Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/HBO
Needless to say, House of the Dragon’s Viserys Targaryen is a busy guy. Between being king, tending to his long white locks, and answering constant questions about his line of succession, this is not a man with a lot of time on his hands. We did, however, get a little down time with the king during this past Sunday’s installment of the Game of Thrones prequel—and speaking of the king’s hands, I’ll admit I was not prepared for what they were about to do.
Game of Thrones was known, among many things, for its passion for all things visceral. (Two deaths that continue to haunt me on a monthly basis: Oberyn Martell’s eye-popping demise and that one dude who got his bowels chewed out by a bunch of rats.) So far, House of the Dragon has been a little sparser with the gore—although there is, of course, still plenty of time. This week, the show did give us one genuinely gnarly moment: King Viserys sitting down for a round of maggot therapy.
Whoever did the Foley work on this scene deserves an Emmy all their own, as does whoever polished up the visuals on these squirmy worms. As the king unwraps a gangrenous finger, his assistant opens a gold jar and scoops a heaping load of maggots onto a little tray. (Nothing but the best for our ramen-haired monarch!) “The maggots will remove the dead flesh and hopefully stop the advance of the rot,” we’re told. Then all the men in the room returned to their favorite topic of conversation: Who should become King Viserys’ child bride?