House of the Dragon: 5 changes from the book that made the show better

5. King Viserys’ illness and his last stand

Episode 8 of House of the Dragon is lauded as the best installment in the first season. In a dynamic turn that only a Thrones show could pull off, the climax of the episode takes place in the throne room of the Red Keep, as an old sick man walks from one end of a room to another. The music swells and faces everywhere are shocked, simply shocked, to see that the ailing King Viserys is still alive and intends to sit the throne for the day. Many shows in the modern era possess big-budget action sequences. It's the ones that can take these small, intimate character moments and make them feel as important as any battle that really shine.

Viserys’ heroic walk to the throne was the culmination of his character arc. In episode 8, “The Lord of the Tides” Hand of King Otto Hightower is seeking to undermine Rhaenyra’s claim to throne and put the legitimacy of her sons into question. A King who was pleasant and amicable who always promoted peace, but who deep down wished that he had been tested by war or some other calamity and could have forged a legacy, Viserys is forced to struggle through a debilitating, decades-long illness to stand up for his daughter. He does so, and the moment is truly inspiring.

Here’s the kicker: in Fire and Blood, Viserys isn’t really sick. He eventually does die in his sleep at the age of 52, and once had a life-threatening infection after cutting his fingers on the Iron Throne, but the 20-year long illness that slowly cripples him and ultimately ends his life was a show fabrication. And it was a brilliant one. In both the novel and television adaptation, Viserys is a neutral figure that is not on Team Black or Team Green, the two factions whose conflict results in a Targaryen civil war. By giving him something to struggle with, in this case an illness, the screenwriters added depth to the character and gave actor Paddy Considine something meaty to work with. This is actually my favorite change from the source material, and George R. R. Martin himself said he prefers Paddy Considine’s version of the character to the one he wrote in the book.

Overall, the screenwriters for House of the Dragon took what I think should be more popular approach to book adaptation, keeping almost everything the same together with a few calculated improvements to the source material. The few changes the showrunners made to season 1 I think were warranted, and it helped that there were only a couple of them. Stay tuned to see what changes happen in House of the Dragon season 2!

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