King Viserys Targaryen is shown to have a sore on his back in the first episode of House of the Dragon. Throughout the series, we see the sore gradually worsen, and fingers are lost. What exactly is this?
Paddy Considine, the actor who plays the character King Viserys Targaryen, recently appeared on West of Westeros, the Entertainment Weekly Game of Thrones podcast. He revealed that the king eventually suffered from “a form of leprosy.”
“He’s actually suffering from a form of leprosy. His body is deteriorating, his bones are deteriorating. He is not actually old. He’s still a young man in there. He’s just, unfortunately, got this thing that’s taken over his body. It becomes a metaphor for being king, and the stress and strain that it puts on you, and what it does to you physically, what it does to you mentally.”
Further, the actor also revealed that leprosy is a curable disease with modern medication. But back in time, there was no known cure. As we’ve seen in the series, the lesions caused by leprosy can be treated. But the disease itself cannot be cured. Being a king during medieval times was stressful enough, but when you factor in a rebellious heir and a trouble-making brother, the progressive nature of leprosy would have been a major concern.
The new episode of House of the Dragon premiers every Sunday at 9 pm on HBO and HBO Max, where we’re likely to see more of Viserys and his illness.
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