![]() Daenerys Targaryen’s paranoid father Aerys II Targaryen was commonly known as The Mad King, but because he cut himself so often on the Iron Throne he was also dubbed King Scab. Maegor and Viserys are not the only two people to have been cut by the Iron Throne. No - or at least not as a direct result of their wounds. Does everyone who gets cut on the Iron Throne die? Image: HBO This is what originated the popular superstition that the throne chooses who is worthy or not of ruling Westeros, and that those who are deemed undeserving suffer injury by its blades. But many believe that the Iron Throne itself is what killed Maegor. There are multiple theories about Maegor’s death, including that he took his own life or that Elinor murdered him. The next morning, one of Maegor’s many wives, Elinor, found him dead in the seat with one of the throne’s blades impaled through his neck and his forearms slashed open by several other spikes. After very few houses came to Maegor’s aid, he chose to spend the night brooding alone on the Iron Throne. Six years into Maegor’s infamously cruel reign, his nephew Jaehaerys Targaryen raised banners against him. ![]() ![]() “A king should never sit easy,” Aegon the Conqueror explained in the first A Song of Ice and Fire book.Īegon’s son Aenys succeeded his father, but was eventually killed by his brother, the usurper Maegor Targaryen. Martin referred to it in Game of Thrones, was built with the intention of causing extreme discomfort. The “ironwork monstrosity,” as George R.R. Viserys’ ancestor Aegon I Targaryen constructed the Iron Throne out of a thousand broken blades he had taken from his enemies. What does it mean to be cut by the Iron Throne? Image: HBO The significance of being cut by the Iron Throne actually has deep roots in Targaryen history and Game of Thrones lore, dating all the way back to the throne’s creation. The reason Viserys’ wounds never healed is more symbolic than anything as routine as bacterial infection. And yet, Viserys’ health problems all began with a nick likely no larger than a paper cut. By episode 8, his health problems have severely compounded: Alicent basically rules in his place, as he’s bedridden, nearly constantly on painkillers, and has lost part of his face (which he hides behind a gold mask). There are a lot of things plaguing Viserys at this point that could be contributing to this turn for the worse - his old age, the stress over Daemon and Rhaenyra’s relationship, and the fear of war if Rhaenyra remains his heir (though he demonstrates repeatedly that he’s still willing to stake her). In the years since, Viserys’ health has only worsened, with the fifth episode showing him coughing up blood and eventually collapsing at the (already quite eventful) wedding feast. Viserys receives a second cut from the throne in the same episode, which similarly becomes infected and leads to the amputation of two of his fingers. As the maesters tending to Viserys note, the cut mysteriously refuses to heal. In the series premiere, we learn that Viserys has a small wound on his back from sitting on the Iron Throne. And his ill health is a deep cut from Game of Thrones lore. In his wake he leaves a looming war that will make up the story of the remainder of House of the Dragon, despite doing everything he could to keep the kingdom of Westeros together amid escalating tensions between his wife, Alicent Hightower, and his daughter and heir, Rhaenyra Targaryen.īy episode 8, though, the biggest threat to his reign has become impossible for anyone to ignore. After several weeks (and in-universe years) of declining health, it appears King Viserys Targaryen’s time is finally up it seems in the final moments of episode 8 he has died.
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