Ok so the latest episode of House Of The Dragon has two subtle things that definitely need
to be discussed in more detail.
The first of these is the passing of Viserys and how the book and show give us a clue to
how there might have been some foul play involved.
The second involves Helaenas prophecy and the major even that the beast beneeath the
boards could be referring to.
Throughout this video we're gonna be breaking it all down and as we go through them I'd
love to hear your perspective and whether you agree with them or not.
Now Viserys death is a big way to close out Episode 8 and I've even seen some comments
saying that this would've been the perfect way to end the season.
It brings a lot with it and though it seems he died of natural causes there may be something
else going on.
Now in order to fully discuss this theory we have to talk about what the book says.
It's important to bear in mind that Fire And Blood is bascially a text book compiled by
maesters that pulls in several accounts to try and paint a picture of what happened at
the time.
Though most say that Viserys died in his sleep during a nap there were also some suspicions
that Alicent poisoned him.
This was done to his hippocrass which is what was brought to him to help with his health
condition.
The show clearly planted a lot of seeds for this to be the case too and back in episode
6 Laenor said this to Rhaenyra when she suggested leaving Kings Landing.
-
Knowing the books this line really stood out to me because it sounded like they were giving
nods to us conspiracy theorists that something else might be going on.
The final picture in the book shows Viserys looking in pretty good health whereas the
show has him rotting away from the inside almost like he's being poisoned over time.
To watch someone wither away like this is extremely strange and we've never really seen
it happen to another character in game of thrones history.
Viserys was also surrounded by the best maesters in the land and he would have a medical team
fit for a king that would normally know how to deal with most ailments.
However a slow poisoning is something that they might not be able to handle due to how
long it takes.
The maesters also change out too and in the latest epiosde we get Orywle due to the death
of Mellos.
This changing of the guard would've likely have meant that they couldnt carry across
the opinion on him and thus the Hightowers could've kept it under the radar.
I'm clearly not the only person who suspects this either and after passing him his quote
unquote tea, Daemon ends up sniffing this to see if there's something else added to
it.
It turns out that this is apparently Milk Of The Poppy which is being used to help keep
him sedated.
Milk Of The Poppy is basically Morpheine and it has several side effects.
Though it can be used to reduce pain it also leaves someone unable to think straight.
This allows Alicent and Otto to take control of the council and in the end they use this
to their benefit.
Now this drink is also something that Alicent gives to Viserys just before he passes away.
Potentially this drink could have been slowly poisoning him over time and this was a final
lethal dose that pushed him over the edge.
In these two scenes Viserys takes the tea but there is one where he turns it down that
could speak volumes to how this was slowly killing him.
In the scene where he has his wounds tended to Otto goes to offer him the drink but Viserys
ends up turning this down.
Later that day he ends up regaining his strength to the point that he can go to the throne
room and climb the iron steps once more.
He also attends a banquet between the families.
It's only once he has the tea that night that he ends up dying and this could've been the
thing that pushed him over the edge.
Alicent isn't above using poisons and toxins for her own ends either.
The episode even shows this to us with her maidservant who Alicent ends up giving Plan
Tea to in order to stop Aegon from having a child with her.
So she definitely is accustomed to using drinks as a way to get what she wants and I have
even seen comments saying they suspect that she might have poisoned the servant.
The show also uses a lot of symbolism to demonstrate it's points too and cleverly they place the
people around the table to hint to us who the rotten ones are.
Due to his eye falling out and his cheek rotting away Viserys has one side of his face that
makes him look like Harvey Dent on a good day.
During the banquet the family sit to his left and right with Rhaenyra and co being on the
good side whilst the Hightowers are on the other.
This symbolises that they were the ones causing him to rot away and that the other side of
the family were the ones he favoured the most.
It's excellent iconography and to me it helps hint towards that fact that they were instrumental
in his downfall.
They were very much the rats that came for him in the end and this has been shown to
us several times.
Firstly there was the one at the wedding that appeared when he collapsed.
Next there was another that climbed into his room.
In the book Alicent doesnt announce Viserys death for a week so that she can put things
in place to get her son Aegon on the throne and she leaves his corpse in his chambers.
Rats start to feed on this but it may extend beyond them literally.
