House of the Dragon: Paddy Considine won’t watch Viserys’ death

Following this past episode of HBO’s House of the Dragon, Paddy Considine has received a great deal of awards-show buzz, and deservedly so. He brought so much command and empathy to King Viserys, a man who found himself in a complication position from the start of the series. He was never the best King, as he often tried to govern from a place of morality rarely seen in Westeros. He also forced to abide to traditions that he did not embrace — take, having to remarry following the death of his true love Aemma.

Considine will be sorely missed, and what’s funny is that the actor himself may never understand fully why viewers loved his final scenes so much. After all, he has no plans to watch them!

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Speaking in a fantastic new interview over at the Los Angeles Times, Considine says the following when asked if he has seen his death scene as of yet:

No, I haven’t, and I’m not sure if I ever will. I haven’t seen anything beyond Episode 2, really. Some people don’t like to watch themselves, and I’m one of those people. It’s debilitating. I tend to just stay away. I’m sure somebody will show me a photograph.

Paddy also goes on to share some really interesting thoughts about Viserys’ disease, and how for a significant chunk of the show, he is really just waiting to die:

…From the minute of his wife’s funeral, I think Viserys starts to die. It’s a slow death. Nowhere in the story does Viserys ask the maesters to cure him, to stop this thing from eating him alive. I think he accepts it as part of the guilt of the decision he makes to put his wife through a terrible, horrible procedure. It’s like people who surrender to illness. When they offer suggestions to cure him, he doesn’t bother with it. He lets it consume him. He surrenders. That was my thing for him, anyway.

All of this is a reminder of this man’s great suffering, and how even in the midst of his pain at the end, he still worked to try and cease the suffering of others. He wanted a clear plan for after his death with Rhaenyra, one that may no longer come to pass because of a case of mistaken identity at the end of episode 8.

Related – Where does Westeros go from here?

What did you think about Viserys’ death in House of the Dragon season 1 episode 8?

Do you think Considine gave an Emmy-worthy performance? Share right now in the comments! Once you do just that, be sure to come back around for other updates. (Photo: HBO.)

This article was written by Jessica BunBun. Be sure to follow her on Twitter.