Warning: This article contains spoilers fromHouse of the Dragonseason 1, episode 4.
He searches for a quiet spot so the background noise of the city doesn’t distract from the interview.
TheDoctor Whoalum explains how he’s been all over the place.
King Viserys I Targaryen (Paddy Considine) has a very complicated relationship with his brother, Prince Daemon (Matt Smith).Ollie Upton/HBO
“I’m much commonly known as an idiot,” he says.
Considine’s idea of a vacation is going on tour with his band, Riding the Low.
The bright sounds of a harmonic can be heard logging into Zoom.
Matt Smith’s Daemon Targaryen makes a splash in ‘House of the Dragon’ episode 4.Ollie Upton/HBO
Considine, 49, blows a few notes through the instrument at the start and end of our conversation.
“It’s a great escape from everything else,” he says of his music.
That andRuPaul’s Drag Race.
Paddy Considine and Matt Smith as King Viserys and Daemon Targaryen.Ollie Upton/HBO
Are you ready to joust.
That’s not the qualities it’s crucial that you rule that kingdom."
You just don’t always know where his allegiances lie.
Not even Smith could tell you for sure.
“There’s a strange ambiguity to Daemon,” the actor notes.
“You never really know what he’s thinking or what his intention is and what his ambition is.
It could be one of many things.
I thought that was quite interesting to sit with.”
The ambiguity becomes more apparent by episode 4 ofHouse of the Dragon.
Daemon loves Rhaenyra, maybe too much.
They nearly engage in incestuous sex in a pillow house.
As Carey’s Alicent Hightower later quips to Rhaenyra, Targaryens sure do have “queer customs.”
But the relationship is not so cut and dry for the viewer.
Viserys named Rhaenyra his sole heir to the Iron Throne, snubbing Daemon in the process.
Is all of this Daemon’s attempt to marry Rhaenyra and ascend the Iron Throne?
It’s difficult to say.
Smith describes Daemon’s relationship with Viserys is “really complicated.”
“I think it’s complicated because it’s familiar and normal in many ways,” he explains.
“It’s very brotherly and like any kind of brotherly relationship, there are different power dynamics.
One time one is in control, then the other is in control.
Hopefully you’ll feel a sense of history and brotherhood when you watch it.”
Considine made his own creative choices with the portrayal of Viserys that isn’t wholly prevalent inGeorge R.R.
Martin’s Fire and Blood, the book the inspired House of the Dragon.
He wanted to bring “dimensions” to the king.
That’s something that I wanted to bring out at certain points," Considine says.
He also calls Viserys is “a tragic man.”
(Looking at you, Ser Criston Cole.)
Viserys now sees how Otto orchestrated his marriage to Alicent and feels betrayed.
“He understands the politics of what it means to be king,” Considine remarks of Viserys.
“He understands what the throne does to people’s egos, particularly the people around him.
He understands the game of thrones.
When I played the character, I always had that in the back of my mind.
So it’s a difficult life being the king.”
By episode 3, the king had lost two fingers.
That deterioration continues in episode 4 and will continue moving forward.
“He’s actually suffering from a form of leprosy,” Considine says.
“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.
Still, being a brother sounds more challenging in the Targaryen family.
“It hasn’t quite hit the ground yet,” Smith remarks.
I don’t think it’s about an ambition to throne and all that.
I think a lot of it is about his brother.”
Listen to more of EW’s interviews with Matt Smith and Paddy Considine on theGame of ThronespodcastWest of Westeros.