The rats are now here in the form of the Hightowers, most notably Alicent who gives him that final
drink.
Though they might not have poisoned him literally the family clearly had a negative effect on
him that caused him to rot away even more.
Now whether Alicent did it on purpose or not is another thing that I don't think we'll
ever fully get an answer to.
However there are enough clues there I think to make us believe that something else could
have bene going on and I'd of course love to hear your thougths on it.
Before we get into Helaenas prophecy I'd also really appreciate the thumbs up if you're
enjoying the video so far and don't forget to subscribe for breakdowns like this every
day.
We've also just launched a clips channel which drops one minute short videos discussing easter
eggs, theories and so on.
Make sure you hit that up as we're about to hit 4000 subscribers and we'd love to have
you as part of our house.
Anyway Helaena throughout the series has dropped a number of prophecies that have hinted at
things coming down the line in the show.
The first of these happened when she correctly guessed that Aegon would have to lose an eye
in order to gain a dragon.
-
The second came when she foretold the marriage between Rhaenyra and Daemon.
-
Now the latest episode features a line from her that could bring a lot of things with
it.
-
Now the beast beneath the boards could refer to a number of things.
Viserys hits the floor with his staff as she says this so it could be her warning him of
the rats that are beneath his floorboards that could end up coming for him.
However it may extend beyond that and it could indeed be Aemond.
With the next part of the video dealing in future events I am gonna have to drop in a
spoiler warning so if you don't wanna know then check out now.
Anyway When the houses both divide the sons of them are sent out to try and gain people
loyal to their cause.
Both Lucerys and Aemond end up going to Lord Borros with the latter arriving there first.
He ends up promising that he'll wed one of Borros' daughters if the lord pledged his
allegiance to the greens..
Lucerys can't do the same thing as he's already betrothed to his cousin and thus Borros sides
with Aemond.
Aemond also demands an eye in return and he says that he'll let Luke live if he cuts one
out right there and then.
Lucerys doesn't and though Aemond goes to attack him he's stopped by Lord Borros' men.
He says that he won't allow any bloodshed under his roof and thus Aemond follows Luke
out and he tracks him on his dragon whilst a storm breaks out.
Aemond ends up killing him and this leads to him being known as the Kinslayer.
Now the beast beneath the boards could also refer to Mysaria.
We've seen that she has spies and informants in Kings Landing most notably the Queens right
hand woman.
There is potential that the plan tea she prepared didn't actually contain anything and due to
Aegon having two bastards in the books this might end up coming true if this one didn't
work.
But I digress.
Anyway Mysaria is known as The White Worm and she also does something in the book that
directly effects Helaena.
After Lucerys is killed Daemon promises a son for a son and he goes to Mysaria for help.
She sends two people into the castle who use the secret passages in order to sneak into
Helaenas room.
These are the characters Blood and Cheese and the've basically been told f**k them kids.
They find her and her children and tell her that she can choose one of her children to
die and one to live.
She ends up choosing the younger one Maelor which is a really heartbreaking moment.
However to make things worse Blood and Cheese without a moments hesitation end up beheading
Jahaerys instead.
It's one of the most horrifying moments in the book that I wanna do a full breakdown
on but I think the prophecy could be referring to this.
They climb up from beneath the floorboards and the word beast being used for the white
worm works.
After this Helaena has to deal with the fact that her youngest child knows that she picked
them to die and she also has to grapple with losing her other kid.
It's a devastating moment for her that ends up sending her insane.
I think that it could be referring to this and if she prophecises the worst moment of
her life at this point then it would add an even further tragic side to the supper.
Obviously all these videos are theories and if you have your own then make sure you drop
them below.
We’re running a competition right now and giving away 3 copies of Thor Love And Thunder
On The 15th Of October.
All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is like the video, make sure you
subscribe with notifications on and drop a comment below with your thoughts on the episode.
We pick the comments at random at the end of the month and the winners of the last one
are on screen right now so message me @heavySpoilers if that’s you.
If you want something else to watch then make sure you check out our breakdown of perfect
scene in Spider-Man Homecoming.
We break down the entire thing so it’s definitely worth checking out if you wanna know more.
With that out the way thank you for sitting through the video, I’ve been Paul and I’ll
see you next time.
Take care, Peace