It's been a very long time coming, but House of the Dragon's latest episode, "The Lord of the Tides," finally saw King Viserys die after weeks of teases. He's quite literally held on for dear life while battling that mystery ailment, but following his last, muddled exchange with Queen Alicent, the screen faded to black and that appeared to be it for Westeros' ruler.
Many have wondered if he might somehow return to die another day, but director Geeta Patel has confirmed that King Viserys I Targaryen's story has reached its end.
"I think the last scene of this episode was always a litmus test," Patel tells Entertainment Weekly. "Every time we'd watch or think it through when we got to that last scene, did we feel what we wanted to feel there?"
"Did we feel the loss? Did we feel that Viserys has told his story? Did we feel that he loved his wife who passed away? Did he love Alicent? Did he love Rhaenyra? Did he regret anything? All the complicated layers of Viserys, did we feel it for better or worse? I mean, I hope it works, but that was the goal, for sure."
With his dying breath, Viserys mistakenly left his wife under the impression that he wanted their son, Aegon, to rule and not his daughter, Rhaenyra.
He also whispered "My love..." but who was that directed to? If not Alicent, perhaps Aemma?
"Well, I'm not a fair person to ask because I actually had the luxury of having a conversation with Paddy and he whispered to me who he was thinking of. So I probably shouldn't say it," Patel teases. "I'll let him say it if he wants to say it, but I had the same question, and that's what I'm saying. It's just the best part of my job. It's so great just to be inside Paddy's mind as he's Viserys and to wonder, as well, which way is this gonna go?"
Now Viserys is gone, the stage has been set for Dance of the Dragons, the epic civil war that saw House Targaryen torn apart by their desire to take the Iron Throne in the wake of his demise.
War is coming, though how much of that conflict we'll see with just two episodes remaining is hard to say..