknowledge it, there is an incest issue in Westeros. Yes, there have been many instances of royalty engaging in incestuous relationships throughout history, but how did we, as a society, go from abhorring Cersei and Jaime Lannister's relationship to actively supporting Daemon and Rhaenyra Targaryen's?
House has now fully embraced their connection and even portrays them as sort of a power couple, despite the fact that the initial spark was all too wrong on so many levels. To uphold the Targaryen tradition, Helaena and his brother Aegon also got married, which begs the question: Should we view all of these occurrences as things coming to pass, or are we still not alright with incest as a society?