the original game of thrones never got me deeply emotional. there were times where i was shocked, disappointed, and sad, but it was always with a sort of outside-looking-in perspective. i didn’t love characters for their personality, but rather their honor, politics, and philosophies. i always felt like i was watching the equivalent of a history book: i had a decent idea of what these people believed in, but they didn’t have a sense of humanity for me to latch onto.

viserys is by far my biggest surprise from house of the dragon, being an actual character with a terrible sadness all humans understand. that fear of growing older, of your life falling apart as you lose touch with the world, is one that lingers in the back of all of our minds, only brought to the forefront by characters like this. viserys has embodied these themes over the course of his arc, but this is the episode where all that passed time becomes too visible to ignore. 

“i will sit the throne today”

viserys entering the throne room is one of the best scenes in this universe. it’s often said in video editing that the contents of the media tell you what to think, while the music tells you what to feel. what is interesting is the contrast created here: an almost corpse-like viserys stumbles through the room, a slow and laborious walk to what was his throne. his family, allies, and opponents, view him with differing reactions: rhaenyra in shock, alicent in fear, vaemond with concern. just before he reaches his throne, his crown slides off his head and he has to be assisted by daemon. it is, through and through, a horrible sight. the music however, feels almost heroic. maybe a little distant, but its swelling with power in the same vain as game of thrones’ best themes. it feels like this piece had in mind a king at the apex of his reign, someone like tywin from the original game of thrones. it’s this contrast, the powerful music and the weak viserys, that makes this scene so memorable. we’re MEANT to see something grand, our expectations set by the music and the title that is “king viserys,” but the cold and sad image we’re presented says otherwise. you’re left underwhelmed on one hand and horrified on the other, perfect harmony with all the throne room’s attendees.

the rest of the episode explores the same themes, displaying time’s corruptive nature through dyana’s rape and the overall tensions found in multiple scenes, especially in the ending dinner. there’s a lot more about this episode i want to say, but i’m afraid further discussion would become repetitive. i will add that the final scene of this episode leans into house of the dragon’s two strongest aspects, giving us the true recounting of events rather than one of bias as well as being the final blow for viserys’ themes.

easily one of the best episodes in the game of thrones universe, top three for me. hope the show doesn’t fall off after this.